Blocks two

More roughs coming up soon.

Just a "ruff" mockup (Lolol)

Always enjoy drawing animals, dogs especially. The past few months I've been working on base level perspective drawing and working to accurate sketch full figures.

More just around the corner.

Sekaido - Bugs Eye

Missed a trick last year relying on my limited perspective drawing for the final piece. Always been into the concept of small looking up.

Slices

Not quite where I want to be but I'll take it.

This kind of floating look needs a lot of work.

Maggie Smith (?)

Finally went back and topped off the Maggie Smith piece from earlier this month. 

Some things worked, many things didn't, but it's all good. The inconsistency of dark to the left and lack of dark to the right make it look like two separate days of painting.

Balancing left to right.

Throwback Mascot

Always great to do something around gaming. This piece for a small Tokyo based gaming community was a bunch of fun. 

ThrowBack represents the Japan Arcade scene but also a throwback in the sense of retro culture so going with the Pacman type mascot seemed right.

Brainstorming ideas was a bunch of fun - still need to get a logo to them so that'll be next.

Lady Edith

Maggie Smith

Last year my buddy Zan introduced Downton Abbey. I resisted. I was dreadfully wrong.

Now Maggie Smith has drolled her way into my heart and into the site!

I'd taken off a few months between my last work and this one, but a fun way to kick off the year.

Blobs testing

"Planet Peel" had been left behind while I'd been perusing different avenues, finally coming full circle.

Doodling blobs for a year before I could muster the effort to break through my fear of paints left me with sketchbooks full of .. well .. Blobs.

I'd been meaning to come back for a while, this being the first shot.

Grape

Again using artist Gretchen Hancock's work as a strong influence, still life fruit will allow me to focus on broader, more blocky, strokes.

Lacking detail, fruits can be manipulated significantly with the brush.

Brian Blessed - drafting

A British icon and legend, Blessed has a booming personality, something I'd love to capture.

Previously, I'd been struggling with smooth skin tones and had moderate success. 

Focused more on complex features such as wrinkles and beards now.

James Gandolfini - drafting

The Sopranos ended 6 years ago, but since then barely a day has gone by without rerunning a handful of Tony or Paulie dialogue in my head. 

When James Gandolfini passed away a few days ago, it only seemed right to pay my respects.

It seemed clear that the portrait subject matter I'd been working with previously hadn't resonated with me and had reflected in the works quality.

Caring about this character made me step it up a notch. Choosing natural and realistic skin tones to bring out the depth of Gandolfini's features.

Sekkaido - Final Sketch

The previous sketch seemed a little too simple, so decided to build more layers and textures.

Also insects are going to break up the colours a little, as will the sleeping women.

 Composition was tough, but once the sketch is there, it's a huge weight of my shoulder. 

Sekkaido entry .. or was..!

The past few weeks I'd been focused on the annual Sekkaido competition (which always seems to sneak up on me somehow).

Still about 12 hours from completion I was quite happy with the direction and colour coding, unfortunatly realised 2 weeks before the deadline that I'd been too ambitious and had been working on an F5 piece when it should've been an F4.

No biggie. It's pretty rare to get the chance to work on something that size, and it was a heck of a learning curve.

 So back to the drawing board!

Honey

Really enjoyed working with yellow this week. It's spring already, so only seemed right to go with something more vibrant.

Using wet on wet is a pretty standard technique with acrylics. and I was stunned at how much more fun  it was. Especially the hair looks fluffier and lighter.

This month will be the Sekkaido competition, and this year I'm looking to stun.

Watch this space.

Testing the water

My wife is pretty awesome, but I've never been able to capture her character in my work.

Layering thin films of acrylics might have been the wrong choice. Its's safer but the final result isn't satisfying.

Think the next portrait see a return of thick acrylics. Safe isn't getting results.

Jigsaw concept

Pizza last night had me feeling guiltier than usual.. Let's see what we can do with that greasy box!

Using the card as a template allowed for plenty of mock ups of the jigsaw character. 

Working with shading to create a more vivid environment.

Keeping in mind the idea of a childrens story book, at this point keeping it simple is best. Flesh out the story or theme, then build the environment to fit this lil guy.

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.