Posts Tagged ‘traditional’

It’s been a while since I posted anything in here and I really don’t have any good excuse. A few days ago I ended up in a weird place that can be compared to one of Tim Burton’s movies and since then I’ve tried to shake that and continue painting the portrait of 101 year old Agneta. But I failed miserably :(
While trying to get out of that dark inspiration I’ve done some one layer paintings in Photoshop, one of them are above.  When painting in one layer only it’s a bit easier to make a painting look “painted”…like an oil painting for example. And it’s more difficult too since it’s so easy to mess up.

The subject was not really planned and it’s been painted before…several times. For those who doesn’t know it’s a scene from “Phantom of the Opera”. Digital “oil paintings” with an added canvas texture differ from the real thing in more than one way, but a major issue (at least for me) is that the end result is too perfect. When you paint on a real canvas you will end up with a layer of paint that is thicker in some places than others, which means that it will cover the texture in the canvas. If you want to do that in Photoshop you have to add the canvas texture and then paint a second layer on top of that to mimic the thicker paint layer. And it’s time consuming as it is.

My main problem when I paint in Photoshop is that I tend to spend way too much time with details. Details are ok to a certain point, but after that you kind of leave the traditional painting techniques behind and enter the realm of reality. And sure, if realism is what you’re looking for, it’s great :D Sometimes it’s nice to leave that bit behind and that’s what I struggle to do.
I’ve got no progress saved on the painting above mainly because it’s experimental, but also because I’m still learning. It’s far from perfect, but what I focused on was the brush strokes and the “feel”. I guess you could say that it was a surface matter more than anything :p

I was also looking for that swift style that Edgar Degas used when he painted his ballet girls. He was the master painting the tulle in those ballet tutus and make it look effortless. Exactly how simple it really was I have no clue since I never really painted a ballerina, but I do know that sometimes it can be more complicated to simplify an object than not and still keep the essential details.

The white “border” on Christine’s top in the painting above should have some detailed lace, but I choose to leave that bit to the imagination. It might have looked better if I painted it the way I usually do, but since that was not the goal this time I decided to leave it this way.

Other than that the technique I used consists of a sketch to begin with, then paint in rather basic colours, including some greens and blues, which later are almost covered with the shades for the skin and other colours. After that I alter between the smudge tool and the painting tool in Photoshop CS5 to get the painted effect and the blend the colours. That way the underlying tones of green and blue are mainly covered but still mixed and a bit visible here and there in shadows etc.

So now you know what I’ve been up to :) I’m not sure when this Burton period will be over, but until then there will probably be more odd paintings posted here. Or maybe not. Depends on if I come up with anything worth showing. I already have 5 or 6 other paintings that just never came out as anything and that I’ve made during these past 3-4 days. Art is just like time, very relative.

Hope your Friday is a good one :D

Five years ago I did almost all my drawings and painting the traditional way. I had paper for every purpose – pencil, charcoal, watercolor and just sketching. I was also painting in oil which required it’s own setup of material – paint, brushes in different sizes and shapes, canvas, linseed oil, turpentine etc. etc. To build and keep an art studio of the traditional kind maintained takes a lot of effort and time. And money.

To keep a digital art studio running takes almost no effort and you only pay for it once. At least if you paint in oil and require a high quality paint and canvas, you save a lot of money by investing in Photoshop. However, even though I do almost nothing but digital art these days I do have a lot of years in the fumes from turpentine to fall back on. And for that I’m thankful. No matter how good you might be with your digital palette and canvas, every digital artist should try the traditional creation process at least once. It gives a valuable source of information and knowledge that otherwise is very difficult to achieve.
And I’m not saying that it necessarily will make you a better artist, but it will give you something to compare with.

My generation of artists who are doing any form of digital art today will have some kind of traditional practice in their background. There were no computers back then the way it is today when kids are growing up. It’s like 200 years ago since I was born… :pp
Seriously, there’s a whole generation out there growing up with Wacom and a computer, and they need an old fashion pencil and paper, charcoal and some watercolor to play with before they dive into the world of pixels.

No matter if I pay thousands for a Wacom tablet it will still never feel like a textured paper, and the pen will never be a pencil. A pencil feels different on the paper depending on it’s hardness. You can never get that from a tablet and Photoshop. Everything feels the same even if it looks different on the screen.
And maybe that’s what I miss the most because that feeling is what I’m use to as a guideline when I draw. That’s how I know how dark or light a line on a paper will be. Just as I know what a drawing will look like on different kinds of papers even before I made the first sketch since I’ve seen the effect that the texture in papers will have.
And you can’t learn that in Photoshop. No matter how sensitive that pen is for your tablet, it can never imitate a real pencil.  Just as so many other things.

