I can relate to the feeling-like-a-creeper issue. Used to feel the same way, and still do sometimes, but mostly it just comes down to not staring too hard and being subtle about it when drawing people in public. A trick I like to use is when I see someone looking up and noticing me drawing them, I go out of my way to stare and look at something else for a minute or so. This usually sets them at ease because they think they're not the object of my drawing and I just accidentally glanced at them. Once they continue whatever it is they were doing, I go on as well, being careful not to move my head around too much from my paper towards them and back.
Of course you still get caught on a rare special occasion, I just try not to give a fudge about it and show them the drawing in that case. Never had people complain so far.
Also, I went for some plein air painting again today, froze my nuts off.
Here's what I had after about an hour of painting:
One time I caught someone on the bus drawing me so I locked eyes, pulled my sketchbook out of my bag and started drawing them back. They seemed amused and relieved.
This is an illustration I'm working on for practice. Also the first digital thing in quite a while now. The hands need to be developed further and the overall roughness has to be cleaned up a bit more. About 7-8 hours in so far.
Love it so far. The guy seems to be a little dimly lit compared to the lady, seems like a little more light would be playing out over him just a touch more.
Of course I never finished that last image. One of my big weak points, too many starts, not enough finishes.
Anywho, been quite some time. Here are some recent life studies.
This last one especially was a lot of fun. I picked up a cool exercise from Terry Miura, where he does small paintings based on earlier gesture drawings from life. I sketched this dude in the train and tried to memorize as much color information as I could, and did the paint study above as a result.
Here's the reference sketch in the top right corner. Also used my own hands as reference though, that shit is hard to make up.
Been a while! Did this after rewatching No Country for Old Men.
This is also basically how I feel when people on the train have earplugs in yet still turn up the volume enough for me to hear Justin Bieber from across the wagon.
I always enjoy when you update your thread. I'm starting to go on a "trying to capture likeness" adventure and it is killing my soul. You're starting to make it look effortless, man. Love it.
Thanks Iruka, it is far from effortless I assure you.
Haven't gotten around to doing much besides work these days, but here's a gouache study. Always considered this a "kid's tool", but James Gurney got me thinking about using it, and boy was I wrong. A lot of fun to work with, and much less prep and cleanup than oils.
Every single time I forget to take a picture of a commission before shipping it off. Every single time. So this is the last one I remembered to take, about 80 % done here or so.
Thanks Iruka. I'm slooowly working towards that. It takes a long time to get enough paintings together that I am satisfied with and seem to have a common theme.
While the other one is drying, I started on a birthday present for my niece, still a ways to go but I like the early stages:
Thats looking good natri, the light on her is really nice. Its always hard to really get the full texture and color of a painting through photos, but it seems like you are achieving some good things in the details on her dress.
Thanks you guys!
Iruka I should probably invest in a better quality camera than my smartphone, but yeah I still need to work on building up thicker paint. I am way too conscious about wasting expensive paint and it does hinder me from time to time. Working on it.
What kind of paints are you using? I guess with oils its all going to be expensive, but I remember Utrecht having good deals on some of there in house brand paints.
I can understand though. People work digitally because its much less scary to make a large initial investment but free after that save your electric bill. Since your work is extremely traditional you may want to look into potential grants, a few exist out there.
I really enjoy your gouache study too. I would not grip oils too tightly if the cost of working with them is filling you with trepidation, there are other options out there.
I started with Winton, the W&N student grade, but have been introducing more and more artist grade colors from Rembrandt and W&N lately. I do notice the quality difference especially in the cadmium colors. But yeah they are way more pricey. I remember looking into Utrecht, but with shipping costs included they're not much cheaper for me than going for Rembrandt. Good tip though.
Oh I absolutely understand why most go for digital these days, not just financially but it is so much quicker and less of a hassle than painting traditionally. Still, there is something about having a tangible, unique end result with actual surface texture..
Hmyes I should do some more gouache things. Once a work gets around 30" size or so though, oils seem to be the thing I gravitate towards, not that much of an acrylics fan.
Thanks for the grants tip, will have to look into it. can't believe I never thought about that.
Hey Natri, just wanted to say I enjoy going through your new stuff from time to time and fantasizing about learning how to paint with real paint someday. That painting of your niece is so gorgeous.
Went out for some plein air painting in a park today as it was probably one of the last beautiful summery days of the year.
