Something different

here's a little something i've been working on the last two days, for the latest Drawing jam over at Drawingboard.org. This month's subject is whatsherface from the Show "Heroes" it's unfortunate that this was not a caricature jam, because she makes for a very good caricature, a little of which i injected into this drawing.

as you may know, i am a fan of simplicity, and have been working to inject it, to use the same phrase as the last paragraph, into my art. For the most part i've been doing this with line , or in most cases the lack there of. As i said, this is something different, it's an attempt to achieve a certain simplicity with shapes and color. Something i hadn't tried yet.

i think this worked out pretty well, there are a few things that i could fix up, but overall i'm happy with this experiment in simplicity. I really want to use this in my caricatures, and finding a way to make it work with just faces should be a fun challenge.

Blog, what blog?!

Alright, maybe i haven't posted in a couple of weeks but at least i have an excuse, it's Christmas break!
i haven't been doing much drawing over the past couple of weeks seeing as though I'm spending all my time with my family. So i finally got around to whipping out a new caricature tonight as a Christmas present to all those who visit my blog out there and are kind enough to comment.
After seeing the classic western "The good, bad and the ugly" for the first time a couple of weeks ago, the same weekend i rented 2001, yeah i was bored, i decided to do a caricature of Mr. Eastwood, who portrays the man with no name in this and the two other movies in the "Dollars trilogy' of spaghetti westerns.

Eastwood's been caricatured just as much as anyone, so i know I'm not really breaking new ground with this image. it was more of a practice in lighting and combining linework and values in a cohesive, interesting piece. i think it works well, and I'm happy with the simplicity i achieved in both the lines and values. it's not quite where i want it though, he doesn't look as though he takes up any space and is still confined to the paper. anyways, here it is,hope you like it.

Happy Holidays.

2001: A crazy Mind F@%K

So, I know this is my art blog, but i also want to share some thoughts about my second favorite thing, movies. i made up the rules, i guess i can break them.

For the first time this weekend i sat down and Watched Stanley Kubrick's 2001: a space odyssey. I'm fairly conflicted on how i feel about the movie though. It certainly shattered my expectations about it in many ways. I was, first of all, very surprised how little i knew of the plot, what plot there is anyway. All i really knew about the movie was pop culture references to HAL. i had really no clue that there was anything in the movie beyond the Jupiter mission, man was i mistaken.

In a way i'm deeply impressed with the film. For one i haven't stopped thinking about it since Friday night, when i watched it. It was stunning on many levels, especially the visual. For a movie made 40 years ago the special effects were amazing, and never distracted me from the movie itself.Not to mention i loved the realistic approach to space, something i can't recall any movie getting since. I think on an intellectual level it's fantastic, i deeply respect filmmakers that leave the story in total ambiguity, and don't give the viewer a road map to the plot.

However,i think these feelings are all in retrospect. On a different level, i could barely stand sitting through the whole thing, no wonder there's and intermission. Not many movies make me want to throw my laptop out the window, but i was considering it. I literally almost turned it off a minute in because all it was was music and a black screen, i was screaming "Get to the MOVIE". I'm getting frustrated just talking about it.

I just feel that this movie was painfully slow,and sequences like the little monolith acid trip Dave had at the end just went too long. It makes me think of music, i'm sure there's a term for it, but in a song when the band gets to a point where they repeat a section over and over until you're on the brink of skipping to the next song, but at the last second they hit the satisfying sound and pull the song back. i think this movie did the same thing, only those sections went over that edge. there's a point where you can show me only so many pretty colors where i won't get anything more out of it. i was yelling, you've made your point, GET ON WITH IT.

One problem, that i anticipated going into this movie is the time gap from when this movie was made, to now when I'm watching it. Although all the effects are still totally cool now, in the sixties that movie would have blown me away. I really take the ideas that are presented, at least the science fiction stuff, for granted. I mean, this came out in a world where we hadn't even walked on the moon. Despite the timelessness of the themes, that time gap has got to count for something. who knows maybe if i had watched it in the sixties, my awe would have outweighed my frustration.

