Went to see “How to Train Your Dragon” last night at the Spectrum. The “old fashioned” 2D show that we attended had a sparse audience compared with the 3D one, which was fine by us. Kae was completely captivated by the antics of “Toothless”, who’s skittishness and playful behavior bring to mind our cat Cleo. I loved it too! There were long, lovely sequences where all the acting was in the animation, free of dialogue. Sanders & DeBlois have done it again – I hope they keep making movies together.
Dragons!
Posted in OC, fiction, life, parenthood, suburbia on 03/28/2010 02:03 pm by paulzipping through the weeks…
Posted in art, drawing, life on 03/21/2010 09:42 pm by paul
So here’s a rather rambling update, life has been hectic and at turns silly, sad, fantastic and frenetic. Some of you may have noticed that deviant art has been occupying more and more of my online time. I’ve been trying to arrange things in such a way that while my toys remain out, they also don’t get dusty…
The ups and downs of not putting your toys away…
Posted in art, drawing, fine art, life on 01/31/2010 04:53 pm by paulThe ups and downs of not putting your toys away…
Last year, I started leaving out a tray of pan colors, some brushes, and several bits of paper to deface next to my desk in a quest to actually get Something Done™. Whenever I have the urge to check a webpage or whatever, I try and channel that into painting instead. Once back from holiday break, I modified my routines somewhat, and here’s what I’ve found.
Leaving trays of fry pans covered is one thing, dried tube colors uncovered is quite another, dust becomes a problem. Plastic palettes are a thing of the devil, and stain entirely too easily.
Paper matters, a lot – especially when scrubbing or blending. Some paints will affect absorbency on the other side of the paper, which only matters if you decide to use both sides.
This brings us to materials in general – you should get the best stuff you can (which may not always be the most expensive), it will help when you’re painting, it really will. Not struggling to make a light wash or mix your colors can make all the difference.
The faster you can pick up and execute, the more likely you are to do so. Execution starts the moment you start thinking about an image. The more heinous cleanup is, the less likely you are to get started.
In my case, the larger the image size, the more “precious” I get. Its easier to throw out the 1″ study than it is to ditch the 6×9 mess. It is generally better to throw out than it is to try to fix, at least in my case, with painting. I take the lesson and try to be thankful. I’m trying to get over the precious thing, honestly.
Pan colors are awesome for sketching, portability and speed. They are terrible for larger images, mixing colors, and large light washes. YMMV, but tubes are better for “studio” work.
Painting from live subjects is invaluable! It seems like my best (and worst) images come from life studies. I’m only now becoming confident enough to forgo doing a light pencil sketch first.
This is probably obvious to anyone who’s been serious about watercolor, or had some training. Since I’ve been kind of winging it, I figure it’s good to take notes 
Last year, I started leaving out a tray of pan colors, some brushes, and several bits of paper to deface next to my desk in a quest to actually get Something Done™. Whenever I have the urge to check a webpage or whatever, I try and channel that into painting instead. Once back from holiday break, I modified my routines somewhat, and here’s what I’ve found.
so much to learn…
Posted in art, drawing, life, links on 01/24/2010 09:38 am by paul
I literally cannot imagine what it must be like to grow up with all this knowledge available on tap. The past few weeks while painting, coding or doing anything near my computer, even gaming, I’ve been catching up on podcasts, reading real (gasp) physical books and checking out all of the amazing information that contemporary artists are willing to share.
At work, our visiting artists series has returned, providing another source of inspiration. Read the rest of this entry »
paint studies update
Posted in art, drawing, life on 12/20/2009 10:10 am by paul
Here’s what my space was looking like part way through December. It seems as though painting feeds on itself, or it has for me recently. This time around I had more severe failures and what I hope are more coherent successes. I’ve been trying new colors on my palette, and testing various pigments. Not reflected here are the numerous sketchbook images I’ve been doing. I’ve been reading voraciously anything I can find on the subject of painting in general and watercolor in particular. More details and images after the jump!