A Neighbour

Okay.

The other morning while walking to school with my kids, I saw my neighbour.

He was wearing his full cycling outfit (he cycles to work every morning, which is more than I can boast) and I understand that it's functional clothing and all... but still... I was amazed at the overall effect.

Later that day, while sketching I tried to reconstruct the image from memory.

This is a first attempt at working without with less outlines and more shapes. I'll continue exploring.

Self-portrait #3

I've been feeling like pure, unrefined, Grade "AAA" shit lately.

I went and asked myself: "What would Dorian tell me to help me get out of this?"
I concluded he would have me paint or draw. I decided to paint this grinning self-portrait.

Tortoise head

Another watercolor in the painting a day series.
I haven't used watercolor seriously since the late 90's... I feel so clumsy after 15 years...

Tortoise head study, roughly 30 minutes, used this picture for reference.

Watercolor teapot

A watercolor sketch. Because I promised my friend — who's been doing a painting a day for more than a month — that I'd join her.

It's still clumsy but practice makes perfect.

Teratoma #2

I... I don't know. I'm fascinated by the idea that such a thing can even exist.
I'll be exploring this...

Teratoma #1

Some kind of... stream of consciousness sketch... I guess...

I mean... I kinda knew I was going to draw some kind of weird tumor-thing like this. But the fun part is that I absolutely didn't know how it would end up. I just let the pencil do its thing.

All in all, nothing fancy but a fun sketch.

Hope you enjoy.

Catfish

Played around with a water brush and an ink brush (both pictured) over a quick coloured pencil sketch.
It was fun to push the pigment around and experiment with the effects.

Sparrow

Oil sketch in a narrow palette.
Trying to keep a certain energy in the touch.

Lots of questions but no answers yet. This is good, it means I need to keep on painting.

Short Oil Study

Really just for the fun of it.
Going for flow in my brush strokes and balance in my colors.

Also, after... I dunno... 15 years, I made peace with black. We're friends now.

24"x36", oil on canvas.

Private collection.

Barnacles Study

I've been playing around with an idea recently...
I can't tell you what it is. And I have good reasons.

I can show you this without compromising my project, though.

Acrylics, fun and oils on canvas.

Self-portrait #2

Another experiment in self-portrait.
Tried the Zorn palette for the first time. Was really impressed with the versatility of those colors.

Learned a lot. Enjoyed myself. All in all, a success.

Oil on canvas, 14"x18".

Monster Eyes

Other eye sketches inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos for the ArtOrder Tiny Pleasures challenge.

Top: Tsathoggua. Bottom: Azathoth.

Black Prismacolor on watercolor paper.

Goldfish Casein Study

Felt like painting a fish today. Fishes are fun to paint.

It was great but the takeaway is that I have to learn to handle paint.

Oh... and that my home-made titanium white isn't worth shit.
It's got all those lumps (when it should be smooth), it's glossy (when it should be matte) and it doesn't close (this morning, as an experiment, I rinsed off a layer of that white I applied to canvas the day I made it with a mere trickle from the tap — the paint is supposed to be waterproof after 8 to 10 days).

Eye of Nyarlathotep

I love me my Lovecraft.

This is a 3"x3" piece as requested by Jon Schindehette for the Tiny Pleasures challenge on ArtOrder.

Subway Sketching

Black Prismacolor on watercolor paper, digital color.

Mixing my own casein paint - Experiment no.2

Awright... I have news about Experiment no. 1. The paint rotted. My tube smelled like a corpse decomposing in a barn on a hot summer day. Ugly stuff.

I read some more and consulted with some people in my area and it seems that I made at least one big mistake AND that I need to tweak my recipe.

The mistake: I did not sterilize my containers and tools.

As for the possible tweaks: 
Firstly, I think I can use more of my alcaline solution to raise the pH of my paint. 
Secondly, I was recommended a preservative to use in my paint. I had read about sodium otrhophenylphenate but the only place I found to order it sold it in pallets of 500 kg... I had to go for another option...

This mix's recipe:

Casein milk protein — 10 g.
Boiled water — 100 cc.
NaOH — 2 cc. (or about 40 drops)
Grapefruit seed extract (glycerin vehicle) — 1 cc.
Dry pigment (titanium white) — 60 g.

Total cost: I don't care anymore...

Above: First observation, more NaOH made my binder 

more homogeneous faster and a darker yellow.

Above: Mixing away. I used rubbing alcohol to

sterilize my surfaces, containers and tools.

Above: A 37 cc. tube filled to the brim. 

(I actually put too much paint and ended up wasting 

about 15 cc. Most went on my fingers but I also used 

some as a ground on an old canvas I was planning to paint over.)

Above: Messily filling up the tube.

 Above: Done!

As you see on the last picture, I have a lot of unused binder left. I plan to leave it on my shelf and see how much time it takes to rot. The last batch started smelling ater 7 days (the tube took about 18 to 20 days — I thought I was okay since the oxygen input was practically cut off but I was wrong), we'll see how long this one lasts... if it rots at all.

Also, the canvas I prepped with the leftover paint (it was a store-bought gessoed canvas already covered with a layer of acrylics) ended up being glossy. This is strange since casein is supposed to be super-matte. It might be an indication that my recipe is wrong. We'll see how the paint handles and how it interacts with Richeson caseins. I'll keep you posted.

Art terminology

Today, we'll be taking a look at some art terms and explore their origins and meanings.

Still Life noun
A painting, a drawing or an arrangement of objects that resulted from an artist being bored in his studio, grabbing the first random shit that he can find lying around and proceeding to paint aforementioned shit to validate the general waste of that particular period of the day.

Still life. Oil. 8x10. I know...

Study noun
A detailed investigation and analysis of a subject, be it a scene, an object, animal or even a body part if the artist is just too lazy to even bother to paint a still life.

Hand study. Oil. 8x10. What can I say?...

Subway Sketching - Red Hair

Subway sketching incorporating watercolor.
The trick is to have a victim that is captive long enough for what you want to do. In this case, it was from Berri-UQAM to Longueuil on the yellow line. She literally had nowhere to go.  ^_^

Hot Water Valve - Casein Study

This morning's efforts.
I wish I could tell you this is from a photograph taken in a derelict building I was exploring last summer but it's not... it's from my own bathroom. I am terrible at keeping the house clean...

Casein on wood.

Side note: I used the Raw Umber I mixed last week and it works! It doesn't stink, it mixes well with the Richeson paints I used, but it was a bit too thick. Next batch will have more casein, less pigment (probably 1% or 2% less).

Subway Sketching

I'm currently swamped in work I can't show (of course I had to go and sign those non-disclosure agreements) so here's a small subway sketch.

The thing I like most about urgently drawing an unsuspecting model (who can get off the train anytime while I draw) in an uncomfortable postion (easels are a drag to carry around) in a moving vehicle (which doesn't allow for fine details) is that all I can rely on is shape and line weight to convey volume. A valuable exercise.