documentation of this project can be seen here.
Category Archives: Art
How to paint part three. The making of dreams.
Starting with a bit of layout. I used a golden section to position a star for which each tip is the starting point of my spiraling circles.
This step shows five layers of a stencil of circles. Each circles size is determined by the sum of two circles before it, thus forming a Fibonacci sequence. Gesso has been applied only to the circles for the ease of later steps. The rest of the canvas is covered in an extra thick gel. Except the border.
I painted the boarder and re-covered it with tape. Its the only part of the painting on raw canvas. The rest is built up around it.
Some background colour.
My wife loves it when I take over the kitchen.
Creating Paint Skins
Next the fun begins. I painted on this disposable pallet and let it dry completely. Then I used a gloss medium. If you use a medium I recommend applying at least three coats, maybe even four. (I’ve also done this with a gel and applied it in two thick coats. )
They have to be dry between each coat. I don’t recommend drying these on the stove because I had a hard time peeling them apart afterwards, but I did find they dried fast enough sitting beside the wood stove.
I cut out the shapes out and layed them on top of my painting with a layer of matte medium underneath and on top to keep it adhered.
Paint can be applied on top of the skins.
A dash of this and that
And the background is done.
Well almost.
Barnacles
Using a soft gel I put dabs of it on my border and quick dried it on the wood stove. But, I removed it from the heat before it was fully dry on the inside and proceeded to pull off the peaks. This left me with a crater which is super cool.
Each corner (except the one shown) has three, five and eight barnicles in the corner, using more Fibonacci numbers.
Making dreams
I mixed my molding paste with a red and applied it in a nice arc to form the frame of a dream catcher.
Showing off some ambidexterity while I add some colour to brighten up the red.
I had no idea how to create a third of a dream catcher so I built a full size one. Again using a Fibonacci number. There are thirteen points on this catcher.
Using the dream catcher as a guide I put on transparent layer and then went over that with a white.
Just adding a few finishing touches with some more molding paste.
Feel free to question me about any of the steps and tune in in a few days and I hope to have the finished piece posted.
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Update: Finished painting can be viewed here
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How to paint, part two (sharing secrets)
Another quick and simple idea. Start with your background. For this one I used an emerald green and mixed it with a chroma deep red. Be careful when mixing your colours. Both these colours that I’ve mentioned lean towards the blue end of the spectrum and worked nicely together. For the big red circle however I used a cadmium red and when mixed with emerald green produces a brown that just doesn’t go.
Tape off the sides to get your boarder. I used a magazine cover, (which isn’t shown,) to mask off the other side of the line. Any thick paper would work or more tape. Tape, paint, wait, repeat. A good three layers at least.
There are several tricks to taping to get strait lines. I find this masking tape often bends when you rip it so i alway rip off extra to get away from the bend and just try to lay it as straight as possible. If you’re still not getting the line you want you can use a utility knife and a ruler to get that perfect edge.
with these textured paintings I don’t worry so much about bleeding. But if it is a problem for you there are methods. I used to use white glue but there are other products that probably work better. Try asking your local art supply store. Just use a brush and paint the glue, or other product, right over the area you have masked out and over lap it a little ways onto your tape. Paint right over and peel the mask off to reveal a perfect line.
A vermillion hue paired with a cadmium yellow really made this sucker pop. I’m still not too sure what to think of this scheme. Let me know what you think and check out the finished product in my gallery.
How to paint.
In one of my last posts I showed you how not to paint. So today we’ll take a little different approach. That last painting was an unfortunate misadventure ultimately caused by using a poor medium. I have started using a structure gel to create texture and today I’m going to show you how I’ve used it.
I started with an old painting that I did but I din’t like the colours I had chosen. So I covered all in structure gel being careful to preserve the layout. This stuff dries clear so for this project it was a lot of fun.
I decided to go with a colour scheme I’ve used in the past. You can see below how I scraped away the texture around the inner frames to preserve the layout.
With the background done. It was time for the next layer. I used a scan of the original to keep the same layout as well
A couple more times and voila!
To see the finished version feel free to check it out as well as other great paintings in my gallery.
How to honour your heros.
Bill Watterson was a revolutionary in the comic book industry. His strip Calvin and Hobbes has endured despite being out of print for nearly twenty years. Despite his total disregard to advertise or expand his product beyond that of the strip itself. Watterson was content to let his strip stand on its own and stand it has with over 45 million of his books sold world wide.
His strip pushed the bar of what a strip should look like. Filled with action and movement. He was never content with panels of talking heads. But what is really unique about Watterson’s approach was his lack of merchandising. That alone is nearly enough to call Bill my hero. He never sold out, never was he tempted to build what might have been a billion dollar industry. (Jim Davis, creator of Garfield, has a net worth of 800 million.) Every time he was approached to merchandise a Calvin and Hobbes product he always felt it, “seemed to violate the spirit of the strip, contradict its message, and take me away from the work I loved.”
I couldn’t agree more. Could you imagine seeing Calvin suction cupped to the back of every car window or buying a Hobbes toothbrush for your kids. Sure you could and you would too if given the option. And this is what scares me for as much as I love Calvin’s unremitting imagination and resistance to authority he also at times epitomizes everything that is wrong with our culture. From his short attention span to his obnoxious, self deserving narcissism. Is it right to idolize a character with such glaring and colorable flaws? This is of course the same reason I put Watterson in a class above the rest. He was never afraid to tackle real issues. To produce a punch line that not only helps you identify with reality and make you think but also make you wish you were a better person, or maybe you’ll just wish you were a tiger.
Ah yes, our thin bearded friend has found his way into the hearts of millions and I guess were it not for his flaws he’d just be another Susie Derkins down the street. His individuality, perhaps his best attribute, is what pulls at our heart strings. Ever since I was a we lad I’ve enjoyed Bill’s Comic strip and that excitement has recently enjoyed a renewal since my own kids first asked me to read them The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes. My passion has taken me as far as to stitch them up their own Hobbes stuffy, (which I secretly made for myself, and no its not for sale.) which I fashioned out of old t-shirts.
I hope my kids can hand down Hobbes to their kids one day as well as continue the tradition of reading the comics. I know that’s the way Bill would have wanted it.
P.S. There are a couple great tributes to Watersons work out there and I’ll just link to them here. One by Tom and Dan Heyerman called Hobbes and Bacon which is a look into Calvin’s future as a father. And the other by Gavin Aung Than of Zen Pencils using the dialogue, that Watterson himself wrote, in an introduction to The Complete Calvin and Hobbes Collection.
mybrothersbeardmachine 