Sept 27th: Finished Jedi in Acrylic

Well, this mono-chromatic neon wonder is finished.  I love it. But then again, it's Star Wars and I'm biased.  I honestly don't know if I'll want to sell this one... but being as poor as I am, I might!

I really wanted to get the lighting right.  Without the correct lighting, the passion would be missing.  If only one emotion gets through in this painting, I hope it's rage.  He's pissed.

By the way, if you ever endeavor to paint with neon acrylics some day, they are very opaque and I would highly recommend mixing them with white.  Otherwise, they may not show up.  Overall, I'm ok with everything but his face.  The toy I was painting from was... well... a toy and the facial features weren't exact.  So there was some fudging.  I'm assuming from his garb and the color of his lightsaber that people will be able to tell that it's Luke.

Fine.  No more time-wasting.  I'm on to the difficult oil painting of doom!  Bring it. 

Sept 26th: Skywalking in Acrylic

Oh blog, my long productive run with you may be over.  Once again I have a full time job.  Unfortunately,  my art doesn't bring enough money in to support me fully.  So a slave to the establishment I must be.

As the last bit of art as a free woman, I chose to work on my Jedi.  Something fun and non-commital.  I chose this because I wanted to prove to myself that I can draw from a 3d figure.  Primarily I can only draw from the static form of a 2D picture.   This helps me break free.
Setting up one particularly anguished looking Luke Skywalker figure and a desk lamp, I got some pretty dramatic lighting.   I chose only to paint the reflection the lightsaber would make on his body.  It's difficult to leave the painting for any amount of time because you must remember exactly how your head was positioned, exactly how you were sitting,  etc.   But acrylics are forgiving.

I sincerely hope that this job will be much less tiring than the last and I can still come home and paint.  Even if its only for an hour a day.

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Sept 23rd (the sequel): My In-between Painting

Tonight I've begun my fun painting.  For those times when I'll be frustrated with this next oil painting to come.  And I know I will be.  So during those times, I'll be painting my dear friend Luke.  I love this toy.  I've always wanted to paint it in all its epicness.  So here's my in-between fun art :D

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Sept 23rd: Finished Graphite Portrait

Oh glorious day blog!  The graphite drawings are done for awhile!   And I managed to make the youngest kid look cute and normal rather than creepy.  Adorable+horrifying=adorifying.
To solve my problem, I over-emphasized the roundness of his cheeks and widened his squinty eyes.  This worked well.  That and fleshing out the dark spots to make him look less like a vengeful ghost or something.   I'm happy with it for the most part.  On taking a second scrutinizing look, I think that the eyes on the older boy are off... Even though his head is tilted in the picture and his right eye appears to be higher than the left, it didn't translate entirely in this drawing.  So, if I had to change one thing, it would be lowering the right eye slightly.  But I don't think it's too off to be distracting... is it?  I think it'll be something their parents will be happy about. 

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Sept 21st: Struggles with...Creepiness

I'm drawing the 2nd child and as he emerges from my pencil I notice that he looks quite unnerving.  Like he's about to murder his older brother.   And I laugh and keep drawing because all faces look creepy when they're incomplete.  

But now as I have all the features defined ...this kid might be doomed to creepiness.  The only photo I have of him is this one where he's looking at the camera through his hair and shadows have formed around his eyes.  Seeing as his older brother has no darkness around his eyes, the youngest appears sinister!

I may have to modify a few things because as it stands, I don't want to cast this kid in a negative light.  It's kind of a funny problem but may impede my work.  That can't stand. 

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Sept 20th (the sequel)

Nothing blog.  Just how creepy this looks at the moment. Lol!

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Sept 20th: Graphite and More Graphite

Yesterday I'm fairly sure I would have completed this kid.  But I spent yesterday lamenting my existence and how I have no job to speak of.  So instead of productive, self-bettering things like working on my craft, I wallowed in self-pity for 24 hours.  I'm happy to say I've come back with more resolve today.

Working on this shirt.  If I thought the other kids had a lot of clothing details, I take it back.  This kids shirt is covered in...stuff.  My job as an artist is to figure out what details need to be prominent and defined and what can be faded into the background.   Too much detail and it'll distract from the boys face.  Too little and you assume he's wearing a dirty, smudgy shirt. 

My best friends here are my tissues and kneaded eraser.  Strategic smudges with tissue and blotting with eraser looks like designs.  Quicker than attempting to draw everything going on with this shirt.  The shirt will be done in an hour or so and I can start the other boy.  Coffee scale so far: 5 cups.

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