For you

It's been a while since my last entry. I got sidetracked with other stuff like trying to finish a book and some computer related nonsense. I'm going to get back to painting again - I have at least 3 paintings I want to do - but before that I tried to dabble in some soft pastel goodness.

Done on black paper. Not my best use of pastel TBH, but I have only ever used them properly maybe 3 times, this one included. I learned a whole load of stuff doing this:

• Don't do a detailed piece in A4. It's too small and detail will be non-existant
• Don't use black paper if you want the picture to be vibrant
• Use paper with more tooth, the pastel will stick to the paper better
• Fixative is good at removing contrast
• Photoshop is good at getting it back :D

Again, it's all learning from past experiences, good and bad. And drawing this brought back a few good memories.

On to the next one...

Update (2011-03-08): I really want to draw this again. It was only after a few more pastel pictures that I realised a piece of blackboard chalk had somehow made it's way into my box of pastels. The chalk was too hard and didn't blend or stick to the paper properly. I now have proper white pastels, some nice A3-sized pastel paper and more practice with soft mediums, so most of the problems I initially had should be gone with a redo.

Illustration Friday: adrift

My entry for Illustration Friday. This week's topic, "adrift".

(watercolour and ink)

My second ever use of watercolour. My first attempt was with my first idea for this week's IF but it didn't turn out too well. I also didn't stretch the paper first time around and it warped out of shape. Oh well, you live and you learn. I had another idea that I also wanted to do but I couldn't visualise it properly. I still have my sketches so maybe I'll do it another time, with a different medium. Watercolour takes some serious patience.


(Don't forget to wish your loved ones a Happy Valentiger's Day tomorrow!)

Year of the Tiger

While chatting to my friend who lives in Hong Kong, he mentioned that it is the Chinese New Year on 14th February. And what else falls on 14th February? That's right! It's apparently quite a big deal as the last time these 2 days coincided was 57 years ago! So in tribute of this day I decided to draw a Valentine's Day Tiger, or a "Valentiger".

Colour pencil goodness, rawr :3

Although I prefer to draw realistic images, I didn't want to do something realistic for this. As much as I like simple designs and bold colours, I'm not really that good at making this stuff up so this took me a while to finish. There's a whole A4 page of my doodles, trying to figure out what the body shape, head shape, pretty much everything will look like. Of course I drew some inspiration from the internet, but Google Image Searching "tiger cartoon" was pretty uninspiring. Anyway, enjoy the Valentiger. Happy Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year!

Illustration Friday: muddy

My first attempt at something for Illustration Friday. This week's topic, "Muddy":

Snug as a pig in the mud.

Just a quick drawing with some tasty Karisma Colour pencils :d

Meet Jimbo

This is definitely one of the most difficult things that I've ever painted.

(acrylic, A3)

Why? Because of his fur. I found it really challenging to do, as there was a fine line between dabbing huge blobs of paint and using the finest brush I have to add every hair individually. When I used to paint in acrylic, I didn't like the idea of seeing individual brush strokes in my paintings. Now I'm open to experimenting with different techniques and the result is a nice balance of detail without being distracting.

I also learned to simplify things that I see. Jimbo is sitting on concrete and I was going to add a whole load of little bumps and dots to give the background some texture. Fortunately I didn't as the main focus is the dog, not the background. If I added a bunch of extra detail I might as well have uploaded the original photo instead.

Overall, this was difficult but actually quite fun. And I learned a whole load of stuff to do and not do in the future, which is always a bonus. That said I'll probably opt for coloured pencils the next time I try something as detailed as this :)

Meet Jimbo WIP

My current drawing, which I call "Meet Jimbo" :D

Jimbo was only a puppy when my mom took him into our house in the Philippines. He was found abandoned outside my aunt's house. When he first came to us he was really small, shy and very quiet, but after a few days he'd gotten big, boistrous and would chase anything and everything. He lived with us for about a year until he became sick and died. I suspect he'd eaten something that got tangled inside his stomach because, as with many puppies he was big on chewing things up.

