Springtime, Easter Vacation, and the Pre-Painting Begins...Finally

Believe it or not, these are flesh tones
 (base, warm & cool shadows, and highlight)

I can't believe it's already Wednesday and I haven't started officially painting yet - Easter Vacation is just flying by!  But, yesterday, I updated my playlists with some new songs and headed out to the garage for some of the prep-work.  I always like to start a larger-size project with as many premixed colors as possible so I don't end up running out of something in the middle of painting.  It was my "mad scientist" day - I felt like I should be wearing a lab coat and laughing maniacally when I achieved the right shade.  I will still have a palette for additional mixing and fine tuning of colors, but I should be able to do a lot with these.

Mixed, labeled, and ready to go...

One of the nice things about working in the garage on a sunny spring day is that my littlest gets to play in the front yard (which she doesn't normally get to do).  Although her big sisters are usually with her, there's a nice big window so I can keep an eye on her and she has her boundaries so that she's stays within that window of sight - of course, that's also the window where crane flies go to die this time of year.  They were all over, stuck between the glass and the screen or in webs in the corners.  So, I had to clean up that disgusting mess, too - YUCK!  But, it's fun to see my bouncing beauty enjoying the sunshine.


Now, I can't wait to actually start painting - maybe I'll get to do that tomorrow.  Hopefully, I'll get at least one painting done this week and still have some family time.  In the meantime, my painting looks a little freaky with all of the test spots created as searched for the right base colors, highlights and shadows.

Color test spots making the subject look a bit strange

So Much For Being "Done"...

A rare day-off for Lincoln's Birthday, the big kids all gone to friends' houses, and a little sunshine on the front patio means that my littlest can have fun playing out front while mom updates things on the laptop.

Spring flowers have already arrived.

Anyway, didn't I say I might just tweak the painting a little?  Well, that wasn't exactly true.  When it came down to it, I think I tweaked it a lot.  Of course, it may not look different but, with a little close observation, one might notice differences.  Frankly, I became frustrated with the 2 flowers on the right - they became rather muddled by overworking with to many colors - I even completely painted out the bottom one and started over.

I think it's done - but I'm still not happy with the leaf - I'll just tweak it a little...

Light was an interesting challenge as I had a changing light source (a south-facing window) to my left which caused moving shadows and a secondary interior light overhead/right which created shadows of its own.  I realized that I was giving conflicting information with cast shadows of the flower petals on both sides of the vase/creamer, but I liked the shapes and decided to keep them.  And that's what was truly liberating about this project compared with the first one which was much more dependent on observation.  For this one, I gave myself permission to use more artistic license and mostly responded to what was happening on the paper.  Besides liking the shapes of some of the shadows, I also liked the orange from the flowers reflected on the porcelain surface - it wasn't nearly as pronounced in real life, but I liked it in the painting.

I still have dreams of one do doing a "quick" little still life that captures its essence with a minimum of strokes... (sigh)

A Different Perspective...

On this lovely afternoon, I was able to spend time painting.  I realized that the little still life I just painted was OK, but...something about it isn't sitting well with me.  I'm happy to be more comfortable working with acrylic paint, but it's still falling flat.  That contrast that I like to emphasize just wasn't there once the colors dried.  Also, I wanted to try something a little looser now that I'd solved the question of colors and mixing.  So, I decided to try it again from a slightly different angle.

First paint (left) and today's painting (right)

I definitely like the 2nd one better - it has a greater level of contrast and it is slightly looser (although I think total reckless abandon just isn't how I was created to paint).  There's still a little tweaking that I'll do, but it shouldn't change too drastically from this.  One thing that I thought about while painting was how much easier color mixing has become.  In the early days of painting, color mixing was a little confusing - sort of hit or miss.  But now, I have a better sense of whether I should add a blue, a brown, or a black for a shadow; whether I should add a white, a yellow, an ochre, or some other color for a highlight.  I'm actually quite happy with my painting now - I want to have one foot in the natural world and one foot in the expressive without swinging too far one way or another...at least for now.

This doesn't exactly accurately represent the saturation of some of the colors, but it's close...

