Aleksandar's portrait

If you're a regular reader you will know that I have been painting and drawing portraits using the Sktchy app for some time. It's quite addictive and the community of artists is encouraging and supportive. And it's really inspiring because there is so much excellent work so there's always a new technique to learn. 

Recently a sale button has been added where artists were able to make their work for sale. I was invited to add some of my work there as well. And then, yesterday, I opened up the app and discovered that my portrait of Aleksander Prokic had a 'Sold' button. 

                           

Aleksander Prokic - ink 8.25" x 10"

The portrait is in ink - for #Inktober* on 170gsm  Hahnemule paper. I used my Platinum Carbon pen which has the finest nib - essential to create the fine lines for that impressive beard. 

#Inktober* is a drawing initiative started by Jake Parker. 

This is what he says on his website:

"Every October, artists all over the world take on the InkTober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month.

I created InkTober in 2009 as a challenge to improve my inking skills and         develop positive drawing habits. It has since grown into a worldwide endeavor with thousands of artists taking on the challenge every year."

Please note: The paper is more off-white/cream rather than this slightly pink shade...

Working with False Starts

In my previous post I talked about taking Roz Stendhal's online course By Design. 

Even though I've been trying to be very conscious of the layout of a page, sometimes you just rush in without much thought.

This was the case on Monday when I was meeting a friend for coffee. The cafè had a lovely outdoor garden with colourful umbrellas. I started drawing, in ink, and after a few lines realised that the drawing was just not going to work. With a sigh, I turned the page and started to capture the Cafe's signage - better but not great.

Now I really hate to waste a page and moreover the scratchy lines in my sketchbook would make me want to rip out the page - also something I never do.

So it was gouache to the rescue. Once this paint layer was dry, I drew a portrait using a Sktchy reference in ink - page saved. 

Sebastian Grzywa - Gouache and ink in Canson Ebony sketchbook 

Now I really hate to waste a page and moreover the scratchy lines in my sketchbook would make me want to rip out the page - also something I never do. 

So it was gouache to the rescue. Once this paint layer was dry I drew a portrait using a reference from the Sktchy app in ink - page saved.

Story Bridge form Mowbray Park - Sumi Ink in Canson Ebony Sketchbook

        

Riverside Tree - Sumi ink in Canson Ebony Sketchbook 

Sketching with Friends

Last weekend I joined the Brisbane Painting and Drawing Meetup at Mowbray Park for some sketching. We had a lovely relaxing time next to the river with views across the river to the Story Bridge and city.

Sumi Ink drawing

I tried Sumi ink for the first time and drew with a wooden skewer - it was fun to be totally out of control of the drawing tool - and there were some unexpected, rather pleasant results.

Spoon Deli Cafe 

We went across the road for some lunch, and as I arrived before the others sat down inside and started to draw the interior. The group vote was rather to sit outside so once again I had an abandoned drawing. While waiting for lunch I added some of the interior shelving but then got chatting and that was much more interesting! 

Later while going through my sketchbook I wondered what to do about the page - the ink drawing of the pendant lights and shelving looked sad. I Googled the Cafè and found a photo of their logo. I was able to add this and a quote from the blackboard to the page - another save. 

                              

Spoon Deli Cafè - watercolour and ink in The Perfect Sketchbook

WIP for Sktchy

This last weekend the #WAX - Weekend Art Extravaganza was #WAXwip - work in progress.

Coincidentally, in the Studio, I had a couple of artists working on small portraits starting with a colourful background. 

Often the fear of the blank white page gets the better of you and you need something to break that obstacle. My favourite solution is to "mess - up" the canvas with some random colour. Then I can go on and improve on the original under painting.

This portrait was done as a demo in the class. 

Two birds with one stone and all that...

So here are some progress shots from the demo: 

Random colour across the canvas

Quick lines to find the face 

Adding some values to find the dark/light of the portrait

On Sunday morning I worked on the portrait a little more - perhaps 40 minutes in total. By this time the surface had quite a lot of paint. I decided to stop and allow some drying time.

A lot more could be done - the fingers remain very vague and the eyes could also be refined but I've decided to post this so it's still a WIP. 

Monochromatic Portraits

One of my favourite mediums for portraits is graphite. I enjoy the meditative time spent hatching the lines, building up the values slowly working in tones of grey and black, and leaving the white of the paper as the highlights..

 

Valeria Panova - photo from Sktchy - graphite in Canson Cachet Sketchbook

Over the previous few weeks, the artists coming to my studio have been working on monochromatic portraits. They worked small - 8" x  8" canvas panels, using black and white photos as reference. I painted along with them - I started off with a rough outline in paint with a smallish round brush, adding a few brushstrokes in between helping the group. I didn't spend much time on each of these, working on them a little more after each class was over, refining the features.

The emphasis was on working in value areas - establishing the dark values first along with basic indication of placement of the features. This was done using a brush with no laborious pencil drawing first. Medium values went on next and then finally the lightest areas, trying not to think of features but rather looking for shapes.

