Roller Coaster

I've been pretty unproductive these past few weeks. Life has once again been yanking my chain and I've been quite exhausted from recent events. I'm slowly getting my groove back though and largely due to this:

William Bouguereau (1825-1905)

"Each day I go to my studio full of joy; in the evening when obliged to stop because of darkness I can scarcely wait for the morning to come...My work is not only a pleasure, it has become a necessity. No matter how many other things I have in my life, ifI cannot give myself to my dear painting I am miserable."

"One has to seek Beauty and Truth, Sir! As I always say to my pupils, you have to work to the finish. There's only one kind of painting. It is the painting that presents the eye with perfection, the kind of beautiful and impeccable enamel you find in Veronese and Titian."

Among the great masters William Bouguereau is probably the one that I like the most. Even the story of his life is something I find highly inspirational. To date so many modern artists have tried to copy his work but so few can even come close.

Anyway, I'm now back on track and have resumed work on some of the things I've left undone. I promised myself that I will atleast have a portfolio ready by the end of the year. If my plans push thru then maybe I'll be taking up either an undergraduate degree in FA or if it's possible then perhaps a master's degree. lolz. I can dream can't I? :)

Abstract Art is Not Abstract and Definitely Not Art, by Fred Ross (edited by Iian Neill)

The following was taken from Art Renewal Center ->

Just because something causes you to have a feeling of aesthetic beauty does not make it a work of art.A work of art is the selective recreation of reality for the purpose of communicating some aspect of what it means to be human or how we perceive the world.

The greatest works explore beauty or tragedy in life. The most profound and universal of human emotions that are timeless, and could have occurred in the ancient past and will be experienced again in the distant future. The same kind of subject matter is explored by the greatest poetry, novels, and plays. Our hopes, our dreams, our fears. Jealousy, greed, lust, ambition, traumas from prejudice, war and even just growing up. The cruelty possible to humanity - as well as its compassion and idealism.

Then take any one or more of these themes, give it expression by masterful skills forged by the finest training available, from centuries of codified knowledge of the craft. And all unified by the perfection of composition, of design, drawing, modeling, perspective, tone, color, light, atmosphere, and paint handling.

That is the description of works of art.

Read on->

Photoshop WIPs

figure 1.1 - Sketchlines Showing

figure 1.2 - Sketchlines removed on the somewhat finished parts.

It looks almost as if it was done with chalks...

figure 1.3 - Added hair last night. Wasn't able to finish though.

I also thought of adjusting the colors to something warmer and stronger.

Made some changes to the shadows... I think I like it better now.

After several days of searching thru the net for my tablet drivers I finally brought home one that worked. Obviously I was so excited that I jumped right in. The above is the product of last night's burst of excitement(no not that kind! :P).

The pose is from a black and white photo that I traced in the computer. Admittedly my drawing skills has suffered the most after my extended break(12 years?) from traditional painting. Since the point of the excercise is to get a feel of the digital painting media I just opted to do a quick trace using Photoshop's layers(kinda like tracing paper technique. ;)). I then proceeded to paint in.

By 12:14 a.m. I was too tired to continue work on this and decided to just set it aside for another day. Looking at my unfinished work, I realised the following:

• My brush style needs work. It comes out too gritty than I'd prefer.
• I can paint and sketch more steadily if I keep the button assignment on the pen tip as "left click". Switching it to the 2nd button makes painting unsteady...
• I need to get used to the weight at the top of the pen. (the wire connecting the pen to the tablet adds weight and has a certain pull which interferes with my strokes... hoping for wireless just about now...)
• I need to learn how to blend colors seamlessly...
• The smudge tool is really evil...
• I need to learn when to use the blur tool and how to use it correctly.
• I may have used the wrong color for the shadows. it didn't come out the way it should.
• That I truly needed to sleep...

Linda Bergkvits' tutorials are great help.

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Thursday, Feb 23, 2006

I tried doing hair as it is described in Linda's tutorial. I wasn't able to get into the greater part of the detailing. It involves making lots of tiny strands that follow the flow of the hair... It's gruelling but I have to say that I've never had so much fun painting hair before.

I also decided to test color adjustment. I tested it out on figure 1.3 and the colors came out okay but I don't know if I'll keep it.

