RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU ALL THE TIME

Early on in the last week or so, I came to a passage in my rereading of The Hobbit, it is where Bilbo is up on a limb saving the Dwarves from the giant spiders of Mirkwood. As I was reading I was drawing images in my head and composing a piece to be painted. When I got the chance I picked up my doodlebook and drew out this little rough:

 After drawing out the scene, I kept looking at the piece and thinking there was something oddly familiar about it.  I let it sit a while as I had other things going on at the time, but it was still in the back of my mind as I was for lack of a better word, bothered by the image.

Eventually I got back to it, and sat down with a bit of ink and watercolours and completed my little rough so I could move on to the next phase and get it to the board as soon as I could.

With that done, I still kept thinking "what is it about this drawing that is bothering me?" 

Now, skip forwards a few days and it is the weekend, weather is warmer and time to set up the front porch for another season of porchsettin, so we spend the day getting the porch cleaned and the cushions all aired out, the blinds and the curtains up........it is a nice relaxing porch for settin, talkin, socializin, and doodlin.

After all the work is done it is time to set a spell and as soon as I plop down in my chair ........... I look at the oak tree I have looked at for the past 14 years and my light bulb goes off.............THAT IS MY LIMB!!! I just start laughing as I realized why the image was familiar and bothering me. 

I drew the limb from a tree that has been right in front of me the whole time and just didn't realize it until I sat down on the porch. I walk past this limb daily as I go out our front door, but never looked up or at the tree. It wasn't til I sat down and looked out that everything was in the right order, the angle the perspective and the whole 9 yard that it hit me.

Now, granted I did not draw the limb exactly as it looks in real life, but it is there, it is the influence for my rough. It has been filtered and stored in the back of my brain to finally come out here as the shot needed for the drawing. 

So, the point of this whole long story, is basically to be observant, watch and study everything, you will retain the information somewhere and it will pop out when you least expect it. Reference is EVERYWHERE, everyday things can be turned into the images you need for your fantasy works.

We are all influenced by the world around us visually and  we do store all this information in our heads and are influenced by it subconsciously. There are many, many tools available to us as artists and illustrators that we can glom on to for reference, the internet has become a valuable tool, but we cannot forget about the world right in front of us. Observation is an amazing gift if we just look at the things right in front of us. Sometimes we see it and just don't realize it.

JUST DRAW

Sometimes you just sit down and draw. No if''s, and's, or but's...........

Last night was just one of those nights, I was tired, exhausted even, just a long day, and I needed to relax. So, I pulled out a piece of paper..11 X 14, and sat there, and my hand started to idly move about and slowly a shape started to take, well ......... shape. 

The shape turned into a girl sort of crouching and leaning and as I drew, I started to become quite relaxed and just totally into what I was doing, and after about 90 minutes or so, I had a drawing.

 Whilst she is not quite finished, still need to do her hand and left leg, I sort of like her as is too. 

There is something to be said for just drawing, it is an amazing thing. Next time you are tired and need a way to relax or unwind.........pick up a pencil and let your day go and just see what comes out.

She was done on Bristol, with just a 2 B pencil and a kneaded erasure....

Sometimes the simple things are the best things........

Been too long ...........so here is an update .....

Hi, no I did not fall off the planet, but have been not quite healthy so I am here now to update everyone who my not know what has been going on for the past year.........well 2 years, and most like longer just because I tend to ignore things and press on.

3 weeks ago I underwent surgery to replace to discs in my neck that were compressing a nerve making my drawing hand and arm go numb and placing me also in a lot of pain. At the same time I underwent carpel tunnel surgery in y drawing hand as well.

Although I did continue to draw and work thru all this, I will honestly admit my stuff was not up to what I am capable of, I sort of continued to draw because I had to, it kept me sane and really could not help myself.... I have to draw and paint........if not I really get tense and cranky. You really cannot separate the man from the artist.........we are one in the same.

 This is how my hand looked about a week ago.........although the stitches are out at this point I am still not released by my Doctor to use the hand to draw..........this has not stopped me, I am slowly plodding about doing it left handed.

