Jason C-M: Sketchbook and Studies -- Oils

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20051219study.jpg

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060102portraitstudy.jpg
(more photo studies)

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/huntresscostume.jpg

I love doing photo studies, as a skillbuilder. Every once in awhile I take a study further because it's going quite well and wind up with what would be a stand-alone piece of art -- but isn't because the original photo wasn't mine own, just culled somewhere off the internet. Which is okay -- but I really want to start a library of MY OWN photos I can work from.

More tomorrow . . .

[revender]

Those are great drawings man. I particularly like how confident the first one is. The last one has really clean shading, which really pops out, you should make a photocopy and try inking.

Although your drawings from photo are excellent, you should draw from life as well.

Nice work, I'm looking forward to seeing more.

[Alday.J]

Agree with Revender, your studies are impressive and I dig the first one the most ! Post more, please !
J.

[noiion]

Wow, these are excellent pieces. The faces look really good, Jason. I only have a problem with the Huntress's face. Some she just looked too manly. Other than that, she's awsome. Keep posting!

[Jason C-M]

I'm fond of this one:
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/20051129study.jpg

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060103photostudy.jpg

Revender -- I do a lot of gesture drawing and observational drawing from life (draw people at the bus-stop, in the waiting room, etc.)-- but my current lifestyle doesn't let me work from a posed model too often. Hopefully that'll change sometime soon, but until then, I can do photo studies every day (and do).

[revender]

I'm glad to hear that. Wouldn't want an awesome artist to be held back by photos, but you seem well aware of the benefits of observation. Keep it up man, I want to see more of your work. :teeth:

[yousir]

these are quality drawings, nice work. no subject i like better than the human form.

[gmags]

These sketches are really excellant. You have a good grasp of anatomy. Keep postin. :teeth:

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060104photostudy.jpg

[hurricane]

great studies !

on the last one, the left side (our left) of her face is off, too big...or the rest of the head (top) is too smal

[hamb6960]

There is some really good stuff going on in this thread. I like your style, I would love to see more!! Keep it up!

[Jason C-M]

Some gesture studies done waiting for my daughter at her dance class.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060105gestures.jpg

[Alday.J]

Real good studies, Jason ! Can't give real crit, just look perfect for me. Keep posting will be my only suggestion !
Cheers.
J.

[Jason C-M]

I've been working on a graphic novel for a long time, and have pencilled well over a hundred pages (and only thrown out say fifteen or twenty due to rewrites). One thing I'm doing now is going through already pencilled pages and "fixing" errors (redrawing heads and bodies that bug me, mainly). But 75% of the time I worry it doesn't look "better" just "different." But it's still worth it to me for the drawing practice and that 25% I do actually improve.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/gw312ab.jpg

[Jason C-M]

Working on a copy/drapery study of waterhouse's Boreas (http://artrenewal.org/asp/database/image.asp?id=839). Been zipping through it -- once I slowed down to scan and post, of course multitudinous flaws become clear. But that's no problem, since my plan all along was to drop an overlay onto this drawing and keep going in the refining and rendering.

Interesting, though, how once something is scanned and onscreen, faults that were invisible to me in the physical drawing become painfully obvious.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060109waterhousestudy1.jpg

[OleOlsen]

wow the last one is really expressive. the face is really transfers a certain mood. the folds are quite nice on this one too. maybe you could play a little bit mor ewith white and black spaces to describe certain areas. it doesn't have to be all with lines. here i've found a good and easy example:
http://www.liacs.nl/~hoogeboo/calvin.gif
enjoy and keep on posting ;)

[Jason C-M]

Session 2 of yesterday's study -- I'll have to decide if I want to devote another session to it. Right now I'm thinking no, I've spent enough time on the exercise, but if the illo's I'm working on today give me problems, I might pick it up again. On the other hand, my new Canon Eos Digital Rebel XT arrives today (hopefully) so I might be playing with that and going to the camera store to look at lenses instead . . .
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060110waterhousestudy2.jpg

[verao]

great stuff, I would like to see more pages of the grafic novel you working on there really nice!!

[el!x!r]

i like
respect man you are a realy gangsta

[Jason C-M]

I'm making my first foray into Character of the Week. Had lots of fun researching costuming. I nearly screwed up thinking it was supposed to be Regency era, but it's mid to late 1800's, so Victorian/Late Victorian.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/LadyFredrickson02.jpg

[Jason C-M]

More gesture drawings from a kids dance class:

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060112dancegestures.jpg

[Recursive_End]

Nice :)
Cool sb, your studies are solid, and i really like those figures.
If only i could go at an art class :(
Anyway, keep updating, i'll come back :)

Btw, its essential for me to know if there is a good art class or school in arizona, especially near phoenix or tempe, cause in less than a year im moving there. So do you know any? :)

[Jason C-M]

Hey Recursive,

Scottsdale School of Art runs workshops -- they aren't a degree/diploma institution, but some of the classes, like those taught by board member William Whittaker, are incredible.

I know there are a couple of other art institutions around, but for degree/diploma type places, I'm afraid you'll really have to ask someone else.

[Recursive_End]

OK, thanks for the help :)

[Master 25 Days]

good studies you got going on here, guy.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060110waterhousestudy2.jpg

very nice folds on that one.

