Ok~because I must keep up with the demands of social media, I have migrated~like so many of you lemmings~and have become a lemming ma'self.  I am now on Instagram and learning about it's usage.  Because I have opened up an Etsy store,  I have to join.  Been crazy busy, creating beautiful works of vintage inspired jewelry for the holidays, painting to submit to a local gallery for next year and so many other projects in the hopper.

I'm not used to painting on canvas, as many of you know, my choice is Bristol Vellum (paper), so I am making the adjustment to traditional canvas.  Currently I am working on a 12" x 24" panel canvas and having loads of fun with that. 

I am also planning to sell more art online for 2017.  In January, I will be flying to Oakland to talk about some concepts with one of my best art buddies and long time friend, Sergio Lobato, (my first Art Director, from back in the early gaming days, Stormfront Studios) who paints for galleries in San Francisco and who will be perfect for collaborating with on a project we just can't wait to create and bring to you.

My new Instagram account is:  https://www.instagram.com/kimberlymzamlich/?hl=en
Please join me on this Journey in search of Excellence and Beauty.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in Instagram.  I will be spending more time there, then on the blog because of the demands of the Etsy store.

Thank you, for your continued interest! 

And always, Keep Creating Out There!  :)



Kimberly
Elegantsteamjewelry
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ElegantSteamjewelry?ref=hdr_shop_menu

INKTOBER!

Ink project for a friend's start up company.  I drew the characters and everything.  This is done in Illustrator, color fills, just line work to accentuate parts of the illustration.  Playing around with gradients

I think I'm ready to go to ink on this one.  I will correct the vertical lines in Illustrator and keep you updated as I go.  I will have to adjust proportions as well because I'm seeing that the head is about 2% too large and the body may need to go a little longer.

A friend sent me a new sketchbook; trying it out.  Playing around with my greys.  Still having fun with shadow shapes and telling the story with the shadows.  Painting from sculptures has always been fun for me because the classical sculptures have great silohuettes and wonderful shadows

The other thing I've been working on is opening up a shop on Etsy.  This has taken me months just to get the bare bones in.  Bad car accident, then car broke down twice.  Four days of the Sand Fire threat, right up the hill from me.  Then the AC breaks down (twice!) and I can't work if the AC goes down; it will fry my computer.  My divorce lawyer took my payments and left town.  Since I had paid her in full, all she gave me was promise after promise and resorted to ignoring phone calls and emails and now we will be going on 4 years with nothing done.  Had to hire a paralegal to finish the job.   Hard to get a hold of him too.  Prepping to go into Arbitration to see if I can retrieve any of those payments, since she never gave me any receipts or invoices on how and where my payment went.  Driving my kid back and forth, back and forth to Dance practice this summer, inking for Disney.  It's been four years of emergency, after emergency after emergency, as I spend my days just putting out fires.  I am finding out that few people are as busy as a single parent.  And so I get very little time to draw or create these days which is just heartbreaking.  
Making jewelry pieces (done with the Summer Line up, working on a stunning new Fall line up).  Many of the pieces I use, I find them at the local Swap Meet and wire wrap vintage found objects into jewelry.  No one else on Etsy does this; no one else wire wraps beads as small as seed beads.  And not to worry.  I am still working on the Sprites drawing series, finding my pencils, just need to find time to finish Shoten Zenjin, and then it goes to Ink!  These will be up for sale on Etsy also~  :)
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ElegantSteamjewelry?ref=hdr_shop_menu&section_id=19649063
Kimberly M Zamlich

