Nya Patrinos' Mark-making Journey

Yoga and Drawing - Drawing and Yoga

2012-01-28T12:02:00.000-08:00

Went to Stephanie's 6:30am Saturday Bikram Yoga Class. As an aside, I would like to say I really love Bikram Yoga above all yogas. I have been doing Hatha yoga at Yogaworks in Santa Clarita and although I find it beautiful and centering I don't feel like I am getting any intensity.

Anyways,

Stephanie today talked about the last 5 seconds of the pose. And how you really need to turn on the intensity. I started to think about in drawing the finish is really important. Especially in a gesture drawing, you can ruin the drawing in the last moments either by being too timid or too strong.

PLACEMENT/BLOCK IN

As in yoga, when setting up a drawing you need to have a good block in. Really think about all the elements of the drawing and how they work together - just as in the yoga pose. When I am blocking a head I need to carefully make sure the shape of the head is correct as well as the features. Placement is so important. If I don't have good placement, a good block in then the drawing will never come to anything.

In a yoga pose. Let's take triangle in the Bikram Tradition. It is really important to put the feet down in the right relationship to each other, to have the legs the right distance apart. If the legs are not in the right alignment to each other then when you spread you arms and reach your hands toward your toes you will never get the triangle shape. The final expression of the pose can never happen without the proper set up. And the beauty of the pose will never been attained those last few seconds when you shine your chest to the ceiling will never been obtained.

In the end of the pose as well as the end of the drawing you need to not do something rash but then again not be too timid and really finish.

In a drawing you have to keep pushing and not get too self satisfied.

There were many times in my Head Class at 3 Kicks Studio this week that I didn't want to push forward with my drawing because it looked good in the preliminary stages and by pushing I was risking ruining it.

But each time I took a deep breathe and pushed forward. Whether it was putting in the darkest darks. Defining the lips. Massing out the hair. I knew each new layer to the drawing that I risked ruining it (just as each time you do a yoga pose and push you risk falling out of the pose), But as in yoga and in drawing I pressed forward,

I noticed that my neighbor's drawing never really got past the block in stage because he didn't know how or feared pushing forward and taking risks.

In my yoga practice sometimes I don't push forward. I think I know where and what I can do in many poses without seeing where I am that particular day.

Head Drawing - Recent Work

2012-01-21T09:46:00.000-08:00

Started a new class at 3 Kicks Studio on Head Drawing with Richard Morris. This is from week one

This is Richard Morris's correction on my drawing.

This is from class number 2. A drawing of Jay Jay.

I did this at Howard Marchese's uninstructed workshop. It came out pretty well. Tim asked me if I had help.

Last Head Drawing Class

2011-12-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

Last Head Drawing. Did it in class even though I was super tired.

Self portrait done it home. They never seem to turn out the way I want.

More Head Drawing

2011-12-03T18:35:00.001-08:00

I did this on Tuesday night at Nathan's class I was super frustrated and tired. Jay Jay had this crazy hairstyle like a cornucopia.

This is homework for Nathan's Class. The Hands are too small. I am going to rework it. I did this at Howard Marchese's workshop.

Head Drawing - More Heads

2011-11-26T18:46:00.000-08:00

Did a couple of self portraits they don't seem to look like me.

Did this at Marchese's uninstructed workshop but I didn't finish. Just got the initial block in.

Did this at Marchese's uninstructed 2 weeks ago. It looks more like a combination of me and the model. I don't know why the model's always start to look like me.

Did this Head in Nathan's Class. It reminds me of my aunt Loreta.

Five Five minute poses is usually my least favorite part of figure drawing but this time I felt like I was drawing o.k. I am not sure what happened.

I did this at Howard Marchese's workshop in the Marina today. It is the same pose as the other woman with the chopsticks in her hair but from a different direction.

Uninstructed Head Drawing at the California Art Institute

2011-11-07T18:09:00.000-08:00

Don't Draw in the Light

2011-10-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

The next group of drawings I am posting in part of Nathan Fowkes assignment: Don't draw in the Light. This is the exact opposite of last weeks assignment although I found it a lot harder. This is the drawing I did in class working on not drawing in the light and detaling out of the shadows.

I did this drawing of Maude at Howard Marchese's Uninstructed Workshop at his gallery in Marina del Rey. It is a beautiful place to draw full of light and air and on the model breaks you can go out and wath the boats.

Don't Draw in the Shadows - Homework

2011-10-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

I drew Trace Devai today up at LAAFA's costumed uninstructed long pose. I hadn't seen Trace in many years. He used to model a lot for Mark Westermoe the month or so I was there studying. Linda Bull was there, as well as, Cyndi Tang. I hadn't seen Cyndi in a long time. The pose was a Michael Jackson inspired Long Pose but you can't tell from my drawing. I like how my work turned out though. I am surprised and elated how these poses without drawing in the shadow make the drawing have more style to them. I really tried to work on the negative shapes and have a Glen Orbik flare with the composition.

Rhythms of the Head and Tone

2011-10-19T18:54:00.000-07:00

I did this tonal drawing in Nathan's Class using the rhythms of the head mapping technique. Nathan wanted us to make the shadow totally black and not to draw in the shadow.

This is a rhythms of the head drawing I did at Gallery Marchese.

REILLEY - RHYTHMS OF THE HEAD

2011-10-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

Started Nathan Fowkes' Head Drawing Class. He is teaching the Reilley Method of the Abstraction of the Head. I always heard it called the Rhythms of the Head (lower left hand corner). It is interesting because Glen Orbik stresses the planes of the Head more than the Rhythms of the Head but I think I remember Mark Westermoe starting us with the planes of the head and moving to the Rhythms. There is a youtube lesson I watched of Glen Orbik teaching the rhythms of the Head.
The first night in class we worked on some rhythms.

The second week of class we worked on some more.

I worked on some at the Gallery Marchese uninstructed session on Saturday.

This is a Rhythms of the Head quick self portrait.

Color Theory - Bill Perkins

2011-09-03T19:32:00.000-07:00

This is from Bill's class on Monday. I hated my first painting but I like this 2nd one. Bill used Green and Red gells for this set up. It was a set up stress chiaroscuro where the highlights are red orange and the shadows are greens with some plane shifts going to lavendar. I like Bill a lot. I wish I was younger with more energy and time so I could really understand what was going on in that class. I would take it again in a minute.

Color Theory - Bill Perkins

2011-09-03T19:28:00.001-07:00

I worked on this painting the whole class time (maybe 2 hours) in Bill's class. I am completely lost on what is going on there. I am always way too tired. Bill added a lot of orange around the eyes which confuses me. I have a lot of trouble seeing the color in the flesh tones. He talked a lot about hard edges and soft edges. I couldn't understand what he meant.

August Watercolor Sketches

2011-09-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

I do these little watercolor sketches when I travel in a small watercolor sketchbook with a tiny paint set. I haven't had much training in watercolor but I like color so these are fast and fun to do. These first ones I did around Island Falls when I was on the Sewell House Yoga Retreat.

This last one is done at the Mission La Purisma in Lompoc. I'd like to go back up there and do some oil painting.

Art Show for Manzanar Workshop

2011-09-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of Bernie Vyzga and I with our paintings at the Manzanar exhibit.

Still Lifes

2011-08-19T12:42:00.000-07:00

I painted the same still life with three different lighting set ups. Bill wants us to clean them up at home with the photographs we took.

USC Rose Garden

2011-08-18T17:21:00.001-07:00

These are more of my 100 color sketches I am trying to make. They were done at the Rose Garden at USC. I think I am in my 30s now. I have to count.

Long Pose Tiffany

2011-08-03T19:20:00.001-07:00

I went to Glen's double Tuesday night class last night at California Art Institute. It's a good class. I would go all the time if I wasn't working. I felt a little lost with the Long Pose. Here is Glen's overlay on my long pose.
Here is my long pose. Not much gesture. Too dark. No rhythm.

Head Drawing

2011-08-03T19:02:00.001-07:00

Went to Glen's Class last night at California Art Institute. Here is his overlay of my drawing of Tiffany.
Here is my drawing. Not as good as the ones I have been doing in Mark's Class. Still very wooden. Having problems making expressive marks.

Head Drawing

2011-08-03T19:01:00.000-07:00

Did these 2 heads in Mark's class at California Art Institute. I have some notes which I will add later.

Bill Perkins - Class 2

2011-08-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

This painting is done in Bill Perkins 2nd class with black, white, yellow and red. I will type up my notes later when I am rested.

Boxer Pose at the Drawing Club

2011-08-01T16:41:00.000-07:00

Tried to practice some of what I learned in Bill Perkins' class at the Drawing Club during the Sunday lon pose. This is Kwante posed as a boxer.

Bill Perkins - Class One

2011-08-01T16:38:00.001-07:00

We worked in Black and White Bill Perkins 1st Class at LAAFA. He talked about chiaroscuto vs. notan. I will type up my notes at a later date and add them to this post.