[Konstruktion]

Really nice work, really thin they're all great. You sure know how to draw women, and that John William Waterhouse piece is excellent, the wrinkles are really nice. I loce that third cartoony pic, what's her name again? Wnyway, hope to see more of that kinda stuff from you, it's excellent. I'm hoping for you to ink it and color it :)

[Jason C-M]

You sure know how to draw women
Thanks, but funnily enough, I don't think I do. That's why I keep doing studies of them. I don't bother doing male studies often, because I feel like I've got a much better handle on the male face and figure. One of the most common crits I get is that my women look mannish.

[Jason C-M]

for the CHOW
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/LadyFredrickson07.jpg

[Jason C-M]

first sketch for part of a mural
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/Quixote1.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/Helen.jpg
Haven't done any straight black and white for a good while -- and that used to be my "thing." So I'm playing with a new crowquill that I think I'm starting to like.

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/2006batgirl.jpg

[Jason C-M]

Some gesture drawings from Muybridge's Human Figure in Motion, which was on sale at the bookstore. I love Muybridge. Is it just me?

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060120muybridge.jpg

[Jason C-M]

The mural after four hours (with interruption from the guys installing the doors):
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/QuixoteDay01.jpg

[Jason C-M]

Day 3 detail
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/QuixoteDay03.jpg

[Jason C-M]

Day4
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/QuixoteDay04.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/QuixoteFinal.jpg
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/QuixoteFinalDetail.jpg

[glikster]

This is phenomenal!

[Zebz]

Lovely thread, Jason!! Your pencils and gestures are really fun to look at but damn!!! I love that mural! What'd you paint it up with?? Beautiful work. I love how the doors feel transparent. Is this your house or is it work for a client?

[Kresh]

thats awesome. I want to paint my room now. Is this your place or clients?

[blacky]

Nice pencils, specialy first one.
Dig the Don Quichote wallpainting. Had to do painting on same subject some time ago too, so I like it even more (Yours looks way better though :) )
Cheers

[Jason C-M]

It's a client's house. I wanted to paint straight over the doors, the client at first wanted the doors untouched, so I did a proposal with these transparent-looking doors, and he really dug it.

It's done in a mix of house latex and acrylics. 7 days of painting including a day varnishing.

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060308interroughs.jpg

Some figure roughs for a comics page I'm working on.

[yAdam]

Jason, you've got some brilliant life drawings and studies... Solid line work on your comic book work too.

Really impressive mural, I did one once, when I was about 10, on the side of my primary school.. It was a teddy bar and rainbows, stuff like that. Really bad.. But I was 10.. anyway, I can see really nice colour variation running through the entire painting. Compared to your ch.o.w piece it is much better painted, it seems like you handle digital work in a different way. (if that is digital)... I guess you didnt have too much time to work on it, but it would be cool to see a more painterly approach.

[BradWhitlam]

that mural is inspiring i'd love to do something like that

[Jason C-M]

Did some head studies to warm up this morning. I wanted to work on the female head, from angles other than the standard portrait or advertising photography. I also always like working on different mouth positions/expressions. Not always easy to find good ref for quick studies on that though. Well, except for the obvious.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060309headstudies.jpg

[Zebz]

Clean, fluid studies, Jason. So how much would it cost for you to come over and paint some shit on my walls? Heh. I can't get over how cool that stuff looks!!

[Jason C-M]

Hey man, cover my travel and materials and we could just go wild. I'd cut one hell of a deal off my daily rate for you.

I'm waiting for a new lens to come in the mail and I'm going to re-shoot that mural for some better photos of it.

[fooxoo]

I want a wall painting too!! :teeth:

Really love the facial studies. You ve captured the expressions well. Cheers.

COol stuff.

[Jason C-M]

fooxoo, fly me to Latvia and I'll do the painting for free.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060210lighting.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060213figurestudy.jpg

[Jason C-M]

Quick study in artstix - first time using the medium for this type of drawing.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060215figurestudy.jpg

[Jason C-M]

another artstix sketch.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060216head.jpg

[Jason C-M]

photoshop speedpaint -- 40 min.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060217speedpaint.jpg

[Recursive_End]

It looks good, try to add some details. Looking at the rocks on the left and the vegetation. But its a speed, so i dont know if you'll go further in it.

[noiion]

One of the most common crits I get is that my women look mannish.

I think your main problem with the manly faces comes from the jaw line. Be extra careful with that. Beautiful looking women usually have short + round or oval jaws, not long, hard and chiseled. Your latest one and the one with many different expressions are the better looking of the bunch. I really dig that murell. Keep posting.

[Jason C-M]

My brain/eye just hasn't figured out how to put the "rounder, softer" comment into action. Maybe it's exposure to too many drag queens in my younger days -- got ingrained the idea that all gender is drag.

But it's something I'm working on. Anyone know a good visual reference for me to check out that'll help my brain see through this mental block?

[archipelago]

Im really digging this sketchbook, especially those female expression studies haha :P

[Richard_M]

Jason C-M,

This is great stuff. I absolutely love the way you capture emotion and gesture in your studies. I only hope I can attain the same ability as I study the human form. Thanks for the inspiration and keep up the great posts! :D

Thanks so much,

Richard_M

YES! I do have a Sketchbook (http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=61599)!

