Digital study

A quick study after Cornwell in Photoshop. Boy, I could use more practice with digital tools...

Back to the basics

Been away on a trip and not attend life drawing session for a month. Very rusty indeed. Time to go back to the fundamentals and get my act together again. Roughly 1.5~2 hour working time with charcoal. The lighting, to my horror was back to the good old 15 light setting, with all spotlights pointing towards the model. Maybe I should wear my sun glasses for the next session...

Some new stuff from the photodepartment

Another attempt in b/w

Another day of "not so colorful" life. Still haven't got used to the slight violet tint on this particular brand of acrylic.(it is local brand Kroma Acrylic, which felt kind like buying local food.) I end up spending lots of time adjusting the "bush", aka the head, so that it implies the head within its mass. Maybe it would be a good exercise to paint the Muppets before attempting to approach the head from this angle...

The surface is a bit rougher in texture, but otherwise all the same material as before.

Where are the colors?

Well, they didn't want to go out and decided to surf the web while I go paint with b/w. Colors are very emotional you know... *smile*

I love a lot of old illustration. Many of them were done in black, white, and one other color. It has to due with the limited printing technology and also the cost of the printing as well.(colors are expensive, especially when print in large quantity) The result is often great control of value with strong design.(when they work, of course)

Just though I should give it a go, since I often use charcoal for value studies instead. The pieces was acrylic on Gessoed fire wood.

Recent stuff

Time does fly since the last update. Monthly update seems to be working so far. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this rate. Below are some of the recent studies and experiments.

Start to paint on fire wood. A pack of 8 pre-cut pieces like this only cost about $5 at local hardware store.(5 1/2 x16 inches, 1 1/2 inch thick) Definitely a price tag for any starving artists out there. Just got to take a look and make sure there is no big crack down the middle before buying it.

Acrylic, about 2.5 hours with breaks.

Acrylic on 9x12 Masonite, about 2.5 hours with breaks.

Another fire wood piece. Gotto finish the pack.

Acrylic, about 2.5 hours with breaks.

For those of you who knows me well, when things start to seem repetitive something strange tends to find its way into my work. In this case, She-Hulk have made her appearance... *smile*

Acrylic, about 2.5 hours with breaks.

Switching gear and picked up watercolor for a quick head study. About 40 minutes. I gotto do more of it...

Another one of my "bare minimal" practice. Just trying to see how far I can go without using a palette to mix color. Two brushes, two jar of Latex house paint(white and brown), and a water jar for washing the brush. Took about 30 minute on construction paper of some random dude in my head...(No, not all random dude up there look like this. *smile*)

Recent studies

Not sure what it is, but somethings changed since my trip during the break. Probably got something to do with what I ate... *smile*

Stay pretty muted in terms of color. Perhaps has to do with the color in the original picture I painted over.

Time to do another Mr. Blue.

Ran out of time when I got to the hands. Maybe I should do the hands first in the future?

Change of pace

Something went wrong in my brain and I end up painting in the drawing workshop tonight. Kind of make me wonder how much time I have been wasting when painting in my usual small size studies.

18x25 inch, Acrylic on cardboard. 20 minutes each

Long be hold... here comes skeleton

We had a no show for the weekly painting workshop. Our resident model, who had been waiting in the corner forever, finally made it big time. Other than being a bit on the skinny side, she is actually a pretty good model and very easy to work with.

Acylic on board, 12x16 inch

Gesture drawings with pen and ink

It has been a while since I posted any pen drawings, thought it might be a good time to do so. Never been confident drawing with pen and ink for some reason, not the same feeling as charcoal on paper anyway. Maybe it is practice, or simply a personal thing. I guess I have to practice some more to find out which one it is though.(not much of a choice it is? *smile*)

These are 1 minute gestures done with Lamy fountain pen.

Location studies

Yep, it is that time again. The thought of updating the blog actually made it into my task list.(it was a tough fight) Couple of quick studies on scrap wood. Been working on improving my DIY paint box as well.

Quick sketch around the dock. 5.5x2 inch Acrylic, about 20 minutes

Twilight study of the office buildings near home. 7x2.5 inch Acrylic, about 20 minutes.

Home made frames

After couple visit to Home Depot, hand sawing, a bit of gluing and painting, 4 home made frames was born. The best part is that it cost only a fraction of the price compare to the framing shop. Although I would still leave proper framing job to the pros, these might be alright for small painting studies.(Keeping my fingers crossed and hope I don't see them again.)

The materials, glue, saw, and paint end up to be about $20 per frame.(The more I make the lower the overhead cost for each frame as well.)

Back to painting

Few recent studies, around 1.5 to 2 hour working time. Been focusing on the brush work and still stuck in the muddy place. They are 6x12 inches since I tend to like longer formats. A nightmare to frame them though...

Apologies for the lack of reply for the previous postings. Somehow I am not able to post comment even when logged in.(Still trying to figure it out.)

Weekly chore

Drawing workshop at the end of the month

Will be conducting a drawing workshop in Vancouver at the end of the month. Time to visit the basics...(and my Draw123 Book. *smile*)

Recent studies

It's been a while since the previous update, and many white hair later.(assuming no significant hair loss. :P ) Here are some of the recent studies. Been working on adjusting my schedule and hopefully I will be able to update more often.

Another study while I still have time...

Did another test to see if it is possible to have similar approach consistently. Well, it turned out to be more than I can chew on. About 5 minutes into it, I had one of those "What the hell were you thinking?!" moment. End up taking around two hour for this head. Now I really want a pony... I will clean and draw it every day!

PS. I will leave out the artist who's work I copied from. It is easy enough to guess. *smile*

Late night study

Can't sleep. Decided to do a study using a Loomis piece. Took a little over an hour or so. Hum... now I am really awake...

DIY compact watercolor brush

Compact brushes are often super expensive in the art store, and often very small in size. Being the cheap guy I am, I got some lipstick form dollar store and turned them into my compact watercolor brush.(those are number 12 brush in the photo.) It is not only compact, one would never have to worry about messing up the hair when the brush is retracted and capped. Total cost of the brush is about $15.(Brush is about $12, the lipstick was $2.25, plus the cost of glue and cleaning supplies.)

I think anyone who love to sketch on location should totally do this too!!!

Watercolor watercolor

Still trying to be loose with watercolor. Strangely, the more I try to be loose, the tighter it looks. (I am sure something is going on in my head.) Anyway, here are the latest attempts in the local workshop. About 90 minutes to 2 hours each.