I still haven't really figured out what i really think about this movie, in terms of what i think it's about, and whether it's in my good movies column. As an intellectual journey, it succeeds. As a beautiful work of film making craftsmanship, it succeeds. Whether it's an entertaining piece of cinema to sit down and watch, the jury's still out for me.

Red Hot Chili Peppers Caricature

Ok, here's the finished product on that RHCP caricature, well for now at least. I'm glad i got this out of the way, i've been struggling with these guys for a long time, and i feel i can build on this caricature and maybe even do a better one in the future. It also makes me want to do caricatures of my other favorite bands out there, maybe that will have to wait for another day, seeing as finals are coming up, off to go study

new stuff

here's a couple more caricaturist caricatures, and the new digital painting i'm working on, of my favorite band, "the Red Hot Chili Peppers".

I've actually wanted to do a caricature of these guys since i started drawing caricatures, but always stopped about half way because i never got a descent likeness.
I think that i finally got a piece that works, so i decided to finish it up. This is the first step, still just blocking in the blacks and whites.

Another TLJ, and some thoughts...

Until i think of something new i'm going to keep experimenting with this simplistic linework. in the case of this caricature, another one for the Tommy lee Jones caricature jam, I'm trying to see how far i can take this style.

I feel that although I'm breaking the face down into the simplest forms in my head, when i try to put that to paper, as the case with my last few posts, it just looks like a lack of effort. with such simple drawings. i am not satisfying myself with my art, i don't feel like I've put enough work into each piece. Hopefully i can think of something that can satisfy both my desire for simplicity in the representation of the subject, but also fulfill what i feel is the level of work that i need to put in to get something out of it, to improve.

I've also been thinking a lot about the very nature of caricature. I've seen a couple pieces lately, with accompanying commentary, that really test the edges of what caricature really is; what separates it from portrait. whether a caricaturist can really go too far with exaggeration. the way that i see it is a caricature is the representation of something in a pure form, completely dependent on the artists point of view. what i think separates caricature from portrait, is that point of view. when you draw a portrait, that has no point of view, it simply records what is there. but when you draw a caricature you record what you perceive, not what is there.

In Caricature you enhance whatever you see, beauty,character, a big nose, whatever it may be. For a real caricature there is no intellectualizing either, then you start trying to tell yourself what you see. a real caricature depends on a keen connection to ones perceptions, making that split second, knee-jerk reaction to what you really see.

There is an infinite range of caricature, some so far to one end of the spectrum that nobody but the artist sees it, but that is ok (unless of course you have a client, then you have to use their perceptions). I can say that i have often seen a drawing of a person that was intended to be a caricature, but ended up being a portrait. Maybe the artist does see an exaggeration, but if the piece doesn't say anything, or convey what they are trying to say, then it is a failure. even if the artist doesn't feel it is necessary, for other's they have to magnify what they did so that the audiance can see what they meant. This also happens the other way as well, all to frequently unfortuneately. An artists draws what they see and it is too much for the viewers, they are so distracted by the extent of exaggeration, that they either lose the likeness or don't get what the artist is saying, again this means it is not successful. unfortuneately art doesn't exist only for it's creator, but specifically for others. therefore, even if a caricature does what the artist wants, they need to tailor their exaggerations in order to share their view with others.
phew...

Anyways, sorry for the outpour about art and how i see it. It's nice to be able to vocalize my thoughts about my art, and from it improve . and perhaps these thoughts can help you with your art as well, i can only hope.

Even More Caricaturist Caricatures

Lately i've been experimenting with my caricatures, just trying different things, and generally pushing the exaggeration, not as much as i would like, but i'm trying. here are a few of those experiments, all of caricaturists from various forums. it's easy to go crazy with them, seeing as they asked for it, and they can't really complain.

these were all pretty quick reflexive sketches, just trying to be spontanious and fun and not overwork them.

Off the wall

where did i come up with the idea to color this? Who knows, who cares. i just wanted to do something utterly different from what i'm used to and i think i accomplished that. whether this is successful is really up to those who know more about art than i do, if there is more to get from this other than it's weirdness i don't know.

in an attempt not to fall into a stylistic rut, i'm experimenting with the boundaries of what i can do as a caricaturist. looking back, occasionally i have stepped into that realm, but never really explored it. i don't like to fall back on safe caricatrues, i want to push it as far as the medium allows it, in this case, digital, the limits are still far off.

i am pretty keen on the arrow for hair idea, gives the sense of direction that i like to play with in caricatures in the most direct way.

alright that's it for my insightful babble, i think my philosophy class is wearing off on me.

oh, and if you couldn't figure it out, this is another self caricature from the same reference as my last post.

Self portrait

EDIT: Added color version

i've been kinda stumped on who i want to caricature lately, so i decided to paint a new self caricature, which i haven't done in a while.

While i am always trying to do something new with my caricatures, i also like to take a step back and really focus on the painting technique, or lighting, or other technical aspects were i feel i'm lacking. Here's the first in a series of self portraits that i plan to do, all in different styles, and different ways of caricaturing.

this is a more traditional attempt, and the exaggeration isn't really taken to the extreme, but i feel it's one of my better digital paintings to date. i might work to refine it a bit, but it's mostly done right now.

Caricaturist Caricatures

say that five times fast. Here are two new caricatures of fellow artists from drawingboard.org. i've been seeing lots of really fantastic caricatures from the this years NCN convention, and was a bit inspired. i feel the inspiration fell a bit flat though, as i didn't take these as far as i would have liked to. oh well, practice makes perfect.

Life

i really miss caricaturing at Geauga lake, so i try to get some live caricatures and drawings whenever i can. here are some life sketches done out on campus in between classes. this campus is a really great place to do life drawing because there is always so many people walking around during the week. these represent two hour sessions, one hour for each. i plan on getting out more to do more of these, i'm getting less and less chances the colder it gets.

Thinking outside of the box...

ironically his head came out as a box, get it, ha ha .. ha..... ha. Anyways, if you can't tell, this is actor Tommy Lee Jones, the subject for the latest caricature jam over at drawingboard.org. Like i said, i was really trying to think out of the box on this one, i'm very interested in the use of simplification for caricatrues, and while this is not nearly as far as i took it in my head, i like where i went with this one. also bit different from my usual caricatures of actors, as i usually portray them in one of their films as a certain character.

i feel that i've been improving in overall rendering and composition of my caricatures, but i just feel that it's all been done before. I feel there is no reason to just use the same technique that everyone else out there is using. i want to come up with a way of looking at someone, and translating that to paper that is original, which is something that is not an easy task. i can only hope that this is a step in that direction.

British Gangster flicks

While my knowledge of such films is pretty much limited to Guy Ritchie films i can honestly say that i would watch any movie in this category. For me i really don't know what the attraction is. These are stories about a world that is completely foreign to me, even more so than that of American gangster movies. Perhaps this is part of the attraction to me. Or maybe i think it's entertaining to listen to those silly British accents, whatever it is, I'll probably keep watching them.

Anyways, here's two recent caricatures of actors in two of my favorite movies from this genre,also from two different generations. The first one is a quick sketch of Michael Caine as the title character in "Get Carter" a great blood bath of a movie from 1971. The second is a painting i've been struggling with for a while, it's Brad Pitt as Mickey from "Snatch", one of my favorite movies. hope you dig em'.

The Zoo.

I've been wanting to visit the Cincinnati zoo since i got down here, and i finally went this weekend with some friends to do some drawing and see the animals. I'm no zoo expert, but the Cincinnati zoo has a really great selection of animals, some i have never seen before, at least not in a long time. I had a lot of fun watching and drawing the animals, and it was a fun exercise as i haven't ever really drawn animals before. so here's some pictures and sketches from my time there.

"You've got red on you"

"We're on a mission from God."

the blues brothers. i have always loved this movie, so i decided to do a caricature. This one was pretty quick, so i'm not 100% on the likenesses, especially Aykroyd. let me know what you think.

EDIT: refined the likenesses and rendering, added some color.

