Dark & light, an art day

[amberdreams]

My artist friend Lois, who I met last year when we both painted pigs for the sculpture trail, makes a living by running art workshops as well as by selling her paintings and papercuts. I've been thinking about trying one of her workshops for a while now and when I saw she was running one relatively close (only 30 mins away by train), and that it was about working with dark and light tones, I thought I'd give it a go.
Teaser

I had a lot of fun and was realy pleased how these turned out. Well, apart from Death, because though Lois thought it was the best - i.e loosest and most 'powerful' - I can't get past the fact it's all wrong proportionally. LOL.
The idea of the workshop was to use the mid tones of the paper itself as part of the picture, so we had to start by laying down all the light areas, then the darks, and leaving the paper to show through for the rest. I do like that effect, that automatically made the art look more dynamic than my usual efforts.

I'm a sad bimbo, I'm showing easel pics here because I was excited to be working in an art studio for a change! LOL

So this is the one I did first, this morning.

I was really chuffed with this, because I've tried drawing Hiddles before, and it looked nothing like him, whereas this, though it is'nt perfect, is, I think, recognisable.

Then after lunch I attempted to capture Death (sorry Julian, your nose isn't really that long, honest!)

And because Lois said she thought I'd done enough on Death, and because he was scaring the other people in the class, I moved onto something prettier...
Yup, Dean.

I think it looks a bit better cropped, mainly because I got his posture wrong.

I can see there's stuff not quite right with Dean and Tom (Death is just so wrong it's not worth worrying about LOL), but I was still feeling pretty happy on the way home. These were all much larger pieces than I'd usually attempt. Tom is on A3 size paper, the other two are A2. I've never used these chalky-soft drawing pencils before, or the soft pastilles we used for the darkest darks, and the creamy highlights, or a stand up easel either. So basically, the whole day was well outside my comfort zone!

In November Lois is running a workshop on repurposing a canvas, with acrylic speed painting as part of the menu, so I think I might try that one too!

Comments

[big-heart-june.livejournal.com]

LOVELY arting! so pleased you got this opportunity! you definitely have a gift ♥

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's really so not my style but I'm glad I had a go!

[sandy79.livejournal.com]

Amber, they look great! Both Dean and Hiddles are beautiful, though I think you had "early" Dean (like in Season 1 or 2) in your mind (which is absolutely NOT bad!!). And you're at no fault when it comes to Julian's face - you did the best with it!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Yep, it was an early seasons reference I was using! Well spotted.

[julchen11.livejournal.com]

Wow! All of them are amazing!!! You're very gifted, my friend. I admire you!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Aw thank you!

[be-my-precious.livejournal.com]

They were all so wonderful! My personal favorite is the hiddels. He's very hard to capture in art for some reason. This, however, captured him SO well.

Thanks for sharing!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I have tried him before and failed miserably - I think he's a bit like Jensen. He has very good proportions and somehow they are more difficult to capture!

[be-my-precious.livejournal.com]

it's true! we're used to seeing people with some altered proportions, so when you draw them it's easier to go "outside the lines" to capture the differences they have from a perfectly proportioned face.

problem with all that, as far as i can tell (for myself), when a person has those magical proportions, we're so used to altering them, so it's very hard to keep with proportions. a lot of the times for me is that i'll tend to add something out of the ordinary, and that doesn't exist to help me move on with the rest of it. but then, of course, i look at the final and it's never right.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Yep, that sounds familiar!

[tripperfunster.livejournal.com]

These are great! If you've never tried it, give working on butcher paper a go! It makes the perfect mid-tone skin tone for caucasians.
http://tripperfunster.deviantart.com/art/Mega-Hands-209545420

That is coloured pencil. I assume you were using pastels? Death looks cools because it's got the most contrast. Hiddles is really great too! I think for both, you've elongated their faces a bit. Something I'm super guilty of too!


Man, I would love to attend an art workshop of ANY kind! So jealous! (and inspired)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Yes - Derwent drawing pencils which seemed to be quite buttery and soft, and soft pastels. I've got a pad of a fairly smooth brown paper I can use like butchers paper, now I'm getting into trying out new things.

The face elongation is something I'm guilty of all the time! I just make their noses much too long and then everything else gets messed up. LOL!

[herminekurotowa.livejournal.com]

Those paintings are amazing! *__*

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Thanks me dear!

[madebyme-x.livejournal.com]

It's great to see you try you new things, and these are truly wonderful!!! I think Tom is my fav, but my, Julian is very creepy!!!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Most things are new to me because I've done so little since school! LOL Glad you are enjoying my little adventures in art too though :D

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

These are tres cool, hun :D I am loving Hiddles, that likeness is stunning :D Looks to me like a soon to be upgraded and added string to the bow :)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Heh, maybe! I'd need a lot more practice :D

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

That's half the fun ;)

[jimbobjoe.livejournal.com]

Wow, lovely work!

I actually like the Death one. It's like a caricature and makes him ever so creepy. It's cool!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Aw thanks, I'm not comfortable with caricatures so I'm glad you like him!

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

Very cool! Mission accomplished on the light/dark experiment, I say:) A2 is huge, the guys must look even more intimidating in that size;)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I looked at the blue paper again today and it's longer than A2, I'm not sure what size it is! I also don't know what to do with the damn things now, they are to large to store anywhere.

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

These are fantastic, you''ve really embraced the whole light on dark technique. I like the energy in the pictures - lots of pencil strokes! Death looks great - very stylised, but you can clearly see it's him!

I love working on dark backgrounds, it makes an image really pop out of the paper!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Lois was trotting around making us keep scribbly! LOL

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

I meant to add, were you using pastel pencils for these?

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Derwent drawing pencils mainly, with a touch of a creamy coloured and a black soft pastel. Those Derwent pencils seem to be less chalky than the pastel pencils I've tried in the past.

[dizzojay.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's interesting. I don't know if they're the same as pastel pencils or not; I guess not. Funnily enough, Derwent are the one brand of Pastel pencil I really don't like. I mainly use Carbothello which are much softer and silkier.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

These ones are specifically designed for wildlife drawing, apparently. They get good reviews - you could always buy a set of 6 and give them a go. Amazon have them for £6.66 with a sharpener.

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

i really like the death! he looks kind of stylized and like, uh, was it el greco who painted the really stretched-out-looking figures? but he's still recognizably julian richings, just very, very intense. the contrast on the hiddles is really good, and it does look like him in the eyes and nose. and dean just looks so young!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I used a Season 1 reference for Dean, which is why he's so youthful! I'm happy people are digging Death - I suppose if I'd set out to caricature him I'd be happy with it. :D

[quickreaver.livejournal.com]

Oh, AMB, I looooove these! And I really love working on a medium-toned ground. Your mark-making is so kinetic and lively. I particularly dig the Hiddles one! I wish we could all doodle together, dern it!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

You and Lois would get on like a house on fire, I reckon! You can thank her for the mark making, she was trying really hard to make us all loosen up. If you ever venture over the pond I'll introduce you. :D

[sillie]

Oh wow, these are great! Awesome work!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It was so hard to force myself to work that large and loose! But I really want to try some more like this sometime - don't know if I'll manage it without Lois prompting me though. :D

[aerynsun5.livejournal.com]

These are great! And I'm totally diggin' Death.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you like Death!

[mekare]

I definitely remember seeing thi Tom portrait before? Anyway since I didn't comment then - it's lovely! Death is very recognizable and Dean just lovely - the blue paper fits so well and leaving it as the tone for his eyes is very effective.

[amberdreams]

Thank you! I can't believe this was so long ago now. I really need to try this again.