RIP James C. Christensen

I'd like to acknowledge the passing yesterday of artist and teacher James Christensen (1942 – Jan. 8, 2017), who created images of myth and magic that were infused with meaning. I met him several times in early 1990s, and he was a pioneer of bringing fantasy art to a mainstream audience.

He wrote: “Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.” —A Journey of the Imagination: The Art of James Christensen

Casein in International Artist Magazine

The new Feb/March 2017 issue of International Artist magazine has an article on casein painting with facsimile pages from my sketchbook reproduced nearly full size.

It also includes the following answers to frequently asked questions:

CAN YOU VARNISH CASEIN?
Yes, but first it’s worth considering leaving the casein unvarnished. The matte surface can be very attractive, and it photographs well. The value range can be extended in Photoshop after it’s shot. You can also buff the surface with a T-shirt to give it semi-gloss. For a shinier surface and deeper darks, there are two choices. First is the liquid varnish, applied with a brush. Wait at least a week or two before varnishing. Brush it on lightly to avoid disturbing the dry paint.

A spray varnish can also work. Both brush-on and spray-on varnishes require several coats because they tend to soak into the surface, especially if the painting is done on absorbent paper or illustration board. For those substrates, it can take over four coats before you start seeing much gloss or darkening of the darks. A surface primed at the beginning with gesso, or a thick layer of casein that fills the paper’s pores allows the varnish to float on the surface more.

HOW FAST DOES CASEIN DRY?
Drying time depends on the heat and humidity, as with other water media such as acrylic and gouache. It will dry to the touch anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or so. You can slow the drying time of the paint blobs on the palette by squeezing out the tubes on damp paper towels. A spritz of water from a spray bottle can also keep it alive a little longer. Casein is unusual in that the proteins in the milk emulsion continue to strengthen after the paint has dried to the touch. So after a few days or weeks, the paint will be more durable than paint that has just dried.

PRO TIP:  GETTING THE FEEL OF CASEIN
Casein can be used semitransparently, but it has great opacity when you need it. The paint has a unique, unforgettable aroma. The milk-based binder seals each layer enough so that the paint won’t reactivate with later application. The paint dries to an attractive matte surface that photographs very well, particularly in saturated tints, which is one of the reasons it was so popular with early illustrators.

The issue has features on Linda Gendall, Geoffrey Johnson, Mark Harrison, Robert Brindley, Jacqui Grantford, David Kitler, Amanda Hyatt, and Tiziana Ciaghi.

Links and resources

"Casein Painting in the Wild"
HD Digital download on Gumroad (Credit cards)
HD Digital download on Sellfy (Paypal) Buy now
DVD at Kunaki (ships worldwide) or Amazon
Casein Explorers Pack (12) (A good introductory palette that gives you pretty wide gamut.)
Casein 6 Pack (On its own, it's a rather muted palette. It makes a good supplement to the 12 pack.)
Casein 6-pack with travel brush set (Same set as above with the short-handled set).

Linkology 
Instagram @jamesgurneyart
Twitter @GurneyJourney
Facebook JamesMGurney
iOS app GurneyJourney Blog
Pinterest GurneyJourney

YouTube GurneyJourney

X-ray video technology

Using a combination of X-ray video, motion control tracking, and computer graphics, scientists are able to show what goes on inside animals while they're moving.

Frames from an XROMM made by Jonas Lauströer.

Above are stills of a chihuahua's forelimb movement, with the scapula rendered in red.



Wired recently shared a video of a pig eating, which you can see at this link.

Via Research Gate

This video shows the biomechanics of a guinea fowl walking (Link to video). Knowing more about these movements can help us back-construct a dinosaur's movements based on trackways.

The study of fish using this technique has shown that the skull bones are loose jointed. Also, the powerful body muscles thought to be needed mainly for swimming also serve to aid the fish in suction feeding. Fish need to gulp a large volume of water in order to bring prey into their mouths, and scientists didn't fully appreciate this until seeing the videos.

Collection of Animation Reference Stills

A treasure trove of animation images is available at the Flickr Sets of Animation Resources. The sets are comprised of screen grabs from the Golden Age of Animation, primarily from the 1930s and '40s.

There are sets of walk and run cycles, such as this one from the Disney's 1933 Silly Symphony "Three Little Pigs." 

Special effects sequences are broken down frame by frame so that you can study them in detail.

You'll find well known characters such as Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny, and also lesser known characters.

The sets also include cartoon-head-turn sequences, Muybridge photos, pencil tests, dance reference, lip synch reference, animation backgrounds, and exposure sheets. Many of the sets are identified by the name of the animator who did them. These would be inspiring not only for animators, but also for character designers, illustrators, and lowbrow surrealists.

Animation Resources Flickr Sets of Stills
Animation Resources also has an Instagram feed where they show a short animation clip and then play it slowed way down so that you can analyze it.

Remote Cast Shadows

How do cast shadows change when the object casting them gets farther away?



In this video, you can see how the shadows get blurrier as the branches move progressively farther away. The clip is an excerpt from my Gumroad tutorial "How I Paint Dinosaurs."