One Sunday Afternoon

Nope. That's not the painting. :P You are looking at my look before you leap tool. I use this tiny piece of water color paper to test out my chosen colors. When this piece of paper starts to look harmonized then you'll know you picked the right colors. ;)

I think this piece of paper is proof that I'm still lacking in confidence and mastery of watercolors... I keep having to test out my brush load here before applying it on the paper.

Anyways on to the point of this post. I bought two books around late december to early january last year. It was Winsor & Newton's published books on watercolor landscapes and it's pretty helpful. It offered much insight into specific techniques or howto's on topics such as rocks, skies, mountains, water etc... I promised myself that I would test it out but I had to put that on hold as I've been otherwise preoccupied with... uhm... err... conquering the world. :D What can I say... watching 10,000 legionaires hack away at another 10,000 barbarians... it just brings tears to my eyes. (it saves me money too since I haven't been going out. :D)

Fortunately I realized that this was taking me away from my... ahem... artistic retraining so yesterday I picked up a piece of watercolor paper dipped it in warm water for a minute or so, hung it to dry and when it was stretched I went on to make this:

Lake Scene No. 1

10.7" x 7.2"

watercolors on watercolor paper(340 gsm)

So there's my somewhat successful painting. lolz. I did the excercise advised in the book. Followed his chosen palette and found that for the first time it actually matches the colors that I have in my box. :D

Here are a few things I learned in this excercise:

• Never wear white shirt and shorts when you paint. One way or another the paint ends up on it. :P
• It's possible to finish the painting in around 30 mins to an hour. I just spend so much time walking around, watching TV, eating, doodling and day dreaming in between sections that I end up finishing it in 4 hours. lolz. yep I take the term Leisure Painting to a whole new level.
• Slow moving persons like me have 1 in a million chance in becoming a watercolor master if I don't change... atleast when I'm doing watercolors(hehe...). The timing is critical and my sky is clear evidence. I realise that preparing the colors you will need to paint a section (ex: sky) should be prepared in advance when you're painting wet-in-wet(watercolors... duh!). This becomes even more important if it will be necessary to lift colors at the end.
• I have to remember to fade the colors as it goes farther so that depth is simulated.
• I should use more water when I'm doing a section in which color lifting will be necessary.
• I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. I must face my fear, I must let it pass thru me. When my fear is gone only I shall remain. Oops... got carried away there. :P

That's all folks. Till next painting session. ;)

p.s. first one to find the house gets a kiss from me... you know tiny chocolates from hershey's? yep... just one. :P

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5:14 p.m. - Here's a little something I doodled in Photoshop while waiting for my off. :D

Painted with a mouse... I think I'll have to rest my arm for 7 years. lolz

It looks like crap but atleast I'm discovering new things. I made custom brushes on the fly and used and abused the dodge and burn tools. I think that mountain looks silly... don't get me started on the rest. lolz.

Would it be too much to ask if someone gave me a gift one of these days and when I open the box it turns out to be Corel Painter? Yeah... that would be too much...

Photoshop Test Run

Digital painting world here I come...

This is a test image I did on photoshop. I'm getting interested in going digital. I won't drop my traditional art of course. What I learn in both mediums turn out to be interchangeable.

I think I spent more time trying to find out how to achieve neutralizing the colors than I did painting the damn thing. lolz. The workflow is pretty much the same as dealing with acrylics. You just start with the base colors and work from there.

I miss my ancient tablet. Painting with the mouse sucks like hell...

Autumn Attempts

Watercolors on Watercolor paper (340, rough).

9.5" x 6.9"

My first attempt at painting an autumn scene. I wonder if I'd do better if I've actually seen what autumn is like. My country is in the temperate zone. We don't get different seasons here... not that it's bad mind you... I would really hate to have to get up on the roof to shovel snow. lolz.

I am such an amatuer... my color selection looks only slightly better than kindergarden palletes. :D. I have one major regret with this painting... I should've detailed the fallen leaves instead of doing my usual impressionist style(coz that as you know is much easier. ;) ). Oh and that I wish I had more time to work on it... unfortunately I was racing against the setting of the sun for the obvious reasons. Recognizing color at night is much more difficult.

