“Waiting For his Class” with a bit of Photoshop magic added.
I think maybe I should start working bigger...
“Man & Horse” again called out with PS.
The atmosphere of the show…
Showing posts with label man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label man. Show all posts
Thursday, July 8, 2010
WTF Art Show Opened Last Night
A lovely opening for the art show last night. I really enjoyed going. It was a bit nerve-racking seeing my pieces (so small! And with such tidy but low-key frames!) hanging there in such great company! The quality of art was quite good and the entire atmosphere was clearly about enjoying the art of the horse. Thanks to everyone involved for putting on a such great show! The show hangs during racing hours until Sunday.
The atmosphere of the show…
The atmosphere of the show…
Friday, June 18, 2010
New painting completed today
Checked off! Another task completed in this very busy and creative week. This morning I finished “Man & Horse,” a piece first mentioned my June 3rd entry called, “Other Projects Under Way.”
It’s 7” x 10” and technically a watercolor, painted on Lana hot press watercolor paper. I say, “technically” because it was done in Derwent Graphitint water-soluble pencils. This was my first real exploration with Graphitints. I liked the pencils for the most part. They are very soft, which can be either good or bad depending on what you’re trying to achieve. Usually, I like my pencils able to hold a better point, but they were very smooth in their application and flowed well with water. The fact that the colors brightened with water was also interesting and pretty, but you had to constantly keep it in mind as you laid down the colors.
The Graphitint colors were an extraordinarily close match to the colors in the original statue and that was my initial inspiration for using them. Their colors are rather subtle and I think you need to think carefully about your subject matter if you’re going to use them without further supplementation with other brighter pencils/paints.
All the same, they make me want to do a statuary series. I have always loved architectural details and I think it would be interesting to explore such a series with the Graphitint pencils. Graphitints also have a lovely range of blues, which were not a huge part of this piece. It will be interesting considering a good subject match for the Graphitint blues. Ocean scenes with water and stones? Perhaps.
The future of this piece is of yet undecided. I think I’m going to submit it to some art competitions. I’m interested to hear what people think about it. One way or another it will definitely need to be photographed more appropriately. *sigh* I suppose that means creating a proper photographic shooting station in my mud room. Oh, I know how to do this…yes I do! But it’s been a while. All the same, I need to start doing slides again and high quality images. Sounds like it’s time to unpack the heavy-duty film camera equipment. Perhaps, it’s also time to consider investing in a nice digital SLR. Maybe. But first sell more. Then buy! Happy day to you all!
It’s 7” x 10” and technically a watercolor, painted on Lana hot press watercolor paper. I say, “technically” because it was done in Derwent Graphitint water-soluble pencils. This was my first real exploration with Graphitints. I liked the pencils for the most part. They are very soft, which can be either good or bad depending on what you’re trying to achieve. Usually, I like my pencils able to hold a better point, but they were very smooth in their application and flowed well with water. The fact that the colors brightened with water was also interesting and pretty, but you had to constantly keep it in mind as you laid down the colors.
The Graphitint colors were an extraordinarily close match to the colors in the original statue and that was my initial inspiration for using them. Their colors are rather subtle and I think you need to think carefully about your subject matter if you’re going to use them without further supplementation with other brighter pencils/paints.
All the same, they make me want to do a statuary series. I have always loved architectural details and I think it would be interesting to explore such a series with the Graphitint pencils. Graphitints also have a lovely range of blues, which were not a huge part of this piece. It will be interesting considering a good subject match for the Graphitint blues. Ocean scenes with water and stones? Perhaps.
The future of this piece is of yet undecided. I think I’m going to submit it to some art competitions. I’m interested to hear what people think about it. One way or another it will definitely need to be photographed more appropriately. *sigh* I suppose that means creating a proper photographic shooting station in my mud room. Oh, I know how to do this…yes I do! But it’s been a while. All the same, I need to start doing slides again and high quality images. Sounds like it’s time to unpack the heavy-duty film camera equipment. Perhaps, it’s also time to consider investing in a nice digital SLR. Maybe. But first sell more. Then buy! Happy day to you all!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Other projects under way
I am currently letting the Great Dane puppy (mentioned previously) sit unobserved for a while before putting the finishing touches on it. It’s always critical to do this I think. The break gives your eyes a much better chance of catching errors and other details that need to be adjusted before completing the piece. While the puppy rests I am working on a few other things including my SIFF sketches. Fortunately, we’re taking several days off from SIFF movies and this allows me time to work on another fine art piece with the working title of “Man and Horse.”
