Temptation - Preliminary Drawing

For my  senior portfolio class we had a painted final. I had everyone choose some sort of portrait  and I gave them all three pieces of reference from which to choose two. I gave a sheet of various snakes, some random mechanical parts and had them choose an element (fire, wind, water, etc.).  I decided to paint along with them and I will show more of that later. Here is the preliminary drawing I did for it. I have wanted to paint this subject for years and never have gotten around to it. I think Eve often times gets a bum rap for being the one that succumbed to temptation, but I believe it was really a conscious choice that she did not take lightly. The painting itself is a bit of an experiment and I have some process shots I will show as well. 

Sticking To The Thumbnail Sketch

 

Thumbnail sketch

One of the things that frustrates my students and consequently me as a teacher is how often a successful thumbnail drawing is abandoned in the sketching process. I will often look at a good thumbnail and then, when I see revised drawings, wonder what happened to the flow, design, rhythm, etc. that I remember from the first sketch  Granted, some changes may be intentional and for the better, but if you lose the essence of the thumbnail- that thing that attracted you to the design and got you excited in the first place- then you are essentially starting over.

 

I always thumbnail out my idea first, before taking any photos. This allows me to solidify in my mind things like angles,  pose, lighting and basic composition. I then use my sketch to dictate how the photo shoot goes.

 

I match my models as closely as I can to the thumbnail idea. Sometimes the photo shoot suggests other options, and it's a good idea to take those photos as well, but I rarely go into a photo shoot without solid sketches.

 

If that happens, then I am letting the camera dictate the design of my piece and not my imagination. I think my imagination is usually superior to the mindlessness of a camera, so I try to not let the camera decide things for me.

 

I also take lots of detail shots as sometimes the angles and poses in my thumbnail are not comfortable or realistic for my models to capture in real life. I use the detail shots to get the info I need. I then take my thumbnail, lay tracing paper over the top and make my final drawing using details from multiple photos. Failure to use tracing paper in this stage of the process is the downfall of many a good student thumbnail.

 

I enlarge my thumbnail and use it as the "bones" of my design. I add the details or the "muscles and skin" over the top on the tracing paper. I can still see the original design and thus I can follow it, preserving the space relationships, rhythm and compositions that I carefully created in the thumbnail sketch.

 

If I had abandoned my thumbnail during the creation of this piece, I would likely not have been as happy with the result as I am. As you can see from the photos, none of them match my drawing exactly. I had to rely on information from all the photos as well as my thumbnail to arrive at the final sketch. There were even modifications in the final painting stage that were made to reflect more accurately the vision I had in the thumbnail stage. Trust your thumbnail. It usually does not lie because, if done well, it contains the bare essence of what you hope to express.

There is a great book by Ron Schick about how Norman Rockwell used reference photos called Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera. It shows how Rockwell's process very closely mirrors what I and countless other artists use to get the information for their paintings.

C.F Payne Visit

Yesterday I had the privilege of watching yet another demo and presentation by the incomparable C.F. Payne. For those not familiar with his work. Chris Payne has been a fixture in the illustration world for decades. He has won multiple awards from every notable illustration and design institution you can think of. He is perhaps best known for his 4 1/2 year run creating the back cover art for Reader's Digest called Our America.

I first met Chris in 1994 when I was just about to launch my freelance career. I attended a design conference in Park City, UT where he was a guest presenter and he was gracious enough to review my portfolio and give me welcome encouragement. We continued to cross paths every few years at conferences and drawing retreats and became friends. Chris and his son even slept on my pull out couch during their 2002 Winter Olympic trip to Salt Lake. Most recently, I had the pleasure of having him sit in on my MFA thesis defense at the University of Hartford. Yesterday I got to watch Chris in action once again as he did a demo painting for a room of over 50 students (including my class) as well as interested visitors at Brigham Young University. I've seen him do his thing several times over the years, but it never ceases to entertain and amaze me. Chris is quite simply a master at his craft. Rather than go through a step by step of his process, I'd just like to share a few nuggets of wisdom I jotted down from yesterday's presentation.

"You are only as good as your reference material- get good reference." 

"The only one taking a risk here is the illustration board" - in response to a student who claimed to have been taking a risk. 

"The work is the fun of it- just get to work. It's where you want to be- there is only pressure when you are not working." 

"You are a steward of what you are doing" - in response to why he got into teaching. 

"It is all about DESIGN- how you communicate an idea and make it make sense." 

"To design a picture, you have to see shapes. Look at the space and design the picture- don't get so caught up in the details. 

"Don't work in isolation. Communicate with other illustrators- network." 

"Experiment! Make a whole bunch of bad art and learn from it. Remember your mistakes."

Wise words from one of the best- thanks Chris!
Check out Chris Payne's portfolio here.

Wyeth Demo

Today I took about an hour of class and did a really quick and dirty demo of Andrew Wyeth. I always get a little nervous doing this. Sort of like a magician on stage worrying that his trick won't work and he will be uncovered as a fraud. It did not go exactly like I wanted and is far from finished, but I thought I'd bring it into Photoshop and put in a few tweaks. I intend to finish it a bit more with paint, but here it is for now. Ron Spears , a great artist and friend of mine has been painting some really great historical costume models lately. In today's post, he bravely shows what happens when you bonk and have to start over in front of a group of fellow professionals. I love that he was able to pick it back up and come up with something nice in about the same time I did my little demo (and his is 16" x 20" not 5" x 9" like mine!).Go take a look at his inspiring work.

Lion-Fish Demo

Lion-Fish; in class demo- Holbein Acryla gouache on board- 6"x6"

Today in my Illustration 1 class at BYU I did a painting demo to get the students started. They all have a good basis in drawing, but many of them have little or no experience with paint. I remember feeling the same way as an undergrad student. I had never painted much with acrylic in high school art class, preferring to work in Prismacolor pencil or watercolor. It was inspiring to watch Robert Barrett (whom I now have the pleasure of calling my friend and colleague) create a simple acrylic portrait in around two hours. I now enjoy this demo process from the opposite side of the coin as I try to pass on some of the things I have learned to my students. This fish represents about 2.5 to 3 hours of work. About an hour was used in research, sketching and transferring the drawing and then two hour in class painting. It is not finished, but I thought I'd post it anyway. It goes along with my previous posts the Dog-Fish and the Cat-Fish.