Girl portrait 3 - Finish

Decided to curb the deadline on this piece, but pleased with the different stroke effects.

30cm x 45cm / wood / acrylics

Portrait one Finito

More often than not when the sketch comes out well acrylics follow suit. Although not exactly what I was going for, it's definitely a step up from previous works.

30cm x 45cm

A few more pieces like this to come over the next few weeks.

Segments

As simple as it is, i've always wanted to do some work in panels. Living in Japan makes carry large pieces around a hassle. Having A4 boards means I'll be able to work away from home.

Segments too lends itself more to the pixelated, bitty, miss mash drawings I'm beginning to feel more comfortable with too.

Blowy

Been wanting to get this done for a while now, just can't find time to apply the darker tones.

A little out of perspective but really just trying to get back into paint mode after a 6 week break.

Sekaido - day 2

Not a huge leap but getting that initial perspective is always rough.

 

 

Using a guideline would be much simpler but I'm not looking for geometrically accurate drawings (cos where's the fun in that?).

 

Working outwards should be plain sailing from here but I really gotto get those paints down.

Blotchy

After falling out of practice last month, decided to pick up where I left off and try salavaging a few pieces.

This one on A3 didn't come out too bad, but with the Sekaido competition looming, it was time to move on to the next project.

Retrospect

Found this piece from 2 years back whilst moving apartments - Not my fav but it's always good to look back.

Tones

Wanted to go as rough as possible for this piece. 

The parts that give description to the features always get my attention - in this case the hair.

Once the appealing parts are covered I generally blaze through the rest leaving a bit of a monstrosity.

11pm

It's 11 at night but had to get this piece down.

Moving from geometric shapes to the human form - it's easy to get locked down into a phase but I'm hoping the next piece will bridge the two.

Sketch came out ok so that's always a good omen.

Sketches

Thanks to a national holiday here in Japan managed to get a few more hours of sketching down.

Hoping to get these acryld up by the end of the week..

Make it Pop

Various angles still cause me no end of trouble, and this pose was no exception.

2014 is my "dig deeper" year, meaning accelerated output, quality and creativity. Thick black boarders are something I've rallied against, but they actually make pictures pop.

Sekaido work - week deadline

The previous canvas debacle left me with just 7 days to create a new piece in time for the exhibit. Recreating the same visual on a smaller canvas would've been much simpler but where's the fun in that.

Time restraints led to a limited pallet, meaning black would be taken out of the equation. Initially I wanted a more vibrant bubbly piece anyway since the last had been pretty morbid.

The yellow sky was a base layer to motivate a lighter mood whilst working, but eventually needed to be darkened to balance the shading on the plants.

Pixels!

I've had pixels on the brain the past few weeks.

Not too bad for a first try, squares themselves don't lend themselves to interesting textures, but I've got a few ideas in mind for the next piece.   

Speed Acrylics

Not happy with the actual result, but the main thing is to learn and take forward. originally I was thinking the composition with the sketch wasn't too bad.

Looking back, the eyes could've been better. Symmetry is once again the monkey in my soup.

Shiva

The Shiva painting a few weeks back pulled me out of a slump I'd been in for a while. It only seemed right to take another shot at her, but on a larger canvas.

The composition is a little off, but hey, the eyes came out pretty well.

Shiva

2 hour portrait sketch.

Really love the cheek bone definition on this painting. Using a light acrylic and layering from light to dark seems to be working for me.

The underlaying texture and natural pattern of the wood underneath the painting are perfect for skin tones.

During lunch

Working within deadlines helps to keep momentum. This one took just over an hour.

Simplicity

Portrait painting is always relaxing. I spent the last few weeks simplifying colors and exploring a few techniques. 

Porcelain Girl

A4 wood - Acrylics / pencils

David Downton has inspired me since college. Initially finding his work through Creative Review, I've been entranced since.

I had a few attempts here but thought this porcelains girl came out quite well. Delicate and fragile looking.

Gold Ring

A4 wood - Acrylics / pencils

It'd been a while since I'd last tried a portrait and felt this worked our pretty well.

Although this took a little over 2 hours, I'd made the mistake of thinking her eyes would balance naturally. The left side of her face is exactly what I was looking for.. The right side, not so much.