rowyn

I think I'll draw a picture of something. Anyone have anything in mind they'd like me to draw?

Not that I'm promising to draw whatever's suggested to me, but seriously: I like drawing for other people. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to use my powers (such as they are) for Good. :D But whatever I sketch will probably be a crummy pencil drawing like this or this. Because, you see, oil paintings are HARD.

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From:

kelloggs2066.livejournal.com

How about a nice sunset? :)

From:

rowyn

Hmm.

A graphite pencil sketch of ... a sunset.

Hmm.

I would say "I think you misunderstood the medium I intend to use" but, really, I'm pretty sure you didn't. :)

From:

kelloggs2066.livejournal.com

Ummm... Think of it as a challenge...?

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I bruised my
brain when I stuck my foot down my throat...

From:

rowyn

Or, umm, maybe you did misunderstand. Sorry about that. :)

From:

kelloggs2066.livejournal.com

Well, I don't think pencilling a sunset is *impossible*, but it would sure make for an interesting challenge.

I'm just not sure how you'd draw shafts of light
coming down with only a pencil.

To be perfectly honest, it was just something that
sprang to mind just because it's something I've been
thinking about how you *would* draw it, and I haven't
come up with a decent answer yet myself.

(Oh, and in case you're wondering why some stranger
showed up in your journal, I tend to read Level Head's friend's list a lot.)

From:

rowyn

Well, I don't think pencilling a sunset is *impossible*, but it would sure make for an interesting challenge.

This is certainly true: it would be a challenge. Particularly for my not-so-leet art skillz. Probably more of a challenge than I'm really up for. :)

Oh, and in case you're wondering why some stranger
showed up in your journal, I tend to read Level Head's friend's list a lot.

I've seen a lot of your comments in LH's journal (I think I even replied to one or two of 'em) -- I figured you came to me by way of him. Hi! *waves* Feel free to stop in any time. :)

From:

kelloggs2066.livejournal.com

Hi! (waves)

Hmm...

You know... Maybe I travel in the wrong circles, but
I don't think I've ever met anyone who believes that
they've got 3L33t art skilz.

There's always someone out there better than you.
(In my case there are lots.)

But, if there is something I've learned, it's that
lots of practice can help a little. Slowly. But the
big jumps you can make come from trying out challenges.
Drawing new things, or even trying to draw other
people's work.

The interesting thing about drawing other people's
work is that, when you get stuck, or it strikes you
that something doesn't look right, you can look at
the original and spot the little tricks they've used
from their artistic toolbox, and add them to your
own.

Anyway, if a sunset isn't your flavor, here's another
challenging art thing:

Draw a black kitten, and try to capture the bits
where the sun glints off the fur. :)

Have fun! :)

Scott

From:

rowyn

Maybe I travel in the wrong circles, but I don't think I've ever met anyone who believes that they've got 3L33t art skilz.

Well, OK, point taken. That's why I put up links to my art: you can never trust anyone's description of their own artistic ability. :) I am 'better than some, worse than others'.

And I know practice helps. It's just been a while since there was anything I really wanted to draw. I may give the black cat a try. I'll let you know how it comes out if I do. :)

From:

kelloggs2066.livejournal.com

I think your artwork looks just fine! :)

Have you ever tried using a blue pencil to sketch
things out before using the darker pencil?
For sketching, I have to use a non-repro blue pencil.
Otherwise, all the stray lines would look like Medusa's snakes.

Besides, you've actually seen some of my earliest
strips and you haven't turned into stone. (Did
you borrow some mirrored glasses from Perseus or
something?)

Anyway, as a friend of mine once observed:
When you look at your older work, the more embarrassed
you are, the more it shows you've improved.

Fortunately for me, I've plenty to be embarrassed about. :)

By the way, welcome to my Friend's list. :)

From:

rowyn

Have you ever tried using a blue pencil to sketch
things out before using the darker pencil?

I have tried it, in fact, but I didn't like it. It just didn't work for me. With detailed pencil sketches, I do a lot of smudging and blending anyway, and with the inked ones, I just erase the pencil lines. (But my inking is horrid, as a rule). With oil paintings, of course, whatever you use gets covered by paint. I think I didn't like the blue pencil in part because I like being able to admire my originals. ;)

When you look at your older work, the more embarrassed you are, the more it shows you've improved.

