Monday, November 30, 2020

Finally, a Good Omens-Free Post!

 This past week I did the usual Thursday and Friday sketch Zoom meetings with the Puget Sound crew, and spent the rest of the time failing to think of anything else to draw, taking the Hounds for walks, basking in afternoon sunshine in the yard, researching computers, playing the piano, reading (The Return of Sherlock Holmes), watching British comedians on YouTube, and being quite indolent all in all.

For the drawing session on Thursday, this photo was chosen (but not by me!):


I did not care for the overall bland values, and the lack of strong shapes within the rock, or the driftwood--for some reason, I am terrible at drawing driftwood. But the majority opinion prevailed.  

So I drew it in pen first, using a sort of contour line approach (where you don't lift the pen from the paper, and that worked fairly well.


Then I decided to add watercolor. Because there weren't many interesting colors in the photo, I just made some up.  It got rather messy, and did not turn out great, but at least I had fun doing it.


On Friday we chose a Japanese Noh theater mask.  It was called the Demon Assassin--creepy indeed.  I did NOT make up the colors this time--it truly was deep red.  Trying to get the symmetry correct was a challenge.  I used pen and colored pencil.


In home decorating news, I spent part of Small Business Saturday at the local antique mall, wandering about looking for something to speak to me.  I came home with this fabulous wrought-iron candelabra:


Turns out that first spot I placed it was a bit too close to a smoke detector.  So I moved it as far away as possible, and am happy with the new location:


Every home needs a candelabra, don't you think?  One of my Facebook friends called it "elegant and whimsical", which is exactly what I aim for in much of my decor.

As for my computer research, I wound up ordering an iPad Pro tablet and stylus pen.  It should arrive next week.  The plan is to have lots of stuff to learn and try out over the wintry months ahead, including drawing/painting programs, and possibly animation software, too.  Digital art is not something I've ever done before, but I've been impressed by what I've seen out there, and am looking forward to giving it a try.

That's it for now.  Stay safe and warm out there!





Monday, November 23, 2020

Not Full of Good Omens

 There are no new Good Omens drawings to share -- such a disappointment to all, I am quite certain. So sorry!

I did use my own art to make calendars, bookmarks, mugs, and other assorted items at Vistaprint, which is a fine place to do reproductions.  So that took care of my Christmas shopping.

And I made two little GIFs just for fun:


I was amused by the way Crowley stands on the running board as he exits his Bentley, for no reason whatever other than affectation.  

And I also did this one, from one of my favorite little moments:


I did do some other drawing last week, though.  We had four Zoom sketch get-togethers!  For the first one, we chose a lighthouse with sailing ship:


The ship turned out fine, not so keen on the lighthouse.

For the next meet-up, we did this bell tower:


It's okay, though I think it might have been better with ink and watercolor instead of colored pencils.

We chose a colorful insect called a Cuckoo Wasp for the third get-together, and time, colored pencil worked brilliantly:


For the fourth meeting, Tina presented us with a small challenge.  She chose this monochrome photo of a carousel horse, and wanted us to use the most vibrant colors we could to paint it.  She loves rich colors.


We all worked away for 45 minutes or so on our horses, and did not talk about what colors we had chosen.  When it came time for sharing, Tina's horse was painted yellow with a blue mane, and Nicole's was yellow with a purple mane, and Michelle chose yellow with a blueish-purple mane, while I used yellow-orange with red mane with some purple in it.  Apparently, yellow is the color of choice when one thinks of "vibrant"!


But then Jocelyn shared her drawing...and her horse was pink.  Honestly, what was she thinking?

I'm pretty sure those four sketch meetings were the reason I didn't get around to drawing anything else.  This coming week we are back to our usual two meetings.  Whew.

That's all from here -- have a great week out there!



Monday, November 16, 2020

Out and About! Well, a little bit, anyway.

 Last week it was still warm enough once in a while to go out and about.  One day, while scanning Google maps looking for someplace new to walk, I spotted this unfamiliar green space:


It had no name on the map, no indication of a parking area, no info at all.  It was in between some townhomes and part of the research area in the north of town.  So I tootled off to investigate.


It was a lovely spot.  No place to park other than the shoulder.  No signs at all.  Nothing to indicate it might be private.  So the Hounds and I explored it, and never met a single soul.


It was only about two blocks long, and there were no paved paths, but the grass was dry and we had a fine time.


So that was fun. 
Then, on another day, the forecast of cloudy all day turned out to be wrong, so I made an impromptu visit to McNary National Wildlife Refuge in search of Snow Geese.  


And I found them!


Thousands of these birds visit the refuge every Winter.


There were also quite a few Trumpeter Swans about, though too far away for photos.  
For art this past week, I did the usual sketch zoom meetings.  Our Thursday practice picture was of some extremely colorful trees:


Friday's photo was of a colorful beetle:


For my Good Omens sketch of the week, I chose this view from 1793, where Crowley rescues Aziraphale from the Bastille:


It was ever so much fun using different colors for once for their clothing.

Below is another demonstration of the magic of solvent with colored pencils.  Note the angel's coat.  In the first pic, I have colored it in carefully with various layers of magenta and burnt umber.


