Portrait of a boy

Still on my multi tasking, I'm fitting in a portrait as well as the dog as well as a large painting, etc., etc. What can I say, its just how I operate. So while I haven't done a lot to update the puppy since yesterday, I have done the bones of a portrait of a boy. This is August's portrait challenge. I love faces and can't resist most of the time.

Still in my brown paper sketchbook. (don't worry, the novelty will wear off soon) I'm using coloured pencils. The boy's colouring is very pale with little distinct shadow and that wonderful smoothness of youth that is so difficult to capture. I keep telling myself - just a little one, as if its a treat. And it is in many ways.

Imagination

When I was a child I had a vivid imagination that worked in several ways. Part of it was simple childhood brain development and experimentation, part was an escape mechanism. Funny thing is, that while I presume most of the brain development is over with at my advanced years, the escape mechanism still works beautifully.

Drawing is a bit like reading a book. It can take you into a new world, it can take the pictures in your head and put them onto paper. It can bring places, people and animals to you, morph them, place them in odd situations or scenes and made very ordinary scenes extraordinary.

One of my favourite illustrators is James Gurney of Gurney Journey, who has a magical mix of reality and fantasy that is the ultimate in escapism for adults and children. His drawings of Dinotopia are exquisite and finely detailed that bring you to places and show you things that you have not even considered previously.

This puppy is a little bit of escapism or wishful thinking. I'd like a puppy, but for a variety of reasons, I can't have one, so I made do with the next best thing - a drawing or the start of one. It was past time I drew an animal and I'm still fixated on the earthbound sketchbook and the lovely brown paper.

Knights and waves

I'm working on three pieces at once, more or less. Its something that I've always tended to do, this multitasking whether in art or other projects that I work on.

They different projects consist of different mediums and different levels of difficulty so that I can switch back and forth when one becomes a little tedious to continue with. In between the major pieces, I also work on sketches and small paintings. Its my equivalent of a coffee break.

This image of a man in a jousting tournament from a renaissance fair was in this weekends WDE at WetCanvas and his intense look appealed to me. It started out as a quick sketch which then turned into a watercolour.

The other piece that I started yesterday is a 20 x 30 inch oil painting of a wave breaking over the rocks in Pouch Cove. I was there last weekend and watched the water, took some photos and came away inspired. I will be working on this piece for awhile yet and it will likely be on the Watermarks blog.

I have blocked in colour at this point and am starting to develop some shading to give the waves and rocks form.

Capelin update

Capelin study

I've had a hectic few days and haven't had much time to spend on painting for one reason or another, but I managed another few layers for this watercolour. The initial panic about the Arches paper has died down a little and as it dries the wrinkles are eliminated. So far, any masking fluid that I have used has come off without taking off any layers of paper with it.

I did get a full sheet of Arches today but 250lb hot press so I'm hoping that will be better. I'll still be placing an order for some other types of paper as people have been kind enough to offer to suggestions for other brands.

This piece is 15 x 22 and so far, its behaving. I'm going slow to avoid muddying colours. I want the blues and pinks of the fish to show through but have the fish in the bottom layer more subdued. This is where I can scrub back some washes of colour if necessary, but am a little wary doing that noting previous Arches behaviour.

Wordless Wednesday

Rock challenge results!

Image taken in natural daylight

Image taken under artificial light

I have found that the best way to tackle something that tests your ability is to study it continuously for a period of time and to study the subject as it is portrayed by other artists too. A month ago I issued a challenge to other artists to join me in a month's exploration of rock and their complexities. And what beautiful images were created!

This last piece is some rocks jutting out of the sea at Holyrood. The images, the first taken in natural daylight and the second under artificial light at night show quite clearly how lighting can affect viewing colours - and the same would seem true when applying colours to your painting too.

Here are the links to drawings and paintings that were submitted. Take the time to visit each and every one, as they all have a lot to say about creating rocks in art. And thank you to everyone who joined in!

And if there are any waifs and strays who still want to submit a piece, please do. Just put your link in the comments and I'll add it as soon as I can.

