Back in Class

From before Thanksgiving to Christmas, things were filled with prep for visits, celebrations, weekend trips, planning for events that didn't happen and trying to finish enough Darkwing Duck/Rescue Rangers art to have something to sell at the Long Beach Comic Expo on January 11, 2020. Finally, I got back to my online painting class, was interrupted for several days, then just plowed through it until I finished. In the middle of it I did take pics of the competing projects. 

I've drawn that same Darkwing and Gosalyn piece before, using the same rough. But this time I decided to use watercolor instead of markers. I applied a little color theory to the background, although the colors on the building to the right should be switched. When blocking warm light, shadows reflect the blue of the sky, so the cooler grays would work better on the thin side of the building. I did this with the character shadows and I'm fairly pleased with it. I used violet, a warm color, on the bottom of the clouds because they're illuminated by the ground. This is something I would not have known to consider before the class.

The class painting was a struggle. I actually used the pencil rough of the teacher because I felt I needed to get painting again instead of suffering through my drawing attempt. If you've read the earlier blog entries, you'll know that I've always avoided drawing from life or photographs. I started this blog reincarnation by sketching one real thing everyday but dropped that when I started painting to make the most of available time. Mistake. I need to start again. I need to start exercising more too but let's see what happens first.

I got caught up in the color mixing and paint application and stopped paying attention to the whole. The crockery got all out of proportion and the perspective seemed off. I went back in and corrected what I could - one of the reasons I picked gouache as my medium is that you can't paint over mistakes, but that blue green bowl still looks sad. Every painting goes through and ugly stage. I protracted that stage with all my corrections. Highlights are done last which helped but I was glad to put this one behind me. It was very complicated, although the central lesson, using color in light and shadow, made sense. I thought my perspective was all wonky, but looking at it now, it's only the sugar bowl that's off. Because it has multiple rings on it, the faulty perspective has an exaggerated impact. When I cover it, everything else sits on the same plain.

The next lesson is a street scene. I'm looking forward to it because it's closer to what I'd be attempting to paint outside of the course. Although it might feature a monster or two if I was on my own.                  --Tad

Comments

[Debbie]

Your paintings look great. I’m considering taking Lena Rivo’s class & found your blog. The class is so expensive but wonder if you think it’s worth it? Thanks!

[Tad Stones]

"Worth it" is hard for me to judge. The money I make at conventions goes toward art supplies and experimenting with media. It's my fun money for trying things that I normally wouldn't. If I didn't have that extra source of income, I might've looked for something cheaper. But Lina's class was what I needed: practical exercise in values and color mixing and a style that avoids detail(Since I can fall into a detail hole at the expense of the rest of the painting). Other than that, the course is about learning her method of painting that produces paintings that looks like hers. I think it's good to learn an entirely different approach to creating art. I'm anxious to finish the course, so I can try painting subjects without her hand holding. I believe uou have access to the course for 2 years and I intend to revisit the lessons on value and color mixing a lot. Lena is very supportive and answers all questions. You also can read her comments on the art of everyone else.

[Debbie Axiak]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your blog posts and your response!