Angel sketch

Had some time at work a couple of weeks ago and did a quick sketch. It was nice to see that I haven't totally lost it. It kinda reminds me of things I used to do in high school. Very stiff. Need to keep at it. My lose is too lose and my stuff is too stiff. Gota find that middle ground.

My usual

I went up a mountain really early on July fourth. No one was there and the morning mist still hadn't finished their caress of the trees and land yet. The sun was up but still hugging the horizon. I sat and enjoyed the view. Breathed deep and realized I'm made of mountain folk. Every time I'm in the mountains I feel refreshed, renewed. It inspired the need to create in me like I hadn't felt in a long time. Luckily I had my sketchbook with me and some colored pencils. I always carry them, but mostly they are just dead weight on my day to day. That morning I was greatfull that I had them. I did 2 quick sketches and enjoyed making them. Hope you do to.

Studies, painting, blue

I've been fUNemployed more times than not these past few years. Not to say I didn't make some money, but if I'm not getting paid to be an artist I consider myself an unemployed artist.

You get a bit blue.

I'm trying to remind myself (not forget really) why I like being an artist. I started a Pinterest board for reference and inspiration. And it does make me want to create. But with the move I feel like I can't find all the things I had slowly collected for all of my art endeavors. But that just excuses.

So I'm painting from a photo reference. Found on Pinterest, seen through my phone, and interpreted by my current art skills. Strangely at this point I feel like it can turn into a self portrait, but I'm going to continue trying to capture OTHER faces and thus continue to grow. Just a start. As always.

Enjoy.

Fond memories

I did a quick colored sketch of a brightly redheaded girl, with blown out features. I did not, on me, have the right shades of red to show off the beautiful unnatural tones of her hair, but I did what I could. After which I scanned it in with at a handy massive office copier and realized that it had been blown out even more. So I tried to color correct it in Photoshop some (the image on the left), and thought it still didn't capture what I loved about the original piece. That being said I took a photo of it using the camera on my phone and you get the image on the right. Neither of which do the piece justice, but it's what I got.

I feel as if she is remembering a happy moment in her life, so that's why I named the post the way I did. That was not, I believe, the intention of the original photograph, but I obviously like mine better. I still feel as if subtleties of the original piece are missing. The soft tones of the watercolors contrasting with the brights of the marker in the hair aren't readily apparent in either case. But maybe I'm just in love with my own piece, and well, someone has to be. That's ok, though. As long as I don't start believing that I can't improve. As long as I continue to aspire to add new skill sets to my work. There will always be new techniques, new materials, new ideas and images to design. As long as I never loose the will to keep striving, I'll be OK. Don't you think?
Either way hope you enjoy.
PS If you want to see the original photograph click here. 

Detail: Twisted Sister

 

Here is the close-up version of the Twisted Sister. Here you can see the hands and torso. I hope you get why I say that the head on the other page is better. Just gotta keep going!

Twisted Sister

 

I saw a drawing, possibly painting of a slightly deformed but cute girl with a crown and I was smitten. But as always I wanted to make it my own. I twisted her more, made her screaming (hopefully) more visceral. Added a touch of color to spots. Is it perfect? No. But I feel my hands are getting better, and the grotesque aspects of the drawing, position, image are much more present. I did not want this to be cute. The scream and the neck I feel are better in the lower left hand side of the image, but the body and torso are better in the colored side. Maybe another try in a couple of days, based off these sketches and not the original, can make this even better.

Regret

I've been told that sometimes when I do a sketch off of a reference photo or image, I'm too derivative. It's too obviously a copy. I've been told that I need to take the ref image as a starting point and do my own thing with it, tweak it and add more of myself into it. But usually if I pick a ref image there is something about it that speaks to me, an emotion, lighting, color that moves me to enjoy looking at it. And it is that that makes me want to replicate it. I want to capture for myself that which inspired me in the first place. So here it was her back. The long line if spine curving into the blackness of her dress. But I moved her. Twisted the shoulders, rotated the head, gave her an emotion that wasn't part of the original photograph. The emotion that I felt was best for her was regret. Sadness. A loss of something we as a viewer don't know, but can hopefully feel from her...

Maybe it works and maybe it doesn't. But I need to move on with my art, and though mimicry can help, it only helps to a point. I need to go beyond that. I need to find that well of unstopable images I had as a younger artist but with the skills the years have given me. Here's to hoping that that is what I am doing.

Enjoy.