Maree Clarkson
Link I
Link II
Link III
Link IV
Link V
Link VI
Link VII

Katherine Tyrrell
Maritime Inversion

Vivien Blackburn
Sennen Cove & Land's end

Charlene Brown
Link I

Harry Bell
Link I

Ann
Link I

Jennifer Rose
Link I
Link II

Jeanette Jobson
Rock Challenge
Mariners Foe
Savage Cove Rocks II
Savage Cove Rocks III WIP
Untitled WIP

Tools and fishes

I started this watercolour with a line drawing the other night and have begun to lay down layers of watercolour. This is being done on a half sheet of Arches 140lb paper and its acting horribly, almost like tissuepaper, despite having been stretched. I'll continue on with it and see how it turns out and whether it will warp badly. I've had bad luck with this batch of Arches paper with masking fluid tearing the layers and now it reacting badly to being wetted. I may invest in another brand of w/c paper, but am limited here to what's available. Looks like its another mail order.

Note to self: Buy 300lb watercolour paper in future, no matter how much it costs!

These are capelin that I was given and photographed last week. I was drawn to the colours and sheen on the skin and this piece is a bit more of an experiment to see if they turn out as I want them to do without getting muddy. This is early stages and in its ugly phase where its very much at risk of being trashed. I'm trying to see past this and into its final form which is in my head.

Its time I invested in a new set of watercolours, as I'm still working with my ancient set of Winsor & Newton half pans which are literally 25 years old or more. That shows how often I use watercolour. A number of the pans are nearly empty, but I can buy the halfpans to replace them. Or perhaps I may just go for a set of tubed watercolours.

What are the watercolourists' views on this? Pans or tubes?

Capelin study

Capelin study I
watercolour and ink

I have been playing around with thumbnails of capelin to get a feel for a larger piece that I want to do in watercolour. With these little fish, a very enlarged view of them should be interesting. I like the shapes and colours as well as the ability to work on detail in addition to broader washes of colour that this will provide.

This sketch is done in my earthbound sketchbook and in watercolour with a touch of white ink (more on why I have that tomorrow). This sketchbook isn't made for watercolour, and the paper shows it by rippling. However, I had it at hand and it was a sketch to work out colours and lines, so I am not worried about it. I may do another sketch onwhite watercolour paper to see how it shows there and start drawing the image onto a half sheet of Arches paper tomorrow.

I'm still waiting for some art supplies to arrive, but delays in ferry services at the moment have everything delayed and is causing some frustration. I can get some inks locally, but not the pen nibs that I want and the local inks aren't the type I can use in my Rapidograph.

I will just have to be patient.

Awards and fish

At long, long last, the capelin are in and I have been given some, as I never have time to get to the beach and through the throngs of people there to capture my own. I don't like to eat them personally as I find they have a strong flavour but I have some fresh and some in the freezer for my gyotaku experiments when things slow down a bit.

I took some photos of the fresh fish and have some plans for a painting but that will have to be on hold until visitors have gone and I have some time to devote to planning it.


Maree Clarkson of Art & Creativity has so kindly given me the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thank you Maree! In return I am supposed to reveal seven things about myself and tag seven other bloggers. I have done this previously and don't know if there's a lot more about me that people don't know, however, I'll try. I won't be tagging other bloggers, as there tends to be some fatigue around memes and I think all other artist blogs are wonderful anyway!

1. I once drove from Tarragona, Spain to Andorra. And it snowed. A lot. Mountain roads. Say no more.

2. I hate taking off in airplanes and can't look out the window until we're levelled off.

3. I am addicted to coffee. It doesn't have to be full caff even, decaf's good. I just love the taste.

4. I adore donkeys and would love to have one. Or two, or three...

5. I love visiting old cemeteries and looking at monuments and headstones. Perfect drawing opportunities.

6. I have an emergency stash of imported German dark chocolate in my desk drawer at work.

7. I always use crystal glasses to drink from. Even water tastes better then.

Savage Cove Rocks III

I can't seem to leave this rock alone and wanted to try it in oils. I made a start on it tonight and this is about an hour's worth of painting. The lighting is unique and quite bright though not in sun. The day was very foggy and the horizon merged with the sea. The shadow of the steep rock face and the smaller sheared off rock were the only real contrasts in the brightness.

The other versions of this rock are here and here.

I have visitors for a few days as of tomorrow, so I may not be able to do as much as I hoped but there will be updates as and when I can.

Stippling progress

Between other projects, I've been stippling to make some inroads into this drawing. Its going to take time... But I am enjoying the process and the progress.

I have ordered some coloured inks and will be trying those out on a new drawing which I hope to have the master line drawing complete tomorrow sometime. I do have some coloured pens - Nexus - and they're fine for sketching but the larger nibs don't give me the detail that I want.

Tutorials

I was playing around with coloured pencils and discussing technique with some others in a learning environment, so said I'd try this tutorial by Brian Duey, along with others and see how it turned out.

