Hey, look! Yet another logo! I’m obsessed…but I’m having fun, so I don’t care.
Anywhat, events and things conspired to get me outside yesterday and do some real drawing in my sketchbook. Not that digital art making isn’t real, it is, but I miss getting outside and getting dirty when I work sometimes. My wife had an important call for work, which meant I had to keep the kids (who are on vacation) not only out of the house, but away from the house in general, since they tend to be loud. The only way I could make that happen was to sit outside with them and shoo them away from the door or the front of the house (where my wife’s office is located) when they strayed too close. I decided this would be a great opportunity to throw on my new Vest of Holding (a tactical vest my wife got me for Father’s Day with a bajillion pockets so I can carry all the things, from every day items to survival items (I am an Eagle Scout, after all…gotta be prepared…) to art supplies), grab a sketch book and my camp chair and go draw some stuff with the new Copic Markers (also a gift from my awesome wife).
Tree stump/post, left over from the previous owner of our house.
My first victim was this old tree stump, used a fence post by the previous owner, full of texture, gesture, and character. I don’t know that I captured those elements well, but it was fun none-the-less.
Subject numero B…
The lighting was nice that afternoon, but it was changing fast. After the post, I moved on to the corner of our carriage house. It’s also old, and quite weathered. The shingles have a great color and texture to them, highlighted by the sun at the time. There were more wisps of grass and wild plants (been a while since I’ve had the time to weed wack…) creeping into this shot, but the wind kept blowing them around and changing where they were, so I gave up on them. This one stalk of…whatever it is, was a bit stiffer and although it swayed annoyingly every time the wind picked up, it settled back into the same spot.
Sketch number 3.
I was most happy with this sketch. This is a beautiful spot, the lighting was very cool. This is a cool spot down the hill in our yard, next to the duck house and our stream. Trying to capture the forest on the other side of the stream was a bit daunting, but I’m happy with my abstraction of it. I was trying really hard to channel some of the style in some of Bill Watterson’s water color scenes that I love so much. Doesn’t hold a candle to his work, but, again, I’m relatively happy with this sketch.
After I came back inside from my art excursion, my wife surprised me with some early birthday gifts.
My wife is pretty awesome.
It should be noted that I didn’t ask (or expect) anything for my birthday. My wife decides I need something, then she does a tone of research on my behalf to find out what would be best for me, then one day she just hands me stuff. She’s pretty awesome like that. Anyway, she gave me sepia and gray tone sketch books, a set of really cool Copic Multiliner pens (much nicer than the Microns I’ve used for eons, in many more sizes, ranging from ultra fine all the way up to 2 different brush tips), and some white ink Gellyroll pens. Of course I had to try them out right away…
This is a photo of Plunger Monkey from the 40s…
So, yeah, yesterday was a pretty cool art day. I also did some digital arting, still working on that Willy McEyeballs painting. I’m at the tedious stage of texturizing things, and I’m getting more complicated with my layers than I should. But, it’s fun. I’ll do another WIP update on it soon, if it’s not finished first.
*adds copic markers to shopping list*
They are pretty awesome.