Gonna need a Montage!

SO. I was pretty excited about this, mainly cause we got to pick three random subjects to paint. Of course I then had to include business cat in this mix .
(For the uneducated http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/business-cat#.Tpx6UJsr2so)


I also used a random monster in the background (I think its from the movie clover field) and three stunt planes flying from behind. Apart from the positioning/size of the monster in the background I was happy with my composition and layout. That's when I made the critical error of not using any Gesso or Matt medium on the Illustration board before painting onto it. 


FYI, Gouache is crap without that mix on the paper/board.


So I ended up with 'blocked out colors' in Rustys words and a really brushy background. The saving grace is that the Cat up front looks good... At least in my opinion.

Panthera tigris

This is the second 20x30 watercolor piece we did. I decided to go up a notch and do something that's actually alive this time, An animal. And as we all know, tigers are awesome. 


My first regret was not using all the page, the second was my color choices. I really think a more somber Blue Color range would have worked better. Although the reds should have suited the tiger better.


While not my best watercolor piece its not my worst either, It sort of feels half finished, with not enough definition on the Whiskers. I also think while I managed to keep most of the pattern on the face, I lost it on the Body.

Staring at myself

So these are self portraits done with Watercolor wash and line art thrown on top of it. These...REALLY didn't go to well. First of all, My face is WEIRD. The only one I actually didn't mind is the bottom one where I'm looking away. I feel I captured how tired I was in the photo reference I used, as well as the rings under my eyes from lack of sleep.

If I have the time (which is a big if) I'd like to try redoing a self portrait using the Wacom tablet and the paint tool Sai. I think the end result would be good, Finding the time would not.

Roses have thorns

This is a 9x12 watercolor piece. Its a wash with line art thrown over it to give definition and structure. I feel like this didn't come out the best, Mainly cause I didn't spend a lot of time on it. But it does have a nice washy, wavy look to it. I thought the subtle mix of Reds, oranges and pinks in the petals was good.


I'll try and find the other larger watercolor exercises we did... Wherever I put them.

DC Goodness

This is the product illustration we did with.... I would like to say Watercolor?


ANYWAY, This was challenging cause I had to keep the lines tight, as the illustration is a promotional shot of the product, one which could be found in a magazine. I feel like the Scan maybe made it a bit too light, But color balancing it in Photoshop didn't go down to well. Either way, it came together well enough. I fairly certain I got the proportions all correct, and the color was about right.


I particularly liked the shoe design as well, I mean, DC's are just cool. And Red + Black is tasty. Nuff' said.

Why I dont know Jack about American Presidents

This is the completed Lincoln illustration project. I chose to do a Top hat that's been shot, mainly cause as I'm from Northern Ireland and don't know crap about American presidents. All I know about Lincoln is that he wore a Top Hat and was shot in a theatre. YEAH.


I used Gouache watercolors on watercolor paper, I always Sprayed a couple of coats of Gesso on the paper first. I really liked the blood, and I think it came through well as a focal point of the piece. Overall, I probably spent somewhere between 5-6 hours on this. I think I might have messed up on the perspective slightly, but apart from that I'm happy with this illustration.

F@#% It.

SO.... Yeah. In light of the midterm portfolio that's due in two days, and the fact that my blog hasn't been up to date since the first week.... I'm just going to say F@#% it, and upload the rest of my work in any order. Feels good.


So here's the first 20x30 water color we had to do. I felt that this was the probably the first watercolor piece that I was happy with. I chose a good subject, which had some good composition and lighting. I then limited myself to shades of Yellow, gold and browns to accomplish it. This took me all together just over 4 hours, which felt like a good amount of time to put into it.


The stones underneath the water at the bottom of the picture were quite hard to do. I messed around with it a lot, but I think I somewhat managed to accomplished effect... If you tilt your head the right way.