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February 26, 2010

Of studies and whatnot

Filed under: Studies — tb @ 3:29 pm

figurepaintstudy.jpg

portraitoil.jpg

elvgrenstudy.jpg

 

Well,  it’s been far to long since the last update.  I’ve been busy working, trying to get ideas for the website in order, and studying.  Speaking of studies, here’s a few, done at both the Atelier and in-studio at home.  The figure painting is from photo reference, the portrait from life, and the pinup portrait is a quick study after Elvgren (to get me warmed up for an in-depth Elvgren study I have planned.)  While I’m talking about illustration studies, I want to go ahead and point everyone in the direction of TheIllustrationBoard.com, a fledgling online community dedicated to illustrators, visual storytellers, and representational art.  Swing by, register, and take a look at what the forum has to offer….Everything from critiques by working professionals, to contests, to tutorials.  Make sure to take a look at the events section on the boards as well, as I’ll be leading weekly sketch trips to the zoo on behalf of the forum.  You can look forward to some fun lectures and drawing demonstrations on specific animals with each trip, and get to know the illustration community here in southern California.

Hope to see you on the boards, and at the zoo.

-tb

• • •

November 14, 2009

It’s a bird, it’s a plane…

Filed under: Studies, Superheroes & Supervillians — tb @ 11:11 am

manosteel1.jpg

 

    Here’s a portrait painting from life I played around with a bit during Wednesday night’s sitting.  No, Kal-El did not pose for us, but the model that did pose had an exceptionally square jaw and massively thick neck.  After the drawing/lay-in was down on the canvas, I couldn’t help but play around a little with the subject matter.  While serious studies and observation are immensely important when painting from life, it’s almost as important to let your creativity get the best of you at times so you don’t get burned out from those serious studies.  In addition to being pretty fun, playing up and exaggerating features, changing the color tones and making the new color harmonies work can lead to quite a bit of unexpected learning.

• • •

October 18, 2009

How Giraffes and Camels taught me to carry another book to the zoo, part 1.

Filed under: Studies, Wildlife — tb @ 10:24 am

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      Here’s a few pages from the last trip to the zoo.  In case you can’t tell, we hit the camels and giraffes.  I hardly ever head in the direction of the giraffes, which I think will change on future zoo trips..They’re just a blast to sketch, with that awesome, graceful gestural swoop they have.  While I’m happy with how the head turned out in the sketch, I was a bit confused and had trouble with the way their lips worked in relation to their skull while sketching them.  That said, I headed home, took out the trusty Goldfinger Animal Anatomy for Artists book (that’s right, he has an animal anatomy book, too) and did a quick skull study.

 

     I’m going to have to do the same with those damn camels.  I always love sketching them, because of those exaggerated, full-of-character features they have, but they’re a pain for the exact same reason;  Exaggerated, charactertured features.  Let this be a lesson, all…  Anatomy studies are not just for the human figure.  I’ll be posting a few animal anatomy studies I’m doing (including the camel and giraffe) in the next few days, and I’ll be carting my anatomy book to the zoo from here on out;  It’s a valuable tool, and there’s no reason to leave it on the shelf.

 

• • •

September 21, 2009

Study time with John Singer Sargent

Filed under: Studies — tb @ 6:49 pm

sargentstudy.jpg

 

     Studies are something I’ve been doing quite a bit more of lately, and consequently I’ve been getting a good deal more comfortable with oils.  This is a study done from a John Singer Sargent portrait, under the watchful eye of my instructor and friend, Lucas Graciano.  I learned quite a bit from this one, mainly edge subtly and cool notes versus warm notes.  Some areas of the head are a bit wonky, but overall I’m happy with the painting  due to what I took away from it.

 

    Take away from this post?  Do more studies.

 

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