Before we go there here are a few things I have started and or finished before surgery and the hand got too bad to use

a little pencil of a woman and a dragon......kind of fun and was enjoyable to be doing just a pencil for the fun of doing a pencil

a simple little dragon hunter piece, that I will be back on to shortly...

these are two of 8 pieces that I started to lay out and prepare before I went into surgery...........

this is the last piece I finished before surgery, it is Web, and the cover for another Timothy Ray Jones book

here is Thuvia in the Garden, the last ink I was able to do before I really could not control the brush

here are two versions of Dejah Thoris and Woola, that I have for now stopped until I am able to ink again...

here is the underpainting for the project I have started, the whole of the paint application so far has be left haned..

... a little bit of work left handed as I do the under painting for  my next project....


Well that is pretty much what I have been up too, I will be keeping a little better track and updating more as I heal and do more...

YES FOLKS......... IT IS WORK

In the not too distant past ( yesterday ) I had someone come up to me and say, " man I wish I could do what you do, just sit down and have a drawing or painting......what you do is so easy "

BULLSHIT!!! 

  ...... sorry for the explicative, but  guess what, it ain't all sit down and have yourself a drawing!!!

There is a little bit of work that goes into what we do, yes sometimes we do just sit down and have a piece come to us:

 

...with this pencil piece, I was sitting on my front porch  enjoying the morning and drinking my coffee, and I KNEW I wanted to d a Tarzan like image with an ape....that was all I had in mind when I did this,  I started to let my pencil move randomly, and started working on the ape..... on the back of this are the first attempts of the ape, he changed position on this side and the drawing came to me.

These are the things that never really get seen, the prelims and roughs. ALL the little hoohahs that go into the final piece that everyone sees.......the final piece is work but it is not all the work, even as we or at least I am working on the final image, I am still editing and trying to improve the piece. 

Below are some examples of  the roughs and the finished piece......

With all art, the piece starts with an idea or concept.........it is not perfect, it comes out, and then gets worked on. There are a lot of behind the scenes and extra features that go into the making of an image. If one piece was feature movie, and you got the bonus disc with the "making of" features, you would see that like making a movie, the making of a drawing. or painting....has a lot more into it than just "draw" or "paint".

When you look at a finished painting for example, you are seeing HOURS of work just in the painting.....and that does not include the hours spent in the beginning of the piece.

And to let you in on a little secret.............most of my favourite art to look at are the roughs and prelims......the raw energy and unrefined idea, the thought process of what will go into the piece and what will be left out..........for me those are the cool things.

O.k., that is the end of my rant, but there is work behind everything, and even a drawing and painting, and nothing is ever as easy as it looks.............

DEALING WITH THE CRAP

There are some folks out there that think we just sit down and EVERYTHING  we do is gold........not the case! Drawing/painting,  "art" is not as easy as perceived, there is work to it, and not everything we do comes out perfect every time. In each of the images, at various states of being done, there is something off in each of them........they just didn't work.....so they will be put to more useful things like Snail Girl Paper or as starter for our fire pit outside.

At some point you just have to be honest with yourself and say this is not worth the effort of trying to save..and honestly if you have to try and save it.......it needs to be redone. So here are a few examples of those things that need to be redone:

.... these will all be redone at some point soon, I like the concepts, the ideas, but just not the execution of the work....so they have been executed, and will be reborn at some point in the near future.......

We all mess up, make mistakes, that is life, the only true mistake is not learning from them and not trying again........

STORY BOARDS ...HATMAN 3

Just recently a friend of mine got in touch with me about a project he was working on and asked me if I could lend a bit of a hand...the answer of course was yes.


He was working on a film project of his own production HATMAN and on the 3rd installment and wanted to know if I could story board it to help with shots and angles and such.storyboarding.... so we sat down one day in Studio B ( the porch ) and discussed the project and as we talked I doodled out the scenes he had scripted out.

After getting the initial pages down, over the next few days I sat down and redrew the panels with a little more finish to them as well as change the format from vertical..which is what I am used to doing mostly illustration.... to horizontal  fro more of a film look so that he could plan his shots a bit better and have it closer to the screen image.

 

Story boards are fun and quite similar to comic work. They can be as simple as you would like or s complex and complete..........I guess it all really depends on who you are working with and what they want in all honesty. Black and White or colour  as well.

I personally cannot wait to see the finished production  and had so much fun doing these, I hope it goes on and I get to do more!!! Here is part 2 of Hatman for you to see...........