An excursion to the Natural History Museum in LA to see the Pterosaur exhibit.  Since I draw dragons, this is an excellent opportunity to see how Pterosaurs flew.  Unfortunately the exhibit was so dark, it was hard to sketch or see the detail better.  I think they dim the lights so low that it makes it hard for photography~but makes it difficult for sketching as well.  I was fascinated with the silohuettes of the bones~such interesting and terrific designs.  Would be awesome to use a brush to paint these in~but museums are getting more strict in that most will not let you paint anymore near the exhibits.  So I always bring my pencils and Faber Castell brushpens.  These were sketched with a pencil that I thought is no longer made~Verithins (made by Berol, which is a Prismacolor pencil).  Verithins are a smaller point, and not as fragile as the modern Prismas.  They can take pressure and because of their point size, can handle finer details and more pressure then the Prismas.  Prismas have a tendency to crumble, but the Verithins don't.  We used to use some of them in Animation when 2D was still being done, but these days, I have to buy them online wherever I can find them.  Recently, I just found out that the black Verithins are still being manufactured in Mexico.  Just bought two boxes for the Sprites series I am working on.  I just met up with my friend John Quinn of Disney Consumer Products and he gave me several boxes of them that were dumped at work.  So now I don't have to buy online anymore!  :)  Thanks, John!!
I started off with the Pterosaur exhibit first, then proceeded to my favorite section~the Age of Mammals.  It blows my mind to think that many of these large animals lived here~right in California~and that we had the American Lion, which was a third bigger then the African Lion.  I drew a lot that day, and my brain was fried by the time I got to the Lions.  Check out the progression of skill:  Pterosaurs, roughly drawn in semi darkness, had lunch, blood sugar went up, here I get the cleanest drawings in the Dinosaur Hall, then my brain gets tired and the two last pages, the sketches get looser.  I've got eye and brain fatigue.
Which is frustrating since we finally get to the Big Cats and my brain is fried!  I don't know what it is~when I get to the Big Cats, the Lions, the Sabors, I get teary eyed.  They are my absolute favorite.  All curves and tapers.  Beautiful inside and out.  All paws and teeth.  Out of all the bones I've ever sketched, the prehistoric mammals, esp. the Big Cats grab my imagination; they are so majestic and are the epitome of incredible design.

Traditional paint exercise

Playing around with greys.  Been away from my tubes of pigment WAY too long.  Small, 2 inches by two and a half in sletchbook

Shoten Zenjin2: The Scorpion Goddess

 

Shoten Zenjin 2:  The Scorpion Goddess.  This is a mash up of Alphonse Mucha, Anime and Selket, the Egyptian Goddess who guards King Tut in the Afterlife (a figure of her was found in his tomb). 

I unwittingly started with a half used pencil in my pencil box to start on this final pencil, and after wildly searching around, found out I had no more.  I explained my dilemma to my friend, Sergio, who started looking for "Berol Verithin Eagle Colored Pencils", Ultramarine Blue 740, and he said "I don't think they make them anymore."  Time to Panic.  Okay, Try not to Panic.  He found a box (YESSS!!!) online and sent them to me.  Ripping open the package, heart beating, I blow the dust off the box, glue yellowed and cracked...musta been hanging in someone's garage for years...sharpened and continued...Interestingly enough, this is an older version from the one I had been using (prolly from my Disney Days late 90's) and slightly more yellow in the formula (teal-ish) but much smoother...Back in Business...

The final tight pencil is being drawn on one of my favorite papers~Borden and Riley Parchment (a heavy trace paper) and I love this because it has such a lovely tooth and can take unbelievable abuse, erase, draw, erase.  Prismas (the last one Winter Turns to Spring final tight pencil was drawn with a black Prisma) are a bit too crumbly but the Ultramarine 740's are smaller, can take a little more pressing, loves the tooth of the Parchment and still scans well for PS.  (Berol may have been an offshoot of Prismas back in the day)  Don't know what I will be using after this box is gone....  :(

Shoten Zenjin 2: Scorpion Goddess (Sprites of the Forest)

Trying to tie it together.  Making sure the elements are working well.  Influences are Alphonse Mucha, Anime, Nature, and Selket, the Scorpion Goddess who guards King Tut in the Afterlife.  Her dress is based upon the Ancient Egyptian pillars, (lotus flower).  Years ago, growing up in Richmond California, the King Tut Exhibit came to the Richmond Mall, of all places, and my mother took me there to see it as a little girl.  I grew up in a ghetto and to see ancient relics of an amazing civilization fascinated me then and still to this day.  There was a little figure named Selket, the Scorpion Goddess, with arms out and I loved her feminine little figure and this character reminded me of her.  It's curious to note that she is a symbol of Protection, as is the subject of this drawing, and yes, I am a Scorpio.

