ArtCtrl

I made it agian to Vincents this week. Another Female model – and someone I hadn’t drawn.

I used 5 promarkers. The colors are – Sandstone, Raw Sienna (a fav), Cocoa, Burnt Sienna, and Warm Grey. All colors have a brown/offwhite feel. Lots of yellow – lacking in blue.

Thursday had been a Marc Hill TLC trip to Wellington – I’ll post about the day later. For now here’s the drawings I did at Vincents:

I arrived slightly late for Vincents, they had already started the first pose. The promarkers are two sided so I started with the point end – the other a chisel (best for creating larger areas of color). I normally perfer chisel as it covers a larger areas. Nothing very special about this piece. It’s just a two min warmup.

The legs on the the left is one of my favorite drawings I did that night. I had been drawing all day so wasn’t in the best mindset. The Promarkers are hard to get my head around – they are going to take lots of pratice. Watercolor techniques are important with them.

I wasn’t in the best posision for drawing the model (around the side rather then front) and this caused several back shots or poses where I would get minimal model because it was hidden behind a chair. I could of moved but the class was full so drew a portrait of someone else drawing. ha. I loved the models hair. It was very shot and straight – much like the drawing on the left. This caused some cool effects – like this:

Portrait studies. I’m familar with the portrait so a good place to start when experimenting with new media. I love the drawing on the left – the models hair reminded me of a male character from Final Fantasy. Super cool. Exploring areas of tone further in the right portrait.

The final. 40 min pose. This didn’t take 40 mins – I ended up finishing early and coloring in other areas of my book. I’m really happy with this. I’ve managed to capture the model with several different colors. It hasn’t turned into a messs.

Landscape and portrait pro marker works will be uploaded this weekend. I will also be drawing at the Island Bay festival if you are in the Wellington area and want to stop by. I’ll draw your portrait.

Today I arrived back in Wellington. I attended Vincents. It was a female model – Lyn. Afterwards I found out that she was the mother of Pri – a girl who I went to TLC with.

I painted - Gouache

Photo of new watercolor brush – it’s a bright. And the gouache. Primary Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, and Burnt Sienna. 25ml tubes, costing 12 dollars each. These will last and I look forward to creating works with them.

Here’s the first poses layed. These poses were 2 mins, standing. I changed color for each pose. This reminds me of the life acrylic painting. I was treating the acrylic paint very much like watercolor – think washes – allowing it to drip. Similar properties. The opaite nature of gouache will make it a interesting study.

Portraits. These two were 5 min poses. I like that painting is quick – unlike colored pencil where it takes a long time to cover a distance – painting is quick. Strong straight lines created – especially on the leg. I do like those lines.

A thumb study. I attempted blind painting – not looking at the painting paper but focused on the model. I’m going to practice this more with my life drawing and painting. I’m getting better at drawing/painting with my right hand so will practice blind more as well

Looks a bit messy. Abstract painting anyone? This was done blind.

Some interesting lines created here. I like the leg coming down – and the bend leg in front. This gouache is working for me.

A longer pose. One of my favorite works of the night. Beginning to mix colors – beautiful green created. You can never not have enough blues. The negative space helps create a setting for the model. With the quick spread of the paint this is easy to create.

Smile! Here I’ve warmed up and started to create finished works. This work is hanging on my wall. Wonderful from a distance. The figure is subtle the negative space (blue) creates a interesting shape that leads your eye around the piece. I like how it’s cut into several different shapes – build from triangles. This is why I like flat brushes – creates a sharp and defining edge.

A sitting pose. Back facing me. This was the first time I had painted/drawn Lyn so was very refreshing. It’s what I enjoy about Vincents – a range in models.

My favorite pose of the night. Lyn managed to hold this upside down pose for 10 mins. Very impressive.

I also painted landscapes today that I will upload in a future post.

After starting several landscape paintings with acrylic paint on board I had a go with digital ideas. I worked on these Thursday night on my travel from Wellington to Levin. I spoke to no one on the train, spenting the time on the computer and resting.

Similar start to the acrylic paintings. I like going in dark to define areas then using the gray for the environment. Colours are built up similar to how I would do it with acrylic. More detail is needed to bring it to a finished level.

I need to reopen this file and add more infomation and detail. Trees could work.

Life drawing tomorrow.

On Thursdays I am taking Marc Hills painting class. In the past when I’ve taken his classes I haven’t painted. Drawing… and hearing what he has to save. This terms going to be different. I want to paint and get plenty done.

Landscapes are what Marc specializes in. I may as well give them a go. I’ve enjoyed using landscapes in GIMP for SketchDaily. Chance to develop my art in a different style then just people. Conceptart.org is a favorite for me - Environment of the Week. I’ve told a bunch of people about it. If I haven’t told you, check it out! I haven’t posted anything I’m very inspired by the artwork posted. I am also inspired by the PC games – The Elder Scrolls : Skyrim (must invest more time) and Minecraft (I just brought it after watching my brother play it over Xmas). I’d be interested in transferring ideas from these games into my painting.