There my queen. I hope you like it. Do note that it looks much better here than it does in the real world. :D you'll just have to squint your eyes a bit every time you look at the real painting. lolz. I promise you that when I get better(which is real soon. ;) ) the very first masterpiece I make will go to you. :D

Speed Paint Section

Dark Catacombs. One of the speedpaints I did for a friend.

The Necromancer. One of the two speedpaints I did for a friend.


Winter in the City. It was based of a reference pic.


Zamboanga fishermen at 1:00 a.m. in the morning. This was from an R&R trip.


Quick Sketch of a face. No references.

Finished Works

A portrait of Julie Delphy. Based on a reference pic.
Digital Media (Painter)

A lake Scene (from a book excercise)
Water Color on Water Color paper. (10.7" x 7.2"/340 gsm)

An Autumn Scene based of a reference pic
Water Color on Water Color paper

Another Exercise From a Book
Digital Media

Here's a face I did. No reference pic
Digital Media

Quickie Update

There he is. It's about 95% done. I just need to do his chapter symbol on the left shoulder pad and some more highlights here and there. The thing with metallics is that it looks gritty no matter how clean you paint them. Perfect for the drab and dreary world of 40k though.

I'm not so satisfied with the free hand. I should have used a fine detail brush but opted to settle with the triple 0. Metallics tend to ruin brushes faster than normal paint and I'm not dipping my 200 Php brush in those things. :P

Above: I thought I'd show the cape with the gold linings. I did that in metallics. I think It looks quite nice... just not up close. :D

Below: More shots on the free hand. I worked Captain Sicarius' insignia into the left shoulder pad. I should have chosen a yellow that leans more toward orange. I may redo that part in the future.

Doon Sa Likod nang Ilaw, Paspasan ang Galaw.

Here's a few of what I've been working on. I've definitely set aside my knightly procession in favor of cracking up on my 40k backlog. Most of these are my playing pieces though. I usually don't go fancy over them. Someday when all my playing pieces are fully painted (and there's boxes of them mind you. :P) I'll be able to paint worthy display figs. For now you guys will just have to settle for these...

Exhibit A. The beginings of what will be Captain Sicarius of the 2nd Company. This is actually the first time I tried painting major shades into any of my Ultramarine figs. Since these are my playing pieces I don't really go to town with the painting. Until recently that is... I figured what the heck... Perhaps the characters should get some special attention. Yep... even if all he is armed during my games is a trusty bolt pistol and a close combat weapon. xP

The lower part of the body used to belong to my librarian which is now mounted on a bike. The head I took from a berzerker trooper and sculpted on the headress... a tribute to my current favorite game, "Rome Total War". He has a cape that I have yet to paint as is some of the other details present here. The original plan was to give him a tower shield to make the Centurion look more authentic but after sculpting on a few details it seems like the shield would cover most of the details I did... that idea is on hold for now. :D

Exhibit B. Here's my 2nd Assault Squad(and there's a 3rd on the way. ;) it's nice when you can drive the point of the lesson up close and personal. :P. I've always liked jump troops. From Mechwarrior elementals to Warhammer Assault Squads. I can almost see them jumping up and down the battle field and doing what they do best. Pester your opponent. >:D

These are mostly straight from the box. I just sculpted the tabard with greenstuff. I used an old terminator's storm shield as a combat shield. The hand flamers I made out of a cut up plasma pistol and some cadian flamers I traded from a local imperial guard player.

I've been working on a few others but I didn't bring them with me today. I'll put up a few images as I finish them. Those works include my new Tyranic War Veterans(surprisingly useful in battle), a revamped librarian on a bike, an attack bike and two speeders.

twiddle me this

after some time twiddling with the code of my template i finally found a way to post my email address both on the sidebar and the footer. check it out. you may email me your comments on the address indicated.

will post pics of my latest projects as soon as i get to take them.

overdue

apologies for the long absence. been working on some projects. i'll post when i get the time to take pics.

i've disabled the comments on this blog so as to keep it on it's purpose and that is to be a gallery of my works. i'll add my new email address to the side bar when it becomes available.

Blast from the past

Warning: This post has some nudity in it. I hope Blogger doesn't shut me down because of it. lolz.

