Sunday, January 09, 2011

     I'm not really sure what I want to say today.  I have a few paintings and such that I wanted to post since I haven't been blogging in a while.  I've also been trying to figure out how I can become more productive with my time and better organize my ideas and projects.  This has always been something that I've wanted to improve on, but I really became aware of how important this change needs to be the other night.  I realized that when I do finally have some motivation to get something done I tend to do 5 things at once (literally) in order to get everything accomplished.   I made the following list at the time that I came to this realization -

"At this moment in time I am ...

1. drying dishes
2. cooking my dinner
3. scanning pictures
4. watching a movie
5. writing this list"

     I need to find a way to focus my energies into one project at a time.  It's not a bad thing to multi-task, but I take it to a point that I think may be more scatter-brained than multi-tasking.  This is something to add to my list for improvements in 2011.

     Here are some of the things I've done in the last few months ...

thought I'd add my sketch + color comp this time so that I can share a little bit of the process.
(also tried to incorporate a more texturized background  ( I used paper to scrape the blue paint across the background) - didn't quite turn out like I had envisioned.  Something I'll have to keep working on.  Trying to get out of my comfort zone a little).   I  feel like something is not quite right with the umbrella - so I guess this is still a work in progress.



and I guess I would call this the "companion piece" to go along with "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas".  Trying to work on consistent characters and show some action.  A good start I think.



I'm also including a sketch that I did last night.  I've been looking at a lot of other artists and trying to figure out where I want to go with my work.  I want to develop a more stylized way of rendering my figures.  Here is the sketch that I worked on with that in mind ...

we'll see what it looks like when I use paint.  I'm trying to add more shadows and highlights to the skin - to add more dimension.  I'm not sure how well the sketch turned out here (it looks better in real life).  There are some subtleties that just don't show up.  hmm.. maybe I need a new scanner.  I guess I can add that to my list of things I'll get when we're rich.

I've also gotten the sudden urge to get out a canvas and so something larger.  I really want to paint a wall in my house, but since we are renting this is not an option.  I can't wait for the day that we own our own place and I can paint everything and anything I want!!  :)  (don't tell Ken).

Anyway, I got out a canvas and started thinking about some ideas.  I've been really wanting to do a whale illustration for some time and also wanting to incorporate some collage.  I've been fascinated with collage for years now, but have been unable to incorporate it into my art and create a cohesive style.  So this is my current undertaking.  Here is the sketch that I plan to work with ...



well, I suppose this is enough for tonight.  I'll try and update everyone on my progress by the end of the week.  
Hope you all have a great week.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

keep going your sketches has caracter and you have patient..