 

Gary Friedrich

O.k...... there might be one or two of you who are unaware of what is happening or happened to this comic art legend...........Gary is one of the creators Ghost Rider and now been sued by Marvel to pay $17,000.00 for drawing and selling images of the character at Cons.

This link gives you better info and MORE links on the whole subject than I can:  LINK IS HERE

here is also a link to another site where donations can be made to help this man out.

HELP GARY FRIEDRICH HERE

What has happened to Gary........could happen to any of us in the field.

IN PRAISE OF THE MIGHTY PENCIL

I  personally cannot say enough about this amazing tool. It is the King Daddy of all the media in my book and I shamefully do not use it enough. I love what can be done with it...........whether it be a simple sketch or doodle.

the beginnings of something else like an ink, watercolour or painting.....

or the full on in your face drawing....................here is the ol' boy at work, and yes he is a work horse, do not deny the might of a pencil or what can be done with one. It is where every great work of art starts, and in a lot of cases ends. Drawing is the foundation of all the arts.

Hooray for the mighty pencil.
...........................................................................

( I also just found out my camera has a video option, so look out.......this is the first of more to come )

LIFE IS A TABORET....................

Over the past few days, maybe a week or so, my wife and I have begun to remodel, our studio/office space in the house. In doing such, I have had to do a bit of cleaning and cleaningout, and organizing.

The closet in the room was made into a storage cabinet for various things such as a few needed household tools, but also oganized to hold my art supplies, old paintings, boards for new paintings and paper and those sorts of various things.

In getting the closet organized, and cleaning things out, I was afforded the opportunity to do something I had been planning on and wanting to do for quite awhile. Build my "ultimate" taboret. Like many folks I am not quite an off the rack person, and have to customize things to suit my particular needs and wants. I built my own easel when I started painting again, of course there were numerous reasons for doing such, but one of the main ones was I want it to fit me and my needs. Now a few weeks back I purchased an easel I had been wanting for a long time, a simple H framed thing that I felt would do what I wanted and needed. Well once it was out of the box I had to customize it....................not much, but the bar in the back wouldn't hold the smaller size boards I use without them being all wobbly, so I took the backing off of my other easel, and added a paper towel holder to it.........pretty much it....suits my needs MY easel.

Doing this also allowed me some of my needed nostalgia of previous paintings and in a sense a sort of tradition...........silly I know but it works for me.

NOW............my "ultimate" taboret:

This Frankenstien of a thing is pieced  together from all sorts of things I have collected and made use of over the past 10 to 15 years. So " without further elloquence" ( movie quote.........be the first to guess the movie win a free 9 X 12 pencil drawing) here is my ultimate taboret:

A) a cheap little table used as a taboret some 15 years or so ago. Mainly held brushes and watercolour stuff, the drawer keeps extra pencils and things.

B) an old surplus card file I got somewhere that I now hold new brushes in.
C) an NYC Police Dept.       coffee cup
D) a vertebrae shaped coffee mug my mom gave me one year for my birthday...........looked like marrow in the bone when you had coffee in it.
E) an old flower vase picked up somewhere.
F) old glass plates used as palettes during the college portion of life.
G) a strudy oak staple style table I got from a neice.......thanks so much, Mo.
H) an old painting I never got around to completing......yes it was gonna be a big one.
I) some 2 x4' s from an old video rack bought when Deb and Bob's went out of business.
J) the youngster of the group, a cheapo file cabinet maybe 3 to 4 years old.
K) the glass palette I use now, I got from OfficeKing while I worked there.

.....and a couple of other views just because:

Llama Fashions

This past weekend I got to spend time with my brother and his family as my niece Caroline, participated in a 4H competition involving Llamas. It was a blast!!, and gave me the opportunity to view and sketch an animal that I never would have considered drawing.

The Llama is a camelid.....which is to say a member of the camel family, which includes camels (no brainer there), alpacas, and dromedaries. The llama is the South American version of the camel as it were. They were used as pack animals by the Incas, you can click on the link and read more about them if you want to.

The Llamas all had fabulous cuts or coiffures as a fashion statement as well as a way to dispence heat. These cuts also made for more fun in drawing since I could come up with my own names for the cuts and differentiate the animals by other means than just colour.