Also, you cannot mix paint in Photoshop like you do on a physical palette. Because that’s another thing that is a part of the painting process the traditional way and a measurement of how good you are as an artist and painter. A very good painter knows exactly how much paint is needed and the shades to use to get the exact color.
And sure, you can play in the color mixer in Photoshop until your eyes bleed, but you will never be able to blend the paint with a palette knife.

In the end it all breaks down to our senses.
Traditional art with all it’s components is so much more than the brush/pencil and canvas/paper.
It’s an experience for pretty much every one of our senses, with the exception of taste since you might get poisoned :p But you can smell the paint, see the colors, feel the softness in the paint and hear the brush strokes on a brand new canvas. And if you’re using the old fashion turpentine you can taste it too after a while since it’s hanging in the air around you :p

Photoshop won’t give away any of that and at least for me the things above are a big part of the process when I paint. Occasionally I forget what I’m doing and want to smear the paint with my fingers…and then I remember that I can’t. It’s all pixels.
When I do digital painting I paint on a surface that feels dead, I see what I do on a surface that is lit up and reflects a cold light, and the result often feels like it has no soul.

And because of that it’s important that no artist should do only digital art or start off with a tablet and a piece of software.

During the past few weeks I’ve had this annoying link in the back of my blog here, asking me to upgrade to version 2.8.6 and I’ve ignored it. On purpose :p Didn’t feel like getting my FTP client up and running just for the sake of transferring a few files because of a “security update”, and since the mess with version 2.8 and that upgrade, I’ve become allergic to clicking any links in the back that contains the word “update” :pp

Anyway…it’s done and it’s a new day :) And my blog is still alive and well.
I’ve been a member of Renderosity since 2001 with the member name I’ve got today…and during that time I’ve uploaded 536 images. It’s a mix of 3D, photography, drawings and paintings…and the later are both digital and traditional ones. And during those 8 years there’s been a lot of other virtual galleries online where I’ve uploaded my stuff, but none quite like Renderosity. No matter what, I always come back there.

The drawing above was uploaded in my gallery there in February 2007 and I made it during the autumn that year. It’s done in the size of an A1, which is the same as 594 x 841 millimeter or 23.4 x 33.1 inch. And I guess you could say it was like drawing paper on…paper…haha It took a while to do since it’s a lot of white space to fill, but it was fun :)

I’ve also had a lot of comments throughout the years since I never knew how to stick to one category only. Both photographers, 3D artists and 2D artists have spread their love in my gallery and it’s a place I use when I need encouragement or critiques from people who know the technical aspects in the same way as I do myself.

In spite of a lot of nice comments, it is rare that I get comments that gets philosophic and maybe the reason is that most of us at Rosity are artists and tend to discuss the technical bits and pieces more than anything. But it happens. The comment below belongs to the drawing above, and it’s like a piece of art in itself…which is why I thought I’d repeat it here. It was added by a member that call himself anahata.c.

I’m so grateful you stopped in my gallery, because I got to discover you. I roamed here and chose this at random, and sat with it for a while. It’s always nice to find artists who show you how much you have to learn. Your pencil work is exquisite, and you’ve captured the immense life of books & stacks of paper, and the feel of a mass of pages in all their orneriness & self-assertion. You got the music of curled edges & wonderful contrast between massed sheets and open sheets…Beyond that (sit back, this is gonna be praise-filled), your whites are vivid, your shades & dark lines are expressive, and your background is almost silvery. Finally the composition feels random yet arced & thought-out. This is wonderful. Boy can I learn alot from this: My pencil work is whispering, “are you listening?” A very fine piece of art.

Lets just say that it’s nice when your work inspires others and have an affect on the way people see things :)

Anyway…back down to earth again :p
I’m renewing our broadband with O2 today since they offer to pay for the first 3 months of the new year :D So I’m going to grab that offer before I forget and it vanish. Outside our window it’s another grey and wet day, and it seems that this will continue until the end of the week. So far I haven’t heard anything about any flooding or anything around here, but then again, we haven’t had a month worth of rain in only a few hours either. That makes the whole difference :)

And I might be back a bit laters with a new update on the staircase. We’ll see what happens during the afternoon :)

Take care and have a great day :D