I've been watching some art programs on the Ovation channel lately and I had to pause one episode of Art in Progress to write down a quote.  The show focused on the artist Donald Sultan - I was not particularly familiar with his work and I liked it to some degree, although it was a bit to conceptual for my tastes (a topic for another time).  But, he said something that really struck a chord in me as I so often "overthink" things.

"One of the mainstays of making art is that you don't think of new ideas - you discover them.  So, that's why you have to work all the time.  If you go out and just lie around and start thinking and waiting, you know nothing is ever gonna happen.  And, the longer you wait, the more you realize that when you come back to it, you're right back where you were.  You're not any further along even though you thought and thought and thought - you didn't really go anywhere."  Donald Sultan

I appreciated this thought since I often like to spend time - too much time - thinking about what I want to do.  And, sometimes it's paralyzing.

Moving Along (...at last)

It was nice to spend a good chunk of time on the mural today after a VERY busy weekend (which included a girl's craft party at my house, Artist Reception at Town Center Gallery, Pinewood Derby at church, 2 kid soccer games, 1 whirlwind trip to LA for an MLS Galaxy pro soccer game, Sunday church service, a birthday party...you get the idea)

So, after the girls got started on their schoolwork, I was able to sneak out to the garage and get back to the "Cheers" panel.  As you can see, much was accomplished, although a lot is left to do.  However, I think I've gotten a good enough first layer of detail to move on to panel 5 for a while.  I'm looking forward to working on something besides grapes and using some different colors.

I like how the barrel turned out - it's always exciting to
see the image building with every detail.

Now, if you're keeping score of changes made to the original design, you'll notice another one here.  The male figure had a slight costume change - he traded in his brown jacket for a dark navy-ish one.  I never really liked the brown one in the original design as it seemed like there was just too much brown goin' on.  I knew I wanted to have him in blue jeans, so my fashion-forward teenage daughter suggested this color.  Works for me!

Solving Problems...

I'm REALLY glad that the mural is being painted on panels which allows me to work in the garage around my schedule during odd hours!  I don't feel rushed, yet I feel like I'm still getting things accomplished (even with daytime demands).

This evening, I played around with the grape colors, bringing them closer to what I want.  I still need to build up layers and values.

Before

After

I also worked out a couple of issues with the figures - particularly the man.  I dealt with the NCS, or Narrow Chin Syndrome, as well as the Big-Footitis that he suffered from.  He really had too much heel - the heel was more profile while the front of the foot was more 3/4 view.  Anyway, he's been healed - Hallelujah!  (And "heeled," I guess).

A Strawberry Day...

This has certainly been a productive couple of days with many hours in the garage - looks like I'll have one more fairly full day tomorrow (with time out to teach an art class in the afternoon).  Then, it's off to the next round of State Cup games out of town followed by back-to-school Monday.  I have to say that it sure has been nice to just focus on this project for at least a little while.

I had a little help today - my daughter Joley really wanted to paint something.  There really isn't much for someone else to come in and do, but I let her lay down a base coat of yellow on the girl's dress and the strawberry blossoms.  

Much of today was spent working out the strawberry leaves - there was A LOT of overlapping shapes and values to work out - very time consuming (but, then again, I love detail work).

I'm still figuring out the greens.  I wasn't happy with the cauliflower and broccoli - much too blue once I got the warmer strawberry and grape leaves in there.  I always tell my students that color is relative - you may think it looks a certain way until you put more colors next to it.

Something New for This Summer!

The bulk of our schoolwork is done for the year and now I'm just tying up loose ends to close out the year.  I've got some plans for some art projects over break - finishing some portfolio pieces started over Christmas and reworking something for a juried art show this fall.  But, first and foremost, I'll be working on my first commissioned project - a wall mural in a friend's home!  So, my creative thoughts are turning to theTuscan countryside for a while.

In the meantime, I'm still doodling here and there and "taking notes" at church in the form of illustrations.  I've included last Sunday's notes as it was a fun one to illustrate.  While the story of Moses and Pharaoh is very familiar to me, it was a fun one to put in pictures.  I worked on it some more last night, adding color.

Another Painting...