This drawing is done on one of my favorite paper surfaces, Borden and Riley Parchment paper, heavy weight.  It's a thick trace paper with a marvelous and forgiving tooth.  It can take a lot of abuse, erasing, redrawing, erasing, redrawing.  I've also tweaked the face just a wee bit in PS.

Kudos to a website that I just love, love, love and now can't work without finding powerful references:  Pinterest!  This design is greatly influenced by Nouveau jewelry and architecture.

Sprites of the Forest

Sprites of the Forest

Sprites of Forest

Sprites of the Forest

 

Happy Mom's Day:  

A few rare hours left to myself.  Both beloved parents have succumbed to cancer, my brothers live elsewhere,  I am trying to finish up with my divorce and have separated myself from the other half's family.  This leaves me in the unique position of being left alone during all holidays.  (My daughter is usually with her dad on weekends and holidays).  I am so lucky no one came knocking on my door as I just relished my madness of solitude and hid from anyone in sight.  Listening to music, sketching, designing, resizing, life gets no better~

This is the next concept drawing for Sprites of the Forest, tenatively Shoten Zenjin 2.  Stay tuned as I nail down the next tight drawings for this.

Water Exercises

Water exercises.  I love water and water scenes.  I did these awhile back.  Tiny thumbnail sizes

Perspective Class with Jon Messer (LAAFA)

I've been taking a Perspective class with Jon Messer at LAAFA on the weekends.  We started by loosely sketching a structure and then true-ing it up with a ruler.  I, of course, whipped out my paint set and threw in the details and values, after all, this was a crash course on Atmospheric Perspective and I know that it is faster with a brush then with a pencil in this case and about 20 times more fun.  The city line drawing was the 3 point Perspective class, a few weeks ago.  It's not as complicated as it looks to do and it makes one appear smarter then they really are when adding perspective to a painting or drawing.  Jon's next class will be Curvilinear in a few weeks.

Fun with Greys

Put a few more sketches on the page

And a BIG dose of this!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkekqVPIc2M

Practice

Amidst many personal problems, lack of time, I still need to push on.  The biggest solace I have is this amazing ability to create.  Working mostly with greys; one of my favorite colors.  Trying to nail down a consistent palette and a technique that is well versed.  Last month, I went to La Luz Jesus Gallery in Hollywood as a guest of my friend, Sergio Lobato, who submitted an oil painting in the gallery.  Years ago, we used to paint together in Marin; he claiming that I got him into painting and now he is encouraging me, no, pushing me into submitting to try gallery work.  I believe that the painting bug was always there within him; I just happened to push him over the edge into it, ha, ha.   Anyway, here are some paint sketches in my little sketchbook; "freestylin", which for me means I sketch with the brush instead of sketching in carefully with a pencil drawing and then  painting from that, as I would do for an illustration.  I am exploring here and hoping to latch on to something more concrete~

Getty Villa

Three sketch artists enjoying the day, talking custom made art tools, eating food, enjoying amazing weather talking art and travels.  April, me, Charles at the Getty Villa this Saturday.  Yes, we will do this again, another place next month.

Getty villa

On a Second Thought:  Added a pattern to the wall; limited palette in warm and cool greys.  Using Aaron Blaise's canvas set up and used his texture brushes as light "finishing" brushes.  Making sure NOT to overwork this one.

Today

Playing around with Aaron Blaise's set up.  These are not his brushes but brushes I've collected along the way.  Working zoomed way out in PS, limited pallette, knocking in lighting and values.  Super fun.  Recovering from a storm of freelance, taking a breather.  Went thru severe burn out and then an artist's block, but just have to jump right back in.  Getting back my sea legs~

Sprites of the Forest

Blowing off some steam.  Slow this winter, work is picking up.  Been a grueling freelancing weekend-miss painting with my Blackwing.  So fun to dream..searching for looks for the next Sprites of the Forest painting.  Multi-drawing Holbein sketchbook-love this book, but very expensive!  Loves the pencil, not bad with acrylics either.  Faber castell and Tonbow brush pens

Annual Holiday Party 2016

Every year we get older and fewer.  Had a blast last night.  X Disney folks:  the incredible Charles Pickens, the crazy Alex Topete, me, Cynthia French,

and long lost Matt Haber, who was merely 19 yrs old when we worked on Tarzan.  Little brother who has come home.

