Through the Eyes of a Painter

I know its been a while since I've posted on my blog and I apologize. So let me play a little catch up. A friend and Co-worker recently announced her Retirement. She loves playing golf and is a huge fan of Tiger Woods. So I drew a caricature of him for her as a gift. I did the piece on Standard 11 X 17 Illustration Bristol board. I did my base drawing in pencils then inked them. I used my home made light box (plexiglass and fluorescent light) to transfer the original to a new board. After I re-inked the blacks I colored using a combination of Gauche and Color India Inks.  ©TCDART 2013

Ok I have to be honest here I didn't sketch today ... but that was because I spent most of my time in front of my easel painting. So I'm cheating a little here. The sketch below was done just before the end of the year I know it doesn't count but I did want to post something :0) ... To make up for it I will post two tomorrow. ©TCDART 2013

I began under painting with acrylics. I like to keep a photo copy of my original sketch handy as reference because I know I will end up painting over most of my lines. Plus i use it to help me figure out where I want my shadows. I normally don't like to share a painting during this phase because there is always a moment during the Under-painting of any picture when I get extremely concerned. I mean good god! Bilbo is looking more like an an alien than a Hobbit. But I know that this will all work out when I get to the Oils. Yet it is still scary. You just have to remember that during this stage your just laying in the dark for the shadows and that this will add more depth as you go. I wanted to share this in case you are a new artist and like me teaching yourself as you go. Don't be afraid of what you see now. Look past it and keep going. In many ways this is like life. Inevitably you will hit an ugly spot yet its those ugly or rather ...

Started working a new Painting.  My Hobbit buddy below. I have toned my canvas (18" x 24") with a white and burnt sienna and re sketched the major parts of the sketch I posted the other day ( Sketch book Day 1 ). Next step is to start blocking in the under painting in acrylic. ©TCDART 2013

Its day 4 (1/4/2013) Still working out details from my Family Tree Idea... here are my first Pass on Mamma and Pappa Tree. They are still a work in progress (WIP) Mamma turned out a little more diva than Mamma but I think I can work with this. Mamma Tree Pappa Tree ©TCDART 2013

Got some brush practice in today as well..Worked a little on a desert background. It feels kinda empty at the moment. ©TCDART 2013

Sketch Book Day 3 (1/1/2013) Kit Harrington :Game of Thrones Wanted to work on something a little life like. So today's sketch is Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) from Game of Thrones. I was using a magazine photo as reference for the sketch. There is a lot of detail left to be done on this one though. I have the basic lines in and some shading on the face. but I need to do a lot of work on the hair and cloak. He almost impossible to see but I do have the rough outline of his Wolfe "Ghost" penciled in with a Blue prisma-color. Blue pencil is great for laying in rough lines because they are virtually invisible to a camera or scanner. The worst thing about using a blue pencil is that it is virtual invisible to a camera or scanner! :) Here is a close up on the face so you can see a little more of the detail.  ©TCDART 2013