As I went through the exercise, I think it was fairly well explained if not a little weak on words regarding technique, and illustrated, however my only criticism is that there wasn't a reference image or a master line drawing to show areas of shade/light, so I was drawing 'blind' as it were. Simply following the images provided with some guidance from words. For a tutorial, these, to me, are crucial elements. Creating art involves a lot of observational skills as well as practical techniques and it made me think about what makes a good tutorial.

First I believe that a tutorial on drawing needs to be completed by an artist. No one else could understand the intricacies and problems that drawing involves except an artist who encounters them every day.

Secondly, a tutorial needs to be written by someone who can communicate effectively and who understands the learning process and how to enable it in others.

There are many artists, but few who can do both things well.

There are endless tutorials on every aspect of art technique and medium, from professionally made kits to DVD and online video. There are a lot of very good ones and also a lot of very poor ones.

Its true that a lot of beginning artists rely heavily on tutorials to give them a grounding in technique, but more experienced artists also use tutorials to help familiarize themselves with new mediums or techniques.

Because there are simply overwhelming numbers of tutorials, and the range of quality so vast, it would be impossible to recommend any. People always are asking for 'good' tutorials on various aspects of drawing or coloured pencil or painting etc. I understand that definition of 'good' as meaning providing answers to questions about a technique and making it easier for the individual to understand and apply it to their own piece. Many tutorials are aimed at beginners in whatever medium is being shown and often the quality of the tutorial usually speaks for itself and should provide answers to several questions:

1. Is the technique clearly explained and illustrated?
2. Does the tutorial explain what materials I need and how to use them?
3. Does the tutorial provide clear illustrations or photographs of an example of the technique. Is there a reference image and a final piece shown?

What do you need to find in an art tutorial to make it worthwhile? Do you use online tutorials or do you print them and use them for later reference? Do you use video tutorials and are they useful in seeing a technique being applied? Do you buy DVDs or CDs on art techniques or workshops and once viewed, do you return to them repeatedly?

Savage Cove rocks II

I wanted to try out my new sketchbook again and was considering what I should draw when I came across the rocks in Savage Cove again. I did my initial drawing in water soluable graphite but felt the rocks weren't quite rough enough.

So here they are again in pen and ink with a touch of charcoal white. I've developed a fondness for this particular rock, so you may see it again in another form yet.

Have you tried the rock challenge yet? You have until August 4th to submit a link in the comment section. After that I'll create a post will links to the art.

Earthbound

I bought a sketchbook by Daler-Rowney, called Earthbound in the Cachet series. Its a hardcover book with a brown kraft-like recycled paper with little flecks of fibres in it.

I wanted to see how coloured pencils would work on this paper and they seem to lay down well, so I played around with a portrait. I'll try another more serious attempt at a portrait when I can this week.

Speaking of which, David Lobenberg has created a Self Portrait Global Love In that everyone of all abilities are encouraged to participate in. The only catch is that you have to be wearing headwear of some kind. I'll have to see what I come up with over the next few weeks and submit something. The due date is September 12, 2009.

A glimpse into growth

a squash blossom

While I work on drawings and paintings, life continues on the little farm with many chickens and turkeys in the barn and lots of veggies growing in the garden and greenhouse. I love the scent of the earth at this time of year. After a couple of days of rain and fog, today was hot and sunny and you could almost see the plants grow before your eyes.

I thought I'd share some images that I took this evening so you can share a little of my world.

foxgloves

These foxgloves grow wild all around the place, becoming a nuisance at times and overcrowding flowerbed and woods. I let a few stay and this white one is especially beautiful with the contrasting purple. Its growing right up against the house near the front door.

leaf lettuce

I love being able to walk to the greenhouse or kitchen garden to pick lettuce for salads. You can't get fresher than that!

Heirloom tomatoes

There are about 6 or 7 varieties of heirloom tomatoes growing in the greenhouse this year, from Green Zebras to Black Russians and everything in between. Heirloom tomatoes aren't as prolific as modern hybrids, but they make up for that in taste and resistance to disease. This is the sea of plants taking over the greenhouse.

hot peppers

Still in the greenhouse, a variety of sweet and hot peppers are being grown. Some very, very hot. Anything called 'Dragon' has my respect.


