Poster design

A friend's band wanted a poster design that they could use for upcoming gigs... et voila.

Acrylic paintings

I decided that painting on different supports is a good idea, because as convenient as my paper sketchbook it, the paint kind of soaks in and I lose any texture that I might be working on.

So I found a few junky canvases and also some other kinds of board/paper to experiment with.

These two paintings were both done with a limited color palette (3 colors plus white and a little black) which is good both for color mixing practice and also getting a unified look. It always surprises me at the end of a session to look down and see how many colors i have mixed, intentionally and by accident, using just 3 colors. I've seen some masters paint with only TWO colors and it doesn't feel lacking. There's an incredible array of color and tone hidden in just a few paints!

Unfortunately these photos aren't great, but they'll have to do for now.

Digital painting

Last time i was painting it was super-cold and I didn't want to stay in my painting room (which is chilly!) so I decided to do some digital painting in the (heated) office.

I had been reading some more about underpaintings and their functions, so I decided to give it a go for the still life I was painting.

In the end, it didn't have much effect on the final work (i.e there aren't many parts where you can see the underpaint shine through) but I think it did help me with choosing colors and values. In any case, the painting turned out pretty well, I think... quite accurate to the photo I was referencing and I was particularly pleased with the glass/water (apart from the wonky, non-circular shape which is a big no-no!).

Face paintings III

A few more paintings...

I had a few pages in my sketchbook with already-painted backgrounds (remnants of paint at the end of previous sessions) and it was interesting to work on these... seeing how the underlying color enhanced or contrasted the paint I was laying down. A nice change from starting with white.

I'm starting to get a few parts of my images that I like - an eye that has some depth to it, a nose that's nicely described using just a few efficient strokes, it's a good feeling to see some progress and things starting to come together.

Face paintings II

Been doing some more face painting practices in my sketchbook... gradually getting a better feel for the paint and learning heaps more about color, as usual. I think the next thing to concentrate on will be values again, because as always I don't push the darks dark enough. I think mixing paint and maintaining the correct colors is a pretty tricky skill, but i'll get it :)

I said in my last post that I might start focusing on structural/facial accuracy and depiction as well, but that didn't happen. I get bogged down in that a bit, so I feel alright leaving that aside for now.

Face paintings

As part of my acrylic painting forays, I've started painting a few faces to practice skin tones, paint handling and particularly getting used to the unique aspects of portraiture compared to other kinds of art. I don't worry too much about accuracy and realism apart from doing a quick pencil sketch to start, but I am thinking maybe I should incorporate it, cause I need to work on that as well.

They're quick studies, probably less than half an hour each, so I haven't developed any of them very far, but just try out new things. The plan, I guess, is to gradually start doing more 'serious' work as I improve - portraiture is something that appeals to me and I'd like to find a unique, interesting way to present them (rather than just a very realistic, documentary approach).

But for now, here's the first few...

Painting development

I've started painting a few canvases to hang in my house, as part of a general push to do some more "real" painting... i figure if I get going with these then I might get some momentum and keep painting more.

The first one is done (photo will come at some point) but I've gotten stuck with the second. I spent a few hours playing round with some ideas digitally, which is great for testing/drafting since it's quick, non-permanent and very flexible. I don't think any of them are actually what I want to do, but I enjoyed the process anyway.

Face

Was just doodling round for a bit while I waited for something, and liked the colors that were coming together.

On the weekend I went to a children's book illustration exhibition and saw a lot of great stuff. I didn't exactly have that in mind when I did this but I guess it's along those lines. I've recently been really digging lens artifacts as well - light blooms, bokeh and all that filmic stuff. It adds a level of texture that I find appealing, and isn't something I see much in other people's art/illustration work.

I'm still somewhere

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and so on. I've been somewhere... still here but not doing a lot of arty stuff and not uploading the bits I HAVE done. I'll be doing some painting soon, which is cool, but for now, here's a few hipsta-photos just to get me back into the swing of things, hopefully.

Apparently I'm in a blue and lemon mood at the moment, cause the ones that stood out to me from what I had on my phone were all that sporting lovely blue look with light touches and golden highlights.