I rummaged thru my old stuff and managed to find some drawings that survived from my younger days. I thought it would be nice to post these in the meantime. These were probably the first two drawings I made in full color. I copied them off the marvel cards that used to circulate before. I made these two with watercolors back in 6th grade. The paper I used then was oslo paper... it feels like tissue now. :D Oh yeah... in those days I didn't know how to draw very well so I did these with the scaling technique(it involves drawing crosshatches on the original and then drawing each part on a per square basis). The cards were tiny and this drawing fill a whole paper. Imagine my shock when I saw someone doing portraits in Robinson's Galleria and he was doing scaling on the pictures...

The rats managed to get to these two... sides of the paper were already eaten away. :( atleast the subject is still intact. Cammy and Chun Li from street fighter. It was done in mixed mediums... water colors, colored pencisl and some parts in oil pastels. Now those were my creative days. lolz. These two were done in highschool freshman. That reminds me of Heidi... where in the blazes is that girl. My first muse... we used to hang out together and she was always very timid. lolz.

Done during Freshman in highschool too. It was when the Dragon Ball Z craze began. Left to right: Piccolo, Vegeta, Trunks and Broli in his weakest form. Dragon Ball was nice for awhile until they started being too powerful and the plots became too redundant... I remember watching three episodes of the Perfect Cell charging up energy and telling his life story at the same time while our beloved Dragon Ball heroes watched and listened. lolz. Mixed media.

These were from the appearance of the Druuna series on the Heavy Metal comics. The originals were done by Paolo Eleuteri Serpieri. He's an italian(?) erotic artist. The comic series itself was extremely pornographic though... I did these in watercolors. I was in 2nd year highschool then... I remember coz that was also the first time I recieved love letters from a girl. Yup... imagine my shock. lolz.

These two I made in Sophomore Highschool. They were the last drawings I made in highschool before I stopped drawing. They were also the best ones in my opinion. The last 2 were copied from Image Comic's swimsuit edition. The one of Psylocke was from one of X-men Comic's R&R issues. I did these in watercolors. I had the last two laminated. This funny incident happened at school... I was in Home Economics class when I brought it out and all my classmates flocked to my seat and everyone was giving the Ooh's and Aah's when the teacher came in to ask what the commotion was about. She saw my drawings and looked at me with disdain as she was telling me that i should not bring "Pornographic Materials" in school. She confiscated them and I had to beg her in order to get them back. After two days she was convinced that they were my drawings and she gave it back to me... After that day, I had to hide in the CR everytime there was an art contest and the teachers would look everywhere for me. lolz. I hated competing. :D It added so much pressure on drawing and I always ended up staring blankly at my paper. Add to that the winners were always abstract works of art... far from my line coz i've always been strongest on the impressionist and realism techniques... I never liked abstracts... not that I can't appreciate it. :P

These were the only two paintings I made in College... somewhere around 4th year I think. The first pic was from an Ad for a bank... I just liked the colors. I did that one in water colors, on a now extinct paper. lolz. The second one was also from the Druuna collection by Seripieri. It was done on the same extinct paper... I wonder what happened to the manufacturer... You could use that paper on anything... Watercolors, Pastels, Charcoal... anything... it even gave a canvas like finish.

This I did about a few days ago. I made the stupid mistake of using a black paper for a snow scene. lolz. Nothing fancy... I did this doodle in less than 30 minutes. lolz.

Return to Innocence

With brush in hand, I stared at the paper

Fear was rising

But it is winter no longer

The colours I have chosen

I am born anew

Spring has come

It is time to paint...

I have taken my first step and though it is an unsteady one I am more determined to learn and master this art. I'm begining to find watercolours strangely appealing... I've never worked with a medium that has a life of it's own. It can be sublte one moment and strong the next... therein lies the challenge. One must learn to tame his medium in order to produce works of art and this is so true for watercolours.

This is the first "Real Painting" I made in nearly seven years. When I stopped painting I first thought of giving away my materials but some part of me held back. Instead I had kept most of it in a small box. Seven years later and my paints were still intact. I guess subconsciously I have always known that I will return to this... perhaps I just needed time to heal. This is definitely a number of firsts for me since not only is it my very first "true" work in water colours but it is also the first one I did with a limited palette. I used 8 colours starting with my base primaries and their complimentaries and an few other additions to darken the colours I chose.

There is plenty of room for improvement though as the colours are too luminous than what I was aiming for. I need to train my eye to pick out the right colour mixes. So guess my journey begins...

