Learn Ya Good

Card for Moe

2010-11-15T11:10:00.000-08:00

Took some pictures while waiting for paint to dry, so I made a process post. :]

All media is listed in the process picture (used a Hair Drier to speed up dry time)

Thank You Ed Li!

2010-06-01T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a thank you card I made for my Sketching the Environment teacher the awesome Ed Li :]

Here's the sketch, digital color study (which i like a lot better), and the final gouache painting.
I did a LOT of preliminary sketches for this one trying to figure out how I wanted to handle it. But I haven't had a chance to scan them.

Thank You David Colman!

2010-05-06T11:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a thank you card I made for my Intro to Character Design teacher the wonderful David Colman :]

The Football, I mean Pug

2010-04-12T15:17:00.000-07:00

To see the Final image and doggie doodles from Sketch Club last Friday check out the original post on Kendra Kalology

Sketch Club: Shades of Brown

2010-03-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

First attempt using Camtasia to record process. Bare with me as I learn the program I'm sure things will get smoother :]
See the final image on the original post at Kendra Kalology

Gouache + Caran d'Ache: Portrait of Luis

2010-01-19T12:33:00.000-08:00

Luis is a friend I met on the plane ride back from holiday in Indiana. He was interested in getting a portrait so while creating it I decided to try and take pictures of the process to share.

Step 1: First off I did a bunch of sketches to learn the structure of his face and play with different styles. I settled on the sketch below which was printed at my preferred size on regular printer paper, which I would not recommend. I was being lazy and ran into problem because of it later with the paper crumpling. But later I show you how to save it so it doesn't really matter.
*For those wondering I used Turner Design Gouache with only one brush my trusty Escoda Kolinsky #8.

Step 2: Create a dark wash. Make sure you make enough so you don't have to remix it mid application.

Step 3: Let it dry. Go eat lunch get a snack, just LET IT DRY
Step 4: Lay in where your darkest areas are going to be, so for me I wanted those areas to be the hair, the shirt, and primarily the eyes/eyebrows to produce a focal point.

Step 5: Start to establish form by adding middle tones to the face. You can start trying to bring out more colors in the skin, in this case scarlets and ochres.
Step 6: Lay in background and start to thicken it up, if desired, for me it was.

Step 7: Add values in between the mids and darks to push form, establish hard and soft edges.
Step 8: Noticed my paper was getting a little too wrinkly for my taste so I grabbed a piece of bristol, any thick weight paper would most likely work. Then I used Matte Medium, only on the back of the paper, to paste the printer paper onto the bristol. I used my blinds and a chip clip to hang for drying, but you can just leave it on your work area.
*When I paste the paper down I start in the middle with some kind of old card, in this case I used a credit card like rebate I received for a digital cable box, something strong but wont rip the paper, and from the middle work my way out to the corners. There should be excess Matte Medium coming out the sides so that the corners get glued down all the way. Try not to get it onto your image area.

Step 9: I wanted the piece to be a little more colorful and tactile so I brought out the Caran d'Ache. The main objectives at this point were to finish it up by reinforcing the form, and to boost colors that had become toned down.

And here's a little detail just so you can see the texture produced by the Caran d'Ache

Thanks for checking out my process. Let me know if you have any more questions, I hope this has been informative. :]

Experimenting with Caran d'Ache

2009-11-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

Started with a quick crayon sketch in Caran d'Ache. Didn't like it so I washed it out with water. Then Went on top of the faint marks left with ink using a nib pen. Used some ink washes with a brush and then added some watercolor to have warms and cools present for balance.

These first two were done simultaneously compensating for drying time. Started with a quick Caran d'Ache sketch. Used water to soften the overall feel. Went back into it with more Caran d'Ache, a different color blue, red, and black to pull the drawing back out. Then used a little water to smooth any areas I felt needed it. Finished with white Caran d'Ache to bring out the eye highlights.

This was my warm up before I got to the previous sketches. Started with Caran d'Ache. Softened it with water. Added warms with watercolor. Quick defining with ink nib pen and brush. More watercolor to build up more form in the face. Got out white gouache and fixed any incorrect areas that needed to be brought out of shadow to reinforce it's form. Once I scanned the image into the computer I brought it into Photoshop and fixed some proportion problems that came into play because of the angle I was working.

Hope this has been informative. I know I LOVE seeing peoples processes :]

Acrylic Process: Sonia Sotomayor

2009-09-26T10:19:00.000-07:00

Decided to dust off the ol' acrylics and do a quick painting to show some process.

PREP:
* First I printed out a copy of my graphite drawing from the other day and Matte Mediumed it down onto some Bristol.
PALETTE:
You will need a tray with some sort of lip (I use a butcher tray), paper towel (preferably plain white), tracing paper.
* line tray with a damp paper towel, DO NOT SOAK
* place tracing paper on top, acts as a membrane to keep your acrylics moist
--if you want to return to this palette later you can put the acrylics in the freezer

Step 1: "Dark" cool neutral wash
Step 2: added some warms while wash was still wet

Step 3: Emphasized more warms and blocked in the yellow shirt
Step 4: Applied Skin tone and blocked in the hair more to provide contrast

Step 5: Pushed values in the face to add form
Step 6: Brought up the details

The aim of this painting for me was to keep the darks thin and the lights thick.
If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Margaret Cho Doodles

2009-06-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

some doodles I did while watching "Margaret Cho: Assassin" on Netflix.

Pratt - Acrylic/Tar/Oil Demo

2009-03-29T00:23:00.000-07:00

courtesy of George Pratt

Step 1: Acrylic Painting - used because of quick dry time
Step 2: Tar concoction is applied - roofing tar mixed with japan drier and a wax to smooth it out and so it dries in a timely fashion
Step 3: Unwanted Tar is scraped/wiped out and gives contrast to preliminary painting - Gamsol is used for thinning the tar if it gets unmanageable
Step 4: Work back into the painting with Oils over the tar

The soldier at the bottom is an additional example and was done using the same technique

Perez - ZBrush Demo

2009-03-29T00:01:00.000-07:00

Octavio Perez did a demo in ZBrush. The first Space Alien looking guy was done prior to the demo night and painted using ZBrush. Before seeing it I thought the program was just used to make 3D characters. I didn't get the starting point of the Red Alien head but basically you start with a basic 3D object, cube, circle, whatever, then you go in with tools to digitally sculpt the object. I'm going to definitely try this program out once thesis is over :P

Hodges - Oil Painting Demo #2

2009-03-28T23:42:00.000-07:00

Two Portrait painting demos Courtesty of Hodges Soileau.

Brandes - Gouache Demo

2009-03-27T10:23:00.000-07:00

Gouache courtesy of Don Brandes.

Gouache in my opinion is the half way point between Acrylic and Watercolor. It's closest to watercolor but because of the bigger particles found in gouache it can be used opaquely. Also similar to watercolor is that it can be used right out of a tube and wet, or dried. But unlike watercolor, where you start light and go dark, its the opposite and can be built up in layers. One issue that comes with its nice layering qualities is that some people have experienced paint cracking if it gets too built up.

Other examples of gouache

Review: Business Cards from 4Over.com

2009-03-23T09:20:00.000-07:00

My knowledge on Professional Printing:
NONE, I have never ordered business cards before, up until now I just used my home printer. From doing so I have learned it is a complete pain to print the cards exactly how you plan, it gets off center and cuts off portions of your image.

4Over.com:
Before you can use 4Over.com's services you have to register - FYI, They didn't accept my gmail account. For the available products there are templates and the FAQ link at the bottom will let you know what files they prefer and other options available, I submitted a .PSD in CMYK.

4Over.com Business Card General Info:
Run Size: Can vary from 100 to 100,000
Color: 4:0 / 4:1 / 4:4
Finish: No Coating / Gloss / UV / Spot UV / Matt/Dull / Metallic - optional: Rounded Corners
Paper Weight: 100lb / 14PT / 16PT
Turn-Around: Next Day / 2-4 Business Days

Additional Options:
PDF Proofs - $5.00
Samples - $9.99

My Order:
Dimensions - 2" x 3.5"
Weight - 16 PT
Finish - Matt/Dull
Print/Color Type - 4:4
Run size - 1000
Turn Around - 2-4 Business Days
Total: $24

Shipping Method: UPS ground - FREE
Order Placed: Friday February 27th @ 10:21 am
Shipped: Tuesday March 3rd @ 8:30 pm
Arrived: Wednesday March 4th @ 9:36 am

