skellyscribblez: January 2011

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Acrylic Self Portrait

A Self Portrait in my sketchbook done with acrylic paint and painted entirely with a palette knife, and the background was done using the left over paint on my palette that I mixed all together and randomly smeared down. With little mixing, the vibrancy is unrivaled within the drawing, and having such rough details for my facial features leaves them vague, but still almost discernible.

Tammy & Johnny's

Tammy & Johnny's.
Chicken and Burgers.

Who needs further explanation?
Well here it is anyway.
Great little joint that serves real chicken and real ice cream, the food is real. The price is right, and the people are southern hospitality. This was a stop on the way to New Jersey for a family trip.

Katie Alexander

My wonderful co-worker Katie Alexander that I drew on my last day of work at my kayaking job of the summer 2010. It was an amazing day despite having to pack up twice due to 2 storms rolling through. But having gone kayaking in the morning was a blast, and I accomplished this to boot!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

James River Bridge

Drawing the towers next to the James River Bridge

Burrfish (or Blowfish)

The Burrfish, which is what many people mistake for a Blowfish where it puffs up and has burrs stick out, and it is one of my favorite fish and I got excited when I saw them there at the aquarium.

Sand Tiger Shark

Drawing from the shark tank at the VA Beach at the aquarium along with several rays in the tank. My favorite is the tiny shark in the upper left in the distance.

Crocodile sketch

Crocodile sketch at the aquarium

Loggerhead Turtle

Quick sketch of a loggerhead at the aquarium.

Malaysian Stick Insect

Really quick sketch of a Malaysian Stick Insect.

Longnose gar

Another washed out scan of the water soluble crayons. A longnose gar in the aquarium

Turtle from the aquarium

A trip to the Virginia Beach aquarium, yielded many studies of animals. Colors are pretty accurate, the turtle really had red and yellow on his belly.

Dinner at Capri's

Capri's Pizzeria in Hampton has the best Sicilian pizza I have ever had. Go get some!

Waiting...at the DMV

Where do you have tons of time, and nothing to do? The wonderful Department of Motor Vehicles in Hampton! Normally the bane of my young existence, the DMV offered a great variety of characters to look at, helplessly sitting, avoiding eye contact, waiting to be drawn and for their sentence to be over.

Foliage Overgrowth

A study of the family garden, in which pencil lays out the plans for the stick wall that supports the plants. But the cropped image shows a great study of the different types of leaves that the variety of plants showed.

A Portly Porsche

Drawing of a Porsche at the VA hospital parking lot, and another attempt at drawing cars, and this came out pretty well. There are pencil under drawing lines that show even more planning and detail if you can see it.

My ideal man isn't a man

A drawing I did of my cat dreamer, that I was going to fill with hand-written typefaces.

Summer Skin Self-Portrait

A self-portrait done on a family day trip down to the outer banks, and personally, is one of my favorites with finally mastering and understanding line weight better, and showing off my freckles that I always get with my summer skin. It was also the beginning of a better understanding proportions, which is obviously a good thing.

A Midnight Show

A brilliant summer thunderstorm that I attempted to capture with the water soluble crayons, though it was difficult to achieve with the water soluble crayons, especially trying to re-ink over it. My family and I were able to see the clouds and lightning over the houses across from us and they are silhouetted.

The Fortress of Solitude

A Drawing accomplished over a few days while at Buckroe Beach. It is a drawing of the trailer used for the Parks and Rec boating rentals. One of the lifeguard chairs is included with a lifeguard in tow.

The Dash

Drawing of our Honda Civic's dashboard, there are pencil planning lines that outline more, but they are apparently invisible, haha.

Darling, from the moment I saw you...

A drawing done at Chili's during dinner, and I had to draw that woman.

Cantamar Court

A Drawing I did while sitting on my front porch of the court in front of our house. The first time I successfully attempted cars, and I enjoyed the trees.

Coca Cola

Another drawing with the water soluble crayons, a coke bottle that it once again, washed out.

Cat got your nose?

Once again, I was working with the water soluble crayons, and the snac washes out the brilliant reds and yellows I used for my skin tone. I did this drawing in an effort to capture my allergenic condition, with my eyes and nose being puffy and red after having had cat dander assault my senses.
This was brighter than the others because it was barely brushed with water, so most of the color is unmixed and retains its brilliance.

Camera Love

Water soluble pastels crayons, very waxy and hard to work with after they have been manipulated with water, impossible to ink over. But the brilliant colors are worth it and the scanner washes out the blue sadly.
This is my Diana Lomography camera I got for my birthday, and I was using him several days through the summer snapping experimental photos.

By the Water

A drawing done on the beach, that has a sepia under drawing and black final inking for revised posing of her hands and hair which she is wringing. The idea for her dress was that it is light and airy, the under layer of the dress being see-through reminding me of beach wear, or a young fairy sitting by the river.

Summer Skin

One of my favorites from the summer, it was a drawing inspired by sunburns, and originally she was going to be peeling, one of the quintessential experiences of summer as a pale individual.

I enjoyed her pose, furtive and mysterious, but confident behind it all.

Keys

One more with acrylic and pen and ink, the color was a bit dark. Keyring and keys are the subject.

My Dreamer

Acrylic Paint and pen, I was trying to use the color as a mid-tone.

Ghostly Self-Portrait

One more re-post.

Sketchbook Summer 2010

A Re-Post from a while ago because I am posting all of the summer 2010 sketchbook

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Peppermint Final

Peppermint Final
Oil Painting--24"x24"

Melted, microwaved peppermint. Second Final.
Once again, the melting created an amazing bubbling effect that needed to be photographed to preserve it. Pleased with being able to capture the color and spectacular event of a sugary bubble bursting.

"Milky Way" Final

"Milky Way" Final
Oil Painting--24"x24"

Melted, microwaved Milky Way bar, which created an amazing puffed cloud effect.
Very proud of my understanding of color by this point, especially since using a photo washed all of the color out. And a photo was necessary for this project considering the puffed chocolate clouds would deflate within seconds of halting the microwaving process.

Progress of "Milky Way"

Progress of "Milky Way"
Oil Painting--24"x24"

This is a melted Milky way bar, one of the two final pieces.
Finally understanding color much more.

Swirl Study

Swirl Study
Oil Painting--10"x6"

A melted peppermint. The beginning progression of the gross candy series that led to one of my final two pieces.

Cracked Study

Cracked Study
Oil Painting--9"x7"

m&ms that have been smashed. A study when I was searching for candy that I could make look gross or distorted for my final pieces.

Mouth Study

Mouth Study of a Bottle
Oil Painting--5"x4"

A bottle study when I thought I was going to paint a Coke bottle for my final project.
Finally understanding color more, I was pleased with this study despite it being small. The blue and red are washed out a bit.