donderdag 27 september 2012
maandag 23 april 2012
Experimenting
Creativity needs freedom and space. Especially at the moments you are not deliberately trying to squeeze out a concept for an illustration, the best ideas seem to pop up. (in the shower, while taking a walk, in your dreams)
Also, to be creative, it is nessecary to leave in the possibility for your painting to fail. If you do not do this, and you are sure what is going to be the outcome, you will do the same thing over and over, and never learn something new...
In order to push myself to explore new techniques and concepts and to let creativity flow freely, I like to play this little game:
Before I get started, I make sure my equipment is ready. I set up a blank canvas and prepare my paints, or get my sketchbook and have my pencils ready. Then I set a time limit for myself. This can be 10 minutes, or a whole day. For this painting, I took 1,5 hours.
1: limited time: 1,5 hour.
2: In the first 15 minutes I come up with a concept, do little sketches, and look for reference images
3: In the remaining hour and 15 minutes I paint.
4: I try things I haven't done before
This way of working forces me to make descisions quickly. There is no time for hesitation, and often it results in strong choices. I learn ton's of new stuff doing it, even (or maybe especially) when it's not working out at all...
woensdag 21 maart 2012
Words of wisdom
Some good advice by Gregory Manchess:
1. Draw Now. Think Next.
Ideas without followthrough are useless. Conceptual art without skill is nothing. Ideas are cheap. One doesn’t get better at ideas by thinking better thoughts. You must train to learn how to create them, what to do with them. Train yourself to search for the good ones, to generate good ones from practice.
Draw. Draw your fool head off, but draw. Draw first. Think about it next. Contrary to so-called avant guard thinking, drawing doesn’t create answers, it creates more ideas.
2. Learn to be authentic.
No one is quite like you anyway. Forget about being original. “Oh, it’s so original!” Bah. You already are. Take the higher road, and learn to be authentic.
You are already connected. What you have to say is important because we all want to know. Learn to discern, of course, what is important from what is frivolous. It is all stowed inside, as you’ve been working on it already for a long time. You won’t find your style. If you are authentic to who you are, your style finds you.
3. Build luck and use it.
When preparation meets opportunity, it’s called luck. Create your own luck by being prepared to see it when it’s about to happen. Don’t wait for it. You won’t see it if you don’t know what to look for. Luck happens when you are ready for it, and you are ready for it when you’re prepared: training.
4. All painting is re-painting.
Do it again. Drawing it once is never enough. Painting it once isn’t either. Do it over and over, focusing on improvement each time. Got a favorite part of a painting? Learn to paint it out. Learn to paint over it. Do not try to save those good mistakes. Paint them again and this time shoot to get it right...under your control. Nobody is an expert by doing something good once.
5. Create momentum.
Finished one good piece? Great. I’m happy for you, but that’s not momentum. When one painting is done, move into the next as soon as possible. Repetition is key to keeping momentum, and momentum is key to gaining successful training. Repeat your successes.
6. Keep finishing.
Stop quitting. Finish the stupid thing already, so you can move into the next one. Do not allow failure to dictate your progress. You must push against that. Fail and fail again. You will push through that failure and keep moving. But learn from it as you do.
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. --Samuel Beckett
7. Seek advice.
Everyone has an opinion, especially about your work. It’s rather easy to recognize the parts of someone else’s work that are problematic. Finding your own? Tough as nails. When someone tells you what’s off about your work, they are usually correct. When they tell you how to repair it, they are nearly always incorrect.
8. Take criticism well.
Which leads me to criticism: learn to take it, and use it well. Do not take it personally, but try to decipher what it is they are coaching you about. You can use that stuff, man. Grow some thick skin. Unless they’re a jerk, there are golden nuggets of wisdom in there. And remember: it’s meant for you, and you are the only one that can use it.
9. Work for good habits.
Training as a painter is like training as an athlete, musician, pilot. Learning a language lights up many of the same parts of your brain as learning to draw a hand. It is now an indisputable fact that the brain is plastic, even into old age.
To your last breath, the brain wants to learn and will do everything it can to get the advantage. It builds nerve fibers to speed up learning. It strengthens the nerves to send signals faster, for efficiency. Trick is, you want to build that stuff for good uses. The brain is just as happy to build strong nerves to reinforce bad habits.