The hay grass grew really well this year, even if its not really needed anymore, not having horses anymore. It moves in the wind as if it is one single unit, almost like waves on the ocean. It likely will be cut soon as the ducks enjoy having some hay to nest in during the winter and you never know what kind of animal will turn up here next.

moose skull and vertebra

Finally, the artistic find - the skull, jawbone and some vertebra of likely a moose found in a peat marsh. Knowing anatomical detail of animals and people is so useful in drawing and to purchase a skull is very expensive. These will be scrubbed then stored in the studio for future use and in teaching.

Moving pictures

There are a number of forms of learning and with many people, reading and seeing photos is useful and often used in home study. The next step up is seeing a technique being completed and hearing spoken words, which would usually take place in a class setting or one on one.

Technology can cross barriers and provide access where geography wouldn't normally allow it and bring people and information into your living room or studio.

I bought a Flip video camcorder and this is the first test of a tutorial just to get a feel for it. Lighting and set up are crucial and neither are perfect in this, so bear with me. I do often get asked to create video clips of techniques and thought this may be a possibility. I have noticed more and more bloggers providing video information and it is very useful to see how others create their work or speak about it.

Now I just need to get the focus right so people can actually see more clearly what I'm doing. Also the talking and drawing at the same time are challenging. I can see the appeal of just drawing and having a music background instead of voice.

Drawing

I've started to layout a complex drawing of the rocks that make up the cliffs and slide into the sea at Flatrock. The layers of rock are multi-textured and combined with a slice or two of sea is challenging. To ensure that I was on the right track, I decided to grid the piece so I could get the proportions right and have some semblance to the rocks as after awhile they start to all look alike. Its a bit like putting together a puzzle. If you look away, you lose your place.

I chose a piece of Bainbridge hot press illustration board which is too smooth to take layers of graphite, so I will try this in pen and ink once I get the initial drawing in place. The board is 15 x 20, so the drawing may take awhile to complete. However I like having complex pieces to work on while I do other drawings or paintings. Its something I spend a few minutes or a few hours on depending on my mood and end up rather missing the process once its complete.

The image of the start of the drawing is poor. Its taken under artificial light and adjusted so that you can actually see the lines which are drawn in a hard pencil so they can be erased or gone over without showing. However, it does give an idea of the structure of the rocks and the image below shows a section of rock similar to what I will be drawing.

Making decisions with technology

I often have a love/hate relationship with technology, but I do sometimes use it to help me see potential in drawings or paintings. With a few tweaks in Photoshop I can have a glimpse into how a photo reference may look in different mediums, before I start investing time and materials.

This image is a photo I took early Sunday morning just after sunrise in Flatrock. This old abandoned boat has sat there for years with weather taking its toll and it makes an ideal subject for drawing and painting. I liked this shot that shows the ribs of the boat and some of the effects of age on the wood.

This first manipulation is done using 'fresco'. I like the soft colours contrasting with the darkness and it could be recreated using watercolour and ink.

The second is a simple paint manipulation and that has possibilities too, depending on how impressionistic I would want it to be.

The final manipulation is graphic pen and I like this a lot. I think it adds to the overall feel of age of the boat. Its a piece that would easily translate into pointillism instead of the diagonal lines used here.

I do have a graphics tablet but a finite amount of patience as to the steep learning curve around creating something vaguely acceptable on it. While those competent can produce wonderful art digitally, I am a traditionalist and like to get my hands dirty!

So now I have some ideas that take the guesswork and some of the decision-making out of medium choice and I may decide on one or more of these when using a reference. Despite some of its drawbacks, being able to play with images digitally is a bonus and a shortcut for artists.

Candle in the window

Candle in the window
9 x 12 coloured pencil

Over at Watermarks, we got together to wish Sarah Wimperis a happy 50th birthday, each of us contributing a little piece of art to wish her well. See Its Only Half a Hundred to read what we said, see some art, and wish Sarah happy birthday as well.

I had a scene of an image appearing out of the darkness in my mind for awhile and this was the perfect opportunity to try it out. The drawing is a combination of photographic reference and inspiration from David Blackwood's dark images of views of the sea out of windows in Newfoundland. I love his images and prints and the opening on the main page of his website that has that haunting sound of whales singing which always gives me shivers.

This image is in coloured pencil on Artagain black paper. My original idea was a giant piece on a fullsized sheet of black Stonehenge. That may be ambitious for cp so the size will likely be reduced to a half sheet.

I enjoyed the process and detail of cp after not having used it for awhile. There are some areas which I would like to have done better, but I'll work on that for the next piece.

