Taking the new paper, Bristol Vellum for a spin..love this surface. This is how I have been starting the painting, blocking in the figure, then using warm or cool shadow shapes, prepping to turn the form with the warms and cools. If I can set it up, the rest is cake.

My dog sits outside of the glass door when I work on my computer. Sometimes I sketch her. She is a small Chihuahua mix with the markings of a German Shepherd. I've been watching Cesar Milan obsessively on Youtube to learn about dog behavior and it has helped me teach Sheba how to be polite on a walk. Oh, the full bodied drawings of a dog are not drawings of my dog. If I see something interesting on the internet, I will draw it. Sometimes while waiting for the computer to load or save, I will have an image ready to go for drawing. Drawing animals is a comfort zone for me. Whenever I get stuck on a problem in Illustrator and get frustrated, drawing animals calms me down.

Finished this yesterday~right before our big annual block party. Again, I am shocked at how bad this one scanned. It's a nice one. I'm learning to handle complicated compositions with several figures. But as I've said in the past if you want to kill a traditional piece of work~just scan it. Also: You all know that I like painting these exercises on Bristol Vellum but all I can find in this proportion of sketchbook are ones that are made of watercolor paper. I find that the Bristol Vellum has a slight tooth which the brush loves and yet is still smooth enough to give me clean colors on the surface. It's also plenty strong so that it won't buckle with a loaded brush. Watercolor paper is too pulpy for my tastes and because of that will not give me the clarity of color I want. Since the newer generations of commercial artists use digital media now, people are steering away from drawing on paper, so it's getting harder to find the kind of sketchbooks that I want. I just found out that if I precut the paper I like, Staples will spiral bound a sketchbook for me for only $5.00! I wanted a landscape proportioned sketchbook, 2 types of Vellum papers and only 25 pages in it~because it's lighter to carry. Spiral bound is a plus, since you can open it and paint with it without harming the spine. I had 2 sketchbooks made, (which might have cost me $20.00 per book at an art store) and I love them!! I think I'm on to something!!

Gorgeousness on a Sunday afternoon. Roughly 8 1/4 by 4 1/2" on Bristol board paper, acrylic, 'bout 3 1/2 hours. Love these color harmonies. Working back on a limited diverse color pallette. My excursion to a black and white, warm and cool pallette study for almost a year really paid off. Comment on FB "This one's one of the best I've done. Color harmonies are working. I've always admired John Singer Sargent's painting arrangement where a saturated figure comes out of a neutral dark background. Figure tends to be staged beautifully and your eye is directed where it should go..."

Shakey start...this one's gorgeous. I could leave it like it is...very difficult to paint right now. It's about 108 today and I can't control the consistency of the paints...

Some studies. I discovered these weird Japanese dolls on the internet called "Dollfies". They are either really innocent or creepy and wrong..I like their mood, great expressive, soulful eyes, in fact, these are the kind of eyes LePardine will have. Grey; almost transparent on film...

I actually did this about 3 weeks ago, just now getting around to posting. It's on that lovely Strathmore Bristol (500?) Series, a paper not quite a board but heavy enough to take the acrylics. I just found out that if I precut the paper and bring it to Staples, they will "bind" it for about $4 to $5 dollars! We're talking a wire binder; one that I can open and paint with easily. Lately it has been hard to find a good landscape sketchbook in a size I prefer (I want it light, about 25 pages) and the type of paper that can take acrylic~I'm not a fan of the thick water color paper which tends to have too much texture. And since everyone these days draws, sketches on a hand held computer, the diversity of sketchbooks are getting harder to find. So I am stoked (stoked!) that I can assemble a book of my own material chooses! Yeah! The last screen shot sketchbook I completed had some of the best paintings ever, and I gave it to my Dad as a gift. The next one will be spectacular!

Just for fun. At the Disney Consumer Products office this week, done during lunch break. Don't know if I'll even finish this one. I'm on a Cintique here and just playing with the stylus; taking this baby for a drive. Painting digitally is so easy compared to traditional. I love both but digital is so easy, I actually feel guilty! About 25-30 mins.

