01/22/10 - Digital Link to Sketchbook Pro File in Google Docs

Sharing!



Here is a link to the actual file that the above image was created in from Sketchbook Pro 2010. If you have the program (really nice 15-day trial versions available online) you can download the .tif file and play with it as you like!

• Image005.tif - Google Docs

08/16/09 - Watercolor Illustration

This was done back in August from a photo ref (Target newspaper circular) with W&N Cotman paints on a 8.5 x 5 in sample of Strathmore's Wet Media Illustration Board (thanks to Barbara Faro, our local Strathmore paper sales rep!).

I spent about 3.5 hours (probably much too long for the size of the painting) or so on this - I really tried to do this in a controlled manner and am relatively please with the results. I was striving to keep the look controlled while matching the vibrancy of the photo's colors.

I 'm not sure about the watermark proclaiming my copyright as this is very faithful to the photo which I don't have any claims to.

01/19/10 - Digital - Painter 11

Two really quick and loose sketches from a new install of the trial version of painter 11. Sometimes a program just clicks on the first take. The tool was the "6B real pencil" it senses tilt with your stylus to the tablet. So you can approximate the the thick and thin lines you get with a real pencil. Nice, when it works. It is still a little buggy...

01/09/10 - Life Drawing - Cabaret Life Drawing at 21c : Bodybuilder

I attended my first Cabaret Life Drawing at 21c for the new year yesterday. The model, Kevin, is a bodybuilder and depicted both a boxer and a cowboy (sounds like a Simon and Garfunkel song, doesn't it?).

I have recently been working with Flickr for hosting photos and scans so thought I would try something new (and save some of my Blogger resources :-)

Here's a slide show from yesterday's output:

01/10/10 - 2009 Sketches and Doodles

Here is a link to my Flickr set for "Sketches and Doodles 2009". This set will be scans and photos of traditional art - typically pencil or pen. These were quick and fun! The magic and power of simple b&w images is just incredible to me sometimes!

Flickr Set

10/10/09 - Life Drawing - Takedown of 3rd Annual UK Community Art Show

This late September and early October I participated in the third annual Life Drawing Show for the UK Community Art Group. This show was held in Reynolds Building #1 in the Barnhart Gallery. Thanks to Arturo and Ben Withers for approving this and assisting!

Here's a little movie I made from photos I took of the show as it was being taken down on Saturday October 10th 2009. I wish I had gotten to take photos earlier - there was a lot of nice work displayed.

12/08/09 - Life Drawing

Here is my output from one of the last Tuesday night sessions of 2009:

10/06/09 - Digital - Sketchbook Pro 2

Another digital sketch - with a favorite program of mine for getting stuff down fast: Sketchbook Pro 2. I saved this with the rough sketch layers on - kind of shows my working process of refining from a very loose shape to a tighter pencil line. Inspired by a college student I saw and drawn from memory.

10/29/09 - Digital - Sketchbook Pro 2

Catching up on stuff from last year - this was inspired by two things: the clear bright light of autumn and trying to catch a sense of motion (leaves and paper blowing in the wind as the dog lunges). Not to say I did either of these concepts justice - only to document that they did move me.

12/02/09 - Digital - Sketchbook Pro 2

Here's a digital sketch from memory of a 1970's pinup. As time passes the models from 1970's and before just seem more aesthetically pleasing - before cosmetic surgery became so common.

01/01/10 - Cartoon - New Years 2010

Here's a quick doodle I did at the end of last year (a couple of hours ago). Red col-erase pencil on letter size copy paper. Wanted to hit some of my new years resolutions with this. Where did the father time with scythe and baby imagery come from anyway?

01/01/10 - Digital - Sketchbook Pro 2010

Happy New Year everyone!
Here's a quick Santa head I did in Sketchbook Pro 2010. A great program!
The old jolly elf is not so easy to draw and paint. Haddon Sundblom did some incredible work for Cocoa-Cola.

09/16/08 - Location Sketching - UK SCA - Indo Dance

Revised 9/229/09: Finally added sketches from the event!

This was a wonderful experience and I want to thank Krithika for making us all feel very comfortable and entertaining and teaching us all as well!

My sketches are not so great but catching the movement is something that takes some practice - hopefully more chance ahead! I used a Pentel V-5 ink roller (one of my favorites for writing) and a Pentel Color Brush Pen (a very nice sketching pen - with a really thick line).

Here are some photos of Krithika and her fellow dancer (will try and get her name from UK hosts).

05/30/08 - Digital - Photoshop, Sketchbook Pro and Painter

Some digital drawings from the last couple of months. Photoshop CS2 , Sketchbook Pro 2 and Painter X. These are all drawn without reference - just from memory and imagination.

02/16/08 - Digital - Photoshop Painting

I have been recuperating at home the last week after after a week in the hospital. The meds and bed rest had me all revved up with no place to go. But I have been able to get in some time and progress (I think) on my Photoshop CS2 digital painting skills. Here are some pieces created in the last couple of days.

Lady Washington and the treasure cave are from my head and Dorothy and the Tobbogan Lady are from photoreference (but still free hand drawn without sampling colors).

10/27/07 - Character Design - Childrens Story

This is the first rough (and working version) draft character design sheet for a teacher friend's illustrated short story "Zukes and Cukes!"

Holly and I produced several simple finished line drawings using these character designs to accompany a short story that was developed for project head start.

This was a good experience because we had to produce the drawings in a very short time and it gave me a feel for what must be done to deliver work on a deadline.

08/16/07 - Life Drawing

Here are two, 30-minute pose ink drawings from the Thursday night open life drawing session at UK. These were drawn direct (without a pencil sketch) onto a 14 x 17" Borders and Riley Bleedproof Board (a cheap alternative to Bristol) with a Series Seven #2 and Koh-I-Noor Universal Ink. I have been drawing with the comics inking tools for several weeks now in Thursday night sessions and I believe I am seeing some improvement.

James Montgomery Flagg's (see links in right sidebar: Illustrators) style is an inspiration for my rendering - it is amazing how he could develop skin tones with such ease and economy of line hatching.

PS: I was pretty proud of this drawing until I put it up next to the Flagg! Boy, do I have a lot to learn!! And, boy, was he ever good!

08/12/07 - Sketchbook - Animals for Clara to Color

Last Sunday I started doing some animal sketches from Jack Hamm's How to Draw Animals book and the Famous Artists equivalent. The first few were pretty shaky but I started getting into it and then went on to draw this gorilla in ink directly (no pencil sketch) from a Cincinatti Zoo flier. The colors are by Clara. She likes to cut each animal out before painting them with watercolors. Except where noted these were drawn over a pencil sketch with Micron Brush pen and Staedtler Pigment Liners.

This was fun and followed our trip to Lousiville zoo a couple of weeks ago (may later post those very rough sketches drawn from life in the heat...had to wipe the sweat from the pages!). I need to spend more time learning about and drawing our fellow creatures here on earth.

07/28/07 - PleinAir - Joseph Beth Cafe

Two little sketches - not really great by any means - but significant in that I was able to do some sketching in a public area. I'm usually a little skittish about drawing in public all by myself. Holly and Clara (just returned from Maine) were there part of the time (between trips to bathroom for C) but this was really a pretty nice to place to sit back and drawn in. From the patio at Joseph-Beth Cafe in Lexington Green you can hear the live music and see a man made duck pond with a fountain. Inspiration: Mike Manley, (look for his blog Draw! in my watched blogs section) a pretty fearless artist and great role model.

07/24/07 - Digtial - Painter X (Rocks!)

Just installed the trial version of Corel Painter X on my home machine and I have to say it quickly sold me on the need to upgrade from version IX!
Here's a quick little piece (Note: I used auto-clone and the pencil tool to trace a photo reference) to look at - boy, is this easier than Photoshop (much more intuitive - you can take your knowledge of real art media and translate to this program)!