Tuesday 31 January 2017

YouTube vids I'm watching...


It's good to surf through artists' videos on YouTube to get ideas on technique or processes. I have my favourites, listed below in an earlier blog link, but every now and then I seek out different artists.

I typed in 'sketching' on the YT search bar and picked three videos: 
Quick Sketches #8 by MissKerrieJ shows the artist  working in a sketchbook, her warm-up drawings on the left page lasting no more than 30secs each. On the right page she begins to draw a single figure and admits that often she doesn't know what's she's going to finish up with and this video shows her changing the figure time and time again until she's satisfied. Her 'unknown' style is something I also do unless I'm reworking an older drawing or setting out to draw fan art.
Realistic Eyes Sketch by StylEnrich shows the artist drawing an eye and using a mix of pencils, ink and gel pen. Her YT page itself is filled with craft videos and her art is a small part. If I'd seen her page first I mightn't have looked at her art videos. I followed her technique step by step, pausing the video as I went, and drew an eye. I've never liked the technique of smudging charcoal or pencil and instead prefer to shade by varying the pressure onto the paper. 
Portrait Sketch by JerrysArtarama shows a lovely confident piece of work. I liked his technique of blocking in larger shaded areas first with a piece of charcoal then changing to harder charcoal pencils and erasing the initial blocking to a soft hint of itself. Using an eraser to highlight made the drawing pop. The YT video seems old-style but his drawing isn't.

When I watch and listen to a new art video I have to like the voice of the artist. And what the artist says is important - if the video is full of self-doubt or is rambling I lose interest. There's a big difference from following tips in an art book to following a person presenting their art on-screen. On YouTube knowing how to present appears to be as important as the skill you want to share.



Artists I follow on social media - blogpost July 2016
(TheMonsterPaws, Baylee Jae, Draw with Jazza, HelloAlice, markcrilley, Kattvalk, Sophira-Lou, Juicy Ink, Zyra BaƱez, Bryan Collins, Sakuems, Anita Gadzinska)

StylEnrich 
JerrysArtarama

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All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

Monday 30 January 2017

grey cloud...pen and pencil...


I had been thinking of the saying 'a grey cloud hanging over you' and began to draw it as though it were an entity. Creeping up behind a person and slowly taking over them, changing the person into a duller form of themselves.

sketches from college '78 & '79

I used to draw clouds with pencil, using mostly a bottom left to top right shading pattern and I used this style to draw the grey cloud entity.


After neatening up the pencil I outlined the girl in black fineliner but shaded the cloud in pencil, making it very grey. Giving it red eyes indicated its malevolence. At first the girl isn't aware of the cloud behind her.


The second drawing follows the same process but now that the grey cloud has got a grip of the girl it starts to smother her. Strands of her hair begin to turn grey.


The third drawing sees the grey cloud has become parasitic and the girl is now a dull form of herself. Her hair is shaded grey and hangs lank around her face. Her eyes have grown dim and are also grey. The grey cloud has a grip on her necklace, an ankh, which represents life. She wears the cloud like a hoodie, its red eyes positioned almost like goggles to view her world.

After completing the third drawing I thought the girl as she now looks might be a good comic strip character.

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All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.



Friday 27 January 2017

Sketchbook...Heroes...


Drawing in my sketchbook, figures become super heroes. Markers and coloured pencil, fineliner and white gel pen. Usual process.






Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit


All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.




Wednesday 25 January 2017

Year of the Rooster...


Chinese Zodiac Year of the Rooster begins on January 28th. Attributes are listed as 'sociable, courageous, accomplished and well dressed' with its negative 'always thinking they're right'.


Usual pencil sketch, getting down on paper the idea that's in my head. Initially I had a Rooster Superhero type of figure, positive attributes represented by icons in the background. But I kept it simpler and what resulted was a strange hybrid rooster-woman. 


Drawing the feathers took forever, especially as they were drawn twice. Fine pencil line followed by black fineliner.I did think of leaving it there but the vivid plumage in some of the roosters I saved on Pinterest (Year of the Rooster) made me want to break out the colours.

Promarkers and Faber Castell coloured pencils. Finished figure outlined in black and white gel pen.





Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit


All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

Monday 23 January 2017

Metallic markers...


Got some Winsor & Newton Promarkers in metallics as part of a Christmas gift - I had looked at these in my local art shop before and wanted to try them.


As usual the markers are dual tipped with small and large point and colours include: Violet, Blue, Green, Silver, Gold and Red Gold. The Red Gold is a cross between gold and copper, almost like an 'old gold'. They are smooth to use and unlike the usual alcohol Promarker the ink doesn't bleed through to the other side of the paper. 


I had thought of a peacock or a mermaid as the metallics might suit either and settled for the latter. Sketched onto Bristol Board with pencil.


Defined the pencil and erased any excess lines. Her pearl necklace had broken and the beads were scattered on the sand beneath. 


Used alcohol Promarkers to colour, Faber Castell colour pencil for the background and each of the Metallic Promarkers to highlight an area of the drawing. The mermaid was outlined in Dark Indigo coloured pencil and white gel pen. 

Silver outlined the pearls, blue the scales on her tail, gold on the leaves of the seaweed and both green and red gold on her hair.


Fun to use and the quality of ink is good.



Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit


All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.









Wednesday 18 January 2017

portrait in a sketchbook...