Then I add the solvent (baby oil!) using watercolor brushes, and the magic happens:


Such a fun process.  The key is knowing what the colors are going to do when blended, and also how much solvent to add -- the more you add, the more liquid the colored pencil becomes, and you can move it around almost like paint.  


Next, I spent a little time adjusting this drawing that I did last week:


Aziraphale tends to fade into the background in the initial version, so I added a darker background behind him, which I like better:


Now for a note about process.  When I posted the 1793 Bastille drawing to Facebook, I got this comment: "You capture the characters' personalities and hopes and dreams much more meaningfully than the picture [photo reference]."

I call that a successful drawing.  When I am doing these portraits, I'm not trying to make an exact reproduction of the photo reference--that would be tedious and boring.  I start with the photo, and I do try to get the basics drawn accurately (basic shape, features in the correct place), but then comes the artistic part, which is the fun part, where I attempt to add something of my own, and try to express something more than a simple photograph can convey.

I often alter the expressions -- here's an example:

This is the original photo ref I used for an Aziraphale portrait:


He is concerned, in this scene, about breaking Heaven's rules for his own benefit, and about putting Crowley in a potentially harmful situation by doing so.  I wanted him to look softer and more wistful while still a little concerned.  This is what I drew:


Sometimes I also want to add more of the features than are seen in the photo ref.  In the example below, you can't see much of Crowley's eyes at all.  Right before this scene, he's been trying to convince Aziraphale to help him stop the coming Armageddon, and now he's waiting to make his next argument, no doubt wondering what he can try now.


So when I drew him, I made sure the eyes were visible, and that his expression was clearer overall.


That's the thing I enjoy about doing these drawings -- trying to bring to the page my own sense of who the characters are and what they're feeling.  And I'm trying to take a static photograph and bring it to life.  

All that being said, my next project is to draw Crowley's 1926 Bentley...which I'm pretty sure will just look like a car and not have any expressive feelings to convey--though you never know!

Finally, this past week's dachshund pics come from Sunday morning on the sofa, a day of brilliant sunshine:




Have a wonderful week, and stay safe out there!


Monday, November 9, 2020

Running Out of Wall Space

 This past week's sketch-practices-via-Zoom proved challenging.  First up were these amazingly colorful cacti:


My first effort made them look more like jelly beans, and then they morphed into sweetpea blossoms, but eventually I got something moderately close:


The second pic was this foggy churchyard:


I failed to depict convincing fog, but at least I got things to look like what they are, and I'm happy with the crow, especially since the first time I drew the bird, it looked more like a pigeon.  For shame.


Of course, I had to draw more of Azriaphale and Crowley from Good Omens.  I adore the angel's bookshop, and it is definitely fun to try depicting all those books, so I was delighted when I ran across a photo I hadn't seen before, from behind-the-scenes (did not appear in the series), showing Aziraphale relaxing with a book and a glass of wine (and probably listening to his favorite classical music):


It was a poor quality photo, but I loved the pose, so I had to draw it.  I cut the scene down -- I didn't feel a strong urge to draw the whole desk or that table on the bottom right, which has a chess set on it.  What I was left with had plenty of details to draw, and I'm pretty happy with the results:


Then I decided to try a bigger challenge -- a drawing with the two characters together.  I've done this a few times but never been totally satisfied with my efforts.  Inevitably, one will look fine while the other one won't, and nothing will fix it.  There was a scene I liked from the first episode, where they dine at the Ritz and Crowley is intensely trying to convince Aziraphale to help him stop Armageddon.

The problem was not having a clip in which both characters looked the way I wanted them to -- for example, in this clip, Crowley is looking at Aziraphale, but not vice versa:


But I liked Crowley in that one -- nice, intense look.  And in this pic, I liked the way Aziraphale looked at Crowley -- but dang it, Crowley was looking away.  


There is also too much space between them, and too much stuff going on in the background.  So I did a little work in Photoshop to put the two views I liked best together and to play with a more abstract background:

It wasn't the easiest photo to work from, again not very high quality, but I had fun trying to make it work, and got a drawing I'm happy with -- well, maybe 90% happy with, but that's par for the course.  It's better than any of the other ones I've done with the two characters together, so that's progress!


I have been framing the better drawings, but now there are so many that I'm running out of wall space.  There is an entire bedroom that I'm not using (it's the guest room, sadly lacking in guests this year), and I suppose that inroads could be made there...but then, I'd rarely see the pictures then.  Oh, well.  

(And yes, I do already have one in the bathroom....)

That was it for Art.  On to the most important thing:  Dachshunds!

The good news is that Pippin is feeling fine!  After just a few days of rest and medication, he is acting completely normal.  Whew.  

I was able to take both Hounds on a walk for the first time in a while, due to their various back issues.  We got a lovely autumn day for a stroll near the river:





I'm fairly certain the Hounds had no idea how cold the water was before they waded out -- they just remember the warm water of summer.  They didn't stay in there very long!




Pippin was a bit tired out afterwards, even though I made him use the stroller for at least half the journey.  


So I'm thrilled that both dogs are feeling better, though they are not thrilled with the new diet. They both need to lose weight to stave off future back problems.  They are constantly watching me when I eat now, wanting to know why I'm not giving them part of it anymore.  

"It's for your own good" apparently does not translate into Wienerese.  

That's all for this past week!