3. Sun Day

I sat at Kawa in Surry Hills for 4 hours this morning, and reconnected with an exterior world I have been passing by this week, lost in my work. It was good to engage again and I enjoyed the company of a few people who were looking over my shoulder as I sketched. I hope that sometime, somewhere, somebody sees me sketching and is inspired to exhale a breath of their own creativity.

I've been backed up with work for Epiphany, but got a chance to finish off this character for a challenge run by my friend Alex Drummond at CA. The topic was 'Leaf Goddess of the Light'. This is the first character I have painted (and actually finished) in maybe 6 months! The competition is just warming up and looks like a fun preoccupation to keep me on my toes with character work (thanks Alti).


And finally, the new Gorilla Artfare HQ is up and running and the family there is already posting some beautiful work. Go check it out. And by the by, I'm currently their volunteer copywriter and editor, so enny spelinng mestaks are my folt! Sorey!

2. Brainstorm Day

Today was a busy one, ongoing brainstorming and preparatory explorations for a series of concepts for Epiphany. I decided to unplug from the computer and work analogue so I used my drawing table. I took a shot of how it typically looks during a brainstorming session. I like to spread my visual explorations out so I can see them all at once, as well as all my lists and written ideas. It helps me cross reference my ideas quickly and easily...



Also uploading an oil I did recently - my first multi-session painting as I come to grips with the new medium. Also the first time I have painted a long pose in any medium. I was fairly happy with what I achieved considering I had never worked beyond a loose sketch in oils, but I am photographing on a small camera with flash so it was hard to get it anywhere near how it looks under a natural light.

Canvas toned with Raw Umber/Ivory Black mixt. Painting done with:
[Yellow Ochre] [Ivory Black] [Titanium White] [Light Red]

Our teacher was very much a salon inspired classical realist and, using a limited 4-colour pallette, most of my time was spent trying to achieve subtle temperature shifts throughout the skintones which dont pick up in the photo. The face, legs and arms were barely worked on in fact - most of the work went into the torso. Didnt even get time to go to shadows (which were just left as the raw umber wash, except for areas like the hair and platform). Subtlety was definately the biggest lesson here and the progression from my initial, very high contrast lay-in to the final, more subtle finish was really great to be guided through. Im looking forward to the next one!

Also watched Paprika today, and would highly recommend it for those who dig animated stuff! Visually stunning and great weighted animation.