10. Draw through, not around.
Years ago, I was ok at drawing, but I needed to get better. Here’s the problem: I wanted to be the kind of good that when I looked at my own work, I actually liked it. I had to do this, otherwise, I wasn’t about to spend all those years to come away feeling awkward about my attempts. And then quit. No way.
The absolute, drop-to-your-knees, scary part of it was that I realized very quickly that it was going to take training. That every time I drew, I had to get it as right as I could at that very moment. And that was going to take time, effort, and learning to feel a sense of progress, even when it wasn’t working in the least. I was going to have to push through that crap.
The only way to get to that stage is to hunker down, and hone in. The way around is through. Do not look for the shortcuts until later. Train yourself through it, dammit.
The goal doesn’t dwell on the applause-- it focuses on the skill.
1. Draw Now. Think Next.
Ideas without followthrough are useless. Conceptual art without skill is nothing. Ideas are cheap. One doesn’t get better at ideas by thinking better thoughts. You must train to learn how to create them, what to do with them. Train yourself to search for the good ones, to generate good ones from practice.
Draw. Draw your fool head off, but draw. Draw first. Think about it next. Contrary to so-called avant guard thinking, drawing doesn’t create answers, it creates more ideas.
2. Learn to be authentic.
No one is quite like you anyway. Forget about being original. “Oh, it’s so original!” Bah. You already are. Take the higher road, and learn to be authentic.
You are already connected. What you have to say is important because we all want to know. Learn to discern, of course, what is important from what is frivolous. It is all stowed inside, as you’ve been working on it already for a long time. You won’t find your style. If you are authentic to who you are, your style finds you.
3. Build luck and use it.
When preparation meets opportunity, it’s called luck. Create your own luck by being prepared to see it when it’s about to happen. Don’t wait for it. You won’t see it if you don’t know what to look for. Luck happens when you are ready for it, and you are ready for it when you’re prepared: training.
4. All painting is re-painting.
Do it again. Drawing it once is never enough. Painting it once isn’t either. Do it over and over, focusing on improvement each time. Got a favorite part of a painting? Learn to paint it out. Learn to paint over it. Do not try to save those good mistakes. Paint them again and this time shoot to get it right...under your control. Nobody is an expert by doing something good once.
5. Create momentum.
Finished one good piece? Great. I’m happy for you, but that’s not momentum. When one painting is done, move into the next as soon as possible. Repetition is key to keeping momentum, and momentum is key to gaining successful training. Repeat your successes.
6. Keep finishing.
Stop quitting. Finish the stupid thing already, so you can move into the next one. Do not allow failure to dictate your progress. You must push against that. Fail and fail again. You will push through that failure and keep moving. But learn from it as you do.
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. --Samuel Beckett
7. Seek advice.
Everyone has an opinion, especially about your work. It’s rather easy to recognize the parts of someone else’s work that are problematic. Finding your own? Tough as nails. When someone tells you what’s off about your work, they are usually correct. When they tell you how to repair it, they are nearly always incorrect.
8. Take criticism well.
Which leads me to criticism: learn to take it, and use it well. Do not take it personally, but try to decipher what it is they are coaching you about. You can use that stuff, man. Grow some thick skin. Unless they’re a jerk, there are golden nuggets of wisdom in there. And remember: it’s meant for you, and you are the only one that can use it.
9. Work for good habits.
Training as a painter is like training as an athlete, musician, pilot. Learning a language lights up many of the same parts of your brain as learning to draw a hand. It is now an indisputable fact that the brain is plastic, even into old age.
To your last breath, the brain wants to learn and will do everything it can to get the advantage. It builds nerve fibers to speed up learning. It strengthens the nerves to send signals faster, for efficiency. Trick is, you want to build that stuff for good uses. The brain is just as happy to build strong nerves to reinforce bad habits.
10. Draw through, not around.
Years ago, I was ok at drawing, but I needed to get better. Here’s the problem: I wanted to be the kind of good that when I looked at my own work, I actually liked it. I had to do this, otherwise, I wasn’t about to spend all those years to come away feeling awkward about my attempts. And then quit. No way.
