Saturday, May 30, 2009

Betty Engine (completed)

Done and done.



I quit counting the hours on this project at 40, but suspect it was about 65 or so and to be honest I think I could spend more time on it still (and probably will until I seal it). I did get a wonderful suggestion to make the darks darker and it did make the chrome effect 'Pop'. I could not manage to get the dark effect I wanted with the tools I had so I rode to town yesterday and purchased a 6B,.. I believe it made the difference.

Below is another close-up detail to prove how somethings look better from a distance,...

,... but this close up it shows my pencil work, shading, lack of blending and inaccuracies. Having said that, I am still proud of the final work.

The dimensions of the final project are 12"x9" on 65lb acid free paper. Tools used were an HB, 2B, conte #555, 6B, kneaded, pink and stick eraser as well as a small and medium tortillon.

Thanks for reading along and stay tuned for my next project.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Betty 3 and 4 (with a detail)

Another update with an interesting detail (well interesting to me).

Here is where I was at when I started earlier,...


,... and here is where I finished today.


Well that is the art to date and what follows is a detail (bottom left hand) and some ramblings about what I have learned (there might even be a technique/trick there).

Darker pencils (B4, B6, B8) are something I could really have used here. Sadly all I had was HB's and a B2, however I did find a Conte #555 which helps make the dark areas as black as possible but does add a texture if I am not careful (you can see where that might have happened). Otherwise the #555 has been good as long as I use it lightly and blend it into the page strategically with a tourtillion (or for larger areas I use my fingers - can't seem to break that habit).

Also I have learned it is easier to "undraw" using a kneaded eraser or for more pronounced lines I use a pentel clic eraser which I cut at a sharp angle. This is seen in the detailed image below.



On a more personal note, I should mentioned how surprising it is (even for this artist) that when you look at a project as busy as this one is, how the details are sometimes insignificant on there own but the overall effect is wonderfully pleasant to the eye (at least I hope so).

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Betty (wip) update

Here is a Betty update,...


... coming along fine isn't she. I have a few proud spots, a few "Hmmmm" spots and a few that definately need some tweaking, but all in all I am still excited and anxious to see the final product,... I sure am learning a lot with this one.

Maybe,.. just maybe I will try my hand at a Gregg Stone specialty, a 'trompe l'oeil'.

Shading Exercises (and avoidance)

Under the guise of doing some shading exercises as shown below, I technically avoided working on the Betty Engine. In all seriousness, I truly do enjoy the engine but I quickly noticed that there is an exuberant amount of shading to simulate reflective chrome and and a plethora of tubes, hoses and wires in a 3 dimensional state (also, it is horrendously detailed). So to practice my pencil control from my elbow instead of my wrist I did the Wolverine and Spiderman below. Apparently you get more flexibility from the elbow than from the wrist - I concur. Neither are great and both are slightly different in style (I believe the Spidey is more realistic and Wolvy more cartoonish), but the shading study was quite indispensable.

It should be noted that both works are reproductions from images off the Internet.



Back to Betty,...

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Betty (wip)


Here is a close up of my bikes engine. Her name is Betty and she always brings me back home.

All the chrome looks good in real life but when you try and reproduce it as pencil art,.. well, I'd rather be polishing the real thing. I suspect the near midnight darks and paper white lights will be interesting to learn.

I am using a 2B, HB and 2H, with various erasers (which I will certainly use a lot) and some tortillions.

Stay tuned,.. more to come.


Monday, May 18, 2009

Eye and Mouth Study

I occasionally do some simple study work to practice and figure out how to draw something of interest. For example these 'eyes' and 'mouths' express so much simply on their own, that once I can work them into and around an entire face I believe I will have a good handle on how it all works.


(they look a little creepy on their own, don't they)

Tiger

My latest is this tiger I photographed at the Animal Kingdom Disney. All these drawings are done with simple HB pencils,.. I expose the lead about 1/4 inch and bevel the tip with some fine sandpaper. I recently started using a soft kneaded eraser to control the shading and that showed me that I should probably start working with different leads as well. I will let you all know where I go from there and you will see first hand how it progresses.

Is he Laughing at me?

This is my cat 'Tail' in mid yawn, but I sometimes think he is simply laughing at me for continually cleaning his litter box. Of course I say "my cat" when I often suspect he owns me.

Silky and myself (completed)

Here is the finished drawing of Silky.


As well as my self-portrait.

Silky (wip)


I should first thank my bud for leading me here and subliminally instilling the idea for me to do this this,.. thanks, jt.

The work-in-progress (wip) below was my wife's cat. He was 21 years old (human years) when he left us a few years back. In the photo he is 20 and mostly blind as well as deaf, but still functional (somewhat).

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Welcome to my imagination.


Welcome to L'Artiste's home page. Please feel free to comment, criticize and/or rant along with me.

The name at the top - "L'Artiste" - is french for the artist. After a few decades working in various fields from avionics, electronics, domestic/international buyer, photographer and it seems a multitude of minor tasks and duties in between, I am finally here. I (by no means) see myself as a professional artist (or even good enough to make a living at) but it is the first title I have ever worn that feels the most like me (photographer and writer were close).

I will be posting some of my works (in progress and completed) and always available to discuss methods and tricks. At the moment, pencils, various erasers and blending tools seem to be my favorite medium. I am still learning (daily) and suspect I will be for the rest of my life, which is fine by me, I am enjoying myself. The self portrait above is a sketch from a few months ago and which I have since polished and will preview the final draft soon.


Come back soon,...