Head Drawing

2011-07-04T13:20:00.001-07:00

I went to Mark Schwartz's Saturday Head Drawing Class. I think I am getting a little better since the winter with Glen Orbik although I still have a long way to go.

This is my final piece for Saturday.
Mark was explaining to me how the light works on the eye. I think I understood. My eyes always tend to be flat.

Here are my quick sketches of the head. I always seem to have problems with them.

Taste of the Orient

2011-07-04T13:14:00.001-07:00

These our my paintings from the Gallery Girls oriental themed painting workshop at California Art Institue Last Sunday. I don't care for the first one but I love the second one.

More Heads

2011-06-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

My quest to draw the head continues. Here are some heads I did at Studio II.

Quick Sketch - 3 sessions

2011-06-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a sample of quick sketch I have done over the last week. It represents work done in 2 of Chris Hero's unistructed workshops and one of Israel Martinez's tuesday night drawing classes.

This is Israel Martinez's Demo he did one my pad. He has a real gentle beautiful drawing style.
This is my drawing.

These are some of my drawings at Chris Hero's Uninstructed workshop at Studio II at the Helms Bakery. My drawings have been affected by my rotator cuff problems I have been having lately. The drawings are very stiff and I feel in pain much of the time when I am drawing.

These are in Israel's Class.

These are at Studio II.

This is in Israel's Class.

Character Design - Hymn of the Pearl

2011-06-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

I've been working on character designs for my graphic novel. Hymn of the Pearl. Above is prince Abdagases.

.
Here is Minisha, the Soldier
The treasurer

Gaspar the hero/anti-hero

A line up of the men in the first chapter

Abdagases, Gaspar's sadistic older brother and heir to the throne.

Abhay, Minisha's handsome younger sidekick and also a soldier. A line up of the women in the first chapter

Zohreh, the greedy brothel owner.

Kama, the prostitute that Gaspar falls in love with.

The queen's sorceress skilled in Zoroastrian fire cult.

Indo-Parthian Queen Rantha

King Gondophres

Color Sketches

2011-06-16T23:29:00.000-07:00

Here are some more of my color sketches. These are from a book I had on the Silk Road. These are color sketches 21 to 24.

These are from some photos I took at Diaz Lake when I was on the Manzanar Workshop. These are #25, 26 and 27.

Israel Martinez's Tuesday Night Class at Graphiads

2011-06-08T16:49:00.000-07:00

I am not sure when/if I can get back to Tim Gula's class up in Westlake. I have tendonitis in my knee and it's killing me. I signed up last night for Israel Martinez's 5 week figure drawing class in Westchester it's much closer to me. I can get there in 15 minutes.

These are Israel's 2 minute drawings that he did on my pad.
These are some 5 minute drawings I did last night.

Mermaids

2011-06-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

I went to the Gallery Girls "Mermaid" themed workshop yesterday hosted at the Palos Verdes art center. I did three 9" x 12" oil paintings. I will put them on this site when they dry. It was a great day. The Palos Verdes art center is a beautiful space. I never had been there before.

Things I want to paint around my condo complex

2011-06-06T15:53:00.001-07:00

These are things I thought would be cool to paint around my condo complex.

Quick Sketch

2011-06-06T15:43:00.001-07:00

I went to Tim Gula's quick sketch last week on Wednesday because Drawing from Imagination was cancelled.

Here is a demo Tim did on my paper:
These are my 5 minute quick sketches.

Emotions and Caricatures

2011-06-06T15:21:00.001-07:00

A couple week's ago in Tom Shannon's Class at the California Art Institute we worked on caricature. These are my Sofia Vergara (Modern Family).

These are my George Clooneys

This is my Betty White.

This is my Sandra Bullock. I think my least successful.

This is from our lesson on emotions. This is my angry nurse.

Humanizing Objects

2011-06-06T15:03:00.001-07:00

I am a little behind on my Basic Cartooning Posts. So I am going to try to get caught up. This lesson was about humanizing objects ala "Cars"
Bullfighter Apple

This is a Hobo Chair

This is a Watermelon Wrestler.

This is a cup magician.

Peter Strauss Ranch

2011-06-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

These are color sketches 16 to 20

I painted four color sketches at the Peter Strauss Ranch today. When they are dry I will add them to this post. . .
"This enchanting oak woodland in the Santa Monica Mountains has long been a source of dreams, visions, and memories. Inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, this area became part of Rancho Las Virgenes after Spanish colonization. The original coast live oak, used as the marker in the 1881 land grant survey, still stands just west of the swimming pool. The upside-down letter “T” is still evident in the bark. The “vision of enchantment” continues at this site today with hiking, concerts, picnics, and art exhibits. Explore this peaceful refuge and create some memories of your own.
At the turn of the century, Harry Miller purchased the ranch as a weekend retreat from his residence and automobile factory in Los Angeles. His patented master carburetor and “Miller Specials,” featured at Indianapolis 500 car races, brought him fame. In 1926, Harry built many structures including the stone ranch house, the “look out tower” and the aviary. The Depression and his attempt at aircraft-engine development resulted in financial ruin, the loss of the ranch, and an end to his dreams.
In the mid 1930’s, Warren Shobert and Arthur Edeson purchased the ranch, transforming the place into “Shoson”—a fairyland of charm and a paradise for children and adults. Later, a dam was constructed on Triunfo Creek, creating a small lake. The resort was renamed “Lake Enchanto.” Competition from other, larger amusement parks and resorts led to the decline of “Lake Enchanto.” It fell into disrepair and closed around 1960.
Actor Peter Strauss was deeply moved by the area’s natural beauty while filming the mini-series “Rich Man, Poor Man” at Malibu Lake in 1976. He purchased the property and restored the site to its original splendor, living here until 1983. Due to his sensitivity and concern for the natural environment, Strauss sold the ranch to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. The National Park Service purchased the ranch in 1987 as part of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, dedicated to the preservation of our natural and cultural history."

Character Reference - Gondophores

2011-05-29T17:52:00.000-07:00

How to Sail the Monsoon Wind to India

2011-05-29T17:15:00.001-07:00

Final finished the How to Assignment from Art Center. Click on the photo to see it larger.

Inspiration - 100 Color Sketches

2011-05-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

I am looking for some influences for these 100 Color Sketches. I want them to look good and stand on there on. I started to think of vintage posters.

I love how this Glacier is reduced down to some basic shapes.

I am inspired how this shadow area still reads as a hillside.

Matisse seems like the perfect inspiration for this assignment.

I like this one a lot. Reads well even thou there are very few colors.

I love the colors in this mountain.

These colors here are stunning.

This is a photo I took of Diaz Lake. I started to play with simplifying in photoshop.

Head Drawing w/ Mark Schwartz

2011-05-28T18:00:00.000-07:00

There was no cartooning today with Tom Shannon at the California Art Institute so I sit in Head Drawing with Mark Schwartz.
These are my 5 minute drawings. They need a lot of work. I am not good at this yet I need to work on it.
This is Mark's overlay on my drawing. I like the way he teaches. I learned a lot.

This is my drawing of Mahlo. I think it looks a lot like her. It's one of the best head drawings I remember doing. Ofcourse with out Mark's help it wouldn't be at this level.

Quick Sketch

2011-05-28T17:54:00.001-07:00

Went to Tim Gula's Quick Sketch on Wednesday.

This is a 5 minute demo Tim Gula did for me. I love it!! These are my drawings not half as good as Tim's.

This is another demo by Tim

These are more of mine.

100 Color Sketches - First 15

2011-05-28T17:00:00.000-07:00

I am working on this Assignment in the Virtual Academy Program:
ASSIGNMENT TWO: OUTDOOR COLOR STUDIES
Time required:
The work you do on these assignments that will give you a strong color sense. Unfortunately there are no quick fixes. Very few painters really master color to this degree. The good news is that if you put the effort into it, your paintings will really stand out from the crowd for their color.
What to do:
Paint 100 6x8in (15x20cm) color studies outdoors over the course of the next three to six months. Notes ♦ Keep the studies to a few broad flat areas of paint as if you were making the painting out of about seven to ten pieces of colored paper that you have cut out and stuck on to the canvas. ♦ Do not spend more than one hour on each sketch, and try to improve your speed to get as quick as 20 minutes for each sketch. ♦ Number each one on the back from 1 to 100. Tip ♦ Use your digital camera to check your values if you are having problems with your color. It is most likely that you are having a value problem. Cautions ♦ Get one of your earlier studies reviewed by your instructor before you do too many studies, to ensure your are on the right track. ♦ Count the patches of paint. If you have more than ten, try to simplify the design and reduce the number of patches.

I did these at the LA Arboretum May 27th.
Paintings #1 through #4 (These are too complicated with too many shapes)

These were done in Village Green between May 19th and May 26th.

Paintings #5 through #10
I like this first one

This is not reading well.

I think this one is more on track.

This is one of my favorites so far.

This is not reading well.

I did these May 20th at the Los Angeles Arboretum.

Paintings #11 - #15
I think this is working.

I like this one.

This is one of my favorites.

I am indifferent to this one.

I feel like this one looks like there is a corn dog in the foreground.

