doing?

BS Spins

2009-03-05T23:57:00.005-05:00

This is a turntable screen-capture test. I hope it shows off the shape better. Try pausing the video and grabbing the time-line to rotate the head at your own pace.

Well, now that I know you're out there...

2009-03-05T16:21:00.004-05:00

I got bit by the Zbrush bug pretty hard and have been sketching digital sculpture. It is a really fast fun way to create forms, though it would be more satisfying if there was something I could hold in my hands at the end of a sculpting session.

Eliza Doolittle

2008-06-26T12:31:00.002-04:00

Well, somebody can't finish a portrait in thirty hours. Booof! I'm going to say that I wasted a solid 12 hours of pose time to confused dipstickitude. Oh, but I did figure out the remedy for bad painting. So all is not lost.

Urrrgh

2008-06-24T16:58:00.003-04:00

I've started to paint off key here. It's messing with my organization. How will this one look with the high lights all blown out? We're gonna find out. Two more days to go and only complex stuff left to paint. Yeah!

Rounding Study

2008-06-19T13:38:00.002-04:00

Decided to do this instead of a poster. I feel like it addresses the subject more directly and primes the system for form painting. Now if I could just get through the day.

Ink In

2008-06-19T13:36:00.002-04:00

I don't much like transferring and inking in my drawing. It does help to repeatedly remind myself that I'm just going to have to draw it all over again anyways.

Form Painting

2008-06-19T13:30:00.004-04:00

Like somebody pulled the window shade down in my mind.

Yes..

2008-06-17T12:45:00.002-04:00

Yes, I said I would transfer today. And no, I didn't.

Day Two?

2008-06-16T14:24:00.002-04:00

Yeah, I forgot to photo and blog the first day of posing. It was pretty bad though. Illustrative of what happens when you can't shape your mind to who's in front of you, but instead draw from memory other people you know. It was weird really and put me in a dark place. I spent the afternoon sulking and listening to My Dying Bride...sigh...

Today was much better. It was like I could actually draw; kinda. The drawing is within range of Eliza's likeness. It's a older beakier version of her. But since I've killed the paper a bit, it's time to transfer. I'm thinking of trying a single pass on toned canvas. That should get me using thicker paint and that would be good for me.

Twofer Deux

2008-06-14T09:57:00.001-04:00

Il et Argenton. Did this sketch from the water treatment pool that's on the way to Sanzay.

One more reason...

2008-06-14T09:48:00.003-04:00

...to listen to what my Daddy told me. You see the drawing to the right? Go ahead and click on it. Now read this.

Twofer

2008-06-05T12:33:00.003-04:00

We finally had a sunny morning here on Wednesday. So I ran down to the Porte de l'Arbreuvoir to start on a painting I'm making for my Moms. Hopefully I'll get some more sunny mornings between 9:45 and 11:30. The light is just right.

You've been Arboned.

2008-06-05T12:29:00.003-04:00

This is from our second portrait night at Studio Escalier. Tim sat tranquilly while I tried not to make him look like a thug who'd just taken a few lumps. Lumpy is bad.

Juan-Micheal is a glutten for gazing.

2008-06-01T07:55:00.003-04:00

This one needs more volume. Wish I had better paper and a couple of softer pencils. Oh and enough experience to really add tension well into the drawing.

Portrait Night Begins

2008-05-28T06:15:00.003-04:00

Can't say I'm happy with this. Looks more like a bunch of squiggles and dashes than it does Tali. Still, it was really nice working on a portrait drawing again.

Done

2008-04-25T07:54:00.002-04:00

It's not perfect, but I've tired of gazing at myself and having a 150w light bulb less than a 18 inches from my face. And reposing my hair is a pain. We're also going to start packing stuff up for the move to CT/Argenton, so this is probably a good time to be flexible with the studio space. That being said, I should re-paint the hair, which was scribbled in there pretty haphazardly. The eyelid on the right could be more shapely. The shadow side looks kind of cartoony to me. There could always be more middle in the middle.....

Sunny Side Up

2008-04-23T11:46:00.007-04:00

Oh, sweet medium. My paint feels like paint! Began the second pass by working along the dark side of the terminator and started to see just how shallow the value base was. This is a good thing because within a few tones I found the room I needed to shape the nose. Also I think I've recaptured some of the likeness from the second drawing.

More Laces?

2008-04-18T18:37:00.002-04:00

I've kinda lost my way here. Spent today "tantrum painting". There are brushes that aren't with me anymore. I'm having a lot of trouble mixing lighter tones with the limited palette in use. It's mostly the tweaking of the amount of white in the mix. Well, that and my distaste for the whole "white is light" thing. Blech! I lowered the chin a little which needed to be done, but also managed to pull it over in the wrong direction. My face twists left from top to bottom. That includes my butt chin. I'm hoping that re-orienting the top light will put it back on track.

Reignbow

2008-04-10T23:42:00.003-04:00

While doing a color wash, I inevitably start using less and less solvent to thin my paint. This correlates with my attitude shifting from "Let's get this over with" to actually giving a damn. And it's hard to pass up on the control I get from thicker paint. You might notice that I've gotten a bit more colorful as well. Too bad the muzzle has gotten off on the wrong foot. Next session I'll try to be more attentive to my value structure.

Firrrrrst Paaaaaass

2008-04-09T22:11:00.003-04:00

Man, I hate under painting.

Transfered

2008-04-06T18:44:00.003-04:00

So when I do a transfer, I first trace the whole drawing onto tracing paper. Then I flip the tracing over, re-trace the mirrored image on the back, tape it to the canvas right side up, and scribble over it with a sharp pencil. This leaves a pretty dark block-in of the drawing on the canvas that I spray fix. It doesn't really look like the drawing I finished Friday though and it's busy stinking up our little studio. Bleh! In the morning I'll lay a thin layer of gesso over the canvas to lighten the drawing considerably. This way, I won't end up with those silly fictional edges hijacking the work ahead.

Let it go and transfer already!

2008-04-04T10:52:00.003-04:00

Hey now. There's the man-woman I've been looking for. I meant to have the transfer done for this morning but just couldn't let yesterday's drawing stand. But I'm stopping short of the "one light goes out, and they all go out!"/pose changes with every breath/down the rabbit hole crazy drawing that never ends. The contrast between this and the previous version is more drastic than I would have thought. I do miss the older one's dopeyness. Will try to paint it back in some.

hmmBetter

2008-04-03T09:04:00.003-04:00

eeh. So this is at least starting to look like me or at least it looks like I went through puberty. The drawing is a bit stiff, but I'm not really intent on making this a stand-alone work of art. This is more like warming up really. See the first drawing session below and you'll see what I mean. The real magic will happen under the brush with all those carefully sought, drastically rendered edges slipping (hopefully) into the context of the reflected tonal hierarchy. Today, I'm going to rough out the ear and draw up some hair so I look less like one of the Pharaoh's bouncers. Then tonight it's transfer time.

World, behold my glory!

2008-04-02T09:46:00.000-04:00

So Harmony says I look like a girl in this one. I'm just wrestling with the denial of my head really being that fat. Is it? I'll find out today when I try to add some more vertical pull to the tension of the shape. This feels more like a drawing of me in 2003, before my chin decided it needed a wee bit more room. But first, the dishes.

ps. I am horrible at photographing pencil on paper.