More Experimenting with Oil

I first put down a tone of green ochre mixed with alizarin crimson.

Let that dry and next applied flake white on the lightest areas of the painting. Next I will build up the form with blue-greens and reds and then finally, apply glazes over that. Don't have any idea what I'm doing but read about this "Verdaccio" technique in an article by Adrian Gottlieb in the most recent Artist's Magazine. Thought it would be fun to try.

I've continued to work on Lady of the Lake. Am liking face a little better. On to the hands.

Lady of the Lake Revisited

Back in 2009 at IMC, I selected the Lady of the Lake assignment. I ended up finishing it digitally instead of in oils. I promised Rebecca Guay I would redo it in traditional medium. I pulled out another idea I had for it and thought it would be fun to try two different oil applications per picture. With the first photo I'm attempting to put down the bigger value shapes, taking an average of the value in shadow. I'll then go back in and bring out the subtle shifts in temperature and value on my second layer.

On this one I'm applying the oils in glazes, working wet in wet, allowing the graphite sketch to show through like an under painting. You can't see it in this photo, but the sketch looks really neat coming through the semi transparent layers, almost resembling the veins underneath the skin. I will let this dry and then fix some of the problems, especially the mouth. The paint was getting too tacky to do any more.

Need To Move On

Well, I learned a lot doing this and I can mess with it until the cows come home (does anyone know where they've been??), but it's time to move on to other things. The plan was to print this out half-way and finish it with acrylic washes and colored pencils. Well, that would have worked except my new, Epson R1900 printer isn't working properly and I'm so tired of wasting paper and ink and minutes on the phone to the support (haha) center that I've been forced to finish it in Photoshop.

So, here is Lady of the Lake. She looks much too dark here on my blog. She's much more vibrant on my monitor in PS. Hell's bells. I quit. I'm am so ready to put a good ol' 2B pencil in my hand and feel the give and take of the graphite as it catches on a fresh sheet of Stonehenge paper. I'm craving some tactile, organic, finger-smudging sketching. Where's my kneaded eraser?

Desperation and Virtual Paint

I know...TWO post in one day. Don't faint. My Lady of the Lake IMC assignment is due on the first of September. About two weeks ago, I realized I wasn't going to make it since I've had a gaming job that had to be put on the top of my to do list. I have been buying FX Imagine magazine on and off, when a particular artist I like is featured. This magazine is published in the UK and comes with an instructional CD and lots and lots of instruction for the digital artist, plus a section for traditional artists as well. It's a pricey $15 at B&N but worth it. I've been trying some of the demos they have and slowly learning some things in PhotoShop, even though I don't have the super-duper CS3 version.

So when I realized traditional oil wasn't going to cut it for this painting in time, I decided to scan the ol' watery gal in and let loose with the Wacom tablet and my anemic knowledge of digital paint. I discovered that this takes time to build up layers and learn the different brushes, etc. I've basically been applying layers as I would with colored pencils, using either the Overlay and Softlight modes over my original sketch (which was fairly finished). I have most of the colors down in this post and now I have to go in and refine and clean up edges. Not sure I'll make it but it's been a real learning experience. I know anyone who knows their way around digital application will probably scoff at this attempt, but you got to start somewhere, right?

Fear and Trepidation with Oils

I don't know when I acquired such a fear of oils. I know it stems from my inexperience with them. And yet every time I lay them down on a surface, I love the way they look and feel and can be pushed and persuaded. So what's the deal? I walked around, looking at everyone's wonderful work so I wouldn't have to start. I finally realized that what I was experiencing was a type of performance anxiety; not too unlike what happens to me when I sing. I don't want to make mistakes publicly. It was a major breakthrough for me. Once I identified what was preventing me from moving forward, I had a good talk with myself (get over yourself!!) and started repeating the Greg Manchess mantra, "Art is simply about moving the paint on to the canvas", and began.

I used a walnut oil alkyd medium and started working on my darker values in the background. I also put down some warmth in her hair to see if that would work. I must thank Dan Dos Santos, Greg Manchess, Rebecca Guay and Scott Fischer for all their help with this. Each of them took time to teach me, sometimes painting on my piece; sometimes making suggestions. These photos aren't the best but they show the progress on the painting. Next post will show painting into the glaze on the face.

I've Been a Negligent Blogger

There's no excuse...well, maybe a little one. I was gone to IMC for 10 days. Parents came for a visit a day after I landed. Needed to catch my breath. July Fourth Celebration. A slight Read Fest...well, there's just so many good books this summer, I really could not help it.

So I think I'm ready to get back to my routine and the first thing on my list is: UPDATE BLOG.

Let's get back to IMC and my assignment. I've already posted my workups and my sketch. The next thing I did was scan in the sketch, pushed the color of the graphite to a grayish-green and printed it out on 140# Lanaquarelle watercolor paper, 16" x 20". Because the over-sized printer had water-based inks, I couldn't just spray with a fixative. With the help of Donato Giancola, I brushed a thin layer of acrylic medium on top of the sketch using a dry brush and no water. I let that dry for an hour outside and repeated the process. I applied three more layers with a light sanding in between, allowing the previous layer to dry for about 20 minutes. I now had my sketch nicely coated and proteced from the oils AND, since this time I didn't mount it to a board, when I am done, I can roll it up like you would canvas. I began laying down acrylic washes in the moon, the background and some warmth on her knuckles, face and ears (forgot to take photo of her flesh). Tomorrow's post: I face my fears with OILS!

IMC 2009

I've been back from the Illustration Master Class for a few days now and am still reeling from the experience. I didn't think anything could top last year's class but they managed to surpass it. Rebecca Guay is the mastermind behind the class and along with her assembled cast of instructors extraordinaire, they pull off a class that allows the student to reach within, face long-held fears, and boldly go where they never thought possible. Perhaps that seems too dramatic, but it's how I feel about it. There exists an incredible artistic energy that comes from all the teachers as well as the attendees. It's impossible to resist and once you plug in, it propels you forward. It's very hard to leave. Depressing, actually. But, we do stay in contact on Facebook and that helps.
Above are photos of my daughter Sarah as the Lady of the Lake, the assignment I chose for the class. I ended up taking elements of each Photoshop workup, developing the sketch at the bottom. Next post, I will show my progress on the painting.

SAD or Sketch a Day

This one is more planned than the others because I have to get to work on my assignment for IMC. This sketch still came about in a doodling fashion.

Second Sketch for IMC

This is an idea for the Lady of the Lake assignment done quickly in Photoshop. Not sure about the composition. Just playing around with it, seeing where it takes me.