Thursday, September 22, 2011

Yep, Still Tough + Sketches!

The painting is coming along. According to my instructor it's turning out great, while I'm half-way between loathing and being okay with it. Thankfully as I look at it from the photo right now it's tilting more towards "okay".

And finally got around to scanning a few sketches! The first was a quick birthday sketch for my cousin because I fail and won't be able to mail her gifts to her until Friday and her birthday was earlier this week. It's her character Denver from a role-play that we're doing together.

I also tried to draw my half of the role-play, Corvus. However, I don't think I like it enough to be bothered with finishing it. Alas.
Finally just something I sketched during my lecture classes this week. Yes, more Hetalia fan art. Also some... thing I just started doodling. It starts with a random shape and I just build on it. they're kinda fun.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

This is Gonna Be Tough



This week marked the start of the next assignment in my painting studio, and also my first time working on a real canvas. Let me say, that stuff sure is greedy when it comes to trying to spread pigment, or maybe it's the gesso on top of it? Granted, the point with oil is to lay it on thick anyway.

The real tricky part of this assignment is that it's meant to be "arbitrary color", and based purely on the color value rather than representing anything with color. Yes, that's as complicated as it sounds. The most simple way for me to describe it is that every thing has to more or less be made of a quilt of various colors as long as they have the same value.

The drapery up top is being done correctly, but my teacher wants me to separate the colors out more on the bottom so they're not simply blended, but each color needs to have its own place.

I've been doing sketching here and there, but haven't gotten around to scanning anything.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Contains Nudity

Well, now that I have everyone's attention, let's start things with my finished painting for my studio class.

It's... not something I'm particularly fond of, but I knew it wouldn't be from the start. I never expect that of my first time trying something. It's main issue is that it's incredibly dark, even where it should be bright. I've noticed that I have that problem a lot, however. Hopefully this semester will help correct that. Hopefully I'll also stop comparing my work to the other students and convincing myself that I'm not as good as they are.

This may be shameless and may be resulting in the rolling of several sets of eyes, but I did it strictly to enjoy myself. In my defense, however, it was also good anatomy practice. It's been a while since I really sat and studied a reference, so this was helpful (the reference was a hard-bound book called Anatomy for the Artist for those wondering.) And hey, drawing Ivan (Hetalia) as a sexy vampire was therapeutic. A real vampire, mind you. None of that Twilight nonsense.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Working on It

I've been plugging along slowly since the last entry. Today my intention is to relax and finally do a little art for myself, and hopefully work on this commission, as it still needs colored.
I also need to look up the exact quote, because I have a feeling that's not totally accurate.

Last weekend was quite a fiasco with my art computer. I installed a Windows 7 upgrade to help the problem with my graphics card. While this worked, it meant hours of trying to make the Sims 2 install correctly and that I also tore my apartment apart looking for the installation discs for everything else. I found all that I need except the Photoshop disk, so I downloaded GIMP and have been trudging through learning to use it as Photoshop's replacement. It's not so bad once you adapt to its quirks and different "language" as it were.

That said, I've been working on my book cover in GIMP and also goofing around with Illustrator as well. Andreas is slowly coming together, but I'm finally looking at it with enough distance to realize that his head is far too small. Thankfully that won't take too long to fix.

The painting for my Painting I class is as finished as it will be, but I currently lack a photo. Perhaps after doing some relaxing art today I'll snap a quick one of it.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Happy Long Weekend!

Hello Friday of Labor Day weekend. A few stresses going on to start my three days of chilling, but I'm not letting them bother me much. And hey, I've got some art to upload!

Maybe I've been vague about it, but since Kessie asked, allow me to explain. The painting and the digital project art two totally separate classes and not connected in any way. Speaking of, here's an update on the painting:
I've grown braver about laying the paint on thick, but having trouble blending the colors on the canvas (well, gesso-covered paper in this case).

Also! My first model car. It was easy to put together, though I ended up gluing bits into place because they'd fall off while I was doing something else. I also painted the interior black. It was white by default, which was totally unsuited to the rest of the car, I thought. I had a lot of fun, though! I think eventually I'll invest in another one.
Here's the commission, scanned better.
And last, the other commission that I need to work on. This will be the last for quite a while. Work, school, and homework mean that any non-curricular drawing I do will be for myself.
So here's to a long weekend! Hope everyone enjoys it!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Getting Classy

Sorry, it's just a play on the fact that I've started actually doing art for my classes, not that my art is suddenly more high-end.

As I expected, oil paint (yes, water-soluble since Kessie asked) is going to take some getting used to. Last class I was trying to use it like extra-thick watercolors, which of course it isn't. For today's studio I'm going to try laying the pigment on more thickly.
Also, for my digital tools class, my professor has approve my chosen project of creating a cover for the novel I wrote for National Novel Writer's Month back in 2009 (I'll be going back to it this November to write the second draft). I'll be drawing the individual images for characters in Photoshop Elements 5, then using Adobe Illustrator CS5 (which I bought at student discount) to put them together and add the desired effects and text. Here's the front-most image of the main character (so far):
For non-curricular art, I finished my friend's commission. Please excuse the poor quality; I'm at school and don't have my scanner in my backpack, so my camera had to do:
After finishing the other commission on my plate, I'm going to stop taking them for a while. Full-time class, working 25 hours a week plus homework means that any free-time drawing I do will be for myself.

Also, my model car is completed, I just happened to not have the photo I took of it on the camera card that's with me. Next entry, though!