Cold winter...

Haven't been a good blogger lately. Thought I would post a quick update with some recent photo to get things rolling again. This winter has been especially cold for Vancouver. The snow hit us hard and is great for photographing snow scenes. These were taken on a trip to the near by lake last week. The lake were frozen but not safe enough to be walked on yet.(Some dude actually fell into it the day before we went.) My fingers were numb by the time we got back to the car, but it was totally worth it.

Happy Halloween!

20th SketchCrawl - Vancouver

Joined the 20th SketchCrawl in Vancouver on Beautiful Granville island. Thought no one is coming until someone showed up a hour pass the meeting time.(I totally forgot about the "artist time" thing. One hour later than any set time for any gathering...) Got to meet quite a few friendly local artists.

Beside the first time experience with the crawl, is it also the first trial run for my home made paint box.(Just finished it this week.) The box works surprisingly well. Beside having to hold on to it until the water bottle is clipped on,(as a counter weight to prevent it from tipping over.) it works perfectly. The box came with the light bulbs purchased at Costco, and the spare parts and screws comes from Home depot for about $12. Compare to the wooden paint box that costs about $50 and up, this is definitely a good way to save money. Besides, most of the boxes are designed for oil painting and doesn't work perfectly with the setup I have with Acrylics. Now I can finally go everywhere with my Acrylics.(Everyone should make one!!!.)

After freezing my butt for 2.5 hours, most people had found their way inside the market for some warmth. I drank a cup the hot tea in my backpack and head over to the boats.(No way I am going inside, especially with the Saturday crowd in the Market.) When I got back around 2:00pm, I can hardly find anyone around.(although I knew they are still around some where on the island.) Too bad I couldn't meet up with the group at the end of the day, as I had to take off early. Maybe next time.

Fashion stuff

It is about time to start putting fashion stuff up. To the power of contour lines! Gouache with my new $8.00 watercolor brush. The new brush is a treat compare to my crappy 9 year old synthetic brush. However, the hair is starting to fall off as I push the brush around like a cheap labor with water bucket...(The nice Series 7 brush is still sealed in a air tight box somewhere in my brush box. Can't get myself to torture a brush that cost as much as 2 month worth of Walgreen cookie.)

Purpose of concept art

The purpose of the concept art is to save money and plan out the production at low cost. So, what is the point of spending a few K on fancy computer equipments to do the same thing that can be done with less than a few bucks?(pencil and paper) Even including a decent scanner and a dozen cups of good coffee, it would not even come close in cost. It just does not makes sense to spend more to save money, not to me anyway.

Anyway, here is a quick sketch done in Photoshop.(As you can see, it would be much cheaper doing it with pencil on paper instead.)

More painting with dull colors.

Hum... not sure what happened. It is not like they discontinue Cads or Manganese Blue. Some one just came by one day and took all the bright color away... Or maybe it's the Canadian food.(I am sure there are some that would agree to that. *smile*) Anyway, just figure studies from workshop.(acrylic on Sketchbook.) Nowadays, I get about 3~4 poses(20 minutes) tops. Most of the time, I would be running around the studio dealing with something. I am so glad that I hung out with the Craigzzz and his quick study while I had the chance. Definitely the best painting class ever.

Recent stuff

Update from the location sketchbook. The last is from a life painting session.(obviously...)

Lucked out on the scene. The stormy clouds had just a nice opening allowing the light to come through right on the mountain.(Although it only lasted couple of minutes...)

Had 10% off at a buffet. Ate a whole loads of cakes and other sweets. Painted the view across the river while digesting all the food.(Never should anyone eat that much...)

Sketching with a friend from under the bridge while waiting for the life drawing session to start.

Sitting at Starbucks without ordering anything.(nothing new there...)

A visit to the blue berry farm. Due to the cold winter, the blue berry is very limited this year.

Just another figure study on found wood from construction sites.(And you wonder why they always lock the place... *smile*)

Back to brush and ink

Still have the same ancient bottle of ink to use up. The bottle has lasted way longer than I have ever expected it to. It has been about 8~9 years now, and I am not even half way down the bottle yet. It either means I need to practice using ink more, or it lasts forever. Either way, it is about time I pick it up again. These were done in figure drawing workshop, between 15~20 minutes each. Of course, these were drawn on my trusty Costco acid free paper, the second best art supply store.(The first being ToysRus.)

Old digital sketches

Some of the quick sketches done a while ago. Thought you might be tired of all the figurative stuff. 100% Photoshop with no preservatives. The first two took an hour, the rest took 20 minutes. Hope to make the CraigZ proud.

