"Orangutan at Perth Zoo." Freehand watercolour on textured paper, with white Signo highlights. Based on my own photograph.
Update:
Week 32: Hairy II.
"Cousin Itt and the Shaggy Dog". Charcoal sketch with black finepoint and white opaque Signo detail. Inspired by a publicity pic for TV's The Addams Family.
"Nanny vs the Komodo Dragon." Charcoal pencil sketch with green watercolour pencil shading. Based on a vivid childhood memory, a family anecdote often recalled. My photo albums are in storage and the only reference photo I had of Nanny was tiny. I was almost tempted to do the scene from the other side of the glass. But I needed the two main characters to lock eyes. That's me to the left, barely able to see above the window ledge.
"Dolores del Río and Friend". Charcoal portrait sketch on cream Ingres paper, with a touch of orange watercolour pencil. Based on a Hollywood publicity photograph found in a Google Image search.
Update:
Week 5: 1920s II
"Archibald Fountain, after dark." Theseus and the Minotaur are off-duty on the night of a full moon. Sketched in black finepoint Sharpie and white opaque Signo on grey Ingres, with watercolour collaged elements in white Ingres paper. (I wanted to try drawing this iconic Sydney fountain this week, even though it didn't fit the theme and, while researching pics and Wikipedia, I realised the statues were designed in France... in the 1920s!) Theseus and the Minotaur are off-duty on the night of a full moon. Sketched in black finepoint Sharpie and white opaque Signo on grey Ingres, with watercolour collaged elements in white Ingres paper. (I wanted to try drawing this iconic Sydney fountain this week, even though it didn't fit the theme and, while researching pics and Wikipedia, I realised the statues were designed in France... in the 1920s!)
"Icarus flies too high..." Drawing of Icarus with finepoint black Sharpie. Highlights in watercolour on white Quill linenbond paper, collaged onto a yellow paper Origami circle and blue felt background. Cloud formations created with cotton wool unwound from a cotton bud. Several photos of Pygar the angel from Barbarella used as reference.
Update:
Week 33: Mythology II
"Behind every successful Minotaur is a clever publicist." Drawing of Mr Minotaur and his aide, Mini Taur, in finepoint black Sharpie. Highlights in watercolour on Quill papers: white linenbond collaged onto cream "marbletone".
Week 33: Mythology III
The dugong, origin of the mythological mermaids. Charcoal sketch on blue card with metallic silver Sharpie and opaque white Signo highlights. Based on my own photograph of Wuru, the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium's female dugong.
Charcoal sketch of Wil'yam Sheq'spir (and yorIq) on orange La Carta Weave textured paper. Detail in black and metallic gold finepoint Sharpie and opaque white Signo, using two Shakespeare images (found in a Google Image search), and enhanced by me with Klingon features. Klingon Chancellor Gorkon once stated, "You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon..." ["Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country".]
Update:
Week 31: Shakespeare II
"Shakespeare's Globe, London." Watercolour and brown and black Sharpies, with white Puffy Paint and opaque Signo ink highlights. Based on my own photograph.
Week 1: Fairy Tale
Facebook Friend Tania McCartney is running the 52-Week Illustration Challenge again in 2015. My first effort (above) is Little Red Riding Hood: a watercoloured artwork on dampened watercolour paper. Outlined in black Sharpie - freehand with no pencil lines.
I shall be adding the artworks to this Flickr slideshow each week. Enjoy!
I did the Challenge in its inaugural year, which saw its membership surpass 2500 members! (2728 at last count!) Last year, I got into a fairly good routine of painting on a Sunday afternoon (and perhaps a little tinkering the next night), then creating the scan or digital photo so I'd be ready to post to the Challenge's Facebook page at midnight on the Tuesday. Of course, originally, I had no intention of doing a second artwork each week. I started getting intensely jealous of people putting up multiple works of a theme... so now, if inspiration strikes, I'll alway do more. I'm looking forward to seeing who's still here - and how artistic we all feel - in another year's time!
Update:
Week 1: Fairy Tale II
Peter Pan. Charcoal sketch of my Chicago actor pal, James Edward Dauphin, from a publicity shot of his featured stage role. In a costume he designed himself. Highlights in green oil pastel.
Week 1: Fairy Tale III
The Witch - of numerous fairy tales - as portrayed by Meryl Streep in 'Into the Woods'. Charcoal over watercolour wash on A3 watercolour paper. Based on a publicity photo.
I saw the movie, Into the Woods, on Sunday night and that particular image of Meryl Streep as The Witch has been haunting me ever since. I did exaggerate her nose because she was looking too pretty. I was excited by the randomness of the watercolour wash. Just as it was close to drying, I patted off excess green in the centre, with a scrunched paper towel, guessing where the face needed to be. Then I kept reorienting the paper, trying to decide which way was "up". Working with charcoal takes me back to the late 70s/early 80s. Nostalgia plus!
Posts
All Comments