I absolutely loved this statue when I photographed it on my last walk-about trip in Washington, DC. It’s called, “Man Controlling Trade” and it stands outside the Federal Trade Commission. It’s an allegorical piece where the horse stands as a symbol for trade. I do not like the allusion of the allegory in this statue at all. But, having said that, I also believe that it's a wonderful piece of WPA art. I am a HUGE fan of many WPA art pieces, especially the big blocky figures commonly seen in WPA statues and murals. Perhaps, one day, I’ll do a series of paintings illustrating them. *happy grin* But for now, this wonderful statue was a great excuse to experiment with some other water-soluble pencils that I’ve recently bought – Derwent’s Graphitints.
These are soft graphite pencils tinted with color. The colors are muted when dry but brighten up when wet. In that way they are similar to the water-soluble colored pencils I've been using for the puppy portrait but in much more subtle shades. For this piece I’m using a limited palette of the following colors: 04 Dark Indigo, 03 Aubergine, 18 Storm, 23 Cool Grey, 20 Midnight Black, 16 Cocoa, 13 Chestnut. As you can see the color palette I’ve chosen seems perfectly matched to the statue and I think that’s really cool. For the support I’ve chosen a Lanaquarelle Hot Press Watercolor block. I’m really enjoying using hot press paper with water-soluble pencils. Never a huge fan of hot press paper before, I find it takes the pencil marks well and since I’m not using a huge amount of water (and I’m using small brushes), it’s a great choice. I have only recently started using the Lana paper and I really like it.
I have been working in layers wetting small sections at a time. While that area dries I can wet another area or add more dry color. It’s a relaxing process.
I’m looking forward to seeing how this piece turns out. If it works out well then maybe I will do a series of other WPA statues. I certainly have been collecting photographs of them for many years. Stay tuned...
I absolutely loved this statue when I photographed it on my last walk-about trip in Washington, DC. It’s called, “Man Controlling Trade” and it stands outside the Federal Trade Commission. It’s an allegorical piece where the horse stands as a symbol for trade. I do not like the allusion of the allegory in this statue at all. But, having said that, I also believe that it's a wonderful piece of WPA art. I am a HUGE fan of many WPA art pieces, especially the big blocky figures commonly seen in WPA statues and murals. Perhaps, one day, I’ll do a series of paintings illustrating them. *happy grin* But for now, this wonderful statue was a great excuse to experiment with some other water-soluble pencils that I’ve recently bought – Derwent’s Graphitints.
"Man and Horse" with reference photo
These are soft graphite pencils tinted with color. The colors are muted when dry but brighten up when wet. In that way they are similar to the water-soluble colored pencils I've been using for the puppy portrait but in much more subtle shades. For this piece I’m using a limited palette of the following colors: 04 Dark Indigo, 03 Aubergine, 18 Storm, 23 Cool Grey, 20 Midnight Black, 16 Cocoa, 13 Chestnut. As you can see the color palette I’ve chosen seems perfectly matched to the statue and I think that’s really cool. For the support I’ve chosen a Lanaquarelle Hot Press Watercolor block. I’m really enjoying using hot press paper with water-soluble pencils. Never a huge fan of hot press paper before, I find it takes the pencil marks well and since I’m not using a huge amount of water (and I’m using small brushes), it’s a great choice. I have only recently started using the Lana paper and I really like it.
"Man and Horse"
I have been working in layers wetting small sections at a time. While that area dries I can wet another area or add more dry color. It’s a relaxing process.
I’m looking forward to seeing how this piece turns out. If it works out well then maybe I will do a series of other WPA statues. I certainly have been collecting photographs of them for many years. Stay tuned...
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