What?  Two posts in two days?!  Gotta stock up before the school year officially starts again and my attention is focused elsewhere for a while.

One thing I like about working with the paint and a more simple style is that I can accomplish an illustration a lot quicker. I did this companion piece to the “Woof” dog last night (compare that to the few days that “Mail” took). Of course, I still spent a couple of hours on each of these little paintings (aprox. 5”x7”).  But, it's a nice mental break from the detailed work I also like to do.


I’m still debating whether or not to make this a triptych and complete the primary color triad that I have going - perhaps a bird with a yellow background. I'm happy with the two I have, but a third makes sense as well. Hmmmmmm…

Anyway, on a different note, I’ve been thinking about having some prints made to sell in an Etsy shop. Illustration is different from other forms of art that can more easily be displayed in people’s homes - it’s a bit more specific and, perhaps, more for collectors. However, I think that these paintings might be good choices as they could easily work in a child’s room.

Illustration Friday: "Sneaky"

He thought he was so sneaky, but nothing gets by Mom!

Sorry if you recognize this from a couple years ago, but it just seems to fit the theme this week perfectly!  If you missed it before, I hope you enjoy it now.

I work in pencil so much, I'm longing to do some color work.  Just don't have the time to set up for painting at the moment.  Maybe during the Christmas break...

Found the Colored Pencils

Easter Vaction and I finally dug through a couple boxes for my colored pencils.

These guys were a quick 2 minute doodle done a while back that I added some color to.

I doodled the picture on the left first and had no plans to do anything else. However, I do need to do some studies that show one particular character in different moods or actions. This isn't for the portfolio or anything, but it's good practice. I wanted to make sure I could recreate the same character from a different angle. I think I duplicated her shape and features well enough. But, I need to take a look at some other artists and see how they handle hair in this medium. I'm not a big fan of how I did it here.

Finds at the Bookstore...and some much-needed color on this blog!

As we get closer to the date of store closure, I've found a couple little gems among the picture books on the shelf. I remember seeing a couple of them when they arrived, but they're a little smaller in size and, I think, got a little lost among the bigger books.

Anyway, I picked up "Binky the Space Cat" by Ashley Spires. I just loved this little cat and it's plushy pal. I'm not normally a fan of the graphic novel, but I really like the characters and the way this one's done! I tend to enjoy the limited color palette and the - very artfully done!

Another find is "Red Ted and the Lost Things" written by Michael Rosen and Illustrated by Joel Stewart. Again, it's a creative approach to the graphic novel/picture book. I like the bright, well-defined characters set against the muted background.

The third book I brought home last night was "Sky Tree" illustrated by landscape painter Thomas Locker. It's simply shows a tree as a changes throughout the year with 14 BEAUTIFUL paintings and limited text.

I hope to be able to add MY OWN color to this blog soon, but I still have to dig some of my supplies out of boxes from the move. Maybe now that the holidays are over, things will settle down a little. Of course, we start back to school on Monday...oh well.

Illustration Friday "Unfold" ...Sort of...

"How will this story unfold?"

Well, because of a convenient nap, I was able to get a color study done of my intended composition. This isn't the finished product, but it's all I could do before the deadline. I'll post the final some day - I'll let you know how it "unfolds."

So, the purpose of this study was to practice an interior, low-light scene. I went with a limited Thalo blue, Cadmium Orange Medium, Cadmium Yellow, Mars Black and Titanium White colors. I tended to use blue/black mixtures for the background and complementary blue/orange mixtures for the main subject and lighted areas, making them a bit more vibrant. I used the yellow in limited situations for warmth in the illuminated areas.

A big challenge was figuring out a good skin tone for this situation. But, overall, I think I did manage to learn something. So, hopefully, the final will be a little easier. It was worth it to do this rough study. It allowed me to be looser than I normally am and just focus on color.

This Could Take a While...

It's Wednesday and I'm quickly losing hope of being able to post my Illustration Friday painting before the theme changes. I did a color study last night that was absolutely horrid. I worked on one tonight with a little improvement. But, my time seems to be limited to after 8:00 p.m. when the baby goes to bed. By then, I have little steam.