He is a typical mongrel with a cheeky face. I just happened to snap a photograph of him sitting on the driveway, which is what I am referencing for this picture. And it was one of those rare moments that I was able to capture before he ran off to play.

To be finished in acrylic. I was going to watercolour him but seeing as I've never used watercolour before, practicing my (non) techniques on this would be a bit of a waste. Watercolour comes soon :)

UPDATE: see the final painting here.

"M"

I recently read The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break, and I really loved the way the author portrayed "M" as a strong but soft character, so I decided to draw him.

I am not good at drawing the human body. I'm OK if I draw from a reference picture but useless from memory. I still haven't mastered foreshortening and things just end up looking out of proportion. So this was a bit of a challenge.

I used a couple of reference pictures for this, namely a sitting man and a chef jacket. I looked at pictures of minotaurs and the majority of them were the typical monster version. So I made up the bull head, all the while trying not to copy the illustration on this version of the cover.

As you can see to the left I sketched a simple hand as a reference as I was going to erase his hands and redo them. I can't really tell if the hands are too small or if they just appear small because of his massive head. I decided not to fix them as I'm thinking this is more of a study than a main piece. I eventually want to do this in colour with M in front of the diner (medium undecided).

Not a happy bunny

I prefer to draw realistically which is at odds with my lack of patience, particularly when it comes to doing things like fine detail. Not wanting to do yet another real life picture I decided to make something bolder and simpler.

(acrylic, 39 x 28cm)

The idea behind this was to visualise the phrase "not a happy bunny". My initial (albeit obvious) thought was to draw a sad rabbit. Then I decided to have a person in a rabbit costume instead. When you see people in fun costumes you expect them to be happy, so seeing them sad is weird. Add a whole load of dark blue and black to set the mood and it's done.

Bunny dude is probably a bit bright and the whites could do with some toning down. I was also really tempted to fix his shadows but that would have made the picture way too neat and would detract from its simplicity.

This was heavily influenced by Luke Chueh's style, in particular this piece. I like the 1 colour background and figure combo. It's simple but really effective.

Peacock

After a long hiatus I put paintbrush to surface and began to paint again. This is the first painting that I've done in about 10 years (walls and doors not included).

 

(acrylic, 28 x 39cm)

I painted it over 3-4 days. I don't feel as though it's 100% finished yet as I got really impatient with painting the smaller tail feathers (that big yellow mass with the odd white smudge). I went over that area about 3 times, with each time having no real improvement over the last. The main tail feathers could do with some work too, but I like the scruffy look it already has. But for a first attempt after 10 years I'm quite pleased. I'll probably end up coming back to this at another time when I have the patience to finish it properly. Until then I'm done with it.

A Level daze

This is the final piece that I did for my A Level art exam. I don't remember the exact criteria that I had to follow, just something about a collection of old/rusty/dull objects. Done over the course of 5 days way back in 1999. 11 years ago!

 (acrylic and ink, 77 x 64cm)

Looking back at it now, it had a World War 2 feel to it (gas masks, red flowers, army green napsacks), which wasn't what I had in mind when I was painting it. The feeling is slightly ruined by the shells though, and that big blob of sandy brown at the bottom was supposed to be a cloth but I got lazy with the shading. That's why that part of the painting is so boring and flat.

Interestingly the bones are real bones, from real human bodies. The father of one of my art teachers was an archaelogist and he loaned them to me to use for my final piece. I think he was a bit too trusting as I went to an innercity comprehensive high school and things tended to break or disappear from there quite easily. Fortunately they were returned in one piece. After all, who would want to steal an old human skull?

I can see a rainbow too

Another blog? Why yes. This one will be art/design related. Probably stuff that I've done myself (both old and new) and stuff that interests me. Simple, no?

And to start this one off here's a picture of a rainbow that I took from the roof of my house when I was in the Philippines last year.

That is a cellphone mast in the background, which completely ruins the beautiful scenery but quite appropriately, as the Philippines is known as the text capital of the world. Nature approves of cheap text messaging.

edit: I realise the song is "I can sing a rainbow" but this is an art blog, not a music blog... cool :D

edit #2: here's the song that I was listening to when I decided to name my blog: