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!
When it comes to activities like painting or writing, being interrupted every few minutes is kind of infuriating. There is something beautiful about the creative process and getting into “the zone”, but if you’re like me, the big blocks of time are limited. What I do have, though, is loads of little bits of time. I have started using those little bits for simple exercises. First one?
Blobby Body Manequins!
Yes, there is probably a more eloquent way to express what I’m doing, but it sure as heck won’t be as fun as yelling BLOBBY BODY MANEQUINS!
In an effort to train myself to draw from memory, I’m… dun dun dun… drawing from memory. These little sketchy guys below are all about trying to understand the body posture, weight distribution etc. You can see that the earlier ones the weight is way too much to the back of the figure. I’ve been gradually bringing the weight forward, but I’m not quite there yet. How the body moves is a subtle thing with lots of little moving parts.
Heck, I HAVE a body. I move it ALL THE TIME. Surely I know how it all works?
Ha. ha. ha.
Ocasionally I will do the movement myself, and then get back and try to draw it. What I won’t do is look at actual reference for this. This is all about translating what I know into a visual form. In theory, I understand how it should look.
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.
Acton Art 