Casting the Characters - Hymn of the Pearl - Chapter One

2011-05-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

Working in the tremendous feat of my graphic novel: "Hymn of the Pearl." I did a rough layout of the first Chapter (around 30pages) now I want to do character designs for each of the characters and refine the roughs. This is what I have come up with for the main characters so far.

Zohreh is the Brothel owner in Sarbug. Greedy as all get out. She probably was really cute once.
The treasurer advises Gaspar. In the end of the story he is revealed as the Queen's Lover.

The sorceress is the Queen's advisor. I am using to Indian gypsy's as reference.

Queen Rantha is an aging beauty. I may put a little weight on her.

Minisha is the old soldier.

Kama is the beautiful prostitute that Gaspar falls in love with. But she's not as good as we think she is.

Gaspar is the young spoiled prince. We hate him the the beginning og the story but love him in the end.

Abhay is the young soldier and family man. He is the one all the girls fall inlove with.

Abdagases is Gaspar's spoiled sadistic brother. We hate him.

MANZANAR WORKSHOP - Keeler - Jo Ann Formia - "Paint where you feel comfortable"

2011-05-17T13:32:00.000-07:00

Monday I drew and painted in Keeler California.
According to Wikipedia:
"Keeler is a census-designated place (CDP) in Inyo County, California, United States. Keeler is located on the east shore of Owens Lake 11.5 miles at an elevation of 3602 feet (1098 m). The population was 66 at the 2000 census. . . . When the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake rendered the pier in nearby Swansea inaccessible by uplifting the shoreline, a new pier was constructed to the south at a community named Hawley.
In 1880 a new mill was constructed at Hawley by the Owens Lake Mining and Milling Company for processing ore from the Cerro Gordo Mines in the mountains to the east. A town was laid out by the company agent Julius M. Keeler, for whom the town of Hawley was later renamed. . There was a 300-foot wharf at Keeler, and the steamship route cut days off the time for a freight wagon to circle the lake. .
The Carson and Colorado Railroad constructed a narrow gauge railway to Keeler in 1883. The success of the Cerro Gordo mines caused Keeler to boom until silver prices plummeted in the late 1800s. A second boom of zinc mining in the early 1900s brought new life to the town and a tramway was built to bring the ore from Cerro Gordo to Keeler.
Train service was stopped in 1960 and the tracks were removed in 1961. Water exports from the Owens Valley to the City of Los Angeles in the 1920s led the Owens Lake to eventually dry up, causing alkali dust storms to blow through Keeler, driving many residents away. Dust remediation efforts in the early 21st century reduced this problem, but few residents remain."

Jo Ann Formia did the demo at Keeler. She studied with Henry Fukuhara and Milfred Zornes. She is the president of Watercolor West. Jo Ann makes her own greens. She makes sketches and the paints outside where she feels comfortable not necessarily looking at the subject. She uses Bochenford paper. She uses a big brush and blocks in. She laughed that there is always an ugly stage in your painting. She uses American Journey paints from Cheap Joes. She says don't paint from you painting paint from your sketch. She often makes sketches of sketches to distill down to the most simple information and not getting caught up in the details.

MANZANAR WORKSHOP - Manzanar - It's much better to ruin a painting than do a safe painting - Chris Hero

2011-05-17T13:27:00.001-07:00

On Sunday we painted at Manzanar
According to Wikipedia
"Manzanar is most widely known as the site of one of ten camps where over 110,000 Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada in California's Owens Valley between the towns of Lone Pine to the south and Independence to the north, it is approximately 230 miles (370 km) northeast of Los Angeles Manzanar (which means “apple orchard” in Spanish) was identified by the United States National Park Service as the best-preserved of the former camp sites, and was designated the Manzanar National Historic Site."

Chris Hero did the demo Sunday at Manzanar.

Here are my notes: Thinking is done in the sketchbook. He paints against the traditional use of watercolor media. He likes to use a crayon as a resist. He says you know you are in trouble when you get out the little brush. He says he doesn't talk about colors that much he talks about warms and cools. White is a cool.

He says "it's much better to ruin a painting the do a safe painting." He says when you watch a demo for two things 1) What you never want to do or 2)things you would like to borrow. He says instant coffee and tea make great drawing inks. He works from memory a lot. He always knows he is going to take a painting back into the studio.

He says Manzanar is a prison camp not just any place is Owens Valley. This needs to come across in the painting. In the best artmaking technique and content are in balance somewhere in the middle is the sweet spot.

MANZANAR WORKSHOP - Alabama Hills - Al Setton: "As soon as you put away your big brush and get out your little brush you're in trouble."

2011-05-17T13:17:00.001-07:00

Today we painted at the Alabama Hills.
According to Wikipedia: "Alabama Hills are a "range of hills" and rock formations near the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the Owens Valley, west of Lone Pine in Inyo County, California. Though geographically considered a range of hills, geologically they are a part of the Sierra Nevada mountains."

The Demo Today was by David Deyell. "David paints in the "California Style"; entertaining, happy, bright, colorful paintings. Emphasis on composition, values, brush strokes, shapes and symbols, strong contrasting colors."

My Notes from the Demo:

He worked with McKim, Meade and white. Influenced by Tony Couch and Edward Whitney.He emphasizes making a value plan. You need to make a plan before you paint. He often said: DESIGN, CREATE and COMPOSE.

He likes Richardson Paper and Brushes. He starts his watercolors by sketching in Sharpie. With the Sharpie he stresses looking for thick and thin lines, continuous lines. You need to have a reason. Have a center of interest.

Try to paint the most difficult part first. Paint hardest to easiest. Be a composer not a copier. If are an artist destroy the brush and make it work for you. Don't treat it like you are a housepainter and are going to pass the brush on. Don't use the brush as if you were painting a barn. If you spend 3/4 of your time outside you will learn more. Turn painting upside down from time time. Henry would never have a blue sky.

The critique in the evening was by Al Seton. "Artist Al Setton's work captures California's joyful and energetic, yet sophisticated and laid back ambiance. Educated at Cairo University, the University of Santa Cruz, and the California Art Institute, Al Setton's paintings clearly reflect the influences of Fauvism and Abstract Expressionist masters in addition to the work of recent masters such as Henry Fukuhara, Rex Brandt, Robert E. Wood, and Kathryn Chang Liu. It is clear that Setton has developed his own personal vision of life which engages and excites the viewer. The artist's hand is evident in his work with visible, energetic brush strokes, unique markings, and spills and drips, which make the viewer aware of both the flatness of the surface and the quality of paint application while being entertained by deceivingly simple subject matter."

Here are my notes: Don't be limited by the nature that's out there. Interesting shapes have some interuption like sides of a jig saw puzzle Move things around in nature to make intersting shapes. Each corner should look different. Paint 80 to 90 percent on location and then put the painting away and see it with fresh eyes. Move color around through painting.

Do not follow local color. Create new colors by overlapping, create interest with calligraphic lines. Darks attract attention. Be careful about having to many clumps of grass. Make sure the painting is entertaining.

Know where you want the viewer to look. The eye looks at the lightest light against the darkest dark. You can use scrap paper with watercolors on it to check things out in the studio. You can create movement in your painting by having the perspective a little off.

As soon as you put away your big brush and get out your little brush you are in trouble. Don't leave the sky plain. Turn your painting upside down, sideways and squint at it.

MANZANAR WORKSHOP - Warm Up Day 2 - Spainhower Ranch

2011-05-17T13:06:00.000-07:00

Friday we painted at Spainhower Ranch.

"Looking every bit the past of a rough wrangler and ranch hand, Lone Pine’s Russ Spainhower promoted the area as a great location for movies, many of which were shot on his ranch or using his horses for sets. "
Above or some Notan Paintings I did at Spainhower Ranch.

This is a horse named Lawrence

Here are some more Notan Paintings around the barn.

Two limited palette 6" x 8" Oil Paintings on Panel. I put the painting below up for Critique by Al Seton. He suggested that I break up the bands. He said try painting it a couple different ways make foreground warm and background cool in one of the variations. Put in some sort of escape hatch. Try not using local color in one of the variations.

MANZANAR WORKSHOP - Warm Up Day 1 - Dirty Socks and Diaz Lake

2011-05-17T12:58:00.001-07:00

I attended the 5 day Henry Fukuhura Manzanar Workshop this year. I have wanted to go for many years.

"Henry Fukuhara, the Nisei watercolorist who painted vibrant landscapes of Manzanar and served as a teacher and mentor to a generation of artists. He passed away a few years ago at 96.
Fukuhara’s abstract landscape watercolors are represented in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the San Bernardino Museum of Art, and the Japanese American National Museum. He is listed in “Who’s Who in American Art” and is a member of the prestigious National Watercolor Society, as well as an honorary member of Watercolor West.
“I enjoy myself when I paint. I’m in another world, I forget everything,” Henry Fukuhara said at the 2005 Manzanar Paint Out, a watercolor workshop he led every year to the Owens Valley. “If you are a painter, you can move mountains, you can move trees.”

