SmArt school #2

I wanted my second piece at SmArt School to be based on the book Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I wanted to paint the character, Yvainne (a fallen star). I wanted her to appear otherworldly, like her hair and dress were being pulled back up to the night sky. I also wanted to show the silver chain that was used to hold her captive for a time by Tristram. I showed some quick thumbnails to Rebecca to have the idea approved. 

 She recommended I work on the flow of the composition and gave the following examples:

I went crazy with the thumbnails to see what I could come up with. I narrowed it down to three that I felt were the direction I wanted to go (1, 2, & 17) and showed those to Rebecca. We decided to go forward with #2.

 

 

I put together some frankensteined reference using my head and arms, some random photos for a torso (I'm pregnant so I couldn't use mine!) and an assortment of blowing dresses.  I distorted the figure reference by elongating the neck and arms and even the fingers to get the form I wanted. 

My husband gave me some feedback and helped me come up with the idea that embers or fire were coming off her hair. So, I was playing with having her hair look like it was glowing and a little on fire with burning bits floating off, kinda like a shooting star. Rebecca recommended I simplify the chain element so that it didn't compete with the hair. So it would wind up her arm and past her up to her hair, instead of going off in some other direction.

I drew over it on the computer so I could pick out what was important to me and leave out the rest.

I decided to make the painting 15x22". So, I printed out the digital drawing that size, I had to do it in pieces and taped it together. I then, used transfer paper to transfer the basic composition and lines to my drawing paper so I wouldn't lose the nuances of the composition I had worked out on the computer. Then I drew the whole thing by hand looking at my photo reference on the computer and stylizing the drawing further as I went. 

I showed it to Rebecca and she recommended some small changes to the body by narrowing the shoulders and the waist and widening the hips to give a more feminine form. She also recommended more fullness in the skirt to balance out the hair. Below is the final drawing with the corrections:

My value studies, we went with the one bottom right corner: 

I mounted my drawing onto a 3/16" plywood board with matte medium, then started painting values  in acrylic paint in muted browns. While I was working on my underpainting I painted over a photo of my drawing to do some color studies. I tried a variety of color palettes, but I wasn't feeling right or certain about any of them.

Then my underpainting was finished, shown below:

I took a picture of it and then used it to make even more color studies. After my husband saw them he decided to try playing with the colors on one of them and came up with some interesting options. Then I played with the ones he had played with and came up with the large one, below:

I love what comes out when my husband and I have some back and forth about a piece of art that I am working on! So working from that, I glazed in my colors in oil paint over my acrylic underpainting.  The face lost the look of the drawing during the painting process and I had to paint it out, redraw it, and paint it again. I showed it to Rebecca, she suggested a few minor tweaks and here is the finished painting:

I have really wanted to paint a portrait for a while now. Well I have finally done it. Next time, remind me not to use gouache though. I thought it would make for easier clean up- and it did. But man! It is ridiculous to make good color and value transitions! I already knew this, but I went ahead and did it anyway. If you have ever used gouache you know what I am talking about. The value changes as it dries. The darkest colors get lighter, the lightest colors get darker, and everything in between shifts too! well some how I got through it and came out with a decent looking piece. Not a perfect representation of my oldest son, but it's  pretty close. I particularly like how well the ear turned out. Below is the drawing under all that paint.

My trip to Barcelona and Copenhagen

I went on a trip with my husband to Barcelona and Copenhagen. It was such fun! The two places sound random but we were piggy backing off of his business trip. So we only had to buy flight tickets for me. It was amazing to explore the streets of Barcelona. The Museums were awesome- there was a chocolate museum! The tickets were chocolate bars! (note the gift bag in the above picture: it's full of chocolate) Both Barcelona and Copenhagen had a lot of bikes but Copenhagen had more, hands down. Copenhagen was covered in bronze statues. I particularly loved the Assistens Kirkegard in Copenhagen, it was a park and a cemetery rolled into one (I love cemeteries, more particularly old ones). Hans Christian Andersen's grave was there. By the way, I was happy in both places in spite of the fact that I am not smiling in the first picture!

I could go on, of course, but I really just want to share my sketchbook pages. 

Click on the pictures to view them larger.

Barcelona.