Birch pour

Today was bright and lovely and I thought it would be a good time to try some watercolour pours outside in the garden. I singled out this little birch at the rear of the house as my victim and started in.

I'm lucky to have a range of painting opportunities literally on my doorstep as lugging all the water and paints and brushes, etc. etc. is like packing for a trip where you'll be gone for weeks! While plein air painting is great, it does pose challenges, but if I want to draw from life, I have to put up with the problems.

I also wanted to complete a base of a watercolour pour in preparation for a painting I have in mind over the next couple of weeks. I tried one today, but it just didn't turn out as I planned. Too many hard lines and the colours weren't what I had in mind, so I'll try again tomorrow. I did complete a watercolour pour in the winter, inside, on a full sheet. After that I vowed it wouldn't happen again until the summer when I could take the mess outside.

So I played with the birch outside and the temperatures soared until I had to call it quits or succumb to the heat. The insects also seems to take a great liking to this painting while I was doing it and tonight there are a number of flying beasts with multicoloured legs being stared at by their friends and relatives.

I shall add this piece to Vivien's tree challenge and see if the watercolour behaves tomorrow.

Weddings and mermaids

This photo from my daughter's wedding in June seems appropriate for the rock challenge. The scene is Middle Cove and the dress train looks like a fish's tail almost, giving her a mermaid appearance.

There are photos from a number of locations, but the beach ones appealed to me most.


Another location was downtown St. John's coming up over the brow of one of the very steep hills. My other daughter is the second from the right.


Photos copyright: Wayne Thornhill, St. John's.

Fog

A low line of shore was visible at first on the right between the movement of the waves and fog, but when we came further it was lost sight of, and nothing could be seen but the mist curling in the rigging, and a small circle of foam.
John Millington Synge

While waiting for an idea for a painting to gel, I thought I'd share a photo that I took last week. A northeasterly wind blew in fog which blanketed the coast and gave a surreal appearance, allowing small glimpses of land or ocean.

The tip of the distant land is just seen poking through the bank of fog and shrouding the closer land to the left.

Below the horizon is obliterated, truly making it seem as it you were indeed at the edge of the world with trust alone making you move forward.

When you get it wrong

This is a hair's breadth away from the trash can, but I thought I'd show it anyway, if for no other reason but to remind myself what not to do in the future.

I will redo this painting of my mother, as the watercolours just weren't working for me. The muse was off doing other things and she obviously was not guiding my hand on this one!

So what is it that makes us know when a painting or drawing isn't going right? A drawing that is off is one thing, but often I find it is values that are lacking, or simply the vision that is in our head just doesn't appear on paper or canvas. Or fatigue, lack of inspiration - the list could go on and on to help justify why what I want to do doesn't turn out as I want it to.

I also accept that not everything I do will be pleasing. I haven't calculated numbers of drawings and paintings, but should for perhaps a month to see what I think works and what doesn't. If I note time of day when I draw, mood, weather, level of fatigue, and the other things that all seem to feed ability the create, perhaps I will see some pattern emerge that leads to success or failure when creating an image.

I'll let you know the results when I figure out just how to analyse the process.

Mariner's foe

This piece is part of a series of rock studies that I am doing to help understand how rocks are formed and to enable me to draw and paint them more realistically. This will be the first for the rock challenge. Feel free to join in!

This is a section of rock that juts out of the sea in Savage Cove at low tide. With rocks like these submerged, you can see why it was called Savage Cove. I loved the shape of it and how the water around it was so still and reflective - a rarity in the Atlantic.

I still haven't gotten quite the level of roughness and jagged nature of this rock, but I'll keep trying. I started with a line drawing, then switched to coloured pencil in sepia. I didn't like the grainy nature of that on Bristol vellum, so I switched again to 'Sketch & Wash' General's pencil that I found in the bottom of my pencil case. This pencil is a water soluable graphite, perfect for light washes. I added a hint of colour with watercolour pencil and a light wash.

Birthday portrait

I took a few photos surreptiously of my mother at my daughter's wedding in the hopes of finding something suitable to do a portrait from. She hates having her photo taken so its a rare thing that I can find any material to work with and she isn't interested in sitting for me.

She will be 85 at the end of July, still lives alone and although there are challenges in many areas, she continues to do so. I thought that a portrait to mark this birthday would be good, but I doubt she will feel that way somehow. But whatever the case, it will still be done and you never know, she may even like it!

I've done the line drawing and will continue it in watercolour initially. I may try an oil later, I just wish the original photo was clearer when enlarged.