The first day of the trip we painted around OLANCHA According to wikipedia:

Olancha (formerly, Olanche) is a census-designated place in Inyo County of the U.S. state of California. Olancha is located on U.S. Route 395 in California, 37 miles (60 km) south-southeast of Independence, at an elevation of 3658 feet (1115 m). As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 134.
Located in the Owens Valley next to the now mostly dry Owens Lake, the arid settlement is home to a major bottled water plant for Crystal Geyser Natural Alpine Spring Water

DIRTY SOCKS HOT SPRINGS (near Olancha)

"At one time a nice county park established for the enjoyment of hot springs devotees, this area is now more attractive to migrating birds - and birders. (If you don't mind a little slimy algae, the cemented pond might be enjoyable still for some.) The small natural pond will often host shorebirds and other waterfowl. Walk to the north and look for rails in the extensive reeds"

These are some Notan paintings I did around the site
These are (2) 6" x 8" that I did using limited palettes one with a cool red and one with a warm red although it's hard to tell the difference.

DIAZ LAKE

According to wikipedia:

The lake was formed by the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake on Tuesday, March 26 of that year when 18 mi (29 km) of the Owens Valley dropped approximately 20 feet (6 m) (see graben) and a new spring opened, causing water to fill the lowland.
The lake was named for the Diaz family who established a ranch here when brother Rafael and Eleuterio Diaz emigrated from Chile in the 1860s. They owned and operated a successful cattle ranch until the land was sold to the city of Los Angeles.

These are some small Notan Paintings I did at Diaz Lake.

This is a limited palette 6" x 8" painting I did using Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, Black and White as a Monochrome Palette. I want to do some more paintings with this palette.

Steve Huston Drawing Workshop at 3 Kicks

2011-05-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Should have an Idea about the world not just a technique. Our technique is an option copied from our teacher who copied from their teacher. After awhile it degenerates. When we criticize our drawings we have a difficult time figuring out why it works and why it doesn't. We need to reduce the problem down. The problem is as realists: how to make it look like what we want it to.

There are 2 clear things that have to happen in figure drawing

1) STRUCTURE: 3d, position, space, perspective, tubes, boxes, balls

2) GESTURE: relationship between the parts

Just as in music you can hit every note but note play the piano.

This second part of the problem takes years to get control of.

How do we get a hold of gesture? Most books forget about gesture and turn everything into a rendering problem. You don't want to forget about it once you are 2 to five minutes into a drawing.

Bring gesture and structure together. Don't forget about it.

IDEA is composed of
1- Parts
2- Relationship of Parts

Gesture

there are all sorts oc choices. Sometimes it can be defined as the long axis. In the body everything but the hips are long in length and narrow. Gesture is the conncecting line. Sometimes it's easier to use the spine or chest bone as the gesture line because it's easy to see it's on the surface. If we can touch it we can see if it's right.

As the fundamental design line the gesture line has to be true. Don't turn it the wrong way. If the pose it 2 minutes or 6 weeks you still need to see the gesture.

The long axis needs to be curved because it is fluid. Every once and a while it's a straight but you should expect a curve.

If you wan your drawings to come alive the long axis shouldn't be stiff and straight. Make it more curved than you think. Think about what you're doing. Put in lots of lumps and bumps. Best strategy is to put in more gesture.

When you do something with an idea in mind it's a style. Do it with confidence. Do it with a straight face.

The audience wants us to suceed. The audience does most of the work through a state called CLOSURE. The audience is smart, supportive and sophisticated. You don't need to do much just need to do it consistently and with confidence.

STRUCTURE

It's not just form it's form in a position (aka Persepective). The last 5 - 10% is what we are struggling with. Reduce it down - leave out a lot.

The West Coast style is about getting it down quick. We try to pack 10 minutes into 5 minutes. We try to put 10 to 20 things in a paintign when there only a few things we need to say. Don't put it bit players.

The best batters still work with coaches. Slow down and just put in a few things. Muscle Memory turns the body to the right answer.

Simple is good because
1. It's efficient
2. We can redesign it easier
3. Can be animated (in a Rubens sense). exaggerate it by bending the spine more.

We want it to ring true with every mark. We don't want our mark to be a place holder. Keep refining it as simple form that looks close to finish.

SIMPLE BUT CHARACTERISTIC

We want a great place to connect the next gesture.

2 STEP PROCESS

Gesture - Structure - Gesture

Get enough structure that you feel confident.

POSITION
3 poisitons for 3 dimensions. If you want to be underneath detail at center higher. Details at slides lower.

Your AXIS needs to aim in the right direction. If the contour doesn't help you use a dot to dot approach.

Construction lines can be left in finished paintings. We want to build out from narrow parts of the form so we don't destroy conncections.

LIMBS
- on the arm look towards elbow for the direction of the curve
- a leg is a tapering tube. S curve or revers S when ankle's inside.
- Hogarth talks about B and S shape of the leg. B is when ankle bone is on outside. When we have time we can use them to construct better joints. Get your connections working.

Contours get us around the form not over the form. Curves keep momentum going. Zig zags aren't as comfortable. Corners stop movement. Make line or tone flow to another mark.

Highlights should take up a plane or sit on corners. Highlights are very useful to show plane changes. Highlights are both structural and gestural.

The character of the tone can show structure and gesture. A pinch is characterized by a zig zag. We look at stretch for gesture not pinch. The pinching side is structural. It you keep things tubular it's gestural Bulging forms are often 2nd.

You can't usually get all the way down a form with one gesture. (naturally ther is an assymetry high to low). Feel on inside draw on outside. Eggs tend to get off axis from out bigger forms because body does not want to be muscle bound. Anything that moves has to be able to move and be stable. Walking is a balancing act.

Zig zag where the tonal patterns meet. Set in beautiful gradation by zig zagging. Load it up and zig azg. You can't do line in shadow. Use zig zag and put gradation over whole composition. Take half tones and pul you into other side. Make Highlights structural skipping past or breaking through contour.

Drawing from Imagination/Ink Illustration

2011-05-08T16:54:00.000-07:00

I am taking 2 classes at California Art Institute in Westlake this Summer: Drawing from Imagination/Ink Illustration and Basic Cartooning. The instructor for Drawing from Imagination is Tim Gula

"Tim Gula is an American comic book artist and animator. In the 1980s he has done animation work for Bakshi, Disney, Don Bluth and Marvel-Sunbow. By 1988 he was doing art for Car-Toons by Petersen Publishing and 'Revolver' by Renegade Press. He was then present at DC with 'Dragonlance', 'Justice League International' and 'Martian Manhunter J'Onn J'Onzz', and at TSR Comics Module with 'Intruder'" lambiek.net

He credits the exercise we have done so far from people he has worked with like Moebius and Alex Nino. According to wikipedia: "Alex Niño (born May 1, 1940 is a Filipino comic book artist best known for his work for the American publishers DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Warren Publishing, and in Heavy Metal magazine.These are 2 illustrations by Alex Nino

Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (born May 8, 1938) is a French comics artist. Giraud has earned worldwide fame, not only under his own name but also under the pseudonym Moebius, and to a lesser extent Gir, the latter appearing mostly in the form of a boxed signature at the bottom of the artist's paintings, for instance the volumes' covers. Tim Gula said he worked with Moebius in Paris. Here are some works by Moebius.

These are some of the exercises he have been doing in class.
I did this in pentel color brush yesterday.

This the first thing I did yesterday I was using a prismacolor. Some of the drawing below is sneaking through on the photograph. I was listening to the Girl with the Pearl Earring sound track while I was doing this although I didn't know until I finished. But weirdly I seem to have a lot of earring type imagery in the drawing.

This was from last Saturday. I was doing an interpretation of Journey to the Center of the Earth. I was think about the top of the picture being very organic with tree roots and the bottom being this geometric rigid layer that you have to break through.

Below is the first exercise we did in prismacolor just listening to music.

Bill Perkins Color Boot Camp - Day 3

2011-05-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

Push the Color. Paintings are about light. Take what’s infront of yyou. Look at dynamic relationships and find out what’s going on Look what the range is.
The minor key is the range of contrast wit in your component. There are 7 individual components in a painting. Break things down into a logical way so you can understand it.
In painting you put something down and then you check yourself.

Arthur Dow defines design principles as Opposition, Transition, Subordination, Repetition, Symmetry. This is the California Craftsman approach.

Maitland Graves in “The Art of Color and Design” talks of Line, Value, Shape and Proportion.

In the “Visual Story” Bruce Block talks of Line, Tone, Shape, Color, Space, Rhythm and Movement

Mentions A. Donlis “A primer to Visual Literacy” and Line, Mass and Form is how we stylize things visually.

There are seven basic contrasts.
Contrast of Hue
Contrast of Light/Dark
Contrast of Warm/Cool
Contrast of Complementary
Contrast of Saturation
Contrast of Extension (Proportion and Placement of Color)
Simultaneous Contrast
http://www.worqx.com/color/itten.htm

When you paint ask yourself
- What is my matrix? Light vs. Shadow or Light vs. Dark. Then think of your range from Lightest to Darkest and Brightest.