I like bottles…

Near the Arc de Triomphe

 View from the room we were staying in while in Barcelona.

Just a pretty street with a place to sit.

Copenhagen

Direct painting (drawing with my brush)

I love this one. The colors are nice

I flew home a week before my husband  (business trip, remember), so I had a long flight home with no one to talk to. So I drew! And they are all done with just a Bic Pen. I was pretty pleased with myself for skipping the pencil.

I was listening to a audio book so I could draw.
I really like the first dragon, he's cute. (Iron Hearted Violet is a book not his name!)

IF- "wool"

Here's my Illustration Friday contribution. The prompt is "wool." So, I decided to draw a shepherdess and a goatherd. 

IF- Storm

The moment I read the Illustration Friday prompt "storm" I had an image come to my mind of a storm wolf - whatever that is. This image is pretty close to what I saw. I don't remember ever hearing of a storm wolf before but it feels like it should be a thing of myths. It was drawn and shaded with pencil on paper, then colored it on my iPad.

Vine

This is just an old painting from about five years ago or more, it was for a class assignment where we were learning about masking. I got a lot of practice masking this one! I don't like the colors so I'm sharing a grayscale version. The texture is nice.

So I've been experimenting with the app Vine. It's not perfect but it is fun and with a few changes could be awesome. Anyway, here's a link to one of my Vines: my nose itches vine

I've linked more to my facebook page and my twitter ( @jmlshirley ) it's a diverting little app! Go and try it!

fun in the sun and self portrait

Not much to say. A couple pictures I just finished. Just a fun experiment. Drawn on watercolor papers and colored in procreate on my iPad.

swing a giraffe

I'm sure it's been thought of, but hasn't everything? I think it would be nice to have a purple giraffe to play on. 

I drew this eye while watching a video demo and then decided to paint it. I think it turned out nicely.

I think the guy has a lot of very good and entertaining tutorials. He bases several of them on Andrew Loomis' drawing methods. Here is the video I was watching:

returning to the castle

Last year I was having creative time with my boys and I made this for a fun picture for them to hang in their room. I drew it free hand in pen with only one prior attempt. It was very spontaneous and I think it's so cute and loose with fun little details. It's not perfect but I think that is part of it's charm. I drew one knight for each of my sons. You'll have to click on it to see it very well.

phoenix

I made this about a week and a half ago. I scanned in my pencil drawing and colored it in Photoshop. I really like how it turned out.  

self portraits

So I was short on ideas of what to draw thursday so I picked the old standby (myself). Instead of using a mirror, I used my computer's camera to get an interesting angle to draw my self from. It was also nice because my eyes could be looking an other direction besides straight out of the picture. The top one is more of a caricature and is painted with watercolors. I know, I know, I was feeling like being strangely obvious or something and chose to label myself "ME". 

headless

Happy Halloween! I felt like doing a headless horsewoman. She looks bored or dazed, which might actually be appropriate since it is probably a real drag to be lugging your own head around... I guess we all lug our head around, but we typically use a hands-free method. The Illustration Friday topic is "scary".  I would probably be scared of a headless person, but I'm not sure I made this one that scary. Pencil drawing colored in Photoshop.

drifting off

I caught myself drifting off while I was listening to the teacher, I felt bad...then I thought this sketch was good for showing that there are worse ways that one could drift off.

Sea Dwarf

Hooray, I finally scanned my work from last semester!

This was for one of my classes I got to pick my assignments, which was cool. This one goes along with my selkie painting. I was reading Scandinavian Folktales and really enjoyed reading a story about a man's experience with a sea dwarf. I guess a sea dwarf is like a leprechaun of the sea, he is human on top and seal on bottom (almost like a mermaid). He's very mischievous and very tricky. Things didn't end well for the man who caught him, but then I'm not sure if it was the sea dwarfs fault or his own. I read it in a book or else I would post the link.

This is a color study I did by coloring my thumbnail in Photoshop. Even though it's just a thumbnail, I really like it. It has nice texture.

Oh and here are some fun watercolor studies I did while watching Disney's Oceans.

still not settled

Still in a hotel... Still working on getting a place, hopefully in the next day or two.... please!

This is the introduction of the villainous Captain Hook in a chariot pulled by his own men.