Hook

A little preliminary sketch of one of my favorite characters in literature. If you guessed Captain Hook from yesterday's post, you got it right!

For A Few Dragons More...

Quick post today! After my last post A plague of Dragons wherein we saw some wonderful dragons that have been illustrated throughout the ages I couldn't help but start scribbling a few myself. So today I am sharing a few fine scaly fellows that will be appearing in my Sketchbook 2016 later this year.
Hope you enjoy!

Bonus: This is a spread from my 2013 sketchbook which shows briefly how I tend to work up a sketch of a dragon.  I hope to do something more in depth in this year's sketchbook:  

Sketchbook 2016

Some working images for my 2016 sketchbook.  Unlike previous years, this book will showcase the completed process from sketch to underpainting to completed work, along with at least one tutorial on techniques in glazing.

One Fantastic Weekend

(This is a very very late recap of our time teaching in Nashville, TN last November)

And what a weekend it was!  4 days of demos, lectures, painting, visiting old friends, and making new ones.  I can't say enough good things about how it went. Although Justin and I were both instructors at the event, we came away with so much more knowledge than we started with.  The classes were held at the gorgeous Scarritt Bennett Center in Nashville, TN. 

All meals were served in the dining hall, which had such a warm and cozy atmosphere.  Also, the food was amazing!

Justin worked on a watercolor demo of a dragon.  He demonstrated the Rackham-Dulac method. Some topics discussed were how to transfer a drawing, and paint over an ink illustration.  

I worked on a short demo of an oil portrait. For this demo, I focused mainly on mediums and palettes, with touches on glazing.  We talked about converting your studio to a non-toxic setup, and discussed the dry times of paints as well. 

It was wonderful seeing everyone's projects and portfolios.  Nothing is more inspiring than seeing artists who are doing something that they love and are passionate about.  I was fortunate enough to be able to discuss a few projects with people who have poured so much time and love into their ideas. It has seriously recharged me, and I am very excited to start painting again!

   

One of Those Days: Development Work

By Justin Gerard

Traditional Watercolor on Bristol

Traditional Watercolor on Bristol

Digital Color Concept

Digital Color Concept

Last year I started on a painting that I never was able to get around to finishing. (That's one point for Life; zero points for Justin) Now that we are a little ways into the new year I was able to find some time to finally go back and see if my dwarves will survive their encounter.  It has also been a chance for me to get back into Photoshop and play around with some of the new features that have been languishing in the toolbox. 

 

Transparent digital work over Watercolor

I generally prefer to keep the digital aspects of my work as minimal as possible in order to preserve the nice textures of the watercolor underneath. Apart from just liking the look of watercolor on paper, I also strongly DISLIKE the flat, synthetic look of most digital work. When I do work digitally it is almost all transparent, (multiply, color dodge, screen and soft light layers) with just a touch of opaque work at the end.  

However, in the recent versions of Photoshop, they have included a wonderful new tool for brush creation which does a quite reasonable job of emulating traditional textures. Now, in theory, a digital artist could work and each brushstroke will at least "look" like it was painted on a traditional surface. (Sadly the golden apple of an actual digital brush with fiber optic hairs is still not within our reach) This is valuable since it will mean more color variety will show up through our brushstrokes, we will see more detail, and the painting will have a natural, more human look. 

 

 

 

To take advantage of this new tool, select window and then select 'brush' which brings up the above brush dialogue box.  The third option down is a rather unassuming-looking little option called 'texture'. With this option you can scan in your favorite substrate and use it as a basis for all your various brushes.  Below I have changed my watercolor, chalk and oil brushes to have a matching canvas texture.  

 

 

 

This is no magic silver bullet that will suddenly give digital brush strokes wings  and halos to look like a Rembrandt, but it can go a long way to killing the flat, synthetic quality that many Photoshop brushes (and paintings) suffer from. 

I am still working my way through the painting and am finding that, perhaps for the first time ever, I am actually enjoying painting opaquely in digital.  


Thistle

I finished working on the piece I started as a demo for One Fantastic Weekend in November.  I have a special announcement for this piece as well.  I will be making a very limited print run of this painting for the holidays. Only 30 limited framed prints of this piece will be available.  More to come in the next few days!

"Thistle", 8x10 oil on Belgian linen, December 2015, SOLD

"Thistle", 8x10 oil on Belgian linen, December 2015, SOLD

Who is Charlemagne?

Since we started this project, I have had a lot of emails asking who the mysterious grey cat is hidden in each of the main paintings for the story.  So, I thought I would take a moment to talk about Charlemagne, or as he is referred to in the studio, Charlie. 

I adopted Charlie about nine years ago.  I had seen him several times at the open adoptions they held at my local pet store each weekend. I would go on Saturday to pick up pet food, or look at the animals. I was not intentionally looking for a cat, but Charlie had a certain mystery about him. The shelter said he had been returned to them a few different times since arriving in their care.  I was intrigued! Weekend after weekend, there he was.  A big grey, regal cat.  

On the third weekend I had decided if he was still there he was coming home with me.  I will admit I was disappointed to find his kennel empty.  His name tag was still hanging, but there was no Charlie.  I started to walk away, when one of the volunteers asked if I was looking to adopt.  I told them I had seen Charlie a few times, but was apparently too late.  But to my surprise, she pulled me into the back room where this cat king had somehow mind controlled all of the volunteers into not making him stay in his kennel, and feeding him copious amounts of treats. I took him home that day.  

All of the animals in the studio while I work on this series. Charlie takes the best seat in the house, of course.

All of the animals in the studio while I work on this series. Charlie takes the best seat in the house, of course.

Charlie was an old cat when I adopted him, and I often wonder what his life as like before he came to live with us. He reigns in my bedroom, under the bed.  While the other furry residence in our home gather by us for meals eager for scraps, Charlie silently watches from a distance.  Once he is assured that we are occupied, he will return to his domain.  Where we will hear (for nearly an hour straight every single day) banging and thumping.  Running.  Jumping.  As if he is fighting his own secret cat battle against unknown intruders in our home.  But when we enter the room, he is always still.  Silently watching. 

So, Justin and I wrote a book about a mystery surrounding an old mirror, an old man, and an old cat.  There is nothing more interesting to me than the secrets of the past.  And I know that cat of ours has some of his own.