When beginning a portrait it's important to check: 

• the tilt of the head i.e the angle of the eyes and mouth; 
• if the face is facing directly forwards or if there if it's a 3/4 view. Here it's useful to establish the line that runs down from the forehead, down the nose and ending at the chin.

The natural tendency is for our brain to want to view the face straight on, full frontal, upright and symmetrical. More often than not we see the eye as a symbol, rather like the way the Egyptians painted eyes. We draw the whole iris - round and bold, the pupil centre stage. In reality, the lid usually covers quite a bit of the iris so the top is flat. Usually the lids casts a shadow on the eyeball as well.

Detail: Raul Novleo photo from Sktchy - ink

Mykhel Simone photo from Sktchy - oil on panel 8" x 8"

This portrait below, also a class demo, was done on a panel that had been wiped. (The previous painting had been a failure so was wiped) The surface was toned with a wash of Burnt Sienna. It's useful to make a coloured ground thin and without a lot of solvent so that it dries quickly. Then you can get on with painting and the surface isn't too slippery. If you're working in acrylics the paint will dry quickly.

T.Lawrence Valentine - photo from Sktchy 8' x 10" oil on panel 

This collage of portraits below were done by the artists who attend my weekly Studio classes. I'm very proud of them, they all achieved a high standard. Most were completed in a single three hour session, with a few adjustments later.

Portraits by artists attending my Hamilton Road Studio 

Inertia in the Studio

Do other artists suffer from a state of inertia after an exhibition? After all the last minute work to complete paintings, inventories and photograph work when it’s all over it’s almost an anti-climax. Instead of being fired up and inspired I found that I was drifting around the studio. Perhaps it also because over the last couple of weeks  the studio has been busy with workshops; perhaps because Brisbane Summer has arrived early and with a vengeance; perhaps because the end of 2015 is rushing towards us at breakneck speed and we'd like to put the brakes on and slow down just a little.

But last week I had an injection of enthusiasm, well a couple of injections to be honest. Firstly, I received a couple of commissions which is a lovely way to end the year. I’ll tell you more about these paintings later when they are completed. 

The second is that I've been doing a couple of Sktchy portraits again. I'll share one with you now.  I'm happy to say the drawing it was chosen as a Sktchy 'Pick'. The weekend theme was #WAXforeshorten. When I saw this image it made me think of my mother and her hands so I was quite emotionally vested in the subject.
I intended to add watercolour to the graphite but in the end I decided to leave the drawing as you see it.

Grandma's Hands - Graphite on Fabriano Grana Satinata

And here's the Sktchy screenshot:

More Sktchy Portraits

It's been three months since I developed a new obsession - using the Sktchy app to create portraits. I've written about the portraits before, but I'd like to share a few of my newest sketches.

In this day of the endless selfie, and the current love of sharing these on social media, there's an endless supply of wonderful people to be inspired by. 
Many people who are on Sktchy have no plan to create any portraits, they are content to post creative photos of themselves for others to use. Are we becoming a tad self-obsessed?

Each weekend there's a different challenge, the Weekend Art Extravaganza. It may be  #WAXinyourshoes - creating a portrait in the style of a fellow Sktchy artist whose work you admire; or it may be #WAXinmotion where the aim is to capture movement. 

The lovely photograph of this little girl jumping with delight over a puddle of water made a perfect reference to use for #WAXinmotion. I was delighted that it was featured as a 'Sktchy Pick' 

 Jumping watercolour and gouache

Last weekend it was #WAXmini - making a very small portrait and photographing your painting with something to show the scale. Some years ago I painted many miniatures so it was fun to re-visit the world of the small. I had to search for my smallest 3/0 brush to paint this portrait.  

 

Yasmin - watercolour on Canson Hot press paper

Often when working on paintings in the studio I'm reluctant to experiment and I realise it's important to make time to play; to use different materials; to try another technique. These portraits give me the impetus to do just that - use an unusual colour; add a lively wash to the background of a ink drawing - and in this case, deciding to leave the portrait itself in black and white, adding no watercolour washes to the face. 

Men and beards is another favourite theme - here are two of Ronin Memphis. What a magnificent beard - a pity it's now been trimmed !!  

RoninI Ink and watercolour

Ronin II Ink and watercolour

And here's a portrait of the co-founder of the app - Jordan Melnick

Jordan Ink and watercolour Beta sketchbook

Sktchy has a Tumblr site where many of the portraits can be viewed as well as interviews with some of the artists. 

And of course, here's a link to the Sktchy app itself is where you’ll find all the action!

My previous post is here: Fun with Sktchy

More experiments with mixed media

Following on from my Sktchy portraits I decided to experiment more with textures, stencils and collage. I used some of the portraits, scanned and printed then added some quotes that I gathered during the week.

Such fun to just play and see where the painting goes.

Gazing into Your Soul – mixed media on watercolour paper ©Carol Lee Beckx