Some digital work as promised

I promised I would post some of my digital work.  I'm way more comfortable working digitally.  I've been using photoshop for one thing or another since about 1998.  You'll probably recognize this from my InkTober drawings.  I have a deep and abiding fondness for torturing my children...  My son found this drawing "disturbing" so.. of course... I had to paint it.

Back to normal... whatever that is.

I've missed the last couple of updates on the blog.  Mostly because I've had nothing to really show.  My mother-in-law gave me a set of acryl gouache paints to try out, and I've spent the last few days trying to wrap my head around them.  They do work really well with the watercolor, but they are also nothing like anything I've used before.

I've never used traditional gouache, so I have no reference point to compare the two.  What I can say about the acryl gouache (by Turner) is that they dry insanely fast.  So unlike oils and regular acrylics, if you don't nail the color on the palette, you don't really get to mix in other paint to adjust on the paper.  Which I think is a good thing.  It forces me to really think about what I'm doing.  Gouache is opaque, so it will cover up some errors in the painting, but it has it's limits.

I've also started working on my digital stuff again, as you saw in the end of InkTober.  I forgot how much I loved it, and I will certainly be showing some digital work here soon.  Until then, here is a shot of my work area, and the master study (Luis Royo) I'm currently working on.

The end of InkTober

These two are the last images for InkTober.  I did it!  I actually used the last day to get back into my old digital drawings.  After this it will be back to your regular scheduled programming, back to mediums I'm a little more comfortable with...

InkTober No 25 - 29

Don't worry I'm not slacking off at work, I wrote this up last night and just didn't see the point in posting at 11:30.  

I kind of liked the goblin I posted last time, and spent a little while sketching out ideas and developing forms for it.  There is nothing super special here, I just figured I could incorporate some of my thought processes in developing this character idea into inktober.  I took a few of the... less awful ideas... and inked them.  There are a few obvious problems with these drawings, but I think I really like where the idea is heading.

Inktober # 24

Here is the next installment in the adventure that is InkTober.  I'm currently regretting committing to do this.  It's not really the challenge of drawing every day, I had already committed to that.  It's creating a complete drawing every day... in ink even.  The rest of the stuff I've committed to study are all suffering.  But, I did make the commitment, so I have to stick to it.  There are only a few days left in the month anyway.  I actually have a few more drawings, but I'm having a hard time getting them scanned in.  I will have that fixed by Thursday.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one!

InkTober No 17 - 23

This post should catch me up on InkTober.  Sorry for the quality on some of the images, I need to get a setup for photographing... I'm currently taking pictures with my phone and adjusting them as much as I can.  It will be better soon... I swear.. 

Several more #Inktober drawings - InkTober No. 12 - 16

Hey everyone, sorry for missing my Thursday post last week, but you know how it goes.  Today's post continues the Inktober project.  We are two-thirds through the month and I've learned quite a lot already.

My line work is better, which I think you can see in this post alone.  I'm really enjoying the juxtaposition of nice cleans and open white space.  My hatching is starting to improve, but it's still my least favorite method of shading.  Without super careful control, it just starts to look like texture, and I'm not super patient with it.

 I've also learned about the snowball effect of getting behind on a project.  I'm currently four drawings behind, with ten days to catch up.  I'll manage to catch up, but I fear the quality may suffer.  We shall see...

#InkTober No.'s 7 - 11

#INKTOBER DUMP!

My family was visiting for the last few days, so I was a little too busy to post updates.  However, I am back and here is my make-up assignment... Forgive the quality on some of these.  I rushed a couple of them, and snapped photos with my cell phone.  Either way, I hope you enjoy them.

#InkTober No. 6

Experimenting with water brushes.  I'm sad that the ink separated, but all in all I'm ok with the product.

#InkTober No. 5

Just a quick sketch playing with my new white pen.  It's simple, but I like it...

#Inktober No. 4

Inktober No. 4 - Hatching has never been my forte, but that's what #InkTober is all about right?  Practice makes perfect...

#Inktober No. 3

#InkTober No. 2

My second submission for #InkTober.  Not my best work, but I certainly agree with the sentiment!