The absolute, drop-to-your-knees, scary part of it was that I realized very quickly that it was going to take training. That every time I drew, I had to get it as right as I could at that very moment. And that was going to take time, effort, and learning to feel a sense of progress, even when it wasn’t working in the least. I was going to have to push through that crap.
The only way to get to that stage is to hunker down, and hone in. The way around is through. Do not look for the shortcuts until later. Train yourself through it, dammit.
The goal doesn’t dwell on the applause-- it focuses on the skill.
woensdag 29 februari 2012
Using the Gamut mask
In his book 'Color ans light' James Gurney explains the gamut mask a lot better than I do LINK
For anyone interested in very detailed information on color and light,check out this LINK
maandag 28 november 2011
Niklas Andersen Graphite powder tutorial
I recently stumbled upon This post on Niklas Andersen's blog.
I asked him some questions about his use of graphite powder. His
elaborate answer was very useful, and Niklas was so kind to let me share
this on my blog.
Niklas: " Here is a
illustration made and inspired by the great world we are living in now
financially speaking and those who has played a major role in making
that grave, I thought it was the appropriate time for this kind of evil
picture:-)
The brush/brushes I use is first of a large soft round one from Daler/Rowney that gives the initial even soft spread (not precise). Then for the details and the way I get it more precise is with a smaller nr 4 square stiffer brush which makes it posible to apply more pressure and therefor more darkness+precision. How I block out larger areas even, I start out for example with the overlay block on the left, filling it out with the large brush and I even go over the lines to get i even to the edge. Then I take my kneaded eraser and erase precisly to the edge of the block. Then i take the smaller brush and continue to darken it in within the limits of the edge. From there on you have to use pencils if you want it even darker.
Another thing is if you use the graphite powder from derwent then it is almost impossible to get it even and with out spots. It is really a bad brand for that. When i tryed it, it just became dark so fast and it maked spots etc. But the powder I got a hold of from Sennelier, it never makes spots and is so easy to spread out evenly, you can continuously mold it while you have the extra powder laying on the paper. Last things is that when you do graphite powder then you should be really careful not to touch the paper and leave fingerprints, it really shows up clearly and it ruins the even surface. "
Niklas Andersen website: LINK
Apart
from the mockery it has been a very good learning experience of doing
it all analog. I made it with pencils and graphite powder that i have
spread out with a paint brush and rendered further with the pencils
going from HB to 4B. I can really recommend the pure graphite powder i
got from Sennelier and the paper from Daler/Rowney the heavyweight
version.
The brush/brushes I use is first of a large soft round one from Daler/Rowney that gives the initial even soft spread (not precise). Then for the details and the way I get it more precise is with a smaller nr 4 square stiffer brush which makes it posible to apply more pressure and therefor more darkness+precision. How I block out larger areas even, I start out for example with the overlay block on the left, filling it out with the large brush and I even go over the lines to get i even to the edge. Then I take my kneaded eraser and erase precisly to the edge of the block. Then i take the smaller brush and continue to darken it in within the limits of the edge. From there on you have to use pencils if you want it even darker.
Another thing is if you use the graphite powder from derwent then it is almost impossible to get it even and with out spots. It is really a bad brand for that. When i tryed it, it just became dark so fast and it maked spots etc. But the powder I got a hold of from Sennelier, it never makes spots and is so easy to spread out evenly, you can continuously mold it while you have the extra powder laying on the paper. Last things is that when you do graphite powder then you should be really careful not to touch the paper and leave fingerprints, it really shows up clearly and it ruins the even surface. "
Niklas Andersen website: LINK
donderdag 10 november 2011
Caricature Sketch Demo
 |
| Close up. Click image to take a close look at the brush strokes |
In this video I recorded the process of sketching a James Brown caricature. At the very start of the recording, my computer suddenly ran slow, which caused the initial sketch to be a little rude and blunt. I decided to keep on going and use the heavy linework as a staring point for the rest of the painting. I usually create a more subtle basic sketch.
You can see that the basic sketch does not have the right proportions yet, and I chose to paint and correct this along the way. I used dark linework on top of lighter values and left some parts open to keep the painting vivid.
maandag 17 oktober 2011
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