[afgal]

I really love your gesture drawings and style.

-----
Check out my sketchbook (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=56314")

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060221study.jpg

[Pesmerga]

Awesome stuff. Great sketchbook so far. Cant wait to see more :)

[Jason C-M]

Study for a painting I'm working on:
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060222studyforpainting.jpg

[Recursive_End]

Very good studies as always :)
You seem to work pretty fast, looking at your shading. Maybe push a bit that technique, and give a better result at the same speed.
D.

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060223lightingstudy.jpg

[Jason C-M]

Fixed

[Jason C-M]

I drew a sketch of a little red-haired girl my daughter was playing with on a little slide at the airport. It wasn't a bad set-up. Sure, she was running 60 mph rather than posing, but she did pass through the same spot on the top of the slide pretty reliably, and I could take a good look at her there.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060228sketch.jpg

[Jason C-M]

artstix on cardstock
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/arielookla.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/swampspeed.jpg

[Wetterschneider]

Hi Jason, your pencil sketches are brilliant, or brill, as our British compatriats would say. I would really like to see more, surely you've got more to throw up in this thread?

[T-Raktor]

DUuuuude, great work here. Very natural postures on your characters, they are great. Poste more, i really love it.

[Jason C-M]

"surely you've got more to throw up in this thread?"
I update this thread two to four times a week. There's always new stuff coming in.

[maxetormer]

Im really enjoying the ride here, post more!!!

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060307nyoebo.jpg

[Recursive_End]

Really nice as always.
That weapon the guy on the right has is pretty disturbing...it must hurt so bad. I can't even imagine how he swings it ^^.
Nice work !!

[T-Raktor]

Hei Jason, nice works here. I like them all. And do more of those girl portrets, u are really good at them (many of them are lovely).

[Orozc0]

very nice stuff. Love the comic and the girls (hott) and the freakin mural. don quihote de la mancha! sick stuff man.

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/200603yariyoroi.jpg

[rob-ot]

Nice work! I really like your pencil studies.

everything looks really good to me so, sorry no crit!!

[Jason C-M]

studies from photos that are not my own -- working on foreshortening stuff.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060310studies.jpg

[tgfx]

love your work man.
props

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060314ayane.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/flamepump01.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060317cliffs.jpg

[kyi_72]

that painting is looking really nice, cant wait to see it finished.

your forshortening studies look more like what you interpret vs what you see. your references may have alot to do with that since the poses have a very manufactured/cliched look to them. suggest finding more random/life like/not so posed references instead. ie. people walking their dogs/sitting at a table/eating...

try to stay away from the supermodel stuff as they tend to all be the same.

happy drawing,

k

[Jason C-M]

Planes of the head from cast, 25 min.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060322planes.jpg

[sith]

Damn, your faces are really good. That's something i really need to work on; so, i'll probably be dropping in and out of this sketchbook every now and then. Awesome stuff, Jason.

[Jason C-M]

Trying out a new approach to comics coloring (for me). Next part in the experiment is to pull this off with only pencilled pages so I can get them in in time -- this shot I took the luxury of inking. But the pencils on the pages I've got to do are really tight and clean, so here's hoping!

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060323rafters.jpg
pencils printed out in blueline, then very thin oil paints ('cause it's what was on my pallette) scrubbed in to tone the areas, then the inks overlayed digitally.

[Jason C-M]

p.s., for the fun of it, here's the board as it went into the scanner. I had printed out two copies of the pencils side by side, inked one, painted the other.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060323rafterspre.jpg

[Artguy]

Love your pencil work. The line quality is very nice !

Whats the deal with the comic stuff? Are you just coloring? Currious minds want to know!

[Jason C-M]

Coloring's the area I suck most in. I do some comics penciling here and there where I can get it, and I'm working on my own graphic novel called Gina's World (have to straighten some stuff out about the inker, etc. before I can put a release date to it).
This color stuff here is some stuff I've got to do last minute for a book proposal (art due in to the editor this coming Monday).

[Jason C-M]

I should point out that these images I did/colored for the book proposal aren't images that would be used in the book (those were already done) just the editor wanted a handful more full-color things from my portfolio to show how I handle certain things. She picked out some fairly old pencils, but hopefully they'll still stand up. I guess they've actually got a lot going for them, just at my current remove, all I see about them is the flaws.
This one is colored with oils, pencils just digitally darkened (and blacked in here and there) rather than any actually inking (digital or otherwise)
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/topten1color.jpg

[mitch]

awesome stuff man. what you did on that wall looks great!! i think that is really cool(that is something i was always hoping to do in my house some day.) I really like your faces that you drew, they are showing some really nice expression. you also did a nice job on form in your gestures, those look really nice. keep it up man

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/Nightwing1color.jpg

[Recursive_End]

Good work as always. Still following your sb :) so keep em coming !

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/Nightwing5color.jpg

[Jason C-M]

Bit of a quickie, but fun:

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/IronManGunslinger.jpg

[Saise]

Fantastic stuff but i hate anatomy drawings :D Its so boooring. But the DonQuishot painting is awesome, like other non anatomy pics. Nice.

