Fall finals 2k12

On Being Frank, part 2 of 3

On Being Frank, part 1 of 3

Our last in-class painting is a 3 week pose, so I wanted to give this one an illustrative feel (and perhaps a shot at being a portfolio piece). Inspired by the bad mamma jamma that was our model and a recent lesson in my history of illustration class, I decided to do a little homage to the great Frank Frazetta. I'm really excited about this first pass, I can't wait to get back to it next week.

Heads and Hands Marvel Team-Up

2 hr 20 min

Figure painting update

From a couple weeks ago:

And today's painting (via cellphone):

 

 

Here's what half of my face looks like

A bit of a self portrait I did in my sketchbook. It's really a 2 hour study for a bigger project I've been thinking about, but it came out half decent, so it goes on the blog.

Classwork

Comic

So my teacher absconded with my latest illustration assignment tonight, which means I won't have a good scan of the finished piece until next week, but here's a photo that basically shows what it looks like sans text:

The joy of sketching

In addition to the sketches, Google wants me to remember Bob Ross today, and I am more than happy to oblige. RIP Bob, your attitude and demeanor continue to be two things that some art students (myself included) would do well to adopt.

Lab Rat quick color study

My first color study. The paint job is bad, but you get the idea. The boxes will eventually have a lot more detail, but for now I just want to get a really basic feel for what the composition will look like.

I want to start posting works I'm inspired by with my uploads to give people a better sense of where I'm coming from, and I think this is a perfect piece to start with:

21st century lab rat

Here's a figure study I did in my sketchbook a couple weeks ago for my painting class:

This is a VERY long-term assignment, so expect more of these. I'll be working on a full environment study tonight.

Smile!

So apparently the Joker is back in the DC universe. To be honest, I didn't know that he left; shows how out of touch I am. But everything I've been reading about this new run of comics (and, more to the point, all the artwork I've seen from said run) has me more excited about Batman than I've been in a very long time. With all that said, here's a sketchbook drawing I did of the Clown Prince of Crime:

How's it goin', batsie?

I still draw with charcoal!

I haven't given up on drawing with burnt wood just yet. Here's what I did in heads and hands today:

20 minute schnoz study

 

  

40 minutes

1 hour

Weekly Painting Dump

Portrait

Figure painting today, here's what I did in class (4.5 hours working from model, sorry for the poor picture quality, my phone's camera is not great):

Heads and Hands shenanigans

My latest assignment in heads and hands was to draw a series of 4 mouths (or rather, my mouth in 4 poses). When I was done, I realized that since I had photographed myself at basically the same angle in each picture, and that the series of drawings might sync up quite well. I did a little research on animated GIFs, and came up with this:

It's FAR from perfect, but I was delighted nonetheless that I ended up with a decent approximation of a mouth chewing. I'm also glad I finally caved and learned how to make animated GIFS.

Edit: These white specs show up when I view my GIF in the web browser; can anyone tell me what that's about?

Master Blaster part deux

Another master copy, this time for figure painting. Not too happy with how it came out (I shouldn't have BS'ed the drawing stage), but I learned a lot about working with oils.

 

I'm already getting excited about the final for this class, I've got a bunch of ideas I'm currently exploring.

Here's another gouache sketch. CAUTION: staring directly at levels of saturation this high for an extended period of time can lead to blindness.

More sketchbook madness

 

Something that makes sense coming soon.

My brush pen is dead

Here's what I made last night while it was dying:

Brush pens seem to lose their mojo so fast. I need to get a little more gouache for the sketchbook; it's better anyways. Oh, and my illustration teacher keeps stressing the importance of signing everything, so expect to see that little red DV on everything I do from here on out.

Figure Painting

This semester is my first experience with painting the human figure, and I think it shows.

Week 1:

Yikes. 

Week 3 (most recent painting):

At least this one is filled in all the way. Still, I've got a long road ahead of me.

My finished still life:

School again

A work in progress (I'm happy to say that the transition to oil paints has been a relatively smooth one so far):

And a bit of screwing around:

Bugs

My summer boss, who conducts agricultural research for WSU (I hope that's an accurate description), commissioned me to draw the life cycle of a thrip. My basic understanding of the thrip is that it is a very small pest that seems to live on just about everything, but notably on onions. They are also fun to draw.

I want to add some kind of background, but I haven't figured it out yet and I'm pretty tired and I just felt like posting something. Let me know what you think.

Summer Drawings

Signs of life

Just letting anyone out there know that I'm still here, still smearing pigment on various surfaces.

Digital Painting Final

Progress

The biggest issue with going to art college is the question of progress. The constant struggle is this: am I making progress fast enough with the aid of schooling to warrant the expense? I've been working on my still life painting final over the last few days, and I think I have a satisfactory answer for myself. Here's my first still life, slightly edited in Photoshop as it was when I first posted it:

Keep in mind, that represents a finished product. In comparison, here's a badly cropped photo of my unfinished final taken in the minimal lighting that my apartment provides at night:

I know I'm still not exactly Rembrandt (I am an acrylic painter, after all, so I kind of suck by default), but that feels like a lot of progress for one semester.

The final version of this, along with a few other new and not-so-new things (I have another Color and Design painting that might be going in the spring show along with my Tolkien portrait) should be posted shortly, after the semester is finished and I can go back to giving a damn about my blog.

Scientific Research

National Geographic's website is a great place to learn about animals, and by that I mean it's a great place to scroll through jpegs of animals without having to contend with large paragraphs of information about said animals. Sure, there's plenty of text available on NatGeo, but I can't be bothered to actually read anything. What am I, a chump? I learned everything I need to know about wildlife through pictures, and I think my interpretation is pretty close to the truth.

Who's the smartypants biologist now, Tessa? Have fun with your big heavy textbooks full of stupid words.

Vacation

This all me got. Spring break make me very lazy. Me sleep... sleep...
Me start drawing again soon.
 

WIP part deux

I've been chipping away at my Drive poster; I'm starting to have a lot of fun with this one.

WIP: Drive Poster

For my Digital Illustration class. This is more or less just the sketch with a splash of color, so it'll probably look radically different when it's finished.

There and back again: a painter's tale

Why no new sketches, you may ask? Here's why:

That's a gouache portrait of the great J.R.R. Tolkien, and it is the sole project that has consumed most of my time and virtually all of my interest for the past week. I hope the end result was worth it.

NOTE: As a vain and obsessive artist, I have to point out that any white flecks you see are likely not my doing, and are in fact the result of using the large scanner at my school's library, which has been scratched and mistreated to a disgusting extent.