Through the Eyes of a Painter

A coworker asked me if I would do a sketch for a young man at her church who is autistic. He recently went through an operation and was having some difficulty. She was hoping to give him something to get his mind off the procedures he was going through. I asked what type of things he liked and she told me he was a huge Disney Fan and Donald Duck was his favorite character. So I started kicking ideas around in my head of what type of drawing to do. I pulled some old animation references for Donald's Facial expressions and remembered how angry He was and just how many funny situations that put him in. He was always yelling incoherently... Don't ask how but some how I pictured Donald in the Christian Bale Batman role. I guess it was his voice or something. One thing led to another and you have Donald "The Duck Night". I wanted to team him up and figured if Donald was Batman... then Mickey had to be Superman. Plus looking at all the old school Mickey reference just...

I had my 6 month check up today at the Hershey Cancer institute (clean and clear!! By the way) So while I was waiting between appointments I took advantage of the down time to do this sketch of Johnny Depp. Anyone out the got some pointers on Glasses? The sunglasses were the worst... trying to get the reflective glare down is a lot harder than I thought it would be.  ©TCDART 2013

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