Monthly Archives: May 2009

Figure Drawing Rained Out

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Dynamic Virtual Poses from Posemaniac

Dynamic Virtual Poses from Posemaniac

Did I mention that I am usually on a motorcycle.  We have had 17 straight days of rain!  That makes it very difficult to get the art supplies from home to the group studio!  Exclamation!  Fortunately, we have these here interwebs.  There is a site that I have recently been playing around with called Posemaniacs.  It’s in Chinese, but google translater will fix that for you if needs be.  There may actually be an English version of it somewhere, but this one works fine for me.  Anyway, as you can see they have male and female muscular figures in 19,440 poses.  You can set a timer and let them rotate through a random slide show at set intervals.  If you see one you like, you can view it statically with the pose viewer.  I have been setting it for 30 seconds and doing ten minute drills.  This is exactly the kind of practice I need for my field sketching.

EDM 117
Dynamic Virtual Poses from Posemaniac
EDM 117

EDM 117: Draw hair or something hairy

EDM 117, draw hair or something hairy.  Recently, preparations have been in process for my 20th high school reunion.  I have been poring over old photographs and sharing stories with my family.  Mostly, I have been posting embarrassing pix to Facebook.  I graduated in the 80’s so there are TONS of pictures of mullets and bangs.  Guys and girls alike would go through a can of Aquanet every week.

I Love a Parade

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Girl2 parading with her “drums”
The watercolor on the Mini Sketch Kit
I love a parade

Yay!  It’s a parade in my house!  This weeks theme for Illustration Friday is a Parade.  So I gave Girl2 some pots and pans and asked her to march up and down the hallway banging the “drums.” It took my beautiful young bride 20 minutes after to get the drums away from her and get her calmed back down for her bath.  But dang she had fun parading up and down the hall way.

EDM 116: Draw something round

EDM 116: Draw something round

EDM 116, draw something round, I immediately started singing “Like a Re-ed Rubber Ball…”  Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) that’s all the words I know.  If only I knew where I could find a round ball.  Having a three year old around once again pays off.

Making Your Mark

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makingmarksThis may come as a shock to some of you, but there is more than just one way to make a mark.  My trip to the OKC Zoo on Saturday had me trying out a Faber Castell pen.  I found it to be “scratchy” and lacking the ability to lay down a dynamic line.  But, sometimes that’s exactly what you’re looking for.  In comic illustration, for instance, that is exactly the kind of thing they want for outlining and hatching superheroes going “Ker-Pow!”

elephantI prefer the flexible nib of the brush pen, or even just a brush, because I rely heavily on the fluidity of the line to give me the shapes I am looking for.  Perhaps with more training and patience I will come to appreciate more the finer tipped pens.

A lot of times, however, I want to use watercolors to sketch with.  As a child of the 70’s and 80’s, my work is HEAVILY influenced by the artists with their ink and wash sketches, particularly those found in Highlights magazine.  Often, I don’t think a watercolor is complete until you have the shapes outlined.  For that you either need to sketch with the paint first and wait for it to dry before attempting to outline, or you need a waterproof ink.   The Faber Castell did outstanding in that area.  Better even than a sharpie, and those are supposed to be “permanent”.

Many people like to lay down the initial sketches with a graphite pencil.  I never liked that because the wax always seemed to show through in my finished product.  That is until I discovered watercolor pencils and watersoluble graphite.  These are great for laying down quick lines and then painting them away with your wash.  Of course, the downside is that they wash away when you need the outline. Or they’re gone with the first wash and you don’t have the marks to show your value map.  Again, I’m sure this is something that comes with practice.

21apr09iiI have been experimenting in my figure drawing group.  I started with oil pastels and have now tried them, charcoal, and a china marker.  So far, I like the china marker most.  It gives me a rich, dark line that I can vary with pressure, and I can go very light to get grayscales.  Plus it takes me back to pre-school and drawing with my crayons.

This week, I challenge you to experiment making marks with tools you wouldn’t normally choose.  If you normally use pencil, try pen and see what it’s like without the net of being able to erase.  If you normally use pen, try chalk or pastel and see what it’s like not being able to feel the paper as you mark.  And if you can’t really find anything you’ve not tried before, you can always break out your crayons.  And after, have a snack and a nap.

EDM 115: Draw something Green

EDM 115: Draw something Green

For the EDM 115, draw something green, I really had to think.  How do you make something look green when you are only drawing in graphite?  Of course the obvious answer is to draw something everyone knows is green like a plant, a shamrock, or *Maureen O’Hara’s gorgeous eyes.  I looked around and I found something that if you know what it is, you’ll definitely recognize as green.  If not, you’ll have to ask you friends who drink.

*Maureen O’Hara is the only woman who even comes close to competing with beauty of my bride.

Weekly Roundup 10MAY2009

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EDM 114: Draw a shopping cart or basket
EDM 114: Draw a shopping cart or basket

Or, A Good Excuse to Sleep In…

Wow, another week in the tubes here at The Artistic Biker.  I picked up quite a few subscribers this week, mostly through Twitter.   If you are not a twit who tweets on twitter, you are just not hip.  Of course, I don’t think hip people say “hip” anymore.  Mostly that’s because these younger cats aren’t cool enough to pull it off.

To those of you who saw the super-secret thank you page buy following the “donate” link, I can’t thank you enough and I am very glad to know that you are enjoying it.

Monday Discovery

Pushing the Darks!

This week’s Monday Discovery, I published a lovely letter from Jeanette Jobson congratulating me on my new site and giving me some valuable constructive criticism to help me continue to improve.  I also coaxed a lesson out of my beautiful young bride, the art teacher, on emphasizing depth with shading by Pushing the Darks.

