My Posterous blog has been convenient to update with photos and videos on the road. Please visit there if you have a chance. Thanks.
Working and studying at slow, steady pace …
I’m learning drawing basics at Matt Archambault’s Drawing Tutorials Online. In conjunction with these am continuing work in Painter. The drawing lessons have definitely enhanced the painting experience. I’m paying attention to proportions, shading and composition.
Three Apples
Study & Practice
This year, my focus is to learn good drawing skills and hopefully incorporate them in continued painting projects. I joined Matt Archambault’s drawing online subscription a month ago and am impressed by the scope, resources and organization of his teaching methods. This is a viable alternative for those of us who cannot attend or afford traditional art lessons at school or by private tutor.
I recently completed a “painting-a-day” project of a friendly African Grey Parrot named “Bibi” whose owners show her daily on Ustream (Watch the Birdie). Her personality and beautiful feathers and colors really caught my eye. The painting took more than the day but it was worth putting in the extra time. I’m also understanding how important drawing skills are to painting; they are a key component.
[click for larger]
Drawing Tutorials Online
Discovered this online tutorial site by actually finding the artist Matthew Archambault’s videocast on iTunes. It seems worthy of exploration.
Everything Is Going To Be OK! – Drawing/Painting Studies
I finally finished (although I still tweak) what was initially a drawing exercise of learning how to draw hands. As noted in this gallery of 25 hands, I enlisted the help of friends to send me a quick photo of their hand in a positive “OK” gesture. Many thanks to all of them.
Milton Glaser’s comments on drawing
MILTON GLASER DRAWS & LECTURES from C. Coy on Vimeo.
I saw on Twitter a link (via John Nack’s blog) to this video of Milton Glaser drawing and commenting on drawing. He shared some good thoughts. (Thanks to C. Coy for posting it.)
Visual Notes – Morning Walk
Took my point&shoot camera (Canon G10) and captured images that caught my eye during a morning walk. The last two photos are of a wonderful Chinese Lantern plant that has bright orange petals that look like paper lanterns.
Gliding Pelican
Going over some old vacation photos and did some cropping and tonal/color adjustments on a “toss away” image. I liked the animated, glassy ocean surface, punctuated by the gliding pelican.
Short videos – PhotoshopWorld 2009 Las Vegas
Finally processed some video footage I took at the October 2009 Photoshop World at Mandalay Bay. The first is from the Keynote that kicked off the Conference. Very high production value from the NAPP video group. The second is coverage from the Expo floor including class sessions by the expert NAPP instructors (here Lesa Snider and Katrin Eismann).
Tulip Painting
tulip
Used Painter’s pastels and chalks brushes to render this tulip study I did a couple of years ago. These brushes provide a nice blending without sacrificing too much texture. The flower and stem were painted against a transparent background and placed into Photoshop to make background variations.