Sunday, September 20, 2009

Monday, September 14, 2009

Tiemens Workshop

We just spent the weekend in Mendocino at a watercolor/gouache workshop with Erik Tiemens. One of the best classes I've been to. It really took me outside my comfort zone with color, and I was inspired by learning the classic pre-photography approach of doing several sketches on location and bringing them back to the studio to do a finish from.

This piece was done by experimenting with mixing gouache and watercolor by toning the board with very intense colors: neon green, yellow, and bright red. Then painting washes of more somber, realistic colors on top. This allowed the bright color underneath to "sparkle" through in some areas creating color combinations and harmonies I'd never think of doing on my own.
We were encouraged to try different papers like this warm gray Canson paper:
This final piece I did was done from location studies and memory and a bit of invention. Erik put some magic touches at the end that really added drama and pulled the composition together. I learned a lot.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Friday, September 4, 2009

Z-Day 1878

It is a little known fact of history that William "Rawhide" Cody prevented Z-Day in 1878 with his swift action on undead cowboys who had been inadvertently buried in a cursed Indian burial ground.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Saturday Morning Wizards

If I made a Saturday morning cartoon about wizards it might look something like this.