Here’s what I did on Thursday -

I took this photo at the end of last year. Lyall Bay is one of my favorite spot. I’m further away now that I have moved to Mount Cook. Kilburne is close the Lyall Bay. I don’t miss my old flat. Next weekend I’ll be in Island Bay so I’ll be sure to take the camera and get a few shots for future reference. For both of the paintings I started I started with this reference then switched to imagination. Thinking about buying a set of gouache. Could be helpful for traveling round Wellington and painting.

Reeves Artist Acrylic paint. It’s cheap. Does the job. I started with the horizon. Flat large brush – size 24.

I focused on creating depth and perspective in the piece. It’s only operating on two levels currently – the foreground surface and the background surface. The water effects and scale help create a distance between these objects.

The feedback I got back from Marc about this was to watch the clearatiy – basically that I didn’t lose objects or a sense of whats happening.

I went in with some colour – only a yellow for now. I’ll mix in other colours later – but wanted to take it slow. All my paint – oils and acrylic are opaque so I’ll keep exploring the properties of opacity. My digital painting has used this recently – working on 70% opacity over a low 30%. Marc works with opaite paints so he will be able to give feedback directly related to working with opaqueness.  I like the gaps that I created in the

foreground. Giving a sense that there is more complexity to the piece then just blocks.  It creates paths – and walkways. WHere would I like to take this next? Colour. Detail. I’d like to leave areas blank or underdeveloped – partially areas that are working. Areas that are not working – cover in paint – go in with detail. That’s the basic way I’m working with these paintings.

The second painting I started. Very much along the same idea as the first. I have 9 of these boards so would like to complete 9 landscape paintings – but see how they go and develop! Rachel said she liked this more the first wonderful! They should improve as I progress.  Marc gave some helpful feedback at the end of the day on this – watch the line. This is an interesting point – I would like to have crisp edges.  Stencils look like a option.

Back to Minecraft… taking a break from SketchDaily as I’m not enjoying the current theme. I have some digital landscapes that I will upload later – done on the train when traveling to Levin.

Last week I was lucky enough to head to Expressions gallery in Upper Hutt with Roberts block class. I wasn’t expecting to see the show as Upper Hutt is far away, so  extremely happy to get a chance. Hoped that Roger Key had entered a painting. Disappointment. Mostly interested in the paintings, especially use of color and tone.Certain paintings and works stood out for me - partially tutors that have taught me.

I had Karla as a tutor during my first term at TLC – July 2010. She teaches the foundation program. Her skill is wasted in such a limited class – I would be interested in taking a mains or block painting class by her.

I liked that she had left areas empty and the lines of charcoal are noticeable. I used a similar technique in Clowning around. Though I filled in all areas in the end, I worked with the concept of leaving areas blank or under-worked. Can be applied to my life drawing as well This causes a certain focus. The detail and focus are beautiful.

Read an article from Marc Hill talking about his painting Carmen here. I  loved the 3d aspect – Marc Hill has a background in stage and set design so this would come very natural to him. In the staff exhibit last year he painted an ocean landscape on a silver surface – an incredible effect for the clouds. I’m taking Marc Hills class this term – on Thursdays and plan to paint landscapes and environments. Hoping for some wonderful. Hill is certainly a tutor at TLC with an incredible background. TLC very privileged to have him teaching. He works with opiate paint over transparency. Fast drying – poster paint I believe. The sets would need to dry quickly so oils are a hard option if the sets needed immediately.

Another work I’d like to mention is Gary Freemantles –  Red Dot dog. This was a small round red sticker – and a painted bulldog portrait. Acrylic on paper. It gave me a good laugh. Oh Gary, such a troll. Priced for $250.00 it sold! Legend.

On Friday I painted on GIMP at TLC. We didn’t have a model so I just hanged out in Garys room with Rachel and such.

I haven’t been very good with keeping up with Reddit SketchDaily. This was spose to be a toy design but turned into a landscape. If I feel like painting a landscape, I’m going to do it! I saved ALOT of layers when working on this (17 in total), I shank this down to 7 frames for the GIF.

I started with a yellow background – created with a large brush. I then sketched in a toy design – gave him a stick to hold and used a red color scheme. I then focused on the background. Blues first. I created a horizon line where I separated the water with land. My thought behind the land was desert skinny hills. It needed contrast so added red at the end. I’ll explore this further.

I added a bridge over the water. This helped bridge the gap in perspective.

light highlights added to the water – simply adding white to the blue.

In the foreground I explored a reddish-brown, I completely changed the foreground – making the character almost non-existent.

Here’s the moment I’m most happy with. Perhaps I should develop from here.

