Metal cup and rattle still life, white lamp (done)

april_still_life_baby_toys_1_soft_light_done

I’m so happy with how this one turned out! Here’s Jim’s metal baby rattle and cup again, this time in a more traditional lighting setup (one ordinary white bulb off to the left, and a couple of ambient white bulbs elsewhere in the room).

I even saved some WIPs from this ~2.5 hour painting study.

april_still_life_baby_toys_1_soft_light_wip01 april_still_life_baby_toys_1_soft_light_wip02

april_still_life_baby_toys_1_soft_light_done

Previously: 

 

Metal cup and rattle still life, red and blue lamps (done)

april_still_life_baby_toys_2_lights_doneThis tiny metal cup and barbell were apparently Jim’s toys when he was a baby (which was in the 1980s, not the 1930s, so these outdated toys have always been rather fascinating to me – I was also a baby in the 80s and my toys were plastic and made by Fischer Price, lol) . At least now we know how he grew up to be so METAAAAL.

Sorry I didn’t save any WIPs, this one just went kinda quick. There is a blue LED bulb to the left and a red filament bulb to the right. With both bulbs nearby, the white blanket (seriously, that blanket is stark white under normal lights) looks like it was dipped in fluorescent paint.

Also: ARGH, CIRCLES.

 

Throwback Thursday: Wiggly lines acrylic painting

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Circa early 2003. I always thought this painting was hideous, I am so not an abstract artist and WTF is with the clashing colors?

This was probably from my gen ed art courses that I did at community college before art school, possibly something color-theory related since it’s made out of colors I’d have never picked myself. I’m guessing that based on the heavy use of acrylic painting. My gen ed art teachers were so hot for acrylics. I am so not.

April still life #1: little plushies! (wips and done)

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New month, new still life practice! This one was all about soft little plush things!

Honestly, I think this one’s is a little boring – they all had similarly soft textures (the Mantyke ball on right is kind of fuzzy, but the rest were smooth) and all of them were all about the same size, so it was hard to come up with an interesting composition. There’s also no perspective or shiny stuff to have fun with, so as cute as I think this one turned out, my next still life will have to feature some more challenging objects!

Here are some wips, starting with a sketch:april_still_life_plushies_wip02

This time, I tried just painting over the sketch. april_still_life_plushies_wip03 april_still_life_plushies_wip04

Most of the time was spent on the detailed rendering (as always) and small accuracy adjustments.
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april_still_life_plushies_doneHope you enjoyed!

Throwback Thursday: self portrait from 2004

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Here’s a self portrait from August 9th, 2004. I was about 1 year into art school (in fact, I probably did this as a class assignment). I really had no idea how to render hair realistically, but I still think the shirt collar turned out nice. The one on the right looks more like me.. ish.

GUH! (sketch)

guh_bug_sketchDid I ever mention how much Vince hates overgrown bugs? Fortunately for big bugs everywhere, Airika loves bugs both big and small. I often imagine Airika cuddling the strange lifeforms they encounter on their adventures, because she totally would.

~45 mins Photoshop

PS: It’s a new month! I need to pick a new still life subject to work on for April. I’m thinking something cute and plush… maybe. 😀