BOREDOM

Just a qucik thought on one of the best things about being an artist.

I often hear the words " I'm bored", "there's nothing to do", and many similar phrases, and I say to myself...."how can you be bored" but then again I realize not everyone draws or sketches to pass time away as I do.

The images posted here are from two of my little Moleskin Notebooks, the 2 in back are from a 5 X 81/4, for those days when size isn't an issue, and the one in front is my pocket pal a 31/2 X 51/2 for ease of carry and concealment.

I always have something on me or near me to draw with, so for the most part am never bored. It is really an amazing thing the gift of drawing, you will always have something to do. I personally feel that everyone HAS the ability to draw, what comes out might not be a DaVinci or a masterpiece, but it is something that has its own merrits no matter the ability level. I think the thing that keeps others from doing it as a way of passing time is the want to. I always want to draw.....especially during those times when I shouldn't or seemingly have nothing to do. It relaxes me and I enjoy it.

In a world where most people need the aid of electricity to make them happy or keep them from being bored, I feel most grateful to have the ability and the desire to draw or sketch. To make use of my time enjoying the simple things like drawing a lamp post while waiting on a train, drawing the scene of my car window and reflection of the mirror, or trying to capture my daughters face as she competes in a speach meet, and yes making up a frog prince just for the fun of it ( and for her).

So maybe next time you are feeling a little bored or seem to have nothing to do, find some paper and a pencil and sit down and doodle. It doesn't take much, is quite easy and passes the time. Just do it and see what happens.

GOING WITH THE FLOW

After waking this morning and as I was enjoying my morning pot of coffee, I sat down at the drawing table and got out a sheet of parchment paper, as I was wanting to do an ink on parchment......actually a sepia toned ink.... just for something different and just the fact that I hadn't done one in long time.

The image on the above is the rough I did for this idea, and yes it is indeed rough. I actually drew it out on a scrap of bristol I keep on the table to wipe excess ink on when I am inking a piece.

After getting the concept down, I pulled out the parchment and as that it is a touchy surface, I got out my old friend the tracing paper and started to roughly sketch out the the piece. Now the more I drew, the more fun I had and the more I enjoyed the process, and ended up with something not quite a rough outline for the inking and something not quite a finished piece either. Yet as I was enjoying this freedom of just drawing and seeing what was coming out, I just sort of went with the flow of the day and the piece.

Now after about an hour or so I have a really nice "rough" and if I wanted a finished piece, but I think this is as far as I want to go on this one for now. I do still have intentions of doing that ink with this, but as I have a more detailed rough now, I will hopefully have an even better ink.

The face and right hand are a bit awkward, but I will be addressing that in the final image.

The ability to recognize when a piece is taking on something more than you intended is a good thing to have......like knowing what to leave in or take out, as well as when to stop. The time to be able to go with the flow is a wonderful thing and getting the chance to go with one is a good thing. In this one I reached a stopping point and said ok.

Will I take this farther, yes, but not on the tracing paper. I will post the ink when it is done, but for now........I am just going with the flow.

THE MERRITS OF THE MUCH MISSALIGNED TRACING PAPER

The other day in conversation, the topic of tracing and tracing paper came up with the phrase, " well at least your a real artist and don't trace stuff, you can draw ". I really found this kind of funny since I use tracing paper ALOT in my works, I like the term "Layout Paper" but it is all the same to me.

Yes,I do draw out all my own stuff, but tracing paper is a vital tool in the artists tool box, and does tend to get a bad rap. As most of us already know there is no one right way to do anything, and as time goes on.....there will be even more right ways. There are some artists who use a projector to transfer their drawing onto their painting surfaces, some whom I have heard will take their image, scan it enlarge it, print it and the paint right over the scanned image...........all cool to do, it is their image and their works. I myself will take my drawings scan them, enlarge or reduce them to the size needed for the space I'm working in. No one way is right and the fact that they were traced, or scanned or whatever does not change the fact that the image was originally drawn by the artist using it, and as I have grown as both artist and person, I find myself using more and more "aides" to create my works. Some of it is convenience, others practicality, time constraints and even just plain lazy.

Just a few of the ways that I use it :

A.....to work out or fix a part of an image so that the erasing doesn't ruin the original paper or whatever I am working on.

