Finding a balance between imagination and realism. After the lay-in (getting a first layer to start setting up value and color relationships) this time I decided to tackle the flesh tones in the face first before developing other areas. I’m trying for a dusk or night time look so...
Jun12016
Owl Man Progress Shot
Apr132016
Transfer a Drawing
Time to transfer the drawing to the canvas and then paint! Here’s a quick run through how I transfer to canvas. I hope you find it useful. I stretched oil primed, portrait grade linen over stretcher bars. To transfer the drawing I’m using: store bought graphite paper a book...
Apr62016
Tiling and Transferring a Drawing
You need to enlarge and transfer a drawing to your canvas but your usual printing service is currently unavailable. Not a problem. My solution: tiling. I scan my drawing and resize it to the desired painting size in Photoshop, keeping the resolution somewhere between 150 – 250 ppi. This...
Feb102016
Artist Sketchbook
Keeping an artist journal or sketchbook can be tricky sometimes. Or maybe it feels like a difficult, lengthy chore. Stephan Orsak shared some insights into the artist journal and making it a fun part of the creative process in a recent workshop. I’m not a consistent scribbler. I’d like...
Jan132016
Improve Your Drawing Skills
Do you want to improve your drawing skills? There are many ways to go about this. In my post today I share one of the ways I learned to improve my drawing skills. “I want to get better at drawing.” What does that mean? Do you want to learn...
Dec302015
Windmill Limbs
Here’s a look at the tools of gesture drawing applied to a picture instead of isolated at the drawing co-op. I love it when the gesture in the thumbnail version conveys the idea I’m trying to communicate. Sometimes it gets lost along the way and I have to find it again. ...
Dec22015
Sneak Peek – Owls
Here’s sneak peek at what’s on my drawing table. This latest project incorporates one of my favorite animals, the owl! I’m working to make this picture very dynamic and am excited about how it’s progressing. I will be painting it in oil. At this stage I’m working on tracing...
Nov182015
Kneaded Eraser to the Rescue
Sometimes I need more information to complete a picture but don’t have the budget or time to do an elaborate maquette or huge amounts of research. Kneaded eraser to the rescue! This thing has been stalactites, stalagmites, tombstones, a sci-fi piece of diagnostic tech, and various creatures. By sculpting...
Sep302015
Checking My Work
When working on a picture it’s easy for things to look “right” after a time, even when there’s a drawing error. Here’s a list of several ways I use to check my work, looking for drawing errors, or weak design. Shrink it I shrink my work to check if the design...
Apr22015
Bear Cliffs Drawing Completed
It is complete! The pencil drawing for Bear Cliffs is ready. Next I’ll scale it up by scanning it and having it printed at 16″x20″. Then I’ll transfer it to the board for oil paint. I’m excited to start painting!