The theme on Reddit SketchDaily today is Monster Under The Bed. I’ve been busy moving these last 4 days but finally had some time this morning to do a quick sketch in GIMP. I used no reference but instead just worked from imagination.

GIF of the process. Starting with a large brush I apply yellow to the background. Next it’s grays to get the shape in, followed by black line around major areas. Two shades of blue  - darker on the figure on the bed and monster under the bed. This same blue used for the frame.. White was added to the blue for the background and below the bed. The final color was a reddish-brown. I applied this to the two figures and the frame. White shade for the background.

Theme of the week is happening on Reddit SketchDaily. The theme – Seven Deadly Sins. For the first day it’s Gluttony. mmmm, food. I had subway for dinner last night as I was given a $20.00 subway card for xmas. Haven’t brought any food since moving into this new flat – might survive on subway again today and shop tomorrow.

Anyway, back to the the art. I did a search on google for gluttony for some reference inspiration. And found this disturbing image. Would be interesting to draw.

The models I get for life drawing are often skinny, especially the male models (James, Robert etc). I’d like to draw a overweight male. Arhhh, more varional on

The GIF. Sadly no video today. I recored it but when I tried to open it after the file was corrupted. I’m using Cam Studio. Maybe I need to check the settings. The files it creates are huge as well – 4 gig for the recording of this painting.

I explored enviorments again, something common in my last few pieces. Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. The smudge tool was fun to play around with. Creates transparency and distortion. For the seven deadly sins I think this distortion is important – much like the colors – brown, gray – sickly. With the green I tried a impression style – blobs of green to make up a area. Maybe I could use this same technique with figures as well?

Here’s the final. Does his head look like ET?

I got a new mentor. Here’s the email I sent her today explaining my plan and such for the year. You can read it too….

Hi Sophie.

My cellphone is currently at my Mothers home in Levin… I will have it later back late next week. Best contact is via email. I check daily.  I’m useless with a cellphone.

I’m really happy to be back at TLC… Roberts block this week.

Over the holidays I focused on digital painting. Normally I draw and paint from a life model (pencil/color pencil/crayon/acrylic).

This term I’m doing Life drawing on Monday with Dan and painting with Marc on Thursday. I life paint every 2nd Friday. On days I don’t go into TLC I’ve planned several exercises:

• Sketchbook. I’ve used these for years and will continue doing so. Pencil, Colored Pencil, pen, watercolor. I like to get outside and draw from life – people, buildings, trees, anything I find interesting.
• Website. Working on a new design. Continue with regular posting. Get some guest post/collaboration happening. Launch a programming blog in March (so need to work on the design for this)
• Reddit SketchDaily. I’ve been doing this for the past month and a half and will keep it up
• Environment of the Week – ConceptArt.org - I’ve never entered artwork – the standard is high. I plan to start working on the themes and upload paintings for it.
• Video. Continue with recording of digital painting. Expand to oil painting. Commentary.
• Programming. Currently working with Python, and learning C++. I see programming going hand to hand with art.

So that’s my plan for the year. Knowing myself, bound to change and evolve.

In terms of my artwork and getting it to you – my blog posts are the best stop – lets you see what I’m thinking behind the artwork. You can subscribe to my blog via email or RSS reader. I also upload to TLC Workroom but I don’t upload everything. I can also email you artwork if that’s best for you.

I’ve setup a digital worklog with Google Docs. Since you arn’t at TLC campus (my last mentor Lee was) a digital worklog will be easiest.

I’ll keep this regularly updated.

I think that’s everything for now. I’ll keep you updated.

-William Mckee

I spent yesterday cleaning my room as I’m moving this weekend. I also had problems with my internet connection. It just wouldn’t stay connected – connection dropped every few mins. Town yesterday with my flatmate – Syed. He wanted to look at flats. I found a flat on Wednesday night thankfully.

It was a beautiful day in Wellington. I had my sketchpad – popped into the french art shop (hadn’t been in for ages) and brought 3 new colored pencils. With so much digital work produced lately it was nice to use colored pencils.

The theme on Reddit SketchDaily (I’m kinda falling behind) is Inorganic character design. I didn’t do a character – instead applying the inorganic to landscape drawing.

No WIPs or such. I didn’t have my camera with me. Camera is fixed now though! Will make it easier to upload drawings! I’ll aim to get the life drawing I did on Wednesday uploaded on Sunday. unfortunately I missed out on life drawing Thursday as I spelt in – got my room packed though!

This was drawn on the Wellington waterfront. The straight lines created an inorganic shape to the hills! I reinforce this further I used the pen, experimenting with straight lines and crosshatching.

Sketch of a couple of people in Wellington. Some foliage in the scene, taking it beyond just the two figures. Certainly want to continue this in the life drawings this term.

Expect to see more drawings soon! Plus I’ll keep working on digital works, but maybe not as much as I have been this month and a half.