Not much to say about this one really… I wanted to practice a simple subject so I painted an eye. I wasn’t trying to get TOO detailed and wanted to focus on just rendering out an idea quickly without spending too much time on it but still giving it the element of realism.
At first, I thought this was going to be the fastest study I’d ever painted. The sketch was done nice and quick, started blocking in colors and working on the shadow shape and thought I was moving at a good clip. Then when I started to refine down to smaller details I realized something: I had no idea how to paint feathers.
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I’ve been sketching lots of skulls and working on anatomy lately, so I figured why not do a quick render of a skull to practice some values and texture? Of course, whenever I sit down to do something “quick” it is often anything but.
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This was a value study of a tulip in direct sunlight. The transparency of the petals actually gave me more of a challenge than I was expecting as they cast shadows on themselves that were visible underneath. But hey, if I chose something super simple then it wouldn’t be much of a study now would it?
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Being more of a coder and UI designer doesn’t leave me with as much time to paint and draw as I’d like to these days. Don’t get me wrong, I love designing layouts and interfaces… but sometimes I just want to sketch a dog, paint a fantasy scene, or try to draw something I saw in a dream. I try to do quick still life sketches as often as I can to keep myself sharp.
So if you look around my portfolio or any of my recent artwork you’ll notice a common theme around here: everything is looking a bit dark and colorless. No, I’m not super depressed or going through a goth phase or anything, so there’s no need for concern 😉 . I’m simply trying to get back to the basics a little and changing my overall theme to match.
I want to really practice seeing subjects critically and not focusing on the colors, but more on the tones and the way light wraps around and reflects off of objects. I feel like if I spend a good chunk of time going back to the fundamental thinking of looking critically at a still-life object and really studying how light interacts with it, it will really help me to get a better understanding of painting objects in a more realistic setting.
So for the rest of 2017 I’m going to be devoting a lot of my free time to painting in grayscale and focusing on light, tones and values. It’s my hope that this will really help me to grow as an artist and ideally help me overcome some of my sticking points in my paintings. Who knows, maybe it will help me on my web design side of life as well. I maintain the belief that if I surround myself with art every day, whether it’s drawing, painting, designing, studying or simply observing, it will help me grow in my craft. Here’s to hoping I’m right!
Hi there! First post of the new blog, exciting isn’t it?! I’ve been doing a little spring cleaning around here and just redesigned the ol’ portfolio, so I decided to incorporate my blog into it as well. Now you get to read all my ramblings in a single confined realm of madness… you’re SO thrilled, I can tell already. I’ll be using this blog mainly for posting some personal projects and artwork I’m working on, as well as some general status updates regarding things going on in my life. So kick off your shoes and stay awhile, let’s get crazy!