Will be posting soon Folks. On a roll with Prelim drawings - daren't stop.

The Red Shoes - (Klimt would roll in his canvas shroud)

   Howdy Folks! Well, it's finished after three months. Not that I've put three months work into it, maybe three weeks worth of labour at most. It's been sitting in the studio for those 12 weeks complaining of neglect each time I went out there, (out to the studio). Have been so busy with so much else going on and lots of research  for my next project - mainly hunting for images of period costume and some image creating Latin texts. (You'll see why the need for Latin when I post the relevent images... if I use the texts I have in mind anyway.)

    Now, I don't know - or rather, havent seen - if other illustrators/artists reveal their failures on the wide world of the web, but I'm about to do so. (This confession probably won't mean much, as few out there in the blogosphere probably view this self indulgent little site anyway.) So, for what it's worth, here goes...

   Looking back at the progress of this particular illustration, you will recall that the back-ground rectangle started out as green. The plan was to paint a few heavy base coats of the said green and then, when the figure work was completed, to overlay the green with bright, metallic gold; this I did and then over the base green I laid in two coats of what is called, 'Crackle Medium'. As the name implies, the medium creates a crackled or crazy pave pattern on the areas over which it is applied but the base coat must be solid/thick enough that the crackle effect doesn't go through to the support; in this case, Bainbridge Illustration board, which is a creamy white. You/I only want the base coat and not the support to show through. Unfortunately, when the medium had fully dried, I didn't behold a beautiful gold with a random crackled effect of green, but a beautiful gold with ugly areas of milky white - not a green crackle to be seen. It didn't bleedin' work, did it!

   I have contacted a painter friend of mine, Lin Stanton - a brilliant painter of semi abstract land and seascapes - who is familiar with and has used this medium, and asked, WHAT DID I DONE WRONG, LIN?!! Lin, has yet to get back to me...she lives in Queensland, a part of the world that seems to run on a time zone all of it's own ... I await her advice by email and shall share the info on this blog when it comes in...

   I suspect, considering the milky effect when dry, that my bottle of crackle medium may be past it's use-by date or that it has gone off.

   So, what to do now? 

   I did what any self respecting artist would do, I cursed, I swore, I stamped my feet, I threw myself on the floor and burst into tears...having recovered my composure after a short while, I sat and looked at the picture and had a thunk... thunk? A cross between a think and a moody funk... this is the quiet moment/s before panic sets in. This time no panic. I set about over-painting the milky areas with pale (bright) metallic gold and then with my green hue and a very fine sable brush I proceeded to try and create my wanted effect. After twenty minutes or so, I realised that though my crackle effect was coming along okay, it looked rather contrived and did not have the haphazard, accidental look that the medium would/should have created.

   So, on with more pale gold, then random dabs of rich gold, followed by burnish copper. What I ended up with was a pseudo, Gustav Klimt look. Not entirely unattractive but not entirely original or what I had intended before I had started laying in colour over the line work. A failure in other words.

   So, Folks, there you have it, my tale of woe. Also a learning experience for me and a cautionary tale for you.  Here's a check list for us all -:

1) Check your medium for use-by dates - if any. If the product is new to you, also read the directions properly. (Mind you, I did both and it still didn't work. I should have undertaken item 3 first. Duh!)

2) Try out your ideas for wanted effects before the final stages.

3) Ensure that your support will respond to the product you're to apply.(This is probably the same as item 2) 

4) If you have followed all of the above and what you have attempted still doesn't work out, DON'T PANIC! As painful as it might be to you, you can always paint, draw or sculpt etc the work again. Contact your specialist art materials supplier, and ask for advice. (I say specialist, as in art material suppliers who supply to professional artist and art schools. Hobby or mixed craft/art supply shops generally don't have staff who are versed in the technical side of the products they sell. Failing the specialist shops, contact the manufacturer...email is a wonderful tool here.)

Well Folks, that's it from me for a few days...happy painting.

Cheers, R.W.S

(Top pic...past the panic point and Klimt background painted in. Second pic... the final image which I won't sign as I'm not happy with it - it may grow on me but I doubt it. Third pic...detail of background patterning. Bottom pic...pale - bright - gold before disaster.)

Almost there...at least the shoes are red...still a WIP

Howdy Folks! Back at last...I've been away for quite a little while I know... been down on the coast, just love the sea when it's rough and the shade of geen that features in the background of the current WIP. 

Nothing to say regarding the piece...the changes speak for themselves...you'll notice straight off that the RED SHOES are, RED at long last.

Cheers for now. RWS

WIP - The Red Shoes (To be painted in...Okay?)