Look To The French

Watercolour Painting
by Jean-Louis Morelle
Published by New Holland Publishers

Perhaps it's their school curriculum or the land itself that breeds painters. For whatever reason France just seems to give birth to good if not great painters. This is perhaps the 2nd book I found that gives great instruction on the subject of watercolor.

I've only just begun to read it myself and I can't help but recommend it to watercolor enthusiasts. It starts off with a precious topic that most art books tend to overlook. An in-depth instruction and explanation of color theory in pigments and light waves. Which then proceeds to color mixing. Don't know much about water color papers? The author sites examples of them and even gives the properties of some. Two of the papers present in this book can be found in National Bookstore Outlets (I'm a Filipino and this is our ... well... national bookstore. :P). One is made by Montval and the other by Arches (140 Php? will post weight later). The middle of the book deals with detailed techniques in both wet and dry methods.

The most interesting part and perhaps the one that I liked best would have to be the step-by-step pages where the artists (this part of the book seems to be a collaborative work) show their works and then a step-by-step, complete with commentary on how they did it.

This is a very helpful book on watercolor but like all things in the art of painting... the only way you truly learn and improve is thru practice.

The Red Dragon of Mousillon

In all his glorious unpaintedness :P. I've always liked this model. With the exception of the tip of his lance which isn't very convincing and neither is it impressive. The very curve of the tip suggest that the strain upon impact will be on the middle of the lance's pole which might actually cause it to break. Of course that's just me being overly analytical. Perhaps I truly am anal. :D

I also considered putting this pic here so as to show the size of the figures that I paint. So yes that's how small they are... and yes I can never be a hand model. :P

So what's the master plan with this guy? He is the Grail Knight on a Pegasus that I keep using during my games. I liked this figure ever since I saw the one that won a golden daemon award during games day some years back. I like his helm and the tabard which is actually adorned with dragon scales. I'm thinking I'll paint him with red, black and some leather colors for earthtones. The pegasus will likely be a creamy brown. Then I will also do my first OSL with him, I'll do it on his eyes and reflect it from out of his helm... to sort of signify the the eyes inside are glowing with a green light. Goodluck to me. lolz.

"The Red Dragon as he is known for no one has seen his face, is a grail guardian within the corrupted land of Mousillon. Many a time have travelers been endangered within the forsaken lands and saved by The Red Dragon. He appears out of nowhere to assist those that are in dire need, striding upon his great pegasus mount, eyes gleaming and lance ready. His name has become legend to the commoners in the villages surrounding the duchy of Mousillon. Rumor has it that weapons used by evil men have been stopped short before reaching him. Truly he must be protected by The Lady. He has also been known to aid bretonian armies fighting for a just cause when the battles occur close to the lands of Mousillon."

Feeling Blue?

I finally made my first work in water color yesterday. I think I finished it in around 2 hours. Nothing fancy really... I just worked on the tonal sketch for the real painting that I'm planning on making.

It's a good feeling when you pick up something you haven't done in ages and start going thru it all over again. The last time I made a real painting was after I broke up with my first girlfriend and that was nearly 8 years ago. I made it in anger coz she burned my figure drawing book after we broke up. I would liken myself then, to a firefly with anger, hatred and hurt as my fuel... when the painting was done... I felt burned out. It was the last time I picked up a brush and sat infront of my easel. Oddly enough it was the only painting I had framed and the only paintng that hangs on my room's wall. It's still there as a reminder of who and how I was those days. Conflicting reminders... that I could do anything if I set my mind to it... that anger and hate are negative feelings that one should never dwell upon...

Those days have long gone and my ex and I have reconciled and moved on with our lives. Now it's time for me to go back to what makes me happy... painting. I picked watercolors this time around because I've never been good at it. In part I owe my renewed motivation and confidence to the Warhammer Hobby. Painting those miniatures have been both a learning experience and "a journey into the self" for me. I look at my very first figure and compare it with my present works and I can see clearly how far I've come. It's true that with determination and perseverance one will eventually achieve one's goals... no matter how many times you may fail and get frustrated. :D So now I choose watercolors because it's the medium in which I am weakest and if I can get better at it then I can easily improve on the rest.

I tried making the real painting but decided to redo it. Apparently making the tonal sketch is easier than doing it in full color. :D Still have to learn a lot about color theory I guess...