Charcoal demo

My head drawing class starts next week and for those of you further out I have a video demo coming soon. Otherwise here's a step by step charcoal drawing for you to have a look at:





I've darkened the line drawing significantly here so you can see it, the original is very light. There's a little bit of red prismacolor lay in then a Ritmo B charcoal pencil.


Lay in with a compressed charcoal stick.


Half tones blended in. This is all done with my fingers guys, it's not a pretty process but it's the way I like it.



Finishing with compressed charcoal, a Pitt Charcoal pencil for details and a kneaded eraser for highlights.
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A background painting for "The Road to El Dorado", 1998. Acrylic on Crescent illustration board, 16"x 18".
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Painted for "Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron". Acrylic and digital.
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Portrait drawing 10 week course begins Oct 4

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My 10 week head drawing course is coming up beginning Tuesday night, October 4. Come on down and join us if you can, we'll learn how to construct and compose a portrait from start to finish and have a good time doing it. To enroll contact LAAFA.org, phone (877) MY-LAAFA
The piece shown here is 16"x 22", compressed charcoal and white nupastel on Crescent T-V bristol paper.

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Something I did for one of the Madagascar shows.
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World Con

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I'm fresh back from World Con (The World Science Fiction Convention) so I thought I'd go through the archives and pull out something appropriately "spacey" to post.

Some highlights of the Con were:

• Lunch with Irene Gallo (Art director, Tor Books), Gregory Manchess and Jon Schindehette (Art director, Wizards of the Coast).
• A panel discussion by the Killer B's, Greg Bear, Gregory Benford and David Brin. All three delightfully opinionated and 3 of the best living SF authors.
• Meeting Michael Flynn, author of the stunning "Eifelheim"
  
• The Hugo Awards Ceremony where Alastair Reynolds didn't win but should have.
• Catching a glimpse of Larry Niven handsomely attired in an electric pink shirt.

And on a related note, I've contributed a few pieces to "Project Icarus", A serious study of technologies and designs to get us to a nearby star in the next century or 2. They are currently looking for a volunteer graphic designer interested in contributing a few logo ideas to the project. They're at http://www.icarusinterstellar.org
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Watercolor demo

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I'm posting early this week because I'm heading off to the World Science Fiction Convention! Hope you enjoy this demo.




















Watercolor and gouache on Arches paper. 15"x 20"

This is transparent watercolor except for 3 or 4 opaque gouache strokes needed in the highlights. Keep in mind that transparent does not mean it has to be applied that way, I do like luminous pastel feeling watercolors but I don't want to always be limited to that. I've laid the darks on pretty thick so that they are in fact no longer transparent. I only buy watercolor in tubes because the hard cakes just don't release enough pigment to paint in a full value range. My favorite brands are Winsor and Newton and Holbein.

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These are color roughs from "The Return" sequence of "The Prince of Egypt" 1998. The cool temperatures were an important color statement for this part of the story. Acrylic on illustration board.
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Photoshop sketch.
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Comicon demo

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Here's the demo I did at Comicon. Thanks to everyone at LAAFA and to all of you who stopped by.
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COMICON!!

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I'll be doing a charcoal portrait demo at Comicon. It will be Saturday, 2:30 at the LAAFA booth #5567, come on by!
Here are a few examples from previous years:












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Portrait Drawing Workshop Saturday Aug 6!

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My annual portrait drawing workshop will be Saturday Aug 6, 12pm to 8pm. It's designed to be an instructive overview of the materials, techniques, and concepts for successful portrait drawing. To enroll contact LAAFA.org, phone (877) MY-LAAFA

Here's what you'll get for your hard earned money and time:

12 to 2pm Slideshow and lecture with numerous step by step examples. We'll discuss:
• The fundamentals of constructing the head with the values of light and shadow.
• Principles for creating the illusion of space and volume on a 2 dimensional drawing surface.
• Ideas for portrait composition and creating a likeness.
• Techniques and tips on materials and the drawing process.
2-5pm: Full length Instructor demonstration from a live model.
5-6pm: Dinner break.
6-8pm: Student drawing time from a live model with instructor feedback.

Hope to see you there!
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Coast town.
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Acrylic sketch.
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Charcoal on Rives paper.
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Rooster, watercolor on Arches paper, 15"x20".
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Sketching from Life 10 week course!

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If you're in the LA area and want to have some fun refining your drawing and painting skills, come join me for my 10 week sketching from life course. It will be held Tuesday nights from 7 to 10 pm starting on July 12th. For this class we'll study the head, figure, drapery, colorful costume, animals and nature as well as a bonus weekend field trip to study landscape painting. I'll demonstrate techniques in charcoal, watercolor and gouache; students will be welcome to use the medium of their choice.

To enroll contact LAAFA.org, phone (877) MY-LAAFA

Hope to see you soon.

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Mountain scape, photoshop.
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Renaissance Faire Folk.
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A painting from my "Painting in Gouache" class.
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Composition Workshop! Saturday May 14

The skills of drawing and color are critically important and yet they don't find their full expression until they're teamed with a strong composition. If you're going to make a great picture you have to have a great composition.
That will be our topic of study for this years composition workshop on Saturday, May 14, 12-8pm. So whether you're a landscape painter, figurative or entertainment artist, if you're in the LA area I'd love to see you there. To enroll contact the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art at 877-695-2232. Their site is www.laafa.org. Read on for an overview:


Composition: design for dynamic picture making:

• Slideshow presentation and lecture, 12-3pm: Lectures on the fundamentals of effective picture making. Discussions on the creation of mood and environment. Principles for organizing complex scenes into pleasing arrangements. Strategies for solving compositional problems quickly and effectively. Studies of Composition in history and the modern day
  

• Painting demonstration, 3:30-5
• Compositional exercises, 6-7pm
• Student painting time with instructor feedback, 7-8pm

To enroll contact the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art at 877-695-2232. Their site is www.laafa.org.

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Coastal City, photoshop.
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Watercolor Sunflowers 15"x 20" and ink rough 3"x5".
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Roughs for How to Train Your Dragon.
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Compressed charcoal and nupastel on strathmore charcoal paper, 15"x20".
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Compressed charcoal on paper.
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Photoshop sketch.
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A scene painted for "Sinbad, Legend of the Seas", photoshop, 2002.
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Watercolor on Arches paper, 15"x 20".
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An oil study from way back when (1999 I think).
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