Paul Newman tribute

Drawingboard.org is having a tribute caricature thread, and i couldn't not contribute something. When i think about it, I've only ever seen a couple of his movies, so you couldn't call me a big fan, but it is sad never the less to see such an Icon pass. I can say that I've eaten a lot of his salad dressing, and was a big fan of the Newman Hass team when i watched the CART series, so here's my tribute.

Edit: added another one, much happier this time, got the desired amount of exaggeration, and a decent likeness to boot.

Let's try that again

here's a second and third go at the Beautiful Audrey Hepburn, an interestingly difficult person to get right in caricature. two very different approaches, overall i'm a lot happier with these than the first.

The King

just another studio caricature, this time it's elvis. trying to push myself to do something different, what exactly, i don't know? it's got a different feel though, and it doesn't feel like a typical caricature, so i guess i hit what i was aiming for. let me know what you think.

Murders and Executions.

Here's one i did today, Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.

tried a bit different style, in terms of color use than usual. i like it, the first successful caricature i have done where you can't even see their eyes.

New caricature

so, after a summer of work, i have this whole first week in cincinnati to draw and paint. the Drawingboard is holding a caricature jam currently, the subject, Audrey Hepburn. i saw it as a good excuse to get a caricature finished for once, so here it is. let me know what you think.

A Whole Month?

Wow, you can look away from your blog for a second and it goes un-updated for a whole month. sorry, i've been quite busy with work and , well, yeah just work. not only have i been posting less lately but i've been not drawing as much.

but i cannot post without giving you something to look at, so here's what i've been working on for a while now.just a humorous illustration about a knight that might just be in over his head. i really tried to push myself on the lighting in this one. you can see the whole process here at drawingboard.org. hope you like it.



oh, and also here are some old-school sketches that my dad found in the basement from a long time ago and a gal... ah,you know. I've been drawing star wars stuff since i was born i think. not much improvement, huh?

Gordon

howdy

here's my latest piece, something quick for the new superhero jam, all about friends and family of the super duper heroes. having just seen "The Dark Knight", my mind went to battyman's chums. i picked Commissioner Gordon, i wanted to try to portray him without showing his face. just some painting practice, and a great excuse to paint a sky. i love to paint a colorful sunset!(wow that was gay)

anyway, i'll probably have some more star wars caricatures up this week, i've got some good ideas for the remaining phantom menace characters. and agian, i'm open to any suggestions.

Diana Rigg

here's something quick i did today, for a new thread at drawingboard.org much like the Sophia Loren one of a couple of months ago. i had no idea who Diana Rigg is, apparently she's an actress who starred in the tv show the avengers and in "on her majesties secret service". whatever, there were some good pictures of her on google, so i decided to draw one up.

i did a little experimenting with my drawing style on this one, i don't know if it shows at all.

Queen Amadilly

once again, someone from the star wars universe is hard to caricature. sigh, i guess they can't all look like liam neeson.anyways here's the two versions from episode one.

Obi Wan

here's what i've been working on the past week. the latest star wars caricature.
Ewan Mcgregor is a pretty hard subject for caricature, he always looks different and does not really have any defining features. despite this, i think that i got a pretty good likeness, just hope that i can push the exaggeration a little more on the ones i'm gonna do of him from the other two movies.

they're back.

after a pretty long break, i'm ready to start the caricatures of the Star Wars characters in the new trilogy. to start if off, here's one that was requested a couple of times in my thread, Qui gon jinn. I want to focus more on my technique than anything with this and ones to come, i feel i let both my rendering and my caricature sense slip a little in the past couple of months. This piece also marks a return to solely Photoshop produced paintings, i've been having fun with sketchbook pro, but the results for me are something completely different, and like i said, i want to work on my rendering. c+c appreciated as always.

back to Caricatures

i've been doing less and less caricatures lately, and i've really been feeling rusty. the other day the Caricaturists caricature thread over at drawingboard got fired up again, and it got me inspired to get some caricatures done. here's the first of (hopefully) more to come. it's Pat Bollin, fellow artist and caricaturist. here's the reference Check out the one he did of me.

more caricature coming soon. Thanks for looking.