Sadly, I'm embarrassed by it and I haven't improved. The oils I linked to are my first through third efforts. The fourth and fifth ones were coming out so badly that I never finished them. The two pencil drawings are relatively recent, however. But don't get me wrong: I haven't improved because I haven't practiced. I am trying to be honest in my assessment, not self-deprecating. If I tried, I'm sure I could improve. I'm just not sure I'm going to try. Many other things I'm trying to do and learn, too.

Fortunately for me, I've plenty to be embarrassed about.

Nothing like doing a strip every other day or so, for 4 years to make sure you get LOTS of practice, mm? :)

By the way, welcome to my Friend's list.

Thank you! Welcome to mine. :)

From:

kelloggs2066.livejournal.com

I've found that blue pencils vary widely by manufacturer. I have no idea what Prismacolor thinks
when they say their non-photo-blue pencils are non-photo. Everything came out as dark as can be and
they're not easy to erase.

The best I've found are some Sanford ones. Very hard
leads so they do not so much mark the paper as they
do leave a slight blue scor mark. :)

Inking is tough, and I'm gradually teaching myself to
recognize other people's tricks.

Dark, thicker lines for the outline of the body, and
fine thin lines for fine details, like eyes, fingers
toes, fur texture, and the lines of clothes.

I guess the effect is that the first thing the eye
recognizes is the outline of the entire body. Sort of
like the opposite of camoflague. You're trying to get
people to recognize the form of the body easily, and
then the rest of the details follow.

When the face, body and background all have the same
thickness of ink lines, they all kind of blend together
and the eye doesn't quite know where to look first.
(At least, so says the self taught guy who really
doesn't know what he's talking about, but thinks it
works. I'm sure someone who's actually taken drawing
classes or something would know far more about it
than I do.)

Since your friends list and Sinai contain more *real*
artists than I could comfortably shake a pen at, I'll
admit to having no art training at all, so you're
better off listening to them!

Anyway, I think your paintings are quite nice! I'd
be utterly hopeless with paint. Redhead in particular
looks very nice, in the way you've blended the colors
across the face, with nice shading and light and
shadow. :)

From:

rowyn

The best I've found are some Sanford ones. Very hard leads so they do not so much mark the paper as they do leave a slight blue scor mark.

I'll bear that in mind. I'm pretty sure whatever non-photo blue pencils I was trying were ... um ... crappy. :) They were certainly hard to erase!

Inking I sort of gave up on, though I inked something recently and didn't hate it. Inking was something I tried to get right back when color reproduction was difficult and expensive. Now that color prints are fairly cheap and easy, and showing off color pictures via the web is just as easy as showing off b&w, I have a lot less incentive to learn. A good ink job is almost as difficult and time consuming as painting -- for me, anyway. And less rewarding.

But I do think you're right about the importance of controlling line thickness, and that combination of consistency and variety. It's tricky. Greywolf is an absolute master of it -- he has done some breathtakingly beautiful black & white nature scenes, practically photographic. Amazing stuff.

I found oil paints remarkably easy to work with. I have no training with them at all, and no training with painting, either. (I did take a couple of figure drawing courses in college: we worked with charcoal almost exclusively. Gave me a fondness for chalk pastels, but I can't do detail work with them at all.) Anyway, "Redhead" was my very first effort with oils since my paint-by-number days as a kid. :) That's how easy oils are. I think a lot of artists are just intimidated by them because of that "mystique". "You can't clean the brushes with water? What's this I need linseed oil for? Oh, no, this is too scary." But it's really not.

My paintings with acrylics are ... yuck. My only trouble with oils is getting the will power to set them up and work. I can sit in front of my computer and doodle with pencils or ink pens, but painting requires a certain commitment to the process, one I haven't been willing to make in a long time. I've thought of trying some of those expensive markers friends tout, and seeing how good they are. I want something that is as vivid, as flexible, as blendable as oil paints, but as easy to take out and put away as a pencil. Is that so much to ask? :)

Since your friends list and Sinai contain more *real*
artists than I could comfortably shake a pen at

I know what you mean. They are a pretty intimidating bunch -- part of why I don't feel I'm being self-deprecating when I discuss my own shortcomings as an artist. :)

Anyway, I think your paintings are quite nice!

Thank you! I do appreciate the compliment. :) Even though I'm frustrated by various aspects of all three of those, I'm also proud of many of the things that I did right in them. Maybe I will even motivate myself to do a new painting ... someday. ;)