So I decided to draw a portrait of my son Harry as a birthday card of sorts. In my A5 Leuchtturm. Portraiture is not something that comes easy although when you break it down it's just a series of facets, shading and highlighting...and colour. It's knowing where to place them all.

I don't have many photos of the big fella as he's not into having his picture taken. I know a few people who are camera-shy so I feel that's normal enough. Instead I drew from a mix of photos from years past and a single recent one he uses as a profile picture. And I added what I knew of his beard, hair and beanie.


As portraits go it's not that great...


I'm happy with the eyes although they're a tad big (if I used Photoshop I could've fixed that)... 



and I enjoyed drawing the beard...


But the nose got progressively more difficult the more I tried to fix it. The shape is mostly right - we each have the little round tip to our noses - inherited from my Mum. The drawing was originally in black fineliner, Unipin 0.1, but as I overworked the nose I applied white gel pen to brighten it and finally got out the ProMarkers to add some colour - anything to distract. 

I like the details enlarged, seeing each pen stroke laid over others. Perhaps that's something I might try using slightly thicker pens on a larger sheet of paper.

Harry likes it though. 

Monday 16 January 2017

Making a Zine...


Making a zine...


I'd wanted to use Bristol Board to have a good base for markers but it was too thick to fold accurately, even using a bone folder. Perhaps if I'd folded each fold separately rather than on top of one another that might have worked. However it was going to be a trial run of making a zine so I decided to use it, rough folds and all. I used an A4 sheet - if I'd used A3 that might have folded better.


Following instructions (see links below) I made a central cut and folded the paper back on itself so that I would have four 'pages'. Marking each surface in pencil with f (front), b (back) and numbers 1 to 6 I started to doodle on pages 1 & 2. What appeared was a figure running against banners in the night sky. Words included 'run off' and 'go'.

I gather that zines are like mini magazines and often have a central theme. Mine seemed to be similar to the mini artbooks I make so it's more arty than informative.

Mini Art Books 2 - November 2016
mini art books - May 2016



On the second double spread I wrote a Haiku on moving quickly and thinking about the feeling of the ground underfoot. I do write short stories but I am not a poet. But a Haiku seemed about the right size for something to write in this tiny zine.

feet move swiftly over gravel...
feel points of a sharp shale path...
sand trail in my wake...


The final double spread has definitions of the verbs 'go' and 'run off' and include small illustrations at the base of each page.

The central folded page was open and it might have been good to doodle a 'secret' message or drawing in there but alcohol markers seep through so I choose to leave the inner pages blank.

What I wanted to do next was photocopy the zine sheet and print it in grey or black, adding doodles of white gel pen on areas that might look too dark. But I was out of black printing ink. So I scanned variations instead...

grayscale

black & white

I like the drama of the B&W and particularly how the hand looks like it's floating on the back cover. I may have to make more zines...


Links:
- makezines.com
- instructables
- wikihow
- creativebloq
- rookiemag.com 
- mookychick


Copyright © 2016 by Roisin O'Hagan/bloowabbit


All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.

Friday 13 January 2017

'We Are Fluid' - Elaine McGinn

elainemcginn.com

GUEST 2 is the 2016 end-of-year show at the ADF Gallery. A selection of work from Award winning artists with disabilities curated by Dr. Colin Darke. The exhibition runs to 27th January 2017.

Elaine Mcginn performed a live performance art piece in the gallery, her inspiration coming from the linen mills of the 80s and 90s. '...her memories...within the context of local and global socio-political change...signifies what she sees as "cultural fragmentation"...' www.adf.ie



It's still early days for me and performance art. Part of me feels it's alien, something I don't quite grasp. However, if I view the performance while relating it to visual art, an artform I'm comfortable with - seeing the artist or the space as the canvas, and the performance as the paint and brush - I begin to comprehend things happening before me. The senses also hold importance - touch, smell, sight, sound and taste. 




I feel there's a certain theatre present. Meaning may be attached to costume, prop and movement. Or simply to facilitate the performance - to aid the artist move through the open window a step ladder is placed on one side, a chair on the other. I like the artist not being limited by the usual confines of the gallery space.




Time appears to be important. The artist moves slowly, her pace measured. Sometimes she holds a pose, entirely still. During the timespan she does not visibly interact with the viewers. I feel as though I am a voyeur. What is happening before me may be intensely private. There is a bigness of spirit, permitting us to watch.



Walking and sitting on a floor scattered with dressmaking pins made me worry about her pain, that worry heightened as she filled her open mouth with a cluster of pins. My nervousness dissipated slightly as she allowed pins to drop to the floor, making a delicate sound like rainfall. Metal raindrops with sharp points.


I felt the importance of following the artist outside where out of the relative safety of the gallery she might be open to verbal or even physical abuse from public. Some people wondered aloud what she was doing, another spoke angrily at all of us. It may be important to take the lead from the performing artist.


Throughout the performance the artist used a winding handle to tap on various surfaces near her - wood, metal, board, glass. 




The final minutes of the performance were spent by the artist removing pins, wet with saliva, from her mouth and fixing them to the display boards, pulling single hairs from her head and delicately hanging them onto the pins and finally draping her scarf, which had covered her head and face at the beginning, upon the pins.



What remains is a decorated white wall and the remains of the performance artist having used the space - a chair upturned and pins scattered across the floor. Respecting what remains is as important as watching the performance. Like marks made on a canvas.






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All rights reserved. The artworks/illustrations or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the artist except for specific permission granted with a free downloadable.