Oh well...At least I'm solving a technical riddle (for me anyway). That is, figuring out color and value for an interior, low-light setting. This would be a wonderful moment to have a mentor, but since I'm short one, I've been searching the web for visual aids. They haven't been easy to find. Any search for interior paint/light seems to take me to interior decorating info. I already painted the living room and have no plans to do it again.

I did come across a couple of illustrations that I do admire. I will post them here with full credit and links to the artists in hopes that they don't mind (if so, I'll promptly remove this post).

Anyway, I really enjoy the work of the artist known on the web as Samuel123 (shown above) - he has several images involving interiors with a directed light source and unique characters. What struck me about his work is the warmth - I tend to gravitate toward cool blues when thinking "shadow."

This image was a nice example of backlighting for me - the glow that happens around figures and objects when lit from behind. I also like the color palette - much different combo of warm and cool than the work above. It just goes to show that there are different options. The artist, Maryam, has a style that I appreciate as well.

I don't mind missing the Illustration Friday deadline since this is one of those learning moments. It reminds me of when I did the "Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road" drawing last year - it became big project during which I learned a lot about color and light in an outdoor evening scene with neon and twinkling lights (not that it's perfect or anything - probably not enough contrast and shadow to qualify as a night scene, and I don't use photoshop or anything.).

Nothing's ever simple...

I found a character sketch in my sketchbook that I thought would work for this weeks Illustration Friday theme "unfold" - as in, "how will this scenario unfold?" I want to keep on with the painting practice, so that's my intended medium.

As I drew out the scene, I realized that this would be best as an interior setting in dim light.

Some of my favorite works that others have done have been set in low light - either outdoors or indoors. But, I've never really done one of my own before. Of course, that means approaching light and color in a way that is new to me. Therefore...research and color studies. And, if you've never stopped by James Gurney's blog, he's an outstanding artist and a regular wealth of technical art instruction. I did find some great images of light and color (albeit outdoor scenes) that have inspired me.

Anyway, rather than simply being able to sit down and start creating, I've had to do samples of different color mixtures, mainly in the blue and purple range mixed with black and umber (I already have studies of complements). Sometimes there's a sort of glow that can come from whatever the light source is, so I've also done a few mixtures with yellow.

I don't usually post my prelim sketches and studies for an IF theme, but then this is much more involved than usual (nothing's ever simple). But, I now have a nice reference sheet, although I can't say exactly which color I'm going to use in which part. I guess I'll just dive in and we'll see how this all "unfolds..."

Illustration Friday: "Craving"

A portrait of the artist as a multitude of cravings. As the saying goes: you are what you eat.

My effort with acrylic paints were slightly better this time. However, I was rather annoyed with the whole thing for a while into it. I have so much more of a grasp on drawing, but I'm still figuring out a lot of things with acrylics (and painting, in general). I had enough gumption to stick with it and I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

I think acrylics was a good medium to use on this subject, partly because of all the creamy frostings involved. By the end of it, I did have a better understanding of the medium and how I work with it:

1. I much prefer the heavy bodied Liquitex paints I have rather than the Grumbacher tubes which are more "runny." The Liquitex feel more like the thicker oils I was more used to in college.

2. The extender I have is pretty useless.

3. I'm beginning to like the quicker drying time - it serves my impatience well, allowing me to rework areas almost immediately and to utilize dry brush effects that I like.

4. I really need to invest in some better paint brushes.

I also fell back on the "easier for me" expressionistic color palette rather than taking the time to mix more natural colors. But the, sweets tend to be more colorful anyway. So, it works.

Anyway, my family arrived home from camping today. My oldest daughter made me a portrait of her own from nature as a present as today is my birthday.

Eine Kleine Nacht-Chicken

I started work on the "final" of the chicken drawing - I know it seems like I've been talking about it forever, however when you only have an hour or less at a time to work on a project...

It didn't help that we went miniature golfing today (but that was fun).



I've set aside all of the colors that I'll be using from my magic pencil box for this night scene with chicken. Anyway, I think this will be the final. For all I know, it will end up being a very detailed study and I'll want to do it over with slight changes. Oh, I hope not. It's funny, but even with all of the planning and color tests, there are still surprises.