#Inktober No. 1 - It's a special day in #InkTober

Today marks day two of #InkTober! Hooray! Actually I'm a little terrified.  This idea of producing an ink drawing everyday is a little daunting.  Since I'm already behind... even more so!  But I think the delay was worth it.  See today is my 10th wedding anniversary, so I spent a little extra time working on... this!

This was a gift for my wife, and took a little longer than I had anticipated.  (I had to do it when she wasn't looking see.)  Not to worry though, I will catch up... I hope... Wish me luck.  Until next time.

P.s.  If you are wondering what all the #InkTober stuff is about, check out ...

Or just google #InkTober to see all the glorious work being produced!

Weekly Painting - Drawing?

Here is the weekly painting.

I did these a lot in high school.. instead of actual school work.  I was going to paint it, but I decided not to about halfway through.  While not technically a painting, I really enjoy these, and it was very cathartic.  I think I will keep doing these along with my regular studies.  

Digital Painting Resources - CtrlPaint.com

I want to preface this by saying that you should not dive directly into digital art if you are new to the practice of drawing.  This is of course my own opinion, and you can take it for what it’s worth. Drawing is hard, and if you add into it the disconnect of drawing on a pen tablet and seeing your lines appear on a separate screen, you are bound for frustration.  There are workarounds though, and that is why I will recommend this website.  The owner, Matt Kohr goes into all of this.  The website is http://www.ctrlpaint.com.  Matt is himself an excellent concept artist.  

Copyright © 2013, Matt Kohr. All rights reserved.

He has many video tutorials on digital painting, and even goes into the fundamentals of traditional art and the practices that will help you improve.  His paid content is very reasonably priced, and the package I downloaded was well worth what I paid.  You don’t need to pay anything though, most of his tutorials are free, and I learned quite a lot from them.  I mostly bought the premium package because I wanted to give something back to someone who offered so much for free.  Check it out, even if you are not ready for, or not set up for digital art, there is plenty to learn here.  Until next time!

Weekly Painting - Mortar and Pestle Still Life

I'm posting this week's painting a little early... mostly because it's done, and I'm working on other stuff right now.  This one certainly has it's flaws, but I'm unreasonably happy with it anyway.  I think perhaps its the contrast between the subject and the background.  I intend on posting progress shots of these in the future to provide some insight into my thought processes.  This one just kind of finished itself before I knew what was happening.  I hope you enjoy it.  Until next time!

The Game Plan

I'm about thirty days in, I feel like I've identified my trouble areas, and have started developing a plan.  The big picture plan is to increase my "drawing vocabulary" as quickly and efficiently as possible.  The drawing vocabulary is the mental library of images and artist builds up by drawing and painting from life.  This library is later used (along with reference images) when the artist draws or paints from their imagination.  To build this library, I need to be able to capture images quickly while on the go, so sketching outdoors, and in public places.  Unfortunately, I don't have the perception acuity to capture these images fast enough to keep up with the fluidity of every day life.

In general, when trying to capture a scene "in the wild", you have between thirty seconds and a minute.  People don't sit still for too terribly long.  While I think it's impossible to gather any detail in that amount of time, I want to be at a point where I can lock down the major shapes of a drawing in a minute or less.  Currently it takes anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes for me to accomplish this, depending on the complexity of the scene.  I have a lot of work to do.

The main focus of my plan is on honing my perceptual skills, decreasing the amount of time it takes to draft an image outline by increasing my perceptual accuracy.  Here it is;

Daily practices:

• 30 minutes of gesture drawing every day.  - While typically used as a warm up, it is also an excellent exercise for sharpening the artist's perception.  The essence of gesture drawing is to capture the form and movement of an image as quickly as possible.  Typically a model will hold a pose for a very short period of time (20 seconds to 5 minutes) and the artist must attempt to portray that pose within the allotted time.
• 30 minutes of technical skills drawing every day. - This practice is the meat and potatoes of art.  It includes such things as anatomy studies, color studies, value studies, drawing repetition (drawing the same subject over and over within shorter and shorter time deadlines), media control, and similar practices.  This is the less than exciting, but absolutely critical practice  required for true mastery.  
• 1 hour of work on weekly goals.

Weekly goals:

• One major project per week.  These projects are currently in flux, but I want to create at least one full painting a week.  