...So ding dang busy these days with work, life. Sometimes I feel I'm wearing power bracelets, deflecting one time consuming creature after the next. I'm wiped. So to help relieve the stress, I draw concepts next to my computer and that keeps me going, keeps me fresh. This drawing is for my neighbor who is a local beekeeper and who needs some sort of image to help give his company an identity. Since I've been illustrating a lot of princesses, I told him "you need a princess on your label" And since this is Cowboy Country, I have decided to create a Bohemian Princess for his label~the way I would like to do it. This will be digital since I have not done a personal digital piece in a while. I make sure that the character has a great silohuette~great negative shapes that will read well. Paul Wee always asks in figure drawing class: "What's the story? Every drawing has a story." And because of the animation background, I ask myself: "What's the attitude?" There will be bees flying in ellipses above her head. I want a sunny, wholesome happy character, kinda funky with henna tattoos.

Back from Tahoe trip...not the best plein aire from me. I tend to like figure and do the best when the subject is really complicated...when it's simpler, I get confused! And on this vacation, I am always wanting to either: paint or climb or jump off a boulder into icey cold water. Tahoe is so cold it's like jumping into a bowl of ice cubes. Also I have children constantly talking to me. Small, roughly 4"x4" on Bristol tablet.

Okay~ final pass; ready to move on. People ask me do I use a pencil to sketch the figures in first? The answer is no, I do not. Laying in is very important and if you can do a good sketch before painting, I think it gets you off to a good foot; but not always. In this case, it worked out.

Been working on this..close to completion...This will be the last of this sketchbook series.. And, dammit; I don't know why these never show up in order because I sure post them in order...sorry...

Elizabeth: The Golden Age Lots of love in this one. Elizabeth as a teenager, accused of treason by a then dying Queen of England. Great shot, fantastic rim light. I really modeled this one and slowed down. Ron Velasco has been inspiring me to be more selective about color choice and take more time on these shots. Even tho he has never hardly said a word, I watch him in class and he really takes his time to fill in those shadow shapes first. I've picked up a bad habit of rushing art because of all the deadlined projects I work on and it has been a battle for me to slow down a little bit. But I am trying.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age So many shots, so very little time...This is one of my favorite scenes in this movie. Sir Walter Raleigh walks in on the Queen and they are alone and she is frantic over having to execute Mary, The Queen of Scots after finding out Mary was plotting to have Elizabeth killed. Says Walter R: "Since when were you ever afraid?" To which Elizabeth, very honestly says, while looking down, "I am always afraid." I think it is these moments of honesty in her character which makes her so human, while appearing so invincible to her people, that make her so entertaining to watch. I spent time on this one and could have continued for another week, but I want to move on. This was done in segments of time.

Tomb Raider

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Finis~I put some red in the nose to warm up the flesh a little. This one turned out really nice. 9"x4 1/2", acrylic on Bristol paper. This one was such a departure from the mood of the previous shots from Elizabeth: The Golden Age, it took me a while to adjust but I do have more shots I would like to paint from this darkly shot film.

Up and Coming: Tomb Raider I snuck in those guest colors, Aliz Crimson and Light blue Violet, albeit just a tiny bit. The candles were white in the screen shot, but I made painted them in a cooler range. This piece has been really tough. I don't normally try for a direct likeness and have missed that gamin, adorable look on Angelina's face. Oh well..This really has nice movement and the original is stunning. The hardest part is to keep the painting fresh, not get too noodley on the details. Keep it loose, keep it simple. Oh, and I tried this fancy, shmancy paper I found in the Disney Consumer Products drawing room, "Strathmore 500 Bristol" it says stamped on it, because yours truly remembered to bring everything but the substrate to paint on (Friday) in drawing class. It's smooth pedigreed surface almost threw me into a loop after painting on the rough cheaper surface of the water color tablet for my Elizabeth: The Golden Age series...enjoy! Will post this later when finished!

Elizabeth: The Golden Age I actually painted this one before the portrait of the Queen. Same colors, believe it or not. I painted the background first, then all the black silohuettes of the men, massed them, then painted in the faces.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age
A visit back to the screen shots. I went for a bigger format, 8" by 5" roughly, on a thick watercolor sketchbook. I found while I do really enjoy painting the screen shots and have really missed doing them, I needed a bigger surface so that I can concentrate on turning the form with warms and cools. I brought the pallette down to 7 colors: black, white, Hooker's Green, Cad red light, yellow ochre, Magnesium Blue and I will sneak in a few "guest" colors from time to time if I get a screen shot that needs a specific color.
This film was beautifully shot; Kate Blanchette just glows like alabaster in this one, partly because of the natural light and partly because of the white paint she wears. There are some shots in which she moves in and out of natural sun light~breath taking~so expect some of the same shots painted but with different lighting. I will post more when I get some time.