Odocoileus virginianus (Whitetail Deer)

I can not explain why the idea of drawing this came to me,.. but it's here now and I've started, so I might as well continue and learn.  I think the snow might be difficult,... lets find out.

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Angus Young

Done, done and done.  This was a very personal project for me,.. I have been a fan of ACDC since early 1980,.. when Back in Black was released. We all have a musical artist that takes our breath away at an early age and forever makes us see the world in a different light. I was simply lucky enough for mine to be the raunchy, raw, bluesy, simple, easy, rhythmic, loud, questionable music of this real down to earth band,.. thanks guys for helping making me Me.      

 So much to say about this piece. 11 x 14 on 100lb paper using HB, 4B and 6B graphite pencils, kneaded and hard eraser. Simply put I experimented with all sorts of materials to blend and brush the graphite on this one. Brushes, paper towel, felt and tortillons but oddly enough a piece of leather was what seemed the best for the background and I managed to completely refrain from using my fingertips.  I also learned that if a project will have a lot of graphite/charcoal then a heavier(thicker) paper is necessary, also that blending lightly and pressing hard has two very different outcomes...

... but the final result is not too bad.

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... update...

{update}

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Hands of a Rocker.

Boy oh boy, bad boy boogie. These hands almost got the best of me,.. but I think I finally got the best of them (or at least the best I can do now). This post will be lengthy and possibly boring to most since it will be about my minor obsessions during a composition, project or drawing.

The point is to always be improving, but it is very easy to end up overdrawing a part you might get obsessed with, (lets hope that is not what happened here, since the drawer is usually the last one to know when they have overdrawn). In the original photograph by Lisa Tanner, Angus' right hand is seemingly picking in the Angus particular style, hence it looks odd or simply wrong or highly deformed. I thought I could correct it and make it more agreeable with what we would expect to see in a human hand and here are my attempts,..
  

first attempt
(made them a bit larger)

 second try
(reset the fingers to
an accurate placement)
on the fret board)











third (but not final) experimentation, I think I am getting where I want to be.
(and for those aficionados I have not forgotten the tuning peg/keys)



Eventually I think I succeeded to some degree, but still something was bothering me about it,...

I thought seeing the strings between the middle and ring finger was rather nice, but I believe sacrificing that pleasing image and bringing the ball of the palm up finally is what I wanted. This looks good to me now.

Also, in the interim of working, reworking and possibly over-working the hands I touched up on the guitar body and completed the fret board and head.


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Angus' - Gibson SG Special

His hands and the base of the guitar have been interesting, even a little challenging. The left hand on the neck is not bad, but the strumming hand is odd looking because he is holding it in an odd way, (Angus Young plays in a very particular self taught manner). However I will keep at it until it looks to be somewhat normal or at least not like a blatant error.

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Update of our favorite bad boy boogie

I can almost hear him playing,...

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angus,.. Angus,... ANGUS!

{update}

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more riff raff with Angus

Minor update,.. working on the back ground which is actually rather dark with a few fans slightly visible. A little of a challenge in how to blend this right,...

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Angus "Chucking a Wobbly"

I am between commissions and not in the mood to work on future endeavors at this moment, so I am doing yet another one for myself. For those who do not know, I am a huge fan of the rock band AC/DC. I will easily concede they are not the best musicians in the world, they are too loud, too crude, too simple and probably their "over-the-hill" status was reached a while ago, BUT to me they are magic. Their music always improves my mood,.. their raw, bluesy, rock anthems are untouchable in my book,.. and just like food, sex and art, it is all a matter of personal taste.

Here is the start,..

Angus Young
the lead guitarist
for AC/DC.











(the challenge in this one will be my use of new tools and techniques in shading and blending as well as adding realistic details the original photograph does not have. By the way of explaining the title, to 'chuck a wobbly' means to through a tantrum. Angus is known for his school boy tantrums on stage.)

Gillian Anderson (completed)

This one was for me. Being an X-file-ophile and like most men I suppose, I had/have a wonderful boyish crush on Special Agent Dana Scully played by actress Gillian Anderson. I thought it too easy to draw an image of her from the X-files show, so when I found this photograph I knew this was it.

I have serious reservations with the hair, I could get by with stating it was artistic expression, but the fact is I wanted more realism. I have to work on that, (and to be honest, this version is already with a complete do-over on the original hair I drew).  Some parts of the hair are ok, and I believe I sort of captured Gillian's look. However it is not beyond me to see that something is 'off',.. but it is beyond me to see what exactly is 'off'.   (oh yeah,.. I will be revisiting this one).

Nonetheless, it is completed (for now) and I would not be embarrassed to show it (as evident here).  Materials were an HB, 6B woodless graphite, 0.7mm mechanical pencil, kneaded and soft erasers, a tourtillion, blending stump and my all time favorite blending tools, my finger tips (highly unrecommended since the oil from your finger tips can cause all sorts of problems). Size: 11x14 on 100lb paper.

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more,... Gillian

A slight update on Gillian.

edited on 07/11/2012: I wasn't in the best of shape a few days ago, headache, blurred vision, shakes,.. none of it conducive to drawing well, so I posted a quick update on this project. The following day I was better and after getting home from an early morning appointment I spent the day completing it.

Gillian (wip) update

.... I think I am starting to see her, do you?

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... better half of the X-files.

Gillian Anderson was definitely the better half of the X-files,.. I did absolutely adore Mulder's character but his quirkiness with a straight character for contrast makes the show. I miss the X-files, so I will get myself lost in Gillian's features, her eyes, her mouth and her hair (how I dread the hair - hair is always a problem for me - please keep in mind the is very much a work-in-progress - I will get better at it).

Meanwhile,  here is what I have so far,...

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old knotty wood

Just playing around with my new JD Hillberry book on techniques.

JD Hillberry is one of the most amazing drawing artists I have ever seen and his mastery of trompe-l'oeil is incredible. Trompe-L'Oeil is quite simple french for to-deceive-the-eye, it is a style of art in which a two dimensional image is made to seem in three dimensions.
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