Bill Perkins Color Boot Camp - Day 2

2011-05-08T16:34:00.000-07:00

We painted today with a palette of Black, White, Cadmium Yellow Light, Napthol Red, Raw sienna and Quinox.

Burnt Sienna is a black orange
Cadmium Yellow Light + White gives a cool
Raw Sienna is used by Bill on his palette as a dark yellow. He prefers it to yellow ochre because it is warmer.
Keying a painting – Major Key and Minor Key
(He mentioned Zorn Palette but I don’t have clear notes about it)
Value, Hue and Saturation will define where any color lies on the wheel. Hue is measured around circumference. Value sets up mood of the painting. Color Wheel is a theory.

Mixing paint is subtractive. The more you mix the color the more neutral the color becomes.

Bill mentions George Bellows and the Ashcan group and something about Mirada and premixing palette on composition (but I am not clear on my notes). Bill doesn’t like Cadmium Red Medium that much because he says it grays too fast.

Bill Perkins Color Boot Camp - Day 1

2011-05-08T16:25:00.001-07:00

The Goal of the Color Boot camp is 25 to 30 paintings in 5 days. Not interested in rendered images. Must paint what is important first. The idea is assessing relationships. What are you looking at? Eliminate naming generic items. Look for Basic spots of color.

The skeleton of a painting can be considered it’s MATRIX. When you start to paint assess clearly. Determine what the pattern in. Then put it down boldly. Once you put it down stick to it.
There is an idea of NOTAN vs. CHIAROSCHURO. Every object has a local value. If the painting is a 3D it’s going to have form but a painting is not always about form.
There are 3 Elements of Design: 1)Notan 2)Chiaroscuro 3)Line/Texture.

When you are putting be critical about what you are seeing and what you are putting down.
A painting can be about Light &. Dark or Light & Shadow. The values set the mood of your piece. Sargeant mainly paints in Notan but then we switches to form around the face.

When you go to a museum the paintings will have a strong bias to chiaroscuro or notan.
Smaller surfaces are darker because the reflect less light. Larger masses reflect more light. We need to have a clear distinction about what’s in light and what’s in shadow. When you have string contrast you can really get the feel of light. If you have light and shadow sgapes can have more reflected light. When you paint hit the light and shadow patterns first.

A painting can range from High Key (overall light) to Low Key (overall dark). There is also the major key (overall proportions) and a minor key (contrast range with your painting). It is important to fine tune your comparing and expand the way you compare.

Turkish Delights IV

2011-05-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

I had a blast at Turkish Delights. There were so many different models at Set ups. I loved it. I made me remember that I love to draw.

Head Drawing in Pencil

2011-05-01T09:34:00.000-07:00

It was an incredible week of drawing. One that I wish I could match every week. I worked on my "How to Project" for Communication Sketch a lot. Still not finished. I went to Cathy's class on Wednesday. Got there at 4:45 and drew past 9pm. I went to Turkish Delights on Friday night and stayed there a little under 3 hours. I then had 2 classes on Saturday: Basic Cartooning and Drawing from the Imagination. And then I ended the night going to a demo by Steve Huston and drawing about an hour in charcoal.
I really want to study more with Glen Orbik. He's like going to a primary source at the library. I'm going to figure out how to make that happen. I think if the Peter Knight Pilot goes I will do that until I have to go back to work. I realized last night I love the poetry in his drawing.

I feel happy with these heads. I think there is a fluidity here that I don't seem to have with the charcoal pencil. I need to work more with it so I can figure out how to make it move.

Andy is a great model. I am going to use him as the Old Gambler in the Hymn of the Pearl.

Went to Cathy's class this week because work was drawing to a close and I could make it over there. The lesson was on Head Drawing. Went to Wine Expo afterwards as has become our tradition.

Sheep/Goats

2011-04-24T13:26:00.001-07:00

Today I am getting caught up on my scanning. Here is the goat/sheep homework from the Bovine section of Joe's class. I did these drawings at the Natural History Museum. The NHM is one of my favorite places in Los Angeles. Some people don't like it claiming it's too dark and cold. I love it there especially the new mammals section.

Basic Cartooning 1 - Emotions

2011-04-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

I went to my first Basic Cartooning Class at the California Art Institute in Westlake. I was surprised the school was in a dumpy old building. I thought it would have more presence. I am taking two classes there: Basic Cartooning and Drawing from Imagination. The Drawing from Imagination Class was postponed last week. It will start next weekend.

Here are my notes from Tom Shannon, the instructor, he was incredibly knowledgeable and interesting. He worked for Disney a lot.

The mouth is an emotionally indicator. Eyebrows help indicate emotion.
The eyes are the thermometer of what kind of character. The eye is complicated in cartooning it is reduced to a graphic symbol. The lines around the eyes are useful tools.

The chin can hlp indicate character.

The nose helps turn the head. It doesn't indicate emotion but it does indicate direction (where the head is pointed). Every nose is different. The hair moves away from the head. Different chin lines can help define the character. Cartooning is an abstract art.

It's easier to draw the head as a basic circle because it's easy to move. All you have to do is move the nose. Make the circles round and don't draw very dark. Draw right away it keeps you from "white paper syndrome."

You can do anything in a cartoon. Age can be shown by hairstyle. Remember when you are cartooning you have a lot of power you can literarly move mountains. When drawing a hat connect it to the head. The mustache is a vehicle to wrap around the head.

Look at your drawing as a whole. Try to move the pencil around. Keep a generalized notion - like a conductor or an orchestra. Don't focus on one thing.

1. Gesture, Pose

2. Emotional, Facial

3. Construction of Character Itself

4. Background (credible platform for the character to be standing on)

Balance throughout drawing and remember to keep having fun

This is an exercise we did in class about trying to take an emotion from a small level to a high level.

Birds - Eagles/Hawks

2011-04-24T12:20:00.000-07:00

I drew these birds a couple of weeks ago for Joe Weatherly's class. I wanted to use an eagle one of the central characters of the Hymn of the Pearl.

How to Get to India with the Monsoon Wind

2011-04-24T11:12:00.000-07:00

I am working on my final project for Communication Sketch. I wasn't able to go to the final class because I had to work. This is what my final looks like so far. I am going to finish it even though the class is over. I wish I had already finished and had gotten to the last class but I had to work until midnight. I am struggling with the fact I am going to get a bad grade from the class because I didn't turn in my final even though I know it doesn't matter because I already have an MFA and I am only taking the class for myself. But after years of being trained that grades are important it's hard to shut that part of myself off.

The project is about using the Monsoon winds to get to India. It is loosely based on the Barbarikon chapter of Hymn of the Pearl

These are some rough color layouts for the final that I did the week before but didn't have time to scan. I like the top one the best.

Material Showcase

2011-04-09T18:15:00.000-07:00

These are some studies I did for the "Material Showcase" Assignment.

This is the final from my material showcase assignment. It's based on a line drawing I did in Ed Li's a couple of years ago.

Working on the Barbarikon Section

2011-04-09T18:07:00.001-07:00

Trying to work on the section of Hymn of the Pearl that takes place at the docks at Barbarikon. Doing it in my Comm Sketch at Art Center as part of the "How to . . " assignment. I am showing "How to get to Indian using the Monsoon Winds"

I am not alone in my frustration with head drawing

2011-03-22T23:27:00.000-07:00

I read this today in Juliette Aristides book "Classical Drawing Atelier." It helped

Daniel Parkhurst wrote," Don't undertake the painting of a head without considering well that you are likely to have trouble, and the trouble you will have is most likely to be of a kind that you don't expect. But, having begun,keep your heart and your grit, and do the best you can. Remember that you learn by mistakes, and failures are a part of every man's work, and of every painter's experience, and not only of your own."

M. Bertin talked of Ingres' frustration "Ingres used to weep and I spent my time consoling him."

Sheep Panel

2011-03-22T21:27:00.001-07:00

So I am paneling away. Some better than others. This is a panel from the middle of my story. I worked on it a couple of weeks ago when I was exploring drawing the sheep in Joe's class.

Camels

2011-03-21T17:50:00.001-07:00

Working on Camels this week in Joe's class. We had a sub who basically told me I am getting too illustrative and flat and losing the structure.

These are studies from Lawrence of Arabia

These are studies from Tim's pictures at Oasis Camel Farm.

This is an ancient giraffe like camel at the Natural History Museum. It got too slight. I got a lot of criticism on lots of meaningless details and not enough structure.

Think as if you were both Bernini and Sargeant - Head Drawing - Class 9 and 10

2011-03-21T17:29:00.001-07:00

Week 9

Glen talked about drawing the pretty girl tonight. He said in drawing the prtty girl you need to suggest construction but leave things out. Leyendecker and Cornwell stress the masculine but when you are drawing a pretty girl you can put too much in. You can't render everything if you are going to make a successful pretty girl.

I liked a book he brought in called "Faces and Features" by Fritz Willis. He also suggested the 1954 - Famous Artist Course hat has a section on drawing the pretty girl.