Opinion of Business Cards Received:
Weight - 16 PT
Thick and durable with a lot of spring. I ordered the 16PT to be safe, next time around I would order 14PT, the 16PT is more expensive. If you're trying to save money and have never printed before I think the 14PT would be thick enough. I have no idea about the 100lb but if its the same weighting scale as the drawing paper i use I wouldn't risk it.
Finish - Matt/Dull
Good, allows you to see the image's texture really well and doesn't distract from the small text. Next time I would love to try something fancy like a spot UV (makes specified spots shiny).
Print/Color Type - 4:4
The color transfer from screen to print worked well, Overall printed darker. Makes me wonder if i had submitted a darker piece if it would've printed too dark. The Bat has a little more warmth to it but overall it works fine. The ink smells a bit strong but I don't know if that's typical. Best part you can't see any color dots.
PROBLEM: My text was centered originally, their system for cutting must have been a bit off because the text is weighted further over to the left . If I wanted to use this company again I wouldn't use centered text. But because I'll probably be writing reviews each time I need new Business Cards I'll probably just try another company for comparison and see if the same problem occurs.
Run size - 1000
Probably got way more than necessary but for only $24 shipped it was worth it. The box was 19" x 4"
Turn Around - 2-4 Business Days
Totally impressed with the Quick turn around. The printing facility is in Miami and I'm in Sarasota so once the product was in the mail it only took about 12 hours to get here.

Overall Feelings:
Very satisfied. Minimal visibility of off centered text. All clean edges, only a couple were cut poorly, there was a white patch at the top of a couple but out of 1000 it really doesn't matter just throw them out.

Products Available Through 4Over.com:

Booklets * Bookmarks * Business Cards * CD Covers
CD Inlays * Calendar * DVD Covers * Door Hangers
Envelope * Flyers / Brochures * Greeting Cards
Letterhead * Magnets * Multi-Page Booklets * Postcards
Posters * Presentation Folders * Rip Cards
Rolodex Cards * Sell Sheets * Stickers
Table Tent Cards * Tear Off Cards * Trading Cards

* if you have any other questions let me know :] *

*Click* Business Cards *Click*

Brandes - Bleach Demo

2008-11-20T08:45:00.002-08:00

I arrived to late to get the in-progress pictures of this demo but it's pretty self explanatory. The tight sketch can be seen in the second picture in the top left if you're interested. A bleach technique courtesy of Don Brandes.

Step 1: Sketch out a tight drawing
Step 2: Photocopy sketch onto toned paper, ie - Canson's Me Teintes
Step 3: Use a brush that can get into a nice tip
* DON'T use any high quality brushes this is a BLEACH technique!
Step 4: Dilute bleach and slowly lighten areas as desired. Use as much or as little bleach as you would like, at this point it's all up to you.

other variations of the same tight sketch - Watercolor/Acrylic/Gouache

Custode - Oil Painting Demo

2008-11-20T08:45:00.001-08:00

First off is an image of the Materials used followed by the process of painting a portrait courtesy of Fiore Custode.

Hodges - Oil Painting Demo

2008-11-20T08:44:00.001-08:00

A painting demo Courtesty of Hodges Soileau. The first image is so that you can see his materials and the rest is the work in progress.

Perez - Exact-o/Oil/Acrylic type Demo

2008-11-20T08:43:00.001-08:00

This is a variation of media courtesy of Octavio Perez.

Step 1: Create a tight sketch
Step 2: Mount a photocopy of the sketch with Matte Medium to Illustration board
Step 3: Score the illustration board where the stiches are with an exact-o.
Step 4: Rub Burnt Umber oil paint into the entire piece
Step 5: Use a solvent (turpenoid) to lift out the light areas
Step 6: Paint into the piece with acrylic, it is best to stay as light as possible with the acrylics because it saves time and it'll let your line work show through nicely.

Pratt - Double Demo: Ink and Pastel with Gamsol

2008-11-20T08:42:00.000-08:00

I wish I could have gotten more images during Pratt's demos but there was constantly a swarm of people around him. So much in fact I don't really know how he did the first one, I think its just a graphite drawing underneath with ink brushwork on top.

The second technique is pastels with Gamsol. The Gamsol is used as a blender, turning the pastel dust into a wash. Gamsol is one of many solvents available, I've seen this done with turpentine as well, but I would not suggest it because it isn't the best for your health.

These two demos are courtesy of George Pratt.
Anyone who has information on these two demos please feel free to add :]

*Learn Ya Good*