Shoten Zenjin

Shoten Zenjin:  The strength and confidence you build from within will flow through out.  Meaning that protection from the environment comes from how strong your beliefs are within yourself.

I'm call this done!  Now I can get back to my life!

Still have some problems, but I need to move on.

This year I will be doing exercises in:

Establishing better color harmonies
Working in better cohesive lighting and shadows
Some special effects; blurring, etc.
Being aware of edges and how to better tell the story with soft and crisp edges and where their use is best appropriate for the story

Gorgeous painting from Art Director and traditional fine art painter Sergio Lobato.  Sergio was one of my first art directors in Marin County.  Back in my early thirties he was head of a fantasy role playing game called Stronghold which was an EA title.  It was my first commercial art job and it was a time when computer games were being birthed, startup game companies literally multiplied overnight, and  energy exploded onto the never before seen digital realm; employing many artists in an otherwise dead industry.  It was so much fun.  We'd have these hilarious art parties at Sergio and Sarah's place in Marin, dancing and some drinking (I can't drink but I loved to dance!), hang out in the city to connect with some of the Art Academy crowd, have meals in North Beach.  No kids, no mortgages, many of us on the cusp of committed relationships and hanging out to draw the figure and explore museums.  It was the first time I felt I belonged anywhere and had finally found my tribe.  I saw many changes in the four years I was there.  We quickly went from low rez to high rez games in a matter of months.  First person shooter game in which people could play against each other was a break out low rez game called Doom.  The programmers rigged it up so that we could play against each other.  This game revolutionized the gaming industry and was the model for the quick actioned first person perspective~soon after that, the Star Wars game came out.  The breath taking game Myst was being played all over the office.  Lara Croft, Tomb Raider made her first appearance.  I had never seen a female for a lead character in a game before.  One of my first games at Stormfront Studios was Eagle Eye Detectives, art directed by Sergio, which was a terrific educational game and too bad it is no longer available; as it was fun to play and well written (by Sarah Stocker, who married Serge, and co written with Ken Eklund).  Sergio was, and still is, one of my favorite people to work with.  He has no ego.  He can effortlessly lead a team and encourage the best out of the artists and has one of the greatest senses of humor of anyone I've known.  Stormfront Studios hired some of the best talent in the Bay Area at the time; and I just got off the phone with Serge and we laughed about the nuts that we worked with.  Great artists, wacky people; it goes hand in hand.  Here is his link:  http://thebadgersholt.blogspot.com/

HOMESTRETCH!  Gonna try to finish this up by the weekend~

Pencil sketches, traditional Blackwing

Morning quick sketches.  Been doing so much digital, need to move a real pencil.  This is the best time for me, first thing in the morning after breakfast and a little coffee-pencil springs energetically with confidence.  It fades as the day gets longer and I get older, ha ha.  Listening to George.  Ezra, that is

Update on Shoten Zenjin:  Correction on face.  Mo better.  The shadow shapes and face now better match the drawing.  This is what I struggle with:  keeping the painting faithful to the pencil~esp. the face.  It's here that's the money maker.  Other elements can be a bit loose, but the face is the center of the illustration and be the first thing that reads.  I do have to come back and adjust the values since it is much too light for the over all painting.

Burbank Equestrian Center:  Tried to get to Griffith Park Observatory but there was just too much traffic.  Opted for the horses instead.  The Clydesdales were in the "show" stable, fresh from the Rose Bowl, I'm assuming and caught them in the 4 o:clock shadow.  Acrylic in sketchbook; extreme limited palette: maybe five colors and white.

Equestrian Center