I'm also contemplating setting some monthly projects in stone.  Such as going on an urban sketching tour once a month or going to a life drawing session to work from live models.  When I have more details I will post them.  I will be updating the blog every Tuesday and Thursday as a rule, and additional days whenever the urge takes me.  I look forward to sharing the next phase of this quest with you.  Until next time!

Sketchbook - Value Study and a Change in Tactics

I was given a gift of the Imperial Edition of Elder Scrolls Online.  That package included a rather intricate statue of the main bad guy, which I used for this study.  It was probably a bad choice, but I wanted to challenge myself.  The proportions are way off, but it was fun trying to preserve all those highlights while pushing the shadows.  However, I don't think my current training method is working out.

I haven't practiced my fundamentals in a very long time, and while those skills don't seem to disappear, they have certainly rusted.  That is probably where I need to focus for the next few weeks.  I've jumped head first into the watercolors, but I'm having a very hard time maintaining proportion and perspective.  This can be worked on with sight measurement and "seeing" exercises, but its not very interesting.  I will see if I can come up with a way of showing it without boring the hell out of you.  I still want to preserve the continuity of this blog, but skill improvement is my ultimate goal.  Tell me what you think in the comments below!  Until next time, stay strong and keep drawing!

Instruction - Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

One thing I hear all the time goes something like this;  "I wish I could draw..." or "I have no talent for art..."  These statements drive me crazy, because they are untruths that should have been dispelled early in childhood.  I can, and probably will, go into great depth about the sad state of art education in the United States, but I will refrain for now.  The truth is this.  Unless you have a disability that prevents you from holding, and or using a writing implement, you can learn to draw.  There are even people that don't have hands who have taught themselves to draw with their feet.  Go look it up, they're pretty amazing.

Until I was close to thirty years old, I believed that art and drawing were pipe dreams that I would never really be able to pursue.  Then I picked up a book titled Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards.

This book unlocked the secret to drawing for me.  Which is this, drawing is not something you do with your hands, it's something you do with your eyes.  Drawing is about seeing, and translating what you see onto paper.  If you can write a sentence with a pen and paper, you already have the manual dexterity required to start.  When you learn to shut down the mental filters and symbol libraries your brain has constructed to simplify the world into manageable chunks, you will start to see the lines, shapes and contrasts that make up your visual experience.  This book contains numerous exercises that will help you do just that.

If you you've ever wanted to learn to draw, I urge you to check this book out.  It's pretty cheap, and if you can't afford it, there are more than likely copies at your local library.  You really only need to read through it once for a major shift in your perception to take place.  Check it out!  And maybe share your experience with the rest of the class.  Until next time, stay strong and keep drawing.

Sketchbook - Shells

This sketch is actually one of my first watercolor attempts.  I just realized that I hadn't posted it yet.

I'm learning.  Looking at this you will see that almost every single brush stroke is visible.  I managed to luck out on the the orange shell, and made a couple accidental washes.  With the transparency of watercolor, you really have to lay down all of the color for a particular section at one time, or it will look like this.  It takes planning and patience.  Neither of which are my strong suit.  I'm getting there though, I have a bunch of wash control practices completed, and one value study.  I will be putting some of that up in the next few days.  Until next time!

Sketchbook - Sake Still Life

I'm still working in my sketchbook style right now. I don't want to spend much time attempting to refine a painting when I have so much to learn about the medium.  Take this for example.

No, this is not tinted or faded.  It's just that pale.  I started this painting really weak, with an almost tea colored wash, and tried to layer up to the darker values.  By the time I got to this point, there were so many damaged spots on the paper, and I was noticing the bad proportions and color choices so much that I just called it quits.  I did learn a bit about washes, and adding texture, but I'm still missing on the values big time.  I think the next few sketches will be monochrome, so I can focus on getting the paints darker or lighter without worrying about color.  I'll have more to show you soon.  Until then, stay strong!

Inspiration - Ali Cananaugh

I came across an artist recently that I can't wait to share with everyone.  She is a master at the medium I'm currently trying to learn, and her subject matter is inherently endearing.  The artist's name is Ali Cavanaugh.  Here is a little snippet from the biography on her website;

"Ali Cavanaugh (American, b. 1973) is an internationally represented fine artist. She studied painting at Kendall College of Art and Design and the New York Studio Residency Program in New York City, earning a BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design in 1995. At the age of 22, she co-founded an atelier  -The New School Academy of Fine Art- in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She relocated to Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2000. It was during her seven years in Santa Fe that she developed her modern fresco process on kaolin clay."

