Dogs don't pose for their portraits, and Smooth is no exception, as I demonstrate in this new video (Link to video on YouTube).
I start wild and loose, skipping a preliminary drawing and painting the main lines with a brush. There's a big change halfway through, as I decide to put him in a standing pose instead of a sitting pose.
The painting remains for a while in a chaotic, fluid state until, little by little, it starts to look more like the model.
True words. Mistakes happen and we need to realize, turn it around and move forward towards the goal. The most important step you ever take is the next one. (Paraphrased from Brandon Sanderson's book, Oathbringer.)
ReplyDeleteMaster Gurney and the portrait of a loved boy.
ReplyDeleteStudying animal anatomy here.
Hey, Smooth, You are a beautiful boy.
Thanks, Master.
Paulo - Rio.
I had to find the whole quote because it is so good.
ReplyDelete“A journey will have pain and failure. It is not only the steps forward that we must accept. It is the stumbles. The trials. The knowledge that we will fail. That we will hurt those around us.
But if we stop, if we accept the person we are when we fall, the journey ends. The failure becomes our destination.
To love the journey is to accept no such end. I have found, through painful experience, that the most important step a person can take is always the next one.” -Brandon Sanderson Oathbringer.
Just found you on Instagram. I’ve loved your content for a while!
ReplyDelete-Dan Stovall
Just found you on Instagram. I’ve loved your content for a while!
ReplyDelete-Dan Stovall
Just found you on Instagram! I’ve loved your blog for a while now.
ReplyDelete-Dan Stovall
Just found you on Instagram! I’ve loved your blog for a while now.
ReplyDelete-Dan Stovall
I like to draw and paint, too, though I am far from being good anyhow. But one thing I have learned through the years: Children and animals you draw from memory!
ReplyDeleteInteresting you mention Bob Ross. In many ways, you are the anti-Bob Ross, since even your imaginative work is based on observation, not formula. I have scanned many episodes since their release online. The associated comments are telling. Most are not painters, but he is filling an apparent need for positive affirmation and peace. It reminds me not to neglect the healing and spiritual aspect of art as I seek technical improvement.
ReplyDeleteI also happen to be reading a book on Wyeth and what you said about accidents and the unexpected is really cogent. He said that if someone watched him work sometimes they would think he was crazy. He would throw paint and otherwise "mess up" a carefully worked painting just to jolt himself into a different approach. He struggled more with the dichotomy between order and chaos more than any other artist I have read about.
Scott, I like the way you said all that. I haven't seen much of Bob Ross's programming, but I'm impressed with his overall reassuring demeanor. It almost reminds me of Mr. Rogers, another balm for our frazzled times. I find the act of painting simultaneously comforting and destabilizing, and I can feel that it recruits parts of my brain that normally don't work together. Wyeth is one of the most refreshing to read about the process of painting. He doesn't talk much about technique, but his observations are unfailingly original.
ReplyDeleteThanks, DanStovallARt!
Stephen, thanks for the quote. Taking chances often leads to failures and changes of mind, but it's the only way to be.
Thanks, Paulo.