Mini Seascape Painting #3

Posted on by amandaacton

Here we are with my third Seascape! This time we’ve got stormy skies and a calm lapping of the shore.

Sorry. No progress photos. Which, by now is getting downright embarrassing. I will do better next time. I promise!

As always, if you like what you see and would love to support me further, please check out my Etsy and Redbubble stores. 🙂 Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/AmandaActonArt?ref=seller-platform-mcnavRedbubble: AmandaActon.redbubble.com

Poem: A Spell for Self-Love

Posted on by amandaacton

Rose quartz and Daffodils, candles and self,

under the moonlight I gather my spell.

A bond once filled with emotional health

has been reduced to a torturous hell.  

I hug myself. From my heart I thaw frost

(and cradle the broken pieces with care) 

Rewrite history to salvage the lost

and capture my love in a well laid snare.

Oh Goddess I lay bare my intentions,

I assure you they are nothing but pure

I’d appreciate your interventions,

To help me stop feeling so insecure.

Undo the heartache, painful and tragic,

Renew self-love with this act of magic.

Alice in Wonderland: Initial Sketches

Posted on by amandaacton
When I started my Alice in Wonderland painting, I had three goals in mind. I wanted it to be vibrant. I wanted it to be busy, but mostly, I wanted it to be mine. I didn’t want my painting to be another iteration of Disney’s Alice (a glorious Alice at that) and in order to steer clear of those prominent influences, I had a few choices to make:
 
 
First, I read the book. Surprisingly this was something I had never actually done before and as a writer, well… guys, this story has no beginning, middle, nor end. It is a psychedelic stream of consciousness told through a series of puns (many of which I likely missed due to time period differences and whatnot.)
 
 
But as an artist? It’s a candy-bowl full of visual delights!
 
 
The first thing I decided to do was focus on the animals. The book has A LOT of animals. If an animal exists, Alice probably had a chat with it. I considered the human characters, but ultimately decided that I wasn’t up for the challenge of trying to better Disney on those. It is close to impossible for me to think about the Queen of Hearts and NOT see a tiny lady with a giant head. Animals would also much better fit my desire for something bright and lighthearted.
 
 
I knew I wanted to have Alice in the middle with rose bushes and animals around her.
 
 
My first thumbnail had her looking timid and scared, but the Alice in the books is never frightened.
 
 
 
My second attempt is better, but her expression still isn’t right. She’s not scared anymore. She looks like she’s in awe of Wonderland. Which, once again, she isn’t’. Mostly Alice waltzes around Wonderland trading snarky comments with everyone she meets. I did like the positioning of this thumbnail however and used it to further plot everything else.
 
 
 
 
 
I tried a couple of poses with Alice before coming to the one I liked. At first, she still has too much of the awe/scared thing going.
 
 
 
 
Finally I clue in to the fact that I need her cheeky. Sassy. Shes confident and strong and none of my previous attempts were carrying that message at all. Behold, the final Alice:
 
 
 
 
 
I did some quick sketches to figure out my version of the Cheshire cat and some studies of a few other bits and pieces, but that was pretty much it. My preparation for Alice was a lot of thinking and three pages of scribbling.
 
 
 
 
Next up: The Complete Sketch

Behind the Scenes

Posted on by amandaacton

I’m just in with a quick update on the things I’ve been busy with, primarily in the vein of “how not to do things!”

I am excitably working toward a tutorial series on concrete sculpture, but to do that, I first need to remember how to do it properly.  Aha! Also, I need to work out the intricacies of recording process. I’m having some success on that front, but also plently of failures. I’m learning how to edit video. Next on the list will be audio.

In the meantime, I am getting plenty of “What not to do” footage and it will totally add to the  completeness of the series so we can pretend I did it on purpose. 😉

A quick, visual journey of my activities:

 

Let us begin with a snapshot from the art of plaster moulds:

 

 

Hark! A tub of curing concrete scuplts! Note all the bugs and leaves that have fallen in. Also the strange surface floaty bits that I have, without any scientific backing whatsoever, decided must be related to the petroleum jelly used as a release agent. I am probably wrong.

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This, a small concrete sculpture that broke on demoulding because I got the cement to aggregate ratio wrong.  Ah, relearning you old fiend!

 

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And this, a giant pile of clay scraped from the depths of this one piece mould that really would work better as a two piece mould, but here we are!

 

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And Finally, a lovely demonstration of myself working on the part of the sculpture that’s facing AWAY from the camera. Also see: Wobble because I’m hitting the charging cable.

 

Another MerMay! Another Video!

Posted on by amandaacton

 

Here is MerMay number 6! I went with a barnacle and seaweed look for this Mermaid. I rather like the barnacles and think I will explore them further throughout Mermay.

Video wise I have mostly removed the wobble. Except for that time I hit my phone with my shoulder… 😛 There is a small bit of sketch lost on the top of the screen which I do need to address, but otherwise I am pretty happy with my “making videos for YouTube” progress.

I hope you enjoy and Let me know what you think! 🙂

 

 

 

I have a YouTube Channel!

Posted on by amandaacton

 

I have very recently been diving head first into recording process videos for my art and dun dun dun… Here is the very first video up on YouTube!

I do still have a bunch of kinks to iron out. Mostly this is related to just getting the camera angle right/minimising wobble etc.  And should be relatively easy fixes… should be…

But for now, here is the video, wobble and weird angles included, of a charcoal sketch for MerMay2018!

Please let me know what you think, and if you have any advice for recording large, easel based works, I am all eyes!

 

Magpies, Magpies Everywhere!

Posted on by amandaacton

This week I found myself diving head first back into Magpie studies. See, I was busy with the Magpie/ Master copy mashup homework for Magic Box and I realised that I really don’t have a solid understanding of Magpie anatomy.

And I know… I know, Chris was all, this is a painting course, don’t get too hung up on the drawing… but I’m going to get hung up on the drawing. I thought I wasn’t going to, and then I had a solid heart to heart with myself about the issue and decided, yes, yes I shall get hung up on the drawing. I have two super duper points on the matter too.

Point Number One: There is no rush. I have no deadlines. As much as I have this horrible voice in my head that likes to yell about how I have no time and RAH RAH RAH… I do. I can take my time with this. It’s okay.

Point Number Two: Habits. I want to build solid painting habits. Habits where I start the painting right, where I put all the effort in that I need to. And solid painting habits involve proper prep. They involve proper understanding of the things you’re painting. Winding back and getting a strong foundation for this painting is a GOOD THING.

So what is a girl to do when she’s struggling with her painting subject? MORE STUDIES! Which I did, but also SCULPTURE!

This is something that I’ve picked up from reading James Gurneys’ Imaginative Realism. Struggling with the pose of the character and can’t find a solid reference? MAKE ONE!

So I did. With colourful Sculpey because I have a box of random squares of colourful sculpey.

Come on Magpie Painting! Lets Do this!

 

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Colour Comps and Lasso Tools

Posted on by amandaacton

This week I have been busy with the first bit of homework for the Magic Box course over at The Oatley Academy. Its a self guided course in all things digital painting. I’ve been meaning to do it for a while now and have finally had the chance to dive in.  My brain is fried and I’m only on module 1!

But it has been awesome. It’s helping me with figuring out how to use reference effectively, how to plan a painting and specifically, how to create colour comps with a soft gradient.  Random side note, in all three years of Fine Arts studies, not one lecturer actually broke down how to PLAN a painting. Isn’t that crazy? How did I go through three years of Art Study and never do colour comps? HOW?!

Mind.

Boggling.

Alas.

 

I’m begining to feel way more comfortable with the Gradient and Lasso tools than I did at the start of this week and I’m really starting to enjoy the effects I can create with them. Here are the results of my learning:

 

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Next up, Brush techniques!