- Don't make too many bumps
- Design the shape tht shows off the sculpture
- Pull out a mirror and look at your drawing backwards
- Stand back and look at your drawing from a distance
- Think decorative everything is a design challenge
- Make everything in the light too light and everything in the dark too dark.
- Don't overplay it, sneak up on things you are trying t suggest,
- Push 2D shapes to suggest 3D sculpture
- Keep shadows less rendered in the interior
- Group things and then look at the secondary pattern inside
- Don't try to render each area try to design each area
- Render shapes so they are not too broken
- Look for ideal form

This is Glen's correction of my drawing of Malo.

I see here on my drawing how the bottom of the face doesn't really line up with the top of the face on the model's left face. There is some integrity missing.

Glenn liked this quick sketch a lot but I couldn't bring back what I found in this in put it in any of the other quick sketches.

Week 1o
Glen's notes:

- Organize lights and darks

- practice Loomis heads and planes of the head

- think of what the model would look like if they were carved out of stone

- Construction is first calligraphy is second

- Keep drawing inside the shadow to a minimum

- Form Shadow is not the same as Cast Shadow

- Think as if you were Bernini and Sargeant

- Ask yourself if the form is 3d enough

- Ask yourself if your calligraphy needs more attention

- Look for variety so you don't have the same line weight everywhere

This is my drawing of Kwante. Glenn said I had too many curves and not enough straights. I tried to correct it. This semester I haven't done very well in Head Drawing I feel like I need a break. I am disappointed in my lack of progress. But I guess the semester was pretty weird. I missed 2 classes early on. Glen missed 2 classes with all the illness in his family and getting better is not linear. I just have to keep working on it.

This is Glen's correction of my drawing.

Hymn of the Pearl

2011-03-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

I started working on the panels for my epic story. These are just roughs. But I am happy I have finally started it.

Skeletons at the Page Museum

2011-03-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

These are some skeletons I drew at the Page Museum 2 saturdays ago.

California Short Faced Bear
Dire Wolf Skull

California Sabertooth

Speed Forms

2011-03-20T10:45:00.001-07:00

This is the speed forms assignment. This class at Art Center is good but I feel like it is going on forever. I hope it helps my drawing. I would rather be sketching mountains.

Torso Lesson - inspired by Van Gogh

2011-03-20T10:08:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night was the torso lesson. I remember it from last year when I was in Cathy's class. This is my favorite drawing of the night. The Torso drawings are inspired by Van Gogh

I have a lot of problems with the lying down poses and foreshortening. I need to work on these.

These are the drawings by Van Gogh the the lesson is based on. Very beautiful.

This is another drawing from Van Gogh that inspired the lesson.

Figure Drawing -

2011-03-10T11:19:00.001-08:00

I sat in on Cathy Karol's class today which I took last spring. Tonight was the lesson on the sphere based on Glenn Vilppu's sphere lesson. I missed the lesson because I came in late. Some of it was about finding the bean. I need to check into this more with my Vilppu Drawing Manual.

Cathy also commented that I need to work on my feet. I am going to copy some stuff.

Communication Sketch - Pencil Sharpener

2011-03-07T22:41:00.000-08:00

This is the class I spend the most time on. It is a little boring. I am taking it to try to improve the structure in my drawings. Hoping that it will help me able to invent and make my buildings stand up in my graphic novel. Hopefully it's helping. I think it is. I will be happy when I am free of all this work.

Head Drawing - "You are all trying to get better but what does better mean?"

2011-03-07T22:39:00.000-08:00

This is my week's head drawing. Glen says I need to work on making the eyes 3d.

Here's Glen's overlay.

Glen's Lecture:

Leyendecker used models but he made his paintings from his sketches. It took him a decade of drawing and painting to come up with the style he is known for. Rockwell was trying to be Leyendecker. Glenn thinks you need a hero that you can practice from so you can get the pieces under control.

Remember spacing and placing.

Squint and Edit the shape

Try Spacing and Placing as if you were sculpting.

Adjusting to make sculpture clear.

Don't overdescribe things in the shadows.

Get the pieces under control.

If it is too messy or confusing fix it.

You should be able to fix it. You are not trying to get this drawing right you are trying to get your abilities right.

If the dark shapes are hard to figure out go into the light shapes.

Try to make nice brushwork, boxwork and tiles.

Get a god underpainting and then try to make each area a gem.

Mileage lets us get ther in three stokes instead of 5. Squeeze a little more sculpture out of each shape. If you are not really sure of an area really squint at it.

Re-establish the poster.

What does a camera see vs. what we know is there.

Incidental shapes have to be second.

Try to do enough construction so you can work on design.

What does eye, nose, mouth look loke and how ti make it cool and idealized.

Lean on sculpture in the student phases.

SHAPE - VALUE

Goal is the craft of your draftsmanshhip/

Try to manipulate the light and dark.

It's o.k. to draw from photographs. Fred Fixler was always pushing Bernin. How to contrl the shapes so we don't mak a mess. Sargeant is about how the paint looks.

The trick is you are all trying to get better but what does better mean

Head Drawing - "Your job is to satisfy the illusion of touch"

2011-03-03T23:21:00.000-08:00

This is my Saturday Night Head Drawing. I am frustrated because I can't find the time to practice. My Communication Sketch class seems to take all my time.

This is Glen's correction on my drawing.

Glenn's Lecture:

- look for places to check your math

- hone the design and hone the design and then it's done

- there is the half one going to the dark and the half tone going to the light

- think about light gray and dark gray

- Fill in darks so light puzzles are the star

- Get the big poster established to see what's working and give attention

- Look for rhythms and parrallels to help you design it

- Get your tone under control so you can see where you want to spend your time

- Get your paint (the charcoal) under control

- Watch out for getting to black

- If you are not sure about an area - knock it down

- Look for the crappy xerox

- Think about construction and paint

- Think 1) Sculptural 2) Paint - 2D/Light Dark

- Figure out your weaknesses and work on them

- Watch your drawing and figure out what's going on

- Copy Loomis

- Figure out what it looks like

- 1st figure out where to put everything

- Do a great underpainting by filling in your light and darks and keep it simple

- Don't punch black in nostrils

Recommended Books

- The Figure: An Artist's approach to Drawing and Construction

- An Approach to Figure painting for the Beginner (Howard K. Fosters)

Harold Speed said - "Your job is to satisfy the illusion of touch"

SPACING AND PLACING

Canine Family

2011-03-03T22:40:00.001-08:00

We worked on the Canine Family last week in my Animal Anatomy class with Joe Weatherly. In my graphic novel there are 3 distinct dogs - a pastoral dog that helps a shepherdess (maybe a Canaan Dog), a jackal and a saluki. These are the studies of those dogs.

I did these drawings of the dire wolf at the Page Museum.

These are some construction drawings of the Saluki.

Here are my muscle studies and anatomy. Joe doesn't like the way I draw the muscles. I have no idea what I'm doing when I draw them. These studies are based on the Saluki.

Equine Family - The Horse

2011-03-03T14:59:00.000-08:00

This is the regular horse I drew at home.

This is the ancient horse with a shorter neck that I drew at the Page Museum.

These are some sketches I did from the Animal Motion Show DVD. Joe says my ears on the left are too long.

Here Joe says my horses are reading like one animal.

Geometric Forms

2011-03-03T14:49:00.001-08:00

This assignment is about combining cones, cubes, spheres and cubes into more organic forms. It took me a billion hours to do.

I thought I made a lot of progress this week with my forms but during crit I was brought to the attention that often my shadows don't make sense. I am often told my forms are whimsical - I think that is a compliment.

Mia at Cathy Karol's Class - inspiration Heinrich Kley

2011-03-03T14:41:00.000-08:00

This is one of the images the Cathy Karol gave out for us to look at it tonight. It was drawn by Heinrich Kley.

Heinrich Kley (1863-1945) was a German artist who gained fame in the United States when Coronet Magazine published his drawings in 1937. His work inspired the creators of Fantasia.

"Lady Dancing with Aligator"

Below are drawings I made with pen and ink at Cathy's class inspired by the linework of Heinrich Kley.

Something about the proportions of this first one makes her look like a child not an adult.

I'm not sure about the shoulder blade.

Her legs don't seem attached.

Head Drawing - Uninstructed

2011-02-21T15:40:00.001-08:00

These are the drawings that I made at Israel Martinez's workshop. I still have a lot to work on but atleast I tried to practice.

Head Drawing

2011-02-21T15:37:00.001-08:00

Glen came back to teach this week.
This is his rework of my drawing.

This is my drawing.