 

 

Howdy Folks! Yes, I know. It's been a while - been very busy. This will be the last in the Birds of a Feather project for quite some time; in fact, once this illustration is complete, it will be the end of book illustration for me for the next couple of years. No, I'm not putting away the brushes nor am I abandoning  this blog, (not that many folk seem to have visited - ?). (Enough self pity, I'll put the tissues aside now.) No, the creation of the painted image is still a part of my life, like breathing, and for the next little while the images you'll be seeing here will not be destined for the internal pages or the covers of books. They'll be firstly for ME and then for you. I hope you'll like them; they will be rather different to the subject matter that this blog has seen since it began.

I have always been fascinated and inspired by, Medieval, Northern European, (read; German) Renaissance and Fantasy art. I thought it about time that I pursued these art interests in my own work. How? I have a rough plan at present but,  the best laid plans, and all that, might mean developments or directions I hadn't anticipated. Exciting eh? I think - hope - so.

To those of you who have, from time to time, left comments - always a pleasure to read - or have become a Friend of this blog -  I give you my heart-felt thanks. To those of you who have visited and returned - with only my blog counter to register your interest - I say thanks also.

So, having made my little announcement, I shall sign off. But before I do, however, I wish to express my hope that once the current work is completed, you will all be willing to join with me in the creative journey I shall undertake in future posts.

Ciao and thank you ALL. RWS. 

Moon Dancers : WIP & Final Image

Howdy Folks! Sorry it's been so long since my last post...been building retainining walls and then rendering them, enclosing a fernery - still needs rendering! - putting a roof on a veranda - not yet finished - and planning a revamp for our front garden. Plus the usual domestic duties and work in the studio...Phew! Just writing it down has me inclined to go and have a good lie down

Right! The current picture. Again, an illustration for my personal project, Birds of a Feather. You should be able to follow the process just from the images, so I won't bore you with needless descriptions.

I probably won't post again until after Christmas so, to those of you who visit this little blog, have a great one...I'm off to the South coast for the duration, and intend to do as little as possible in regard to manual labour...reading is top of the agenda.

So...Bah! & Humbug! To one and all.

Cheers. RWS

Tango in Blue - Final

Howdy Folks! Our trotting coppers are finished - at last - I hope you like them. The bottom pic is of the paper sheets that I used to protect the illustration from paint spatters and my coffee spills as I work the image up, they also double as colour test sheets. Sometimes I think the tester sheets end up looking better as  works of art than do the traditional illustrations I finish up with...Ho hum...

I told you in the last post that these two are Australian,  Eastern curlews - I found my references for them in one of my big books on Australian birds...not sure that we can consider them as native to Australia though... they migrate to Eastern Australia in September and October, travelling from Siberia to escape the Northern Winter...Safer to think of them as Russian tourists I think...or RussoAustralian? (Let's face it, if we're honest with ourselves, we Australians tend to consider any one, or thing, to be Australian - no matter how tenuous the link - if it is thought that it adds credibility or glamour to being an Aussie. Pathetic really. The worst offendors are the news media of this country, there's always got to be an Australian link or angle to any international event otherwise it's not really news-worthy..."Train crash in Outer Mongolia! We cross live to Mongolia now, where our journalist on the spot, Kylie Muggins, interviews Australian tourist, Joe Blogs, who was almost caught up in the event...he was shopping at a Mongolian K-Mart not thee hundred miles away at the time...A close call Joe?..." " Yeah, mate....I woz in tha knitted sock section when it happened...terrible it were..." ) We are a sad lot aren't we?

And so, with that, on to the next picture. I'll keep you posted.

Cheers. RWS

Tango in Blue - A Vignette - WIP

Howdy Folks! Back at last. A decoration needs as much thought and work as a full or half page illustration I have always felt. This one of two Eastern curlews dancing is no exception. I started with the ink line drawing and then laid in a light wash of pthalo and prussian blues to establish the high-light colour and then progressively built up the mid-tones and shadows. Once I was happy with the blues I moved on to the yellows, browns and touches of red and green. The white of the trouser stripes and rank stripes I added using white body colour - someting I am usually loath to do, I prefer the white of the paper to do that job for me. However, in this case, it would have restricted the flow of brushing on all those layers of blue which took a few days to do - due to the need to allow drying time between glazes. I would normally use masking fluid to block these areas I require to remain white but if left for too long - a day is usually the limit - the fluid tends to lift the paper with it when removed. Hope you like it so far, only a little more and it's done and then I can post the final pic.

Cheers. RWS