B.....these are images straight out of my sketchbook that I liked so much that is didn't really see any point in "re-drawing " them and loosing what it was that I liked about the image. Each of these two examples were actually taken and then scanned into my computer, and enlarged to fit onto the board they were going to be transfered to.

C....these two images were drawn directly onto the tracing paper while sitting on the board they were intended for so I could get the sizes right for the painting.

So just because you see tracing paper laying about somewhere, don't automatically assume that it is being used to copy something that shouldn't be, and don't get all high and mighty about not using it either. The stuff is good, practical, and a lot cheaper than having to start over if you ruin the surface of the original paper.

OPEN TO CHANGE PT II

After writing all that about being Open to Change, and saying I had come up with the image....well when I sat down this morning to work on the drawing, I realized that the sketch wouldn't work, so I drew this out and am sure it is the final position for the piece. Using this figure will also add another element of depth to the composition as well so, there you.......be open to the changes that present themselves.

OPENESS TO CHANGE

O.K., I know this is going to sound pretty simple and very basic, but being able to go with the flow or OPEN TO CHANGE is in my humble opinion a key to being a good artist/illustrator. It also sort of helps in your day to day life as well.

Getting stuck on a certain position for a figure or what not in your layout can hinder you or set you back on whatever it is your working on.

Changes can even happen at the last minute by the client, the AD or whomever maybe involved with the piece. The change may come just because of something like it just isn't working, or "I don't like it". Which is exactly what has happened to me on an ink I am currently working on. After doing 2 pages of roughs working on a position for one particular figure in this piece, I just was not satisfied with the action, position, and all that, so I just sort of put it up for the night and was going to come back to it in the morning.

As can be seen in the two pages of doodles, there were variations on the theme. So, even as I am fleshing out the idea, I am playing with the concept of maybe this will work better.

Well the morning came, and I pulled out the ol' sketching stuff.........not hard to do since it is everywhere .......and said to myself, "what if I did this?". Well I did it, and sure enough it is the right one.

Being open to the change as well as being able to recognize it and accept it are keys to getting the work done and having a good piece. So be open minded in what you do.

Simple to say, but sometimes not all that easy or simple to do. Very basic, but without the basics where would we be?

ITS ALL IN THE BAG

A little more on the subject of the Setch-A-holic.


I am a card carrying confirmed sketch-a-holic, and am proud to say incurable. It is something that I cannot stop doing. If I don't have a pen or pencil with me, I am honestly composing and sketching images in my head.....these are just harder to keep track of and catalog as I get older, when I was younger they were easier to recall and put down, now I have some masterpieces that only I have seen and you will just have to believe me on that account.
When we go places there are certain things that have to go with me. Right now I have what I think is the ultimate in sketch equipment, it is a canvasmessanger bag , and is just chock full of pockets pouches and compartments for all the things needed to keep the compulsion to sketch and draw fed.

I do know and realize that I have said in a previous post "you really don't need a lot to do this with if you really want to." All of this stuff is not really a necessity, but it does make things easier for me if no one else, and may God bless my wife Dana for putting up with it and me. I will draw on anything, and have.........borrowed pens and stuff from people to get it done.

A) the aforementioned Creativo Messenger Bag

B) Tracy-nite panels for sketching out paintings........8 X 10 and 9 X 12

C) Moleskin Notebook

D) coloured pencils

E) a little watercolour set...this one is a cheapo Prang thing, nothing fancy just gets the colours down

F) a little metal clip to hold paper down if it is a windy day

G) Strathmore Bristol pads....8 X 10, 11X 14, and 14X 17......you just never know

H) an aluminum ruler........it was longer but a hacksaw solved the problem of not fitting into the pocket chosen for it

I) a smaller Moleskin Notebook....pocket sized, more later on that one, but I have been there before in another post

J) loose leaf paper

K) sketchbook

......there is also a refillable brush pen on one of the pads that I just forgot to give a letter.

Here is a look at some of the pockets..........I mainly keep 2B's and HB's with me. The HB's are good for sharp lines and give you some good darks, and the 2's are good for softer things.........but you all know that.

This bag stays with me 90% of the time and I will not go anywhere without it. It will travel with me even if it never comes out of the car. I sort of have other things that come with me in those situations that call for me to be more discreet or just won't allow the bag to come with me. For thosetimes I have my commando supplies.........