The use of clay as her foundation produces some amazing effects.  I am particularly in love with her series called "Immerse" .  The flowing layers of paint, and the glowing light are awe inspiring.

copyright 1994-2015 ali cavanaugh

copyright 1994-2015 ali cavanaugh

copyright 1994-2015 ali cavanaugh

The images on this blog really can't do justice to her work.  I urge you to go check out her website, www.alicavanaugh.com where you can see details of the paintings.  She also has an upcoming show at the Gold Gallery in Boston from September 8 through October 18, which I would certainly be going to... if I could scrape the cash together to do so. 

Sketchbook - Self Portraits

I'm still playing with color mixing and controlling watercolors.  The one reference I always have is myself, so I set up a mirror at my drafting table.

The first one you've probably seen before.  It's actually the second one I've painted though.  I gave myself time limits on these.  No more than two hours on each sketch.  

This one I feel is the most honest portrait.  You can see the haunted eyes of a father of teenage girls in it.  Or maybe I just got the values wrong... I'm ok with it either way.

Trading Addictions

As anyone who has spent any time painting can tell you, art supplies are expensive.  Finding the money in the budget to buy materials is really difficult.  So I decided to free up what I could by quitting my nasty habit of smoking, and am currently sixteen days nicotine free.  I've tried quitting many times in the past, and have not been very successful.  This time feels different though.  There is definitely something to the idea of trading an unhealthy addiction for a healthy one.

Just wanted to share that with everyone.  I will be posting more of my current works later today or tomorrow.  Until then, stay strong!

Sketchbook - My new medium...

OK, so now we get to the new stuff.  I wanted to get started in a medium that was portable, somewhat cheap, and could be used in as many environments as possible.  I settled on watercolor.  I already had an almost complete watercolor setup that I have never really used.  Granted the paints are pretty low quality, but they will do the trick until I can replace them with the good stuff.  

Cat Statue - Watercolor on paper

 I've really never worked with watercolor before.  So far I've found the medium to be very useful in the portability department.  They are quick to set up, clean up, and there is no need for potentially harmful chemicals.  However, in my opinion, watercolor is unforgiving.  If you make a mistake in oils or acrylics, you can paint over it.  With watercolors, you have a few moments to perhaps lift it out with a rag or paper towel while it's still wet, but that only works so often before the paper starts falling apart.

Skylanders - Watercolor on paper

These are just quick sketches.  I didn't spend any more than a couple of hours on each.  I'm trying to figure out the manipulation of very wet paints, and the color mixing which is very different with watercolors.  The pigments seem to be way lighter or darker once they dry causing my values to get knocked out of whack.  It is a lot of fun doing these sketches though.

My Art History

My endeavors into art didn’t really start until about seven years ago.  I enjoyed doodling and perhaps occasionally drawing cartoon characters, but I was far too intimidated to try any serious artwork.  I was firmly under the spell of the talent myth.  However, once I started the pursuit of my “passion”, or “talent”. or “calling” or whatever you want to call it, creativity and visual arts kept coming up.  My attempts to pursue these arts were doomed to failure due to my mindset at the time, but my interest was obvious and unavoidable.

Graphite on paper (2010)

Here is a very small sampling of my work from that period.  I wanted to give a definitive skill progression, but that turns out to be extremely hard to do.  Apparently even a total novice can churn out some amazing artwork, just like a pro can deliver a pile of crap.  Since I didn't use date stamps in all of my sketchbooks, its hard to determine which came first. 

Pen on Paper (2010)

As you can see, I'm having issues digitizing my traditional media.  I have a scanner that will do an ok job on small format work. The larger format work will have to be photographed, and lighting is an issue right now.  

Digital Painting (2011)

This is, by far, some of my better "old" work.  There is more, but I don't want to spend too much time looking that far back.  I think this sampling will give a good idea of where I was.  

Digital Painting (2010)

Next time, I will show you some of where I am now.  Until then, stay strong and keep drawing.