Last in, first out...

So, by way of kick-starting my blog, Nikki Sixx OD'ing style, I'm going to start by posting my most recent items first.

First up is a sample from this weekends Dr Sketchy sessions, where we were treated to performances and poses by the stunning Beatrix Von Bourbon and funny Velma Von Bon Bon and others...

(Above)

Beatrix Von Bourbon

5min study

Graphite on paper

I've recently been reading up on my Golden Age illustrators and I'd like to think that their influence is creeping into my work in some small way.

Onwards and upwards!

Adventures in Life Drawing: 002: Atelier (-ish)

Well, it's been a few weeks since the last post about taking up life drawing - again - and I'm really starting to get into the art of being an artist - again.

Oh and I've been listening to waaay too much Pendulum after seeing their performances at Glastonbury and T in the Park - AWESOME!

(Above)
Pendulum - In Silico.
Can I do a CD cover for you chaps, please?

Anyway, I've been reading up on atelier method, representational art and all it entails: sight size, precise measuring and the like. It's been a real eye opener and I keep wondering, why wasn't I taught this at art college?

Every Monday at life drawing I've been doing my own atelier-lite training. Using a cheats sight-size to get the proportions and forms down, studying the values and rendering the halftone forms up with graphite pencils and Conte crayons. I have to say I love it, although I feel some spontaneity has been lost with the more formal approach, but you have to break some eggs to make an omelette.

(Above)
Graphite pencil on paper.
Using a cheats sight-size and plotting the overall volumes
and angles as the basis for the final rendering

I've got a veritable arsenal of tools I regularly take, a small compass for measuring, chamois leather for diffusing tonal values, putty rubber, small hand mirror for checking the reverse image, range of pencils, scalpel for sharpening etc. etc. It's like a small army mobilising every Monday night.

(Above)
Graphite pencil on paper.
Again, using a cheats sight-size and using values
to define the forms in the image.

As I've been attending the life drawing sessions, I've been reading Juliette Aristedes books: Classical Drawing Atelier and Classical Painting Atelier - both available on Amazon - and I've been using them as a starting point both thematically and practically - I certainly feel as though I'm making progress - where to exactly, I don't know, but so far it's an interesting journey.

(Above)
Conte crayon on paper.
Using comparitive measuring to plot the mass,
a chamois leather to diffuse the base tones and letting the
image appear as the halftones values are built up.

Maybe in a few years when the kids have grown up a bit I might see about doing a proper Atelier course - we shall see. All in all , life drawing is turning out to be great fun and a good way to keep my 'head in the game', artistically speaking - so I'll keep you posted!

Oh, yeah - nearly forgot - work wise, I'm doing some 2000AD work and more cool Horus Heresy covers. Great times!

Adventures in Life Drawing: 001

Aah, no sooner have we moved into our new house than I have found a life drawing class to disappear to every Monday night! It's run by some old school friends of ours here in Louth, right in the shadow of St James' Church - it's a regular rural idyll here, I tells ya!

St James Church - Photo by Derek Roberts
(no relation)

Anyway, they're a really nice bunch of people of all levels and it's a fairly informal excuse to break out my art tools once in a while - there's no using the Cintiq there, *gulps*

I started this week with a few warm-up sketches using tools I'm familiar with, Blue/ Red pencils, Brush pen, WhiteOut pen and some Letraset ProMarkers:

(Above)
Blue pencils to define the overall form, Red Pencils to tighten the anatomy,
Black brush pen to define the shapes and Black KarismaColor pencils and WhiteOut Pens to add shading.

(Above)
Letraset ProMarker pens to block the shapes and shadows, Faber Castell Pitt and Pentel Fountain Pens to add the line details.
Again, WhiteOut pens substitute for the lack of an undo button!

Then I broke out my secret weapon - something I've been threatening myself with all these years... Charcoal!

(Above)
Charcoal: For The Win!

Using a totally different medium from my normal set was verrrry exciting, the potential use of 'sfumato', 'chiaruscuro' and 'tenebrism' (artsy- fartsy terms, I know - but they do apply here) to the sheer muckiness of it all - I loved getting my hands dirty! It felt like sculpting the picture as opposed to just delineating it. I know it doesn't look like much now, but hopefully this will inform my work and start pushing my artistic side upwards and onwards.

Anyway, I'm stiill buzzing from the thought of doing more charcoal drawing - I'll go and calm down and get on with some work, maybe a Johnny Alpha or two...?