2012, April 8

I've noticed that I'm not so great at drawing facial expression. I think I just never took time to get to know the human face, and since I like smiling people more than anything else I did some Facebook stalking and used some pictures for reference.

Mariah - I'm sorry, but I butchered your chin on the left side. Jami - I totally rubbed your nose and it looks way smeared. Dad - you look like a stud. Mychal and Michele Lowman - you guys are just a happy looking couple.

Cheers.

2012, April 8

Another tattoo design inspired by a friend, as I have no imagination. This one is meant for the hip (in my mind the persons left side, with the top two tentacles at just about hip bone height, the bottom tentacles reaching down toward the thigh).

I can say confidently that I like this - especially the suction cups and the wavy tentacles, though I'm not sure I see the appeal of octopuses in general. It's not as clean as it should be, as I didn't erase as I was going through, but after putting darker lines on. I'll ink this in the future and give is a solid red purple coloring and shading eventually - I still need to figure out the running of GIMP and the scanner.

2012, April 7

Just some raspberries on the stem. Done while watching movies late at night.

Overall it's fairly clean and has good shading and tone. It's based on the first image google picture search came up with - and there are slight inaccuracies, but generally I feel it matches up well.

In drawing this I've noticed some things - I have no patience, and little to no desire to complete things when I know it will turn out well. In my head it's done, and needs no more application. Also, I drag my hand and it makes everything smear from time to time. I can't not lean on the paper though, as my hand shakes like a leaf without support.

2012, April 6

Not going to lie - I really don't like a lot of things about this. The clouds are not blended well, the hills look sloppy and the graded background did not come out like I wanted it to. But hey, there's a reason I'm not an art major right?

Based on a picture I took while driving back to Pocatello from Devil Creek Reservoir (wow - Having to spell that word out was harder than I thought).

Addendum to this - Part of my problem with the background slop has to do with brush size and shape (the clouds suffered mostly from shape), and my lack of willingness to buy the appropriate materials. I think a great artist could probably have made do, but I'm pretty mediocre.

2012, April 6

I did this sometime in December of 2011; I remember doing it at work, during the down time while I waited for people to come in and rent rooms. It's pretty basic - just me experimenting with watercolors, both shapes and colors - nothing too impressive. I'm not sure why there's a yellow dash up in the left corner. I don't remember if I was trying to do something or if it was just a mistake.

I actually found again while putting some other paintings into my big old bible to flatten out. I suppose I should crack that one open more often?

2012, April 6

This was a good lesson for me in depth, as well as negative space, and values. I was running out of my favorite color - blue, so I decided to take a crack at it with a more violent hue, red. Due to the amount of layers the paper warped a bit, even though it was taped down. I have a rather large bible that I stick finished water colors into to press them a bit, making them straight and flat again.

The more I experiment with water colors, the more I like them - they're quick to work with and dependent on your mood you can really put some cool things down on paper.

2012, April 4

A fake duck, sitting on a wooden board, supported by glass coke cans - dated March 16th, 2011. Just before my motorcycle accident, and just after my birthday. This is another piece from my Drawing 101 art class.

2012, April 4

I apparently dew this January 7th, 2012 - as that's what it's dated, along with a title of 'Man on the water'. No doubt it's the product of intense boredom during a meeting.

I don't have a clue what I drew it off of - more than likely a google image.

2012, April 4

A quick and dirty pencil drawing of people I would consider to be very close friends. We were out getting taco bell - and I took some pictures - they didn't seem to be to happy about it for the most part. Maybe they'll like the drawing better than they did the pictures?

In any case - hands have always been hard for me. Fingers are spindly and hard for me to draw correctly, but the general form here is down pretty well. Clothing too is another complicated thing, but by comparison to the photograph I feel, that for a sketch, I got the tug and compression of their clothing pretty well.

In the back there was an older couple eating together, they seemed quite happy.

2012, April 4

Just some watercolor fun. This was done some time last year - probably around September? Not really sure on the exact date, and I didn't mark it on there. I know I was buying these sparking ciders just before, during, and after thanksgiving though.

The hand color is off, and the bottle is distended at the bottom. Other than that I kind of like it.

2012, April 1

I think Emma Watson has a very strong face - a very humble kind of feminine beauty. A kind of woman that is at once incredibly attractive, but also clean and respectable - a Lady. If I end up marrying a woman who resembles her I'll count myself lucky.

Just doing some pencil practice here, shading and also experimenting with the computer. The scanner, even at it's highest detail cannot pick up on subtle shading, only strong colors or deep contrast of blacks and whites. I had to mess with the contrast levels and the white balance to get the shading to show up at all - but even now it's not quite as it looks on paper, more or less missing the shading of her left cheek and her forehead and chin.

2012, April 1

The second image done for my friend Danger, marked 6/19/2010. Again this was a pencil drawing that was later inked and then edited in Photoshop. There are things wrong with the lighting, that in retrospect, are glaringly obvious, but that's life isn't it?

2012, April 1

One of two images I did for my friend Danger in 2010 (the specific date was marked 6/19/2010 for both) - the revolver is modeled after a Ruger SP101 .357 Magnum. Initially it was a pencil drawing, that I inked and then modified in Photoshop. I'm quite clumsy with the program, and need to work with it more in order to understand it better.