Colored sketch of a doll

This sketch is based off a photograph of a hand made doll. She had a lot of beautiful coloring and materials and I loved the delicacy of her posing as well as the twist of the torso. I tried to capture as much as I could of the eclectic textures and colors while at the same time not loosing the feel of the paper and the colored pencils on it. I do know that I need to get back to doing more original pieces not based off other people's photograph and art, but I also feel that I haven't been doing enough general art on a consistent basis to feel comfortable doing that. Maybe I'm just scared (common enough in artist) and am using that as a crutch. But I do feel that skill wise I am getting better and I should try to incorporate a bit more my own "visions" into my art and not just repeat and repeat and repeat. When should the dancer stop basing her moves solely on choreographed work and start moving to the music on instinct?

She looks broken

And I need to work on my foreshortening. But I'm in love with the image so I felt like sharing. Feel free to compare and contrast against the ref photo.

First draft design

For a fabric embroidered and painted artwork that I'm figuring out in my head.

Now in Technicolor

So I promised a while ago that I would color her and post her up. Well I didn't then, but I'm doing it now. Took me a while to remember how to color in Photoshop (especially since we have a newer version than before), but I think I did ok. Hadn't really given any thought on the overall color scheme, but I feel she worked out well. The umbrella is still off, which upsets me a bit more now, but I am happy with the hands and feet. And I really feel like my coloring really gives her more dimension than my line work alone did. I've been told I need to work on that, can't rely solely on color for depth and dimension, but I gotta start somewhere right? I'll scan a couple more preliminary sketches of the skulls soon so that you can see what a couple of hours of Google Imaging various mammalian skulls can do to my concept of 3 Dimensionality as it relates to skulls.

Hope you like this and all that is to come.

Colored doodle

Since my easel and paints haven't arrived, I've grown antsy. It's a crazy doodle using my watercolor pencils and watercolors. Thought you'd like it, well at least hoped you did. Let me know.

Reclined figure painting

This is it finished. I've come to that point that I know if I add any more to it, I'll ruin it. I'm not 100% in love with this piece. Honestly it looks better in the photograph than in person. But... it's my second finished painting this year. Just gotta tweak the teeth in the squidi painting and that'll make 3. Yay! But for now enjoy this one.

It's been a while, I know.

So I was looking over the old blog recently and noticed that before my last post I skipped a month. I wish I could say that I was working on something awesome, but in reality (as I feel most artists I know) I was actually feeling down to be artistically unemployed for so long. Trudging away in the "real" world for so long starts wearing you down. I feel like I am down to nubs at this point...

Which is why the post. I don't really know you, and you may not even care about me anymore, but here I am to get myself motivated. Even if its something as simple as my competitive edge to get more number of posts this year than last year. Simple, but it can work. I have another painting done. Pictures to go up soon. It's the last one I posted, but with a little more added to it. I'll discuss that one when I put it up. But for today: I went back to figure drawing after, oh I don't know, a year or so of not going. So here are only 2 pages from that session. Not bad, but not great. Gotta keep plugging away. Either way hope you enjoy.

Antique Figure Drawing 2

Blues and Browns...

That is what I called these when I scanned them in. I was working with 2 Copic markers that are dying and another japanese brush marker that was a mustardy yellow brown. I look at these and I know I still have a lot to learn. I still cheat (which I know all artists do a bit, well actually all humans do it, without it we wouldn't be able to recognize different styles of tables that we encounter, but that is another story) but I shouldn't cheat when I have the figure in front of me. I should just draw what I see. That is the hardest thing to do. Anyway I hope you enjoy these. Finally started playing with the cintiq at home, so maybe I'll have something half-way descent to show you soon. Sorry for the long absence.

Roller Derby Queen

I have an old photograph of when I won (with my team) the season championships of my derby league. I was thinking about it this morning and it blended in with an image of FLCL. So I sat and drew this image instead. Yes I cheated by only drawing one arm. And yes the skates are off. But regardless I really like the way it has turned out. Hope you like it too.

Weird drawing of the day

Hadn't drawn in a while. Been doing a lot of knitting and writing, and thinking lately. So I decided that I needed to put some pencil to paper. I tried to leave my wrist and arm loose, let the lines dictate the form and figure. Play with the palominos some, their ability to make good markings are an inspiration all alone. May continue with other similar figures on this page throughout the rest of the day, but work with my WC pencils instead. Let's put some color on this baby! Either way, hope you enjoy.

Antique Figure Drawing

So I was looking through some old sketchbooks as I try to continue keeping my workspace organized and I found these old figure drawings that I had meant to scan but I never did. To be honest it is a lot of them, so I will only be placing a couple on today. And actually anytime that I don't have another update for whatever project I happen to be working on I will continue to do so as well. The first set are some pen and ink stuff, that i liked the way they came out.

Enjoy:

PS: an old friend of mine also reminded me of a throw down challenge I had given him on FB late last summer, but we both got to busy with other stuff to do it. It is the redesign of a couple of DC characters that we love that will be voted upon by our peers. I will be posting those up here as well, so be sure to check in and vote soon.