In hindsight, I kinda screwed myself over by only bringing raw umber, vermillion and ultramarine in my kit, making it impossible to mix intense vibrant greens. No big deal if you're painting in the city like I usually do, but for a park... probably not the best choice.
Thank you Sublimus, yeah it is tough. As long something is unfinished you can tell yourself it sucks right now but you'll make it better in the future.
Anyway, another experiment while I procrastinate doing what needs doing.
Here's some work-in-progress of the biggest painting I've attempted on canvas so far. Ironically it is also proving to be the hardest to get a good detailed picture of. Glare seems inevitable without viewing it at extremer angles.
Posts
I'm trying to tackle more faces my self. Doing it live in public still makes me feel like a creeper, though.
I can relate to the feeling-like-a-creeper issue. Used to feel the same way, and still do sometimes, but mostly it just comes down to not staring too hard and being subtle about it when drawing people in public. A trick I like to use is when I see someone looking up and noticing me drawing them, I go out of my way to stare and look at something else for a minute or so. This usually sets them at ease because they think they're not the object of my drawing and I just accidentally glanced at them. Once they continue whatever it is they were doing, I go on as well, being careful not to move my head around too much from my paper towards them and back.
Of course you still get caught on a rare special occasion, I just try not to give a fudge about it and show them the drawing in that case. Never had people complain so far.
Also, I went for some plein air painting again today, froze my nuts off.
Here's what I had after about an hour of painting:
I'll go back another day to finish it.
facebook.com/LauraCatherwoodArt
This is an illustration I'm working on for practice. Also the first digital thing in quite a while now. The hands need to be developed further and the overall roughness has to be cleaned up a bit more. About 7-8 hours in so far.
Anywho, been quite some time. Here are some recent life studies.
This last one especially was a lot of fun. I picked up a cool exercise from Terry Miura, where he does small paintings based on earlier gesture drawings from life. I sketched this dude in the train and tried to memorize as much color information as I could, and did the paint study above as a result.
Here's the reference sketch in the top right corner. Also used my own hands as reference though, that shit is hard to make up.
Here's a quick and dirty sketch I did last night as part of Sterling Hundley's Ideation Class.
This is also basically how I feel when people on the train have earplugs in yet still turn up the volume enough for me to hear Justin Bieber from across the wagon.
Haven't gotten around to doing much besides work these days, but here's a gouache study. Always considered this a "kid's tool", but James Gurney got me thinking about using it, and boy was I wrong. A lot of fun to work with, and much less prep and cleanup than oils.
You should try and get your work on a wall somewhere.
While the other one is drying, I started on a birthday present for my niece, still a ways to go but I like the early stages:
Iruka I should probably invest in a better quality camera than my smartphone, but yeah I still need to work on building up thicker paint. I am way too conscious about wasting expensive paint and it does hinder me from time to time. Working on it.
I can understand though. People work digitally because its much less scary to make a large initial investment but free after that save your electric bill. Since your work is extremely traditional you may want to look into potential grants, a few exist out there.
I really enjoy your gouache study too. I would not grip oils too tightly if the cost of working with them is filling you with trepidation, there are other options out there.
Oh I absolutely understand why most go for digital these days, not just financially but it is so much quicker and less of a hassle than painting traditionally. Still, there is something about having a tangible, unique end result with actual surface texture..
Hmyes I should do some more gouache things. Once a work gets around 30" size or so though, oils seem to be the thing I gravitate towards, not that much of an acrylics fan.
Thanks for the grants tip, will have to look into it. can't believe I never thought about that.
I went out for some live model painting for the first time in months yesterday, 3hr pose:
Made a wip gif for it too, as I felt like I should have stopped several times in the process of creating this:
Went out for some plein air painting in a park today as it was probably one of the last beautiful summery days of the year.
In hindsight, I kinda screwed myself over by only bringing raw umber, vermillion and ultramarine in my kit, making it impossible to mix intense vibrant greens. No big deal if you're painting in the city like I usually do, but for a park... probably not the best choice.
i think I may also suffer from fear of finishing. just have to push through I guess!
Anyway, another experiment while I procrastinate doing what needs doing.
I'm always excited when you post, it always feels like what your new work surprises me just a little.
Here's some work-in-progress of the biggest painting I've attempted on canvas so far. Ironically it is also proving to be the hardest to get a good detailed picture of. Glare seems inevitable without viewing it at extremer angles.