Once again, the paper I'm using is different. My sketchbook paper is very slick and white - the paper I'm using is slightly textured and not as white. I do prefer a little "tooth" to the paper, though (note to self: get sketchbook with different paper).


Also, it's surprising how much second-guessing can go on. Should I have made this bigger? Should I move that over? etc. Maybe that's just normal. I wonder if other illustrators question themselves so much.

A Sneak Peek - Developing the Character

Do you recall the doodle that started me thinking about the chicken picture? Well, I realized that it really looked more like a parrot or cockatoo.

So, I did some chicken studies out of a book at work to identify more of their real characteristics.

The character now has more of a real chicken quality. This is a close-up of one of the studies I've been working on to determine some of the colors and compositional elements.


I've still got a little more to iron out, but I think I'll be diving into the final project pretty soon.

Going Colorful...

Today was busy, busy, busy - the last teaching day of our big, multi-subject co-op. We still have our end of year picnic in 2 weeks, but at least I can cross off one of my teaching responsibilities for the school year.

There was definitely no drawing time today, so I dusted off this old relic from about 4 years ago. This was before I seriously returned to art and illustration; an exploratory work with colored pencil (this blog's needing some color these days). The expressionistic color palette that I've mentioned is obvious here.

Anyway, now that the anatomy studies are done, I've decided to abandon working from books or from doodled inspirations at the moment and look more at the real world for a while. The bookstore where I work is located in a mall, so there's an abundance of subject matter there that I never really considered. So, now on my breaks, I just step outside of the store and draw what I see - people, clothing displays, mall foliage (is that stuff real?).

A More Formal Look at Color...

I’m a little tired of working with pencil at the moment – as much as I enjoy the medium, it's too much of the same. It’s time for a little color.

I used to paint with oils in college, but those materials are long gone. I like oil paints, though - the textures and the smells. However, dealing with disposal of the chemicals and having kids around has encouraged me to give acrylics a try (and they're taking some getting used to).

One of the things I’ve wanted to do is make a color wheel. I’ve been wanting to understand color a lot more than I do and explore more color options. As I’ve mentioned before, I tend to fall back on the familiar bright, expressionistic color palette that I was so enamored with in college (and it was easy). And, the natural colors that I want to use now require less “out-of-the-tube” and more thoughtful mixing. I have done some simple color mixing swatches with some of colors, but it’s time to take it further. I feel like I’m back in Color Theory 101, but this time it's not just another exercise to get through - I know what I need to focus on and where I want to go with it.

I started this exercise last night by creating a series of circles for my color wheel and dividing it into 12 sections for primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. I figure I'll work with complementary pairs at a time. I still struggle with the quick-dry of acrylics, so this way I can quickly work from the same mixture all the way across the circle.

OOOoooooo, I’m looking forward to painting!

Direction, At Last

I realized during this last doodle that I was in a "valley" in terms of my drawing. I had finished up some projects from before, I work on anatomy studies while on break at work, but I didn't have a specific focus at home.

I started the doodle because I wanted to keep drawing. But, it didn't feel like anything special - just business as usual - lacking direction. I was reminded of cable news anchors - they keep on reporting the news even when nothing new has happened. But, when some big news story breaks, there's new energy and excitement as if there's no end to what they could discuss and analyze.

That's how I feel now, because I'm suddenly flooded with possibilities. In my next few drawings, I'd like to explore value a bit further. I've done a lot with full value ranges, but I'd like to put some limits on that and see what happens (I know in theory - just haven't had the opportunity to practice it).

Also, I'd mentioned being interested in color. There are a lot of great articles on James Gurney's blog, Gurney Journey, that I would like to explore further. I was running low on some of my acrylic colors which I just replaced today. So, I think I can finally go forward with some of the color wheel studies that I've wanted to try.

Here is just a goofy painting I did just to try out the acrylic retarder I picked up (my painting skills leave a lot to be desired). The instructions really emphasized not to mix more than 30% retarder to paint, so I tried not to overdo it. While it extended the drying time a bit for the paint on the palette, it really didn't extend it very much on a whole. Of course, that's probably because I didn't have a lot of paint, so I was working thin.