Studies from this week...

Second session with the same model. Refines the face and adjusted the arm and hand a bit more. Probably fuzzing a bit too much.(Can't help it.) Now all it needs is expensive jewelry and some sort of room with fancy furniture in the background.(Assuming she got married to a rich husband who is always out on business trips. Maybe a hot pool boy if I got that far...)

Another 1.5 hour study.(The one with crazy lighting.) Started off with a strange couple trying to check out the workshop. Of course, the husband runs around the studio looking at works and the model while the model is posing nude. After chasing the crazy couple out, an old confused soul came in and was about to pull the same stunt.(Of course, was asked to leave. But he turned out to be a nice guy who just had no idea that it wasn't appropriate.) Anyway, the model was nice enough to stay put while all this madness is going on. I wish the old Lee is at this workshop...(For those of you who know what I am talking about...)

When is it going to end?

Nude figure after another nude, when is it going to end? Well, I have no clue. Still enjoy doing it.(Although I am not sure if I am getting anywhere with it.) Here are two from last weeks workshops.

This is the first week of a 2 week portrait session. Got about 1.5 hours of working time on the 12x24 board.(Found in a dumpster of course.) Still a long way to go. Hopefully I will be a bit further along in the second session.

Another addition to the nude figure painting collection.

Multitasking

Between answering phone call, changing music, keeping strange people from causing trouble and wiping the waters on the floor, some how I was able to keep painting. Only got this far for a little over an hour. Too bad I didn't get to finish those sexy legs. Gotto move faster I guess.

Recent drawing

It is good to finally be drawing on regular drawing paper again. Have been drawing on the cheap printing paper from Costco for a few months now. Found a local supply of Acid Free drawing paper. Although not cheap, but it is affordable for practice.

Sketch this week

Still swamped at the moment, although slowly getting out of the total panic. Just a quick sketch from the weekend workshop. He was a very nice and playful person. Haven't been doing a charcoal study like this in a while. Hopefully there will be more updates as I try to get the schedule under control.

Quick update

Yes , Mr. Stanislavsky. I hear you. Time to move my lazy ass and post an update. Being swamped with the summer classes at the moment. This is just a quick update on the recent studies at the local workshop. All except the last one were done in about 1.5 hour with more than a dozen spot lights.(along with half a dozen florescent lights) The last one is a two session painting, about 3 hours in total.(As you can see, the mug was the reason why it took me so long to do the study... *smile*)

Man, I still can't escape from the muddy color palette. I just don't get it. When I use the ugly muddy color, most people seems to like it. When I get to use my favorite bright colors, I get "That's interesting..."(A nice way of saying that is not so hot.) I should also stay away from cardboard as well... Yeah, I know... cheap art supply is hard to resist... (I should stop raiding the Costco dumpster)*smile*

Nice lady at workshop...

There has been increasing number of no-show models at the local workshop. Few weeks ago, we had another no show for a 2 week portrait session. One of the lady, a regular who also helps to do all sort of tasks at the workshop, posed for us so we will not go home empty handed.(and she agree to be back for the second session as well.) After showing the photo of the study to her husband, she came back the following week asking the price about the piece. After all of the help she had done to keep the place going, I decided to give her the study to thank her for all she had done.

Anyway, here is the last time anyone will see that piece.(I get to make another one in the second session for myself.)

Digital junk...

Been doing these quick comp for a while now. Just looking for a comfortable way to work digitally. Basically trying to use as little "auto-pilot" as possible while taking advantage of the digital medium.(I know those are two contradicting idea...) It is basically an one hour quick study with Photoshop. Just another medium on the list of skills to keep up...

Recent studies

I am almost through with the pack of ugly Strathmore colored paper. I have no clue why I bought it. Have to pay respect to those trees who donated their life for art. In any case here we go...(All of these were done in under 2 hours, with breaks in between.)

Finally back to my normal color palette. Feels good to be using familiar paints and just focus on painting.

This one was done using some cheap watercolor set I found on the floor, with the exception of my white gouache.

We had a no show and a friend of one of the regular agree to pose for us.(Yes, naked. What are the odds?) After a few minutes, her knee hurts and had to change th pose. This is the under drawing of the unfinished painting.

The painting was just an excuse to put the highlight on the hair.

Just decided to work on the face a little more for a change. It just happened to be lit by multiple lights, contrbuting to the headache...

The model has a really good muscle structure and kind of a Egyptian looking face. For some reason, I end up focusing on the deltoid.(No pun intended...)Yes, he is blue. This is the second last piece of bright yellow paper in the pack. One more to go.