Thursday 29 January 2015

Traps & Suggestions

Today I'm sharing four new paintings towards the following goal:
055. Create 52 paintings in 1 year
This includes more suggestions, so is a mixed bag of subject matter!

Inside, January 2015
Inside
Originally this one was going to be quite different, but once I'd drawn the person in the box, I thought to add a hand closing the box--and a box in the person's hand.
Unfortunately, in my wisdom (hah!) I picked up a fineliner when I'd finished painting, and outlined the person, which ruined it somewhat. This was one of those paintings where I didn't quite know when to stop.
That aside, I'm pretty pleased with how the big hand turned out, particularly as I tend to struggle with drawing hands.
I took inspiration for this piece from the feeling of being trapped inside oneself, by oneself, and the despair, fear and lack of control one feels over it that only makes the situation worse.
Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper
Size: A5

Cheerful, huh?!

These next three are on much happier topics.
They're actually the last three I painted for this goal (yes, I've finished!) but I'm choosing to post them first. As I was stumped for what else to paint, and had already bothered Facebook for ideas, I decided to bother tumblr instead.
And quite helpfully, gained three suggestions:


Thank you, tumblrites!

So here goes...the tumblr suggestions...posted in the order I painted them, rather than the order they were suggested.
Steve Finn and the Cute Lamp, January 2015
Steve Finn and the Cute Lamp
This one was painted from wryamihere's suggestion, 'A collage of fun con moments. Stoast. A polkadot and striped ensemble. A very cute lamp. A wall with decorations!'
I was going to try and get all of those in, but it set my brain awhirl so I went for the combination of Stoast, polkadot/striped ensemble, and a cute lamp. If you count the chalkboard and bottles, there is also a wall with decorations ;)

I should point out that 'Stoast' refers to Steve and Ghost, two characters from Poppy Z. Brite's novel Lost Souls. Wryamihere and I call them Stoast because it sounds like toast, and we're mature like that.
'Con moments' refers to anime conventions.

This was painted a couple of days after Inside, and honestly I had another Bad Art Day. The lineart looked absolutely fine...

Sometimes I should stop at the lineart.

Basically it went to hell when I added paint. Alright, so it didn't turn out too bad (in fact I have a weird feeling I painted this before, but I know that I haven't!) My main gripe is that I messed up Steve's skintone. I wanted to make him look a little sunburnt (tinkering with that car) but that didn't work.
Actually if I want to be really picky, Ghost (the blond) looked better the first time I drew his head. But his head was too big compared to Steve's, so I redrew it and it didn't turn out the same. Oh well.
And then there's their hands. Did I mention that I struggle with hands? I must be a glutton for punishment...

Anyway, what's happening here is that Steve and Ghost have been playing a gig in flashy new polkadot and striped threads (Ghost found the striped suits in a discount bin at the local thrift store. Steve bitched about the jacket, saying it fit too tightly around his biceps, and bitched even more when Ghost showed him the waistcoat, but Ghost looked at him and Steve relented. Steve thought they looked ridiculous, but the women seemed to like it. Steve figured he'd put up with it for now.)
Post gig, they hit the bar, and Steve, several cans ahead of Ghost, starts chatting up a real cutie clad in brass and dusty pink velvet. Ghost finds it amusing, and drinks faster to catch up.

It might sound strange, but I'm pleased with the background on this one. It's simple, but I got the colours right and the background hasn't become overbearing. Hurrah!
Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper
Size: A5 


Watching From On High, January 2015
Watching From On High
I painted this thanks to coldnewyearsnight's suggestion, 'How about a dove?'
Before this, I've not painted much in the way of birds.
I opted for a ringneck dove as they've got a little more colour to them. The colours ended up a little too dark, bordering on pigeon-like...thank goodness for markings, eh?
The blue sky background was added as an afterthought. I nearly left it unpainted but wasn't sure if it made the image look a bit too empty.
Quite enjoyed painting this, though wonder if I should have practised painting feathers first!
Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper
Size: A5
 
Forest Shaman, January 2015
Forest Shaman
This was inspired by doctorakhaten's suggestion, 'A nature loving shaman!'
I spent all afternoon and into the evening on this. Those trees took forever to draw, and even longer to paint! The one on the left originally had more creeper on it but I made some mistakes when painting.
This was something of a challenge as it involved things I either haven't painted (deer, skulls) or things I have problems with painting (bare chests and stomachs, hands). The nature-loving shaman was meant to look strong but he ended up with a little bit of a belly.
It might have turned out better if I'd put him in more clothes (because then I'd have had less skin to paint) but I really wanted to deck him out in jewellery and bodypaint.
Again, I think the background turned out well. It's only mottled green with some branches, but compared to backgrounds on previous paintings this is much better, and has the effect I wanted. 
I am most pleased with the tree on the right, the deer, and the shaman's head, especially his face. I took a gamble with his face, and it paid off. Yay!
Medium: Watercolour on watercolour paper
Size: A5

Big thanks to doctorakhaten, coldnewyearsnight and wryamihere for the suggestions!

51 paintings down, 1 to go...

More paintings for this goal 

1 comment:

  1. Aaaaaaah I love it! I totally count that wall as decorated! haha
    The others are so awesome too - the Shaman one is so detailed!

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