Glen's Notes:

- Look for the crappy xerox when drawing

- Think about both construction and paint

- Think 3d (sculptural) and 2d (paint and light and dark)

- Figure out what your weakness is and work on it

- Watch your drawing and figure out what's going on

- copy Loomis

- Figure out what it looks like

- Figure out where to put everything

- Fill in your darks, Fill in your lights

- Keep it simple

- When drawing an attractive girl be minimal with the shapes

- Don't punch blacks in the nostrils

Recommended Books

The Figure: An Artist's Approach to Drawing and Construction

An Approach to Figure Painting for the Beginner: Howard K. Forbers

Geometric Forms

2011-02-15T13:39:00.000-08:00

I have been taking Communication Sketching Class at Art Center at Night for a couple of weeks now. We do 10 sheets of homework a week basically working on the cube, sphere, cone and cylinder.
I have been trying my best although last night I found out I am using the wrong side of the marker paper. For some reason with the Bienfang you have to take it out and turn it to the other side. How bizarre.

I am hoping drawing all these geometric forms will help give more structure to my drawings.

Class 5 - Head Drawing

2011-02-13T20:48:00.001-08:00

Glen missed the last 2 classes and I missed the two classes before that so I haven't seen him in awhile. Mark has been substituting. I realize I need to work on my style of mark. My mark making is really boring - mainly straights. I have such hard time sharpening my charcoal to the way Glen and a lot of the west coast teachers waant you to. I have got to figure that out. I also am mad at myself that I haven't practice my heads. I am going to go to uninstructed once a week for the rest of head drawing class and practice. I am also promising myself to practice with the Vanderpoel book and the head book by Loomis. I am sick of not progressing and not putting the time in that I need to.

Last Week of Draped Figure

2011-02-13T20:31:00.001-08:00

Here are some drawings from Wednesday and Thursday at Karl Gnass's class

Head Drawing - Saturday

2011-02-08T11:51:00.001-08:00

Glen wasn't at class this week. I had missed the last 2 weeks because of working on the MTV job. Surprisingly enough I felt my gestures turned out ok. I worked on copying from Loomis this week.
I wasn't too happy with this long pose. The shadow doesn't seem to be working on her neck and I had a lot of trouble with the features.

Karl Gnass - Wednesday/Thursday

2011-02-08T11:37:00.000-08:00

This is a mix of drawings between Wednesday and Thursday night with Karl. My MTV movie was over and I actually was able to be in class the full amount of time.

I struggled a lot with this hat and the collar of this dress.

Getting the shape of this umbrella was something I struggled with.

I enjoyed this pose. Here I used prismacolor pencil. I am trying to use a lot of different media in the class.

Here a added the dog and the brown box a sort of hommage to Mark McDonnell.

The proportions are wrong oon this drawing but I still like it for some reason.

I feel like there is good movement in this drawing and the white and black seem to be working on the brown paper.

This was my favorite pose of the week I think it would make a great painting.

Head Drawing

2011-01-31T15:14:00.000-08:00

This is Glen Orbik's correction of my head drawing.
This is my head drawing.

This is my head drawing from the long pose workshop at the drawing club.

Drawing the Draped Figure - Wednesday

2011-01-31T15:00:00.000-08:00

I feel like I've lost a few steps with my drawing. I have been so tired by the time I get to this Draped Figure Class I don't even know what I really have inside of me. But maybe it will change this week when I don't have to work on the MTV movie anymore. Sometimes I wonder why I bother learning how to draw the figure. I feel like maybe I should just do feel good more abstract works.
I know I'm adding more faces which I think is an improvement. I know I have to work on shoes they just confuse the hell out of me.

I like the movement in this drawing although the head seems to small and the right breast is not right.

I think this drawing is somewhat successful.

This is one of my better drawings of the evening. I need to work on the feet/shoes and I also wish the coat lying over her leg and more weight to it.

This one I'm basically happy with although the bottom of the left leg is off. The front should be a straight to play against the curve of the calf.

Draped Figure - Class 4

2011-01-23T17:04:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday I got to class an hour and a half late and I missed the lesson about the suit. I never felt comfortable drawing. I also missed Thursday because of the SDSA meeting. I'm not getting to this draped figure class as much as I thought I would. I never thought I would be working right now that's why I signed up for it. I did hear Karl say "give up some characteristics of the folds for the sense of character . . . the garment should speak clearly and be part of the story."

Draped Figure - Class 3

2011-01-23T16:52:00.001-08:00

I liked how the drawings came out last Thursday night. I missed Wednesday because I had to work. It's so hard to balance art and work. I'm on a MTV movie and I have to be on set a lot.
I was imaging the model as the eagle woman character in the Hymn of the Pearl.

I spilled my ink here but I still like the drawing.

This one a imagined the model as coming home from a really bad date. I used Mark McDonald's vignette trick.

I was thinking here how Mark always said but the ground plane in. These are all 8 minute poses.

Draped Figure - Class 1

2011-01-23T16:36:00.001-08:00

These are the drawings I like from the first draped figure class. I am having a hard time getting things up on the blog in a timely fashion.
I realize I really still have no ideas how to make believable shoes. I think I've gotten better at hats.

I have forgotten a lot about legs and knees - I need to go back to my notes from Kevin's class.

Sometimes I'm losing my proportions.

Drawing the Draped Figure - Class 2

2011-01-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

Najas at the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos

2010-12-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

I went to the Millicent Rogers Museum today in Taos. I feel in love with the Najas even before I learned their names which is close to mine.

Naja: (or "Najah") From the Navajo word "Najahe", meaning "crescent". A crescent-shaped silver ornament believed to go back to Moorish designs that was originally a forehead pendant on horse bridles. It is now commonly found pendant from the bottom of a squash blossom necklace.

My mom fell inlove with the black pottery of Maria Martinez

Georgia O'Keefe

2010-12-29T21:29:00.000-08:00

Jerry Wrightmas did a lecture today on Art and Architecture of New Mexico centering on Georgia O'Keefe.

O'Keefe first came to New Mexico and stayed with a crazy lady Mable Dodge Luhan. She moves to New Mexico permanently in 1949. She doesn't put people in the lanscape but she does anthropormize the landscape. The lanscape is sensual but with O'Keefe sensual and sexual get confused.

Some things he touched on but I need to research

Taos Society of Art
American Modernism
the Stieglitz Circle

Artists come to New Mexico because of health, light, expanse and the idea of breaking away fromt the European Tradition,

The were believers in Thoreau and Whitman and their ideas about the transcendental quality of nature.

O'Keefe works with the V shape and the spiral. She also reads Kadinsky about the spiritual quality of art. Her work references music. With the advent of photography it was imperative to put emotion into paintings. But she takes from photography ideas of abstraction and framing.

Stieglitz photos of O'Keefe always emphasize her hands. Often he puts her infront of her paintings. He cultivates an image for her.

Gallery 291 (I need to figure out who they are)

Arthur Dove (I need to look into him)

O'Keefe is Stieglitz's woman child.

I love her New York paintings. She does some paintings in Lake George but misses the west.

She is friends with Ansel Adams.

F64 - Ansel Adams photo group in San Francisco

Santa Fe

2010-12-28T20:58:00.000-08:00

I'm on an Elderhostel went to two courses today one about a woman named connie that built her own adobe and one about the literature of the Southwest. In the afternoon we went down to Santa Fe and I drew a little.

Here are some things I heard about that today in fragments and my attempt to figure out who are what they were

"Michael" a poem by Wordsworth

William Wordsworth's "Michael" is a narrative, pastoral poem with 484 unrimed lines. The speaker's purpose is to praise the rural life, lived close to nature.
Adventure in the Unknown Interior of America

Rhetoric of Empire
The white man's burden, darkest Africa, the seduction of the primitive: such phrases were widespread in the language Western empires used to talk about their colonial enterprises. How this language itself served imperial purposes--and how it survives today in writing about the Third World--are the subject of David Spurr's book, a revealing account of the rhetorical strategies that have defined Western thinking about the non-Western world.Despite historical differences among British, French, and American versions of colonialism, their rhetoric had much in common. The Rhetoric of Empire identifies these shared features—images, figures of speech, and characteristic lines of argument—and explores them in a wide variety of sources. A former correspondent for the United Press International, the author is equally at home with journalism or critical theory, travel writing or official documents, and his discussion is remarkably comprehensive. Ranging from T. E. Lawrence and Isak Dineson to Hemingway and Naipaul, from Time and the New Yorker to the National Geographic and Le Monde, from journalists such as Didion and Sontag to colonial administrators such as Frederick Lugard and Albert Sarraut, this analysis suggests the degree to which certain rhetorical tactics penetrate the popular as well as official colonial and postcolonial discourse. Finally, Spurr considers the question: Can the language itself—and with it, Western forms of interpretation--be freed of the exercise of colonial power? This ambitious book is an answer of sorts. By exposing the rhetoric of empire, Spurr begins to loosen its hold over discourse about—and between—different cultures.

a potter named Maria Martinez
Maria Montoya Martinez (1881 in San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico – July 20, 1980 in San Ildefonso Pueblo, New Mexico) was a Native American artist who created internationally known pottery. Martinez (born Maria Antonia Montoya), her husband Julian, and other family members examined traditional Pueblo pottery styles and techniques to create pieces which reflect the Pueblo people’s legacy of fine artwork and crafts.

Momaday
Navarre Scott Momaday (born February 27, 1934) is a Kiowa-Cherokee writer from Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona.Momaday's novel House Made of Dawn led to the breakthrough of Native American literature into the mainstream. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1969.

Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1822 by William Becknell, it served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880. At first an international trade route between the United States and Mexico, it was the 1846 U.S. invasion route of New Mexico during the Mexican–American War.
Treaty of Guadeloupe Hildago

Lew Wallace

Lewis "Lew" Wallace (April 10, 1827 – February 15, 1905) was a lawyer, governor, Union geral in the American Civil War, American statesman and author, best remembered for his historical novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

D.H. Lawrence in Taos

Harvey Girls
In 1883, unhappy with his customers' deplorable behavior toward his predominantly black service staff (who often carried firearms to protect themselves) and the business it cost him, Harvey implemented a policy of hiring only female waitresses. He sought out single, well-mannered, and educated ladies, and placed ads in newspapers throughout the east coast and midwest for "young women, 18 to 30 years of age, of good character, attractive and intelligent".

Sisters of Chairy

Chatauqua Movement

The Woman at Ottewi Crossing

History of Witchcraft in the Southwest

Turquoise Trail

Fashioning Fashion at LACMA

2010-12-19T20:29:00.000-08:00

Saw this exhibit today at LACMA. It was very beautiful. I am going back to draw in detail. I will add a few quick sketches to this post I did there. It's amazing how much architecture there is in clothing and how some silhouettes recall famous movies to me like: Gone With the Wind, Wuthering Heights, Little Women

This cloat reminds me of Wuthering Heights.

This reminds me of Sarah Bernhardt after being on stage.

This reminds me of the Gibson Girls.

Gladiator Workshop - Karl Gnass - "Try Something that Turns Your Fork into Chopsticks"

2010-12-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

Linda and I went to Karl Gnass's Gladiator workshop again this year. I can't believe a whole year has passed. I felt like he talked about different things this year the last year. I will have to check my notes maybe I just didn't remember what he said last year.

This is a work sheet he handed out in class. He really stressed drawing the two figures as one. Not doing them as cookies on a sheet.

Here are my notes:

Drawing 2 figures doesn't mean they are separate. You need to think about them as if they are one. Don't Figure one figure out and then the next - they need to integrate. Integratre lines of action. Integrate lone lines of expression. You need to draw energy. You need to figure out what the story is.

Relationship! Feeling! Synergy! Think about the point counterpoint. Ask yourself what the story is. Axis. Revolving. Ask yourself what is going on.

What is your point of view? What is the mood? What is the style?

We don't want decals. What are these gladiators telling me? What do they want to express?

Don't get lost in the buckles and rivets. If you start figure out the buckles and rivets too soon you are lost. Indicate the story elements. Because without the story we miss the boat. You need a good concise story. Try not to be subtroverted too fast. Think about composition. Break apart you habitual procedures. Try something that turns your fork into chopsticks!

Think : up-down, left-right, forward-back. If one head is tipped toward maybe the other is tipped away. Remember to create out of your head and not to rely totally on the model. Open up your imagination. Need to know the two figures are responding to each others' moves. You are not obliged to repeat what you see.

Remember a battle is more about strategy than swords clanking.

Remember to take care of the ground plane and really decide where the legs are going to be.

Don't get lost in swords and rivets - but remember hands and feet can be very important. Draw what they are wearing as it relates on figure to another.

Simple Shapes. Simple ideas. Rendering is not the story. Grapple with long lines and how they relate to each other.

Think of Cezanne as he considered the whole picture. He did not just place objects.

Everything is related to the frame. A cookie sheet is more interesting if one cookie has a bite taken out of it.

In Western Art we enter the frame from the lower left. Large against small is another strategy. One is responsible for every square inch in a picture not just the subject.

There is music in the visual experience. Nothing is accidental. Every mark has a reason. Finally, it is about orchestrating a whole movement. Once you put your figures in a frame every quadrant is important. Good design is important - but good design doesn't necessarily tell a story. Good design strikes the eye. Good design doesn't mean there is a pay off.

A picture wants a graphic sense and a pay off. The impressionists did that.

In a picture with borders every quadrant is important so every shape is important. Shape, Color and Intensity all play a role in pcitures. Shapes have angle of force. Every mark you put down effects in some way.

Every mark is a player.

Last Head Drawings

2010-12-18T07:53:00.000-08:00

These are the drawings I did the last two weeks in Glen's Class. I have signed up to take it again. I think I will take it four times and then make an assessment about what else I want to do. Glen is so positive and is filled with so much information that I feel like I could learn so much from him. My main problem is I don't practice enough and that I am so tired in the class. The first five weeks of the class I felt like I couldn't even hold my arm up to the paper because I was working right up to class time on Saturday and then after class was over on Saturday night. But in the end I know it was worth it because I keep drawing.

I went out grocery shopping today and it was misty and gray and so beautiful. I felt like I wish i could capture this. I wish I could paint this or draw this. So I will continue in my journey and I hope in the new year I wont be quite so tired,

This is Glenn's correction of my drawing.

This is my drawing with out corrections.

This is my last drawing which I am really pleased with. I can't believe that it came out of me.

Scott McCloud Workshop - "We are story seeking animals"

2010-12-15T18:27:00.000-08:00

Scott McCloud Workshop

I read Understanding Comics at the recommendation of Marshall Vandruff. I thought it was amazing that's why I signed up for Scott McCloud's workshop at LAAFA last weekend.

My notes:

"At Pixar for a movie first they create the world - then the character - and lastly the story. They say it is important to fail as soon as possible.

Comics are about choices:

1) Choice of Moment
2) Choice of Frame
3) Choice of Image
4) Choice of Word
5) Choice of Flow

A comic page is a landscape of time. There is something to see in the panels and something to see inbetween the panels.

You can take two disparate images and find a connection.
A reader want to find stories. We are story seeking animals. It's not what is in the panels but the context. Your medium is the knowledge and expectations of the viewers. When you read a comic you never see how many panels were edited out.

1) Moment to Moment
2) Action to Action
3) Subject to Subject
4) Aspectto Aspect (wandering camera)
5) Non sequitor

Choice of Frame
- zoom in sometimes
- zoom out and find out where we are
- we need to figure out scake
- You can establish by a few fragmentary shots
-superhero comics have an addiction to the close up. Don't be addicted to the close up. A sense of place is important. But people don't want to pull back because if you pull back you might have to draw stuff. There is a power of the close up next to an eastablishing shot.

Many European comics have a sense of world building. Comic frame has a sense of focus. A close up can stop the reader. Many American comics come out of a vauldeville tradition and feel like they are on stage. There is a power of change but you need non change to show change.

Choice of Image

Context helps us understand a drawing. Clarity is what it is all about. Clarity vs. Intensuty. How you present the work. We are human beings and we expect a protagonist.

This is a short comic I did at Scott McCloud's workshop. A comic based on the word zipper.

A 16 panel account of my life.

Comics -

Moment, Frame, Image, Word, Flow

Creating characters mean creating human being on the page

The knowledge and expectation of the reader helps tell the story. It takes very little to tell a story. There is a willingness in the audience to work with you. You can trigger recognition. Some recognition is learned and some recognition is hard wired. Cartooning is amplification through simplification. In cartooning there is a tremendous differences between character. We find joy in the differences.

One assignment at the Center for Cartoon Studies is to draw 100 characters.

Something that helps is to base characters on animals.

The Fantastic Four is based on elements of the chinese Zodiac.

Some characterics can be based on Joseph Campbells archetypes or Carl Jung - intuiution, thinking, feeling, sensation. The characters should feel like the have different hearts.

DESIRE

Desire is a vital substance of story.

Desire can be fufilled, transformed, denied. "All characters should want something even if it's a glass of water" - Vonnegut

Most stories don't go from birth to death but instead they are a gestation of desire.

FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

semiotics of 6 emotions: anger disgust, sad, surprise, terror and joy (these are the emotional primaries)

Look at grimace-project.net

Emotional Primaries tend to be symmetrical.

Artists Guide to Complete Facial Expressions

Scott's recommendations:

Parrallelogram's Revenge

Scott Pilgrim

Save the Cat

Lone Wolf and Cub
Tin TIn

Brian Biggs

Mobius

Sean Tan - "Arrival"

Craig Russell

Flood

Theodor Clijsters

Head Drawing

2010-11-14T14:53:00.001-08:00

Felt good about this head drawing I did last night. I fell asleep right before I was supposed to leave for class so I missed the five 5 minute poses and the lesson but I got there in time for the demo and the long pose.

Turkish Delights

2010-11-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

I felt good about my drawings for the first time in a while at the "Turkish Delights III: Sahara Nights" night at the Gallery Girls.

Burlesque Poses

2010-11-11T19:05:00.001-08:00

I have lost a lot of my drawing skills because of lack of practice and the stress of the lost few months but I am trying again. These poses are from a day long session of Burlesque poses at the Kline Academy.

Head Drawing

2010-10-31T17:01:00.001-07:00

Glen was sick and Mark Schwartz was our head drawing teacher. I liked him a lot. Here are his corrections of my drawing. Here is my drawing.