In any real forest setting, shadows are cast from branches that are a variety of sizes and distances from the dinosaur. Using a scale maquette of both the dinosaur and the branches is particularly useful for reference, because the lighting effect scales up proportionally.

If you're getting this post by email, you might need to follow this link to see the video.

Equipment shown:
Matthews C Stand (Century Stand)
Extension grip arm



Previous posts about cast shadows
Casting long shadows to suggest ground contours
Cast shadows, part 1
Cast shadows, part 2
Chromatic shadows
Dappled light

Links to my other social channels 
iOS app GurneyJourney Blog
Instagram @jamesgurneyart
Twitter @GurneyJourney
Facebook JamesMGurney
Pinterest GurneyJourney
YouTube GurneyJourney
Gouache in the Wild Tutorial

Boss Cat

My friend's rescue-cat Ralphie lost an eye and broke his jaw when he tangled with a car....but don't feel sorry for him.

He's the toughest cat in town. All the other cats—and even the dogs—are terrified of him, and he'll grab the brisket off table if you turn your back for a second.

Oil change. Let's paint!

We're stuck for an hour and a half in the waiting room of the tire place while the car gets an oil change and a tire rotation. The icy rain is coming down on the remnants of snow.

Oil Change, gouache, 5 x 8 inches.

Luckily I have a few tubes of gouache. I choose Prussian blue, perylene maroon, cadmium yellow deep, and white. I'm painting over a page primed with a violet-gray layer of casein. That color becomes the basic tone of the outside scene.

The indoor scene is a study in warm and cool—cool on the horizontal planes that catch cool light from outdoors, and warm on the vertical planes facing into the room.



The video shows the process. If you're getting this post by email, you might need to follow this link to see the video.

Previous posts about sketching while waiting
Strange light at the tire place
While waiting for tires
Waiting room
Car dealership
Mud puddle outside the car mechanic
Amtrak station

Links to my other social channels 
iOS app GurneyJourney Blog
Instagram @jamesgurneyart
Twitter @GurneyJourney
Facebook JamesMGurney
Pinterest GurneyJourney
YouTube GurneyJourney
Gouache in the Wild Tutorial

Blended Faces--Marilyn to Elvis

Here's a series of faces morphing from Marilyn to Elvis. As you look through them, at what point does one become the other? What happens to your brain when the switch happens?
----
Source

Book Review: Mad Art of Caricature

The art of caricature may seem like something you either have a knack for, or you don't. But if you have a desire to learn, you can get good at it. There just needs to be a book that lays out the expert knowledge behind the art.

Tom Richmond has written just that book, called The Mad Art of Caricature!: A Serious Guide to Drawing Funny Faces.

Richmond is best known as one of the "Usual Gang of Idiots" at Mad Magazine, but he has worked as a freelance illustrator for lots of other major clients. He got his start doing theme park caricatures in 1985.

David Lynch by Tom Richmond

Richmond explains how to analyze an individual's appearance to recognize what's unique about their head shape and their attitude. He talks about how to exaggerate the distinctive traits, rather than randomly distorting.

First you key in on the head shape, and then the main shapes within the face (eyes, nose, and mouth), and, importantly, the spacing between them. 

He analyzes each of the features, as well as the chin, cheekbones, and hair, considering carefully how they change with different angles and different expressions.

Instead of seeing the features separately, you learn to group them. Richmond came up with the "T-Shape Theory," where you group the eyes and nose into a single shape within the face, taking note of the length and width of the T.

Tom is a good writer and teacher as well as a good artist, so this book is really worth reading carefully. The layouts are loaded with many drawings and diagrams on every page. It wraps up with a discussion of the challenges doing live caricatures, caricatures in illustration, and how he constructs a complex multi-figure scene for MAD magazine.

Tom Richmond also has an excellent blog that is constantly updated with new work and teaching.

On Amazon: The Mad Art of Caricature!: A Serious Guide to Drawing Funny Faces

Russian Paintings in London

Several well known folklore paintings from Russia's classic age of imaginative realism are on show in London at the Mall Galleries.

Ilya Repin, Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom

Sadko is a hero from a medieval epic. Musician, gambler, and adventurer, he traveled to the sea floor where the "Sea Tsar" or king of the mermen provided him with his choice of a bride.

Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov, The Flying Carpet

According to a press release, these paintings were acquired by Art Russe from a noble family.

EDIT. The Sadko painting and perhaps some of the other ones in the London show may be copies, done either by Repin or another artist. The original of Sadko is on view right now in Holland (Link for more info). Thanks, Damian and Annelotte.

Victor Vasnetsov (1848–1926) Alionushka
1881, Oil on canvas, 167 × 107 cm

They're currently part of an exhibition on Russian folktale art at The Mall Galleries, London until January 6. It's free to get in, but check the website because it may only be open to the public tomorrow and the next day.

Not included in the exhibition are the following studies for Repin's Sadko painting.



He probably painted the color comp from his imagination, and then the head studies from models.

----
Thanks, Damian Johnston