Been way, way too caught up in moving and work so there has been no art of any form (and it's making me so cranky) - I managed to stop myself from impulse-buying a new guitar just because I desperately need to play one. Boo.

Quick doodle and start of blocking. No idea of what I want to do with colours here.



Yeah, yeah, generic pose, angle, etc, wasn't trying very hard on this one.

Still plugging away at this. Nearly done here, just need to tweak some things including lighting and background levels. Then I have to update my sig so I can post the finished big high quality image.
Sorry about the big ugly watermark - I feel so intensely attached to personal art and it would really hurt if this stuff got stolen.



One of the artists I really admire once said something along the lines of "when picking shade and highlight colours, DO NOT pick the one above and below the base colour. It is BAD. DON'T DO IT." I'm guilty, very guilty of this, so I' trying to change the way I shade things. So: red shade with yellow highlight on blue fur. It's uncomfortable to work with using my current shading/texturing technique so I've been playing around with how to make it work right.

For those interested, here is the step in between the pic above and the one below

Next in the series of Brisbane paintings (where the objective was to play with colours without worrying about realism), a pair of Major Mitchells.



Pink is so rare in my art so I was going with that general theme. I totally didn't plan this and, actually, didn't work out what it was about until I finished painting the trees (which were last). I was just picking colours and patterns that looked nice. Suddenly, I looked and there was a story there. I have no idea how that happened but it gave itself its own meaning. I like it.

Additional note: I have rarely, if ever, painted/drawn a wing as perfect as that one in the centre - and certainly not in one stroke with no ability to erase or undo!

Because canines are severely underepresented in my work, despite the ancient and deep association of my childhood with wolves and foxes.



And because everyone likes glowy blue swirlies.




I promise the end result won't make your eyes explode like this one is threatening to do.

Most surely an incarnation of this guy here. Also dream inspired.

It's not going to end up as something major, just an experiment with the canine form. I can already see some flaws that I need to fix. Side note, I've just started to understand the thoracic girdle and the pectoral area of quadrupeds. :)

Herein are the WIPs and final piece for December's GAX of shadow_hazzard's Hazzaduck.



( A nice break from this heat )

One of a series of goache-on-paperboard pieces I did whilst working in Brisbane this year.

The point of this piece was about playing with colour. I was trying not to worry about making things look photorealistic and to just go with what was laid down (something I find difficult). No pencil sketch was made before the paint. The sun conure was painted from memory (and I totally got the head shape wrong). Click for bigger.



Apologies for blurries and badness, I still don't have a scanner. The camera seems to enhance colours that are barely visible here and ignore others. The blues are brighter, the green isn't so obvious (or as ugly as it is around the beak), and the yellows really pop.

So, I'm hoping, maybe, hopefully, that I might be able to fulfil my promise of posting here more. I've graduated now, and dying to do more art. There will be definite art while I'm unemployed, and I'm hoping to keep it steady once I'm working too.

Some things about the format of posts will change. The majority of posts will be of sketches and works in progress, and they will be highly image heavy. I will still have my critique page of completely finished work, but I think the fact that it takes me so long to write and compose (especially getting studio photos of finished work) is what is putting me off posting them. All posts will be much less formal than they have been previously.

I'm hoping to make very regular updates that are up to date with my art and sketchbooks. I'm considering going backwards a bit just to catch up with the past six months (there is NOT a lot of it) but it's not a priority. Right now, I’ll try to post things as they happen.

So, to kick it off, here are some completely NOT studio photos of my most recent work. I have yet to take better photos, but I’m practising that “as they happen” thing.



( From the deep end of the mindpool )

Though I have had little to share for a long time. Other than being insanely busy, I feel like my muses have been down at the pub while I'm at work and rock up plastered when I need them.




( Under here )

I said in my last post that I'd make more sketches and put them here. So here's me, attempting to do so. This place is going to be mostly sketches, so be warned.

I went to stay with Tessa in December. During that time she was looking for books on Chinese watercolour painting for her mother. I... somehow got obsessed with it. I bought a book a few days ago on painting specific motifs. Here are my results.


( Sketch dump - Chinese watercolours. 15 pics )