Birds, October '07

10/29/07
More Bird drawings.
Another one of Nikki from the field sketches the other day. He was so good and gave me a couple really good, long poses.
This is probably the most accurate scan out of all the pix posted. This is still in progress, and is still quite grainy and light.
The under sketch is Derwent Drawing 6300 Venetian Red:

Nikki 10/29/07
Prismacolor on Bainbridge 2000 Illustration Board, 5"x7"
I tried painting on the unprimed illustration board with acrylic. The results were hideous. So I primed a board and will try that next time.

I was beginning to like what was happening with the Prismacolor, so I tried this one on Canson paper. The color is pretty saturated. This is from yesterday's field sketches of Norman.
The under sketch is Derwent Drawing 6300 Venetian Red:
Norman 10/29/07
Prismacolor on Canson Mei-Teintes Cream paper, 8"x10"


10/28/07
I was so jazzed that I had to post this one.
After struggling with paintings, I decided to go 'back to basics' and return to my strength - drawing - to work on my drawing skills and gain a little momentum.
At the aviary yesterday, I used a Dark Umber to sketch Nikki and Sullivan (two Blue and Gold macaws.) Nikki was being a pill and climbing up the cage to get right in front of me so he could see what I was doing. He just stayed there watching me curiously for the majority of the time, so I got a good close-up of the details of the features of his face. About halfway through I began to fill in the various sections with light 'washes' of local color using the Prismacolor pencils. I liked the effect, as if the sections were 'stained' or dyed the local color.

Nikki 10/27/07 (from life)
Prismacolor on gray card stock, original 8.5" x 11"


This next one is still in progress. I decided to push this one of Nikki a little further, to develop the form and push the color saturation. I am fairly pleased with the results, kind of a cross between a line drawing and a full color form study.

Nikki 10/28/07 (composed from field sketches)
Prismacolor on beige card stock, 8.5" x 11"

Value studies

Yes, here they are. Mikey's infamous value spheres. They are everywhere, and they pop up randomly. It is the most direct way to test the working properties of a medium or surface.

Occasionally, I will do one just to tighten my chops, to stimulate my brain, or perhaps just to pass the time. Constructing a circle from scratch - by hand, with no drafting tools - is a good way to fire up my synapses and get the juices flowing.

This is a joy, nothing but pure form and light.

In these examples I am trying out the various colors of Derwent Drawing pencils on various papers:

The two colors yield very different surface qualities, yet they are the same brand, the same line, on the same piece of acid-free card stock.
The one on the left is Derwent Drawing #6300 Venetian Red. The one on the right is Derwent Drawing #66 Chocolate.
The Venetian Red has a grainier surface quality and the darks are punchier. The Chocolate has a finer surface quality with more subtlety in the lights, and the darks took much longer to build up. Quite the opposite of what I was expecting.

Here is the Venetian Red on parchment colored acid-free card stock. Ooooh, parchment:

Arrgh!

Well scupper me uppers and blower me lowers!
I will be returning to the Pirates in Paradise Festival in Key West this year.
I will be selling my artwork and doing pirate portraits on location.
For a sample, I donned me ol' pirate bandana and had a go at it.


Nigel
Prismacolor on beige paper, 5.5"x9"
30 minutes

Portraits 10/07

I have been working on this portrait for a while now, and finally had a breatkthrough.
The reference photo is from JoSchwab on http://joschwab.deviantart.com/art/Laura-59908909 THe original photo leans toward a very monochrome feel, and is pretty high contrast. I simply liked the pose and the feel of the piece, and all of the cool flesh colors in the shadows.

It seemed at the time that this would be fairly straightforward.
Ha-ha. Things are not always what they seem.

Here is my initial painting in acrylic, 11"x14". Some good things are happening, but the flesh tones are kinda pasty. Overall, the whole thing appears flat. In addition, it seemed I couldn't get the lights white enough.

I decided I needed to work on some color studies to get a handle on this one.
My friend Rose suggested I try a bright underpainting to give me something to bounce the colors off of.
Here are a few studies 4"x5"with a various underpainting colors:

Interesting, but the skin tones are still not happening as I would like. I decided I would have to liven up the flesh tones, even though the original photo was very cool and bluish, and almost washed out in the lights.

After some research and experimentation, I realized that I was pushing the colors too far to the extreme ends of the value scale. So I revisited and I found some simpler and more straightforward methods of mixing colors that resulted in a variety of warm, cool and neutral flesh tones.
The first one on the right was a step in the right direction, but still the flesh tones were dead and flat.
The second one on the left was better. Getting closer...

I realized that I needed to keep the colors closer in hue as well as value. A little bit goes a long way when it comes to flesh tones.

Here is the most recent study 4"x5":


BAM! Now we're talking!
This one is finally coming alive! It is such a rush when you get to the other side of a breakthrough. Finally, I feel like I can actually paint.

In the end, it is all about value, and small shifts in hue. There is no pure white nor pure black in this one.
This is quite a departure from the original photo. I need to go with what works for the painting and not be a slave to the reference. When all is said and done it may come back around and be quite a bit more like the original.

Projects from the Academy 1998-2004

I just stumbled upon pix of some of the projects from my studies at the Seattle Academy of Fine Art, now the Gage Academy in Seattle, WA.

Shannon 2001.
Graphite on Strathmore 400 Series paper.
Original 18x24" (image cropped)


Sonnia 2001.
Oil on canvas, 16x20".
This piece won honorable mention in the 2001 show.


Rachel 2002
Charcoal on Strathmore paper, 19x24"
One of my first forays from graphite into charcoal.
("Welcome to the dark side, T-Dog.")


DK Pan 2002.
Charcoal on Fabriano Igres paper, 18x24"
A fascinating model.
This piece won Best in Show in 2002.


Mary Reclining 2002.
Charcoal on Fabriano Ingres paper, 18x24"
This is one of my favorite pieces. Mary was an awesome model.


St. Francis 2003
Charcoal on Fabriano Ingres paper, 16x20"
Oh, the troubles this one gave me. It was damaged and had to be repaired 3 times between starting and completion; twice to the point of near destruction, and the final time by the framer who was mortified and apologetic. As I picked up a piece of charcoal and began the repair, I looked up nonchalantly and said "You know, I'm getting pretty good at fixing this drawing."


Skulley2, 2004.
This begun as a demonstration of the 'rub out' technique, and turned into a full-out 'challenge' between myself and Yumiko, one of my mates in Juliette's Classical Atelier program.


Apollo 2004.
Chracoal on Fabriano Ingres paper, 18x24"
My final piece of 2004, which won 1st place in the Still Life category.
This is the piece I am working on in the photo at right.