…My DH (Dear Husband) has a habit of getting the basic shapes down and then making up the shading as he goes along, never looking at the object again. The artist in me says, “Wow, cool!” The teacher in me screams, “Wrong, do it again!” (Just like Pink Floyd.)…

Tuesday’s Challenge:
Hierarchy of Love

Meeting Illustration Friday’s theme for the week, I posted The Hierarchy of Love.  This challenge inspired a ton of other ideas I hope to be sharing with you over the next few months!

…If you stick around this site long enough, you will hear (read) me go on and on about love. Brought up by hippie-wanna-be parents in the ’70’s I was || close to being named Starshine…

Wednesday Figure Drawing
Oklahoma City Colored Pencil Society

No, the OKC Colored Pencil Society of America did not have figure drawing.  I normally meet my figure drawing group on Tuesdays and tell you about it on Wednesday.  However, on the last Tuesday of the month, the OKC CPSA meets and I go there instead.

…We watched a video demonstration on layering and using watercolor pencils to lay down a base wash. I thought that violated the rules, but hey, I’m all for that anyway…

Thursday’s Net Challenge:
Colored Pencil Challenge

Inspired by the meeting of the OKC CPSA, I looked into a colored pencil challenge for the month of May over at Wet Canvas.  I found a neato photo reference of an old truck headlight.  I thought I might work that up large scale and post it as a WIP.

…take some time with this one and post my *WIPs as I go along. Maybe I’ll
even get it done by the end of the month deadline…

Friday Critique:
A Budding Young Artiste

For Friday’s Critique, I shared with you some of Girl2’s recent works.  She’s quite the painter for 3.

…Yes, it’s evident that she is well on her way to being the ballerina,astronaut, veterinarian, biker, artiste, queen that she is destined to become.  I wouldn’t mind applying for that job myself…

Saturday’s Sketchbook:
Saturday Sketches

My little family and I took a trip to the OKC Zoo on Saturday.  We had a great time and even got to wear Girl2 out on the paddle boats.  We closed the place down like college kids on a pubcrawl!  Also posted EDM 13: draw something ugly that you love.

…Take for instance a nasty, greasy, old, chicken leg fried in week old
shortening… with a tasty batter of 11 secret herbs and spices cooked to sweet and salty perfectio…

Weekly Mailbag

Last week I posted an open invitation to participate on Friday’s Critiques.  I have one opening left for May if someone is interested in meeting me online for a chat about it, please contact me.

I sent an email to Jeff of http://jeffknecht.com, inviting him to participate in Friday’s Critiques.  Here is how he responded:

Jonathan/Blade:

Thanks for sending me this note.  Sorry I haven’t responded sooner — I’ve been swamped with work and home projects the past couple of weeks and am just now getting caught up on my email.  Also, I wanted to give your proposal the thought it deserves.

So, yes, I would be very interested in sharing critiques and experiences.

How would you like to do this?  Do you just want to point me to a few specific drawings on your blog?  Do you want to send them over email?  Something like gotomeeting.com?  Some sort of conference call?

Of course, I would like your feedback too — though, I’ve got to get my stuff out and actually DRAW something for you to look at
:)

Anyway, let me know what you’ve got in mind.  Hopefully, we’ll both get something out of it.  If nothing else, it should force me to get off my duff and draw a little more often.

Thanks again for getting in touch.  I really look forward to continuing the conversation.

Jeff

After a few more notes back and forth we finally decided on a forum, but the timing was a bit difficult.  He posted about this on his blog.

We ended up meeting online this morning at 10:30am.  We had a GREAT chat and critique.  We are working out the editing and we will both be posting part of a two part chat session some time this week.  With any luck, it’ll be in time for Friday’s Critiques seeing as how that’s what it was meant for in the first place.
;)

Saturday Sketches 09MAY09

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zoo09may09cheetahsThe girls and I loaded up and went to the Zoo today.  We got there around 12:30pm and closed the place down! (7pm).  A biologist, an art teacher, and a three year old at the zoo together is ALWAYS an all day affair.  Not only that, but we didn’t even make it through the whole zoo.  I did manage to grab a couple of quick sketches of some cheetahs and other wild animals.  I am always amazed by the sketches of crowds that contain details of all the people walking up and down a busy street or mall.  I desperately need to get quicker because the animals and random people won’t sit still for me.

zoo09may09wyldonesI also decided today would be a good day to try out my new pen.  It is a Faber-Castell PITT artist pen extra fine.  I’m not sure I like the way it “scratches” on the paper, and it is stiff so it doesn’t lay down a dynamic line at all.  However, it’s waterproof and makes some beautiful, smooth, dark lines.  I may set it aside for illustration outline.  It seems well suited for that, but I’m not so hip on using it to sketch.  I’ll try again before making that decision.  I was really missing my brush pen today, even though it’s not waterproof.  I was trying to be frugal in what I was going to have to tote around.  We ended up renting a stroller while there and I didn’t have to carry everything anyway.  Before long, I’m going to have to carry a full rucksack of art supplies just to go to the park.

edm113uglythatyoulove

EDM 113: Draw something ugly that you love

EDM challenge 113, draw something ugly that you love.  That’s a really tough one for me because when you look at things through the eyes of love, they become beautiful.  Take for instance a nasty, greasy, old, chicken leg fried in week old shortening… with a tasty batter of 11 secret herbs and spices cooked to sweet and salty perfectio…

“Dear Diet,

I know you saw me with that chicken leg the other day.  It’s not what you think.  Someone left that chicken leg out and I was just keeping it company until it could get a ride somewhere.  Honest, Diet, nothing happened.  And I was drunk anyway and wasn’t fully in control.  Oh Diet, you have to know that fried chicken leg meant nothing to me.  You know I only love you, Diet.  Please forgive me.

Blade”