......THE COMMANDO KIT..............

Yes that blue thing is a travel toothbrush holder, the pencils, eraser and sharpener fit perfectly into the thing. I would almost swear that it was intended for the use of holding sketching stuff and that the whole toothbrush thing was an after thought.

The Moleskin Notebook is 3 X 5 and fits into most any pocket, the pencils are usually the same, one HB, and one 2B, the red pen looking thing is an eraser, and a bullet pencil sharpener...........those things are the best.

If anyone out there has any suggestions or just wants to share what they use or carry, let us know, we all might learn a new trick to the trade.

Thanks

STORAGE SPACE.......

For a lot of us.............sketching and doodling is a compulsion, a need.........WE HAVE TO DO IT!! and I like a lot of folks will draw on just about anything I can get a hold to. So needless to say I have a LOT of loose papers lying about with this idea or that on it, which actually is what I am here to talk about today.

I know I am not the first to think of this solution to what to do with all those bits and pieces of paper, but I honestly have not seen anyone post anything on it either, but my solution to the piles of paper lying about is 3 ring binders (notebooks we used to call them back in school) and clear sheet protectors. They are easy to use, are expandable, and don't take up much space. You can lable them if you want to get real specific about what is in which book, I have one labled "ERB" which I keep all my Tarzan, and Burroughs stuff in, I have one for Conans and Robert E Howard, one just labled "roughs" and one just for doodles and such. Another cool aspect to these things is that you can take them to cons, set them out on your table and sell the sketches and what nots without tearing up your sketchbooks and things as well.

Quick easy and keeps the mess to a minimum.

Its not what you got but HOW you use it.

Just recently I was talking with a friend, and he stated how he used to love to draw, but just didn't have the time,the space, or the right stuff to do it anymore. Now I just recently talked about the whole time thing in WAIT A MINUTE, so now I think I will talk about STUFF. I work on an extremely tight budget, but I do work and do get some things done.....not as fast or as much as I would like, but I do draw, and paint. I am using the drawing table that my parents bought for me 30 years ago.........no problem with that, its a good table. I have an easel........one I built out of 2 X 4's and some masonite and screws and such.......it works for me., and yes I do have a studio space in our home, but even when I didn't..........I still drew, and did some watercolours.......not really painted, as I have stated, I took a few years (20) off to pay bills and all that sort of stuff........ I still work 2 jobs and still take care of the house, cook ,clean and all that...........but still make the time to draw and paint.

Ok...enough on time...............the statement "the right stuff" got to me. I actually got up, walked over to their computer, pulled a sheet of paper out of the printer, picked an ol' yellow pencil up from the desk and said " there now you have the right stuff".

My point being..........you really don't need a lot to do this with if you really want to. Space not really an issue.......got a house, apt ....whatever...........I sort of use my whole house as a studio, I do only paint in the "studio" tho, but if I didn't have that, I honestly think I would be set up in the kitchen or laundry room..........somewhere I will find the room, because I really want to tdo this............to coin a phrase " its in me and has to come out"(thanks to John Lee Hooker).

Here are a few examples of what I am talking about:

these are my drawing pads, drawing board, sketch book and such, I carry a toothbrush holder around to hold some pencils, a sharpener and an eraser, the "palm pilot" is a small moleskin notebook that I sketch in when I am supposed to be payint attention at a function........concert, school thing, or church.

This is as it says.....my nite stand, the pencils and erasure and sharpener are right there for when I have that idea in the middle of the night.....,or for when we are just sitting watchin the tube and I want to sketch.

this is my home made easel, for when I decided to get back into painting.............it was originally a tripod thing, but went to this format to hold extra boards and such.

Basically all I am saying is that if you want to do it.......just do it, you don't need all sorts of fancy stuff to make the art, just the drive and the ability. A yellow school pencil is basically a 2B........ I have all this stuff lying about because it is what I want to do. I do make the time for it, but I would do that even if all I had was a yellow pencil and some computer paper. I wanted to paint, so I built an easel to do it. You don't have to do that, but you can sit at the kitchen table and draw and paint just as easily.

When I handed my friend his own pencil and his own paper, he started to say something about "its not" .......I just asked him....

" do you want to draw or not?"