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/soul12.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060404fig.jpg

[Jason C-M]

Portrait in oils after first session (2.5 hrs). I've only got two sessions with this model, and I'm focused on color and paint handling so I rushed the structure/drawing a bit. But I want to get everthing right, so I'm going to use some photos I took to get the likeness sharpened up (and a touch more rendering) and then finish it off from the live model, and hopefully it won't look like a painting done from a photo.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060404brisess1.jpg

[Cold]

the comic page, is very powerful, love it!!!!

[Jason C-M]

Thanks, Cold!

Here's a bit more of the painting, using the photo to lay in the b/g and correct some drawing errors.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060404brisess2b.jpg

[maxetormer]

Oils look dam nice, and the comic panels are pretty dam good,
specialy the gang kinda stuff, I can fell the electricity on the
air on the background panel, cool stuff!!!

[Jason C-M]

spent a half-hour looking for my good sketchbook, gave up and just drew in this crappy too-much-tooth paper (just not good for small or tight drawings, and looks bad when scanned).
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060407skinner.jpg

[Zebz]

Man, you really make love to that pencil work when you want to! It's my favs of all this stuff I think. I'd love to see you take some of these pencil drawings to a more finished, tight realm and spend some effort on those like you do in your paints and stuff. You're quite the talented, dude! Especially with all these different poses and stuff. Sometimes your work seems stiff tho, like in the comic pages it seems pretty stiff at times in my opinion. The color work in the comics leaves something to be desired as well. I know you're experimenting but don't be afraid to get bold at all. Remember, it's not just about colors, it's about values. Alot of your colors just seem to be consistently light. Make some areas pop being darker and lighter. Great sketchbook man. Definately lookin' forward to more.

[asoir]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/soul12.jpg
Tight page! Great stuff overall too, keep posting.

[Jason C-M]

Thanks, man. I do like the atmosphere of that page.

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060410punch.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060411jess.jpg

[Cold]

i really like the capturing of the moving boxers, excellent. of course the shadow on the right arm no the last pic, makes it really stand out, kewl stuff as per usual:)

[Jason C-M]

More of the portrait I've been working on. This is after one more session (the last session) with the model.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060411brisess3.jpg

[redehlert]

killer work! paintings are so rich and inviting and your boxers and their line work are superb!!
cheers!
d

[Dile_]

Nice (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showpost.php?p=773177&postcount=77)
Keep drawing man!

[Jason C-M]

Thanks guys!

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060414boob.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060417tdogchar1.jpg

[Jason C-M]

from life, 1st session, 2.5 hours. Kind of a fidgety model.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060420dansess1.jpg

[redehlert]

fidgety or not, this is superb! great colors and use of the background to pull through your painting. i wish i could do this...perhaps in time, but for now, i shall enjoy your creations. that green splash is just rich. rich!
cheers,
dave

[VeSeljak]

very nice studies......hope to see some more.....

[Jason C-M]

Here's the layout drawing for the Black Canary piece I'm starting.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060421blackcanarysketch.jpg

(Didn't all fit on the scanner, sorry -- the right foot plants on the ground, the left is almost vertical with weight on the toe)

One thing I'm conflicted on is whether this should be a full length pic. I want to keep this to a 15x20 panel. If I put her head to toe on it, her head gets a little small and the negative space from side to side threatens to be a little overwhelming. If I crop her mid-calf I get to have her face and figure larger, but it's just not as nice as having a full figure, especially when it's so close to being a full figure.

Anyone got an opinion on this?

[Jason C-M]

session 2, another 1.5 hours laying in b/g and fixing a bit of drawing errors from a photo. I've got the second/last session with the model tomorrow, hope it turns out well. The further I move toward "finish" the less confident I am in my skills. http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060424dannsess2.jpg

[J.Decker]

I've really enjoyed viewing your sketchbook. This latest painting looks like it's going great....I'd like to see the photo your using posted as well.

[Jason C-M]

I don't know if it'd be worth the bother, really. The lighting was pretty low in the studio, and of course I couldn't use the flash, so I got a blurry shot. So I stepped up to lean against my easel as a makeshift tripod, and got a much sharper shot. But from the wrong angle. It's much closer to profile (the nose breaks the cheek profile) than the painting is. This is a mistake I plan on never repeating. Along with the one where in those rare times I use the flash my hand on the focus ring obscures much of the light from the flash and only the top third of the subject is illuminated . . .

[Jason C-M]

Having scanner issues so have to settle for a snapshot this morning
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060425study.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060426dansess3.jpg
3rd session painting, second (and last) session with the model. I'm pretty happy with this. I want to fiddle with a couple things and do more work on the shirt and hair, but it's pretty close to done.

[Recursive_End]

Beautiful pics as always. The faces are really nice, and the eyes in the oil are great !!!
I dont really know what to say as a crit.
Keep posting !! :)

[redehlert]

hey jason,
looks great! that specular on the tip of the nose is a bit distracting and causes me to think about why the brow, bridge, infraorbital portions of the cheeks and lower lip doesn't have the same or similar intensity. wipe out the specular and see if that solidifies the piece or consider the planes a bit more and increase the amount of light to the aforementioned regions.
cheers!
d

[EKU_11]

Your work has a confidence about it, plus you are very good at showing emtions. Keep the great work up.

[Halos Chain]

whoo, nice job! i really like the one of the man in the green shirt, it shows alot of emotion even though its not too dramatic. Your figure drawings, especially of the girls are really nice! I loved the girl in the baggy jeans, I think she liked me hehe. : D

[Jason C-M]

I'll take a look at that specular when I rework the painting, Red. The reason I painted it that way was just 'cause his nose was much glossier than the rest of him. If it's distracting from the painting I want to fix that, though, so thanks for the advice.

Here's the underdrawing for the Black Canary illo I've started:
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060427bclayout.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060428tdoghenry.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060501heads.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060602speedpaint.jpg
20 minutes? I forgot to check the clock.

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060504saturngirl.jpg

2.5 hours or so.

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060508tdogpanels.jpg

[Jason C-M]

Girl Genius was the theme for This Week! last week (does that make sense?) and a couple drawings of girls with BIG wrenches got posted, which made me all nostalgic for a drawing/painting I did a couple years back. I was pretty disappointed with how it turned out at the time, but there's enough water under the bridge now that I can see the good stuff it's got going for it as well, and thought I'd scan it and share it.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/wrench.jpg

My A3 (11"x17") flatbed scanner just gave up the ghost, and I need a new one(quickly, as I've got to keep up steam on this perspective book I'mdoing if I'm going to make deadlines).

I'm trying to decide between a couple options, and if anyone wants to weigh in with your opinion . . .

1. a Mustek A3, which is pretty much the model I've had for the past fewyears. It only scans 300dpi Vertical and 600 dpi horizontal, and it'scolor's not so good. But most of my scanning is b/w and I can use thedigital camera for color (I hope).

2. a Microtek 9800 XL which scans 3200 x 1600 dpi and assumably has better color.

The mustek is under $200, and I can swing that without much problem. The Microtek is over $900 and would break the bank. As a professionalartist, I don't know if I really need the higher res and color, or since I'malways working larger and downsizing, I don't need that extra dpianyway? Or if I buy the cheaper model, I'm just going to be shelling out for the more expensive one in six months time?

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060518metabaron.jpg

[glikster]

beauty... as usual... I always check you sb when I see an update...

[Artguy]

I love your thread because its got this mix of American comic book style and some amazing classic painting stuff. Just cool to see both!

So whats the post back on April 30th from. The single comic book page. Was that a sample or did you get to do a whole book. Looked nice!

[fooxoo]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060426dansess3.jpg - nice!! Very nice!

[Jason C-M]

Thanks everybody.
So whats the post back on April 30th from. The single comic book page. Was that a sample or did you get to do a whole book. Looked nice!
Do you mean April 3rd? I didn't post anything on the 30th. Anyway, that book is in production, but everything's kind of stopped for the moment while the publisher gets some financial things straightened out.

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060523photostudy.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060524ape.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060530boudica.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060531boudicatone.jpg

[Jason C-M]

drawn sight-size from a 10 inch action figure, just for the practice
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060609bikerscout.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060622bugbearb.jpg

[glikster]

very larry elmore-ish, the gal with the leaf spear... and I know how the ogre feels....
Yay for updates!

[maxetormer]

Really cool ink work here
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060530boudica.jpg

His hand might be slighty too big, Im not entirely sure tho...
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060518metabaron.jpg

The Ogre looks cool but both the shaded area and the lited area
have the same temperature of color, I think it would have a better
sence of deep and mass if you throwed some dark purples-blue on the
dark areas, other than that its a pretty well done ilo :D

[Jason C-M]

Thanks guys. Good point about the color temp there, maxetormer.
The sketchbook has been a bit neglected of late 'cause I've been so slammed with work that I'm not allowed to share, I haven't done much personal stuff that I feel is worth showing. Come October that should change quite a bit.

I'm heading off on a three week no-computer vacation, so see you all when I get back.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/linkfiles/bbear.jpg

[Jason C-M]

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060714hand.jpg

[Recursive_End]

Good work on the hand. :)
I'm just curious, do you use only one pencil when you're doing it ?

[Jason C-M]

yeah, I'm playing with drawing only with the side of the pencil, and only going to the point at the very end to bring out some sharp details. The long contour lines are drawn with the side of the pencil, just pulling the stroke in the direction of the pencil rather than perpendicular to it.

This one's done the same way -- working from tones rather than lines let's me slowly zero in on placement, and I think with a bit more practice will replace much of my construction method.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060716nightcrawler.jpg

[Jason C-M]

some ballpoint drawings done in my sketchbook on a flight -- the turbulence helped/made me keep things loose and flowing, Which I think was a GOOD thing.

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060714planedoodle1.jpg

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060714planedoodles.jpg

and a panel from a comic page I finished yesterday.
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060727Doc.jpg

[Jason C-M]

I thought I was going to get more painting time this week, but had a deadline sneak up on me so I'm cramming on that instead.

Anyway, here's a photo-study I've been doing as a warm-up this week. It's off somebody else's photo -- I just loved the lighting in the lower back/hips.


http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060814photostudy.jpg

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060815photostudy2.jpg

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060817photostudy3.jpg

[Recursive_End]

Wow, nice updates sir !
Especially the page filled with faces. Very good stuff =)

[glikster]

ok... somehow I missed your post about tonal drawing..... I hadn't even considered using it to help with placement... must go off and try it.... thanks!

[Jason C-M]

It's working fairly well for me. I wind up holding the pencil like it was a pastel or conte crayon, and sometimes having a stubbier pencil is handy for that -- a brand new long pencil feels like it gets in the way.

[Jason C-M]

I wasn't happy with the warmup sketches I did yesterday (some photo-studies). So I did more today. I'm happier with them. Yesterday a bad day? Today a good one? Needed to get back in practice? Who knows?

Yesterdays:
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060821photostudies.jpg
Todays:
http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060823photostudies.jpg

[Jason C-M]

Thought about doing invented figures for my warm-up this morning, but instead decided to do another page of photo studies to see if yesterday's success was the fluke, or the previous day's failure.

[dogfood]

Sweet, sweet stuff. I hadn't tried a pen during the turbulence, but what a great idea. I'm starting to rely on bumpy air as a reason for my poor sketches.

Top notch studies, too.

[Craig D]

Nice book Jason,
Hopefully you'll be able to have the time to show us more oils as well.

[Jason C-M]

I've got the oil painting of the Black Canary (superhero character) on the easel right now. I haven't been able to scrape together much time to work on it, and it's kicking my butt, anyway. I'll try to snap a WIP shot of it, though and post it.

I'm only a chapter and a half away from finishing my perspective book, though. Once that's done, I'll be doing a lot more oils. I'm hoping to do a couple small oils every week, even if they're only studies.

Here's one of my favorite illos from the perspective book, due out from Impact books (http://www.artistsnetwork.com/impact_books/) next summer:

http://www.cheeseman-meyer.com/art/sketchbook/New/20060802ShaolinColor.jpg

[Jason C-M]

Here's where I'm at on that black Canary piece:

And here's another sketchbook page: the live stuff is people in the waiting area at my daughter's dance class.

[Jason C-M]

Further progress -- maybe even finished? I need some time away from it before I'll know.

[Jason C-M]

This was supposed to be a one-hour piece, but at one hour I was really unhappy with it, so I went to two hours.

[LateNiteHype]

Wow. Nice sketchbook. I envy your dedication to character studies.

I like the pose of your Aug17th study and how you show how it developed from basic sketch to tonal. Her neck looks a little on the swole side though.

Do you use charcoal pencils or just varying hardness graphites in your sketches?

[Jason C-M]

That one's just done in 6B pencil start to finish. The neck gave me more than a little trouble, I'll admit.

[sith]

awesome book Jason. love all the great hot girly drawings. i like holding the pencil on the end (if that is what you've been doing lately). it keeps you really loose. cheers man!

[Jason C-M]

When I'm painting, I hold my brush so the tip of it juts into the center of my palm so I'm as far back on it as can be, but when I'm using a pencil, I tend to hold it with all five fingers, the first finger pretty near the lead (or the pinky near the lead if I'm drawing arcs opposite to how my hand works) and the pencil almost parallel to the paper.

[Jason C-M]

So we're on the second day of my oil painting a day plan. It'll really be an oil painting a weekday plan, since I'm not even going to try to do a painting when my daughter's home all day.

I was inspired by Seedling and Doomboy, and will probably be alternating between still lifes, and paintings from photos.

[Seedling]

Well, cool. :-) Keep going!

[Jason C-M]

thanks, I will. I know the second day of a daily regime isn't that impressive, but announcing my intention will help me keep to it.

[Jason C-M]

Hmm, maybe I shouldn't try to do likenesses in my quick oil-a-day plan.

Or maybe it's just the challenge I need? I don't know. But part of the plan was to get some more experience in the paint-flingin' and I don't really fling anything when I'm hunting for a likeness.

[Seedling]

Looks good. I don't think there is anything wrong with using this exercise to practice likenesses, especially if you're mixing in work from observation along with the work done from photos. Just keep going. It's the overall gradual learning that you are after, so just keep plugging along.

[Jason C-M]

Thanks for the input seedling. I've already got my stuff picked out for my still life on tuesday (labor day weekend -- I'm playing with my daughter instead of painting).
Actually, I've got two things picked out, and I'll decide which one to do on the actual morning.

[chaosrocks]

I fling......and if there's a likeness it is a lucky throw
nice work and steady observable progress
chaos

[chaosrocks]

I love pomegranites
been looking at them for my persephone
but I keep eating the data

:P
I thry to do one a day too
but on weekends I cook
chaos

[Jason C-M]

Another still life for today. Tomorrow might be from photos, or still life, or taking it outside if the weather permits. Possibilities abound!

[Jason C-M]

Oh great, right after posting this, I knocked the painting face-down onto the floor and it's now covered in cat hair and grit. Glad I got the photo first!

[Jason C-M]

I think as paint exercises, the non-portrait stuff are a lot more useful to me. Which isn't to say I won't do more portraits in the near-future, 'cause I'm frequently an idiot.

[camilografix]

nice figures and color studies. makes me wanna work on mine.

[Seedling]

Nice colors on that hand! And I'm sorry to hear your onions took a spill. They were good onions. I know one of these days I'm going to do that to one of mine, too. :-P In fact, I have a dead gnat sticking to one of my landscapes already.

[Craig D]

Jason
nice one with the hand.
Are you setting yourself a time limit for your one a days?

[Jason C-M]

I'm trying to set a time limit, but have been forgetting to check the time I start. Theoretically they're one-hour pieces, but in actuality . . .

[sith]

i'm really liking these paintings your busting out Jason- just curious, how long are you going to keep this up for?

[Jason C-M]

I really hadn't thought about that too much. A month at least. Maybe more. I imagine I'll be itching to work on some bigger paintings pretty quick and might forego these little studies in order to do those, we'll have to see.

But I haven't set a big goal like "one a day for a year" like some (admirable) people have.

Tomorrow I will clock myself and see exactly how long I'm taking.

[Jason C-M]

55 minutes -- I didn't really capture the reds in the wood.

Taking these images onto the computer is handy- I notice value problems when the image is shrunk down that were invisible to me on the original.

[Seedling]

Hi Jason! Looking good. If you want the reds to pop out more on an object like that, try making the shadows red and the illuminated parts bluesh or greenish. (Or make the illuminated parts reddish and make the shadows bluish or greenish.)

Also, a few sharp, dark lines would help the individual pieces stand out.

Good job on those wheels - cylinders give me fits. :-)

[Jason C-M]

I think the high-chroma reds I used on the placemat it's sitting on worked against me, too. Compared to that, the reds of the wood aren't that red at all. Lesson for the future!

[sith]

yeah man, you nailed those elipses or whatever they're called pretty damn well. i avoid those completely cuz i just shite them all up haha

[Jason C-M]

well, "nailed" is a strong word, but for freehand in a one-hour painting, I'm pretty happy with them.

[S.C. Watson]

Hey Jason,

Some very strong work here. Really enjoyed the scroll-through!

~Shane

[Jason C-M]

Thanks Oregano, always flattering when the big boys drop in.

Instead of doing my painting first(ish) thing this morning, I hurried through the work I did. Finished early, and could set aside two and a half hours. Which was especially nice since I'd run out of my smaller masonite boards, so more time to cover a bigger surface=good.

So today's: self-portrait from mirror, oil on panel, 8x10ish. 2.5 hours (including a break to go shave -- decided I didn't want my seven day half-beard).

[Seedling]

niiiiiice!

[Jason C-M]

thanks, S. I might go back into this one, or I might just leave it be. I find it's barely-finishedness alluring, but I'm sorely tempted to try to pull more out of it. A challenge to see if I can make something better, rather than just ruin it's feeling of potential.

[gigglepixie]

I think it's got a nice edge to it - maybe like someone looking in an old mirror that needs a good clean. Sometimes less is more.

[Seedling]

Don't be afraid to ruin a piece of art in your quest for becoming a better artist. :-)

[Jason C-M]

oh it's not fear of ruining it -- I have no problem with ruining art (and I've got the pieces to prove it). It's more an "isn't it cheating on the painting a day thing to do a second day on one piece instead of doing a whole new piece."

[Jason C-M]

I think my values are getting better. This one didn't pop all wonky (for the most part) when I scaled it down for a thumbnail.

I ought to get a wig and paint that for a few days.

Unfortunately, to get the lighting how I wanted on my face, the lighting on my easel was pretty shitty, so I was pretty surprised at what the painting looked like when I turned it to the light.

[sith]

you rock those faces hard man- i think this one's coming along great, but like you were kinda saying, the hair could use a little work, but it doesn't really bother me personally

btw your post in my booky made me laugh my ass off haha

[Jason C-M]

Thanks man.

Since I thought further work on the self-portrait was a cheat on the painting-a-day thing I did another.

All those guys who rock at the digital speedpaints make me jealous beyond belief, so I thought I'd do an oil speedpaint.

55mins.

[Seedling]

Oooooh, wowwie! :-)

I find myself wanting to see some of that blue from the background repeated in the flesh tones. The reds are very nice!

The lighting is great! You caught the 3D shape of the face well. Two weak points are the right side of the nose, and the underside of the chin. I suspect you painted them as they actually were lit. However, a little fudging in the favor of making them stand out would be a good way to go when the actual lighting isn't giving you the best opportunity.

[rblitz7]

ooo wee! awesome portrait man! love the colors.

[Jason C-M]

Thanks rblitz, Seedling. I felt kinda weird painting myslef shirtless, but it's 87 degrees in my studio . . .

[Seedling]

Hey, where'd that pterodactyl come from? It didn't show up for me when I last posted.

Fun! :-)

Yeah, I know what you mean. In college I once commandeered a closet in the illustration building so that I could draw a life-sized nude of myself. Er. Yeah, gotta love college.

[Listing]

Great on the painting. Keep on that. You're really improving.

[Jason C-M]

This morning's painting-a-day was going to be of my flowerbed, but I got rained out. Painted for half an hour, it rained, waited for it to stop, painted for ten minutes, got rained out again, gave up.

Today's Lessons:

A) Flowers are a challenge to paint even under good circumstances
B) I can't mix a decent purple to save my life.
C) If confronted with a bad painting situation, then beating the rain gets added on, give up and do something indoors that day.

[Jason C-M]

Forgot to mention all the bug bites and the red ants that swarmed up my legs while I was painting. My legs itch like hell today because of it.

[Uziel]

Your portraits and stills are great.

cheers

[Recursive_End]

Good paintings. wow, raining in phoenix ?
The sp looks nice. I like the contrast you did on the features.
About the flowers, did you try planes to get the shape of the petals good ?

[Seedling]

You made a valient attempt, Jason. :-) And you chose hard subject matter, too. The results may not be what you were hoping for, but you did good.

[chaosrocks]

actually its a lively and interesting composition. if a bit sketchy. don't give up!
chaos

[Beelow]

Hey Jason! I really enjoyed your stuff. I like the observational stuff the most, especially the oils! Keep updating!:)

[Jason C-M]

Today's painting-a-day is from photos -- the figure is my own photo, the face is not, but I changed it so much I think I can call it mine now.

[Jason C-M]

did you try planes to get the shape of the petals good ?
tried and failed -- I was just fighting too many things at once to get my head together on it.

I'll do the flowers again another day, and it'll be better.

Uziel -- glad you could drop by
Recursive -- yeah, rain in Phoenix -- there's a rainy season that's brief, but usually involves a lot of flash flooding and usually a drowning fatality or two.
Seed -- thanks for the support, I do appreciate it.
Chaos -- thanks man, I know it's got some stuff going for it, but mainly it's just my current symbol of anger and frustration
Beelow -- I'll keep updating, don't worry.

[Fishspawn]

Excellent sketchbook. Even though your stuff was awesome when you started, i can still see lots of improvement :) The new oil paintings are great, and i've gotta give you props for Captain Jack Sparrow. Keep up the great pace.

[chaosrocks]

don't care for the photo stuff as much....looks kinda dead
the portrait is sweet though...in both stages (or maybe you are just handsome.....)
chaos

[Jason C-M]

Took a small step at redeeming myself today -- but brought the flowers into the house in a vase before starting.

Also, a little monster design for a project w/ some friends.

[Jason C-M]

first I had both images attached to the same thing, but they were displayed side by side and that just looked wrong.

[chaosrocks]

lol..yeah it would. you might want to rethink th eorange flowerd s on the salmon background but thats just me...or maybe my monitor sux
the composition is interesting. not as s tatic as flower pics are wont to be.

crittter is very knobbly...but thats a good thing in a critter the 3d guys will skream though......

eeeeeeee..tooo many polies!

good stuff
chaos

[Jason C-M]

no worries -- no 3-d guys have to touch this one -- just a couple 2-d artists using it and wanting it to look consistent between the two of them.

[elisa]

awesome work, I really like your oils. Great feeling in your last mirror selfportrait, very nice done with the light, and great use of colors. Sweet stuff! Keep it up:)

[Jason C-M]

This one I know I kept to the time limit, because I got out my pallette at 1:05 and had to leave the house by 2:20, with time to clean brushes/pallette and get changed.

So 55min char and environ -- think I can call this a real live speedpaint

[sith]

a real life speedy. that's awesome. the last painting of the flowers turned out pretty damn nice. and it looks like you rocked some purples out. great updates Jason

[maxetormer]

Last one is da shizzle man! and
the last SP is pretty dam asum too,
I love how you sculped the planes on it
man Im learing quite a few good tricks
waching you work! :D

[Tigermilk]

really cool stuff Jason. love the colors in the last one. I do think tho, that some more dramatic light would've pumped it up some levels. Other than that - sweeet. :)
tiger

[fooxoo]

The slef portrait is looking great! What kind of oil painting medium are you using? I love oils, wish I had more room to use them more often.

Keep working, Looking good!

[Jason C-M]

I use some walnut/alkyd medium. These one-a-day guys have used very little medium, though.

[Jason C-M]

This morning's endeavors:

[kuroart]

Everything on this thread looks great. I really like that new posts.
cant wait to see more.

[Jason C-M]

Had the worst trouble actually getting out the palette and painting today.

On seedling's inspiration, again, brass bells.

[Jason C-M]

I had such a hellish time getting myself to do today's painting, it's really got me thinking about whether I'm going to keep this particular exercise up. Getting my palette ready seemed in impossibly tiring chore. I made myself do it, 'cause it's best not to encourage laziness, but man, how did that energy I used to have for these little projects evaporate so completely?

The question, of course, is what will I learn the most from. If it's these little studies, then I should keep them up. I've obviously got a lot left to learn from them -- but maybe I should turn my energies to some other studies where I'll learn even more, even more quickly.

I find myself drooling over more controlled, detailed, layered renderings, like MindCandyMan's recent still lives. Absolutely drooling. I want to go learn that stuff.

But maybe I should keep pressing at this stuff for awhile longer? I'm not sure.

[Seedling]

Don't stop now, you're making such shiny progress! :D

Energy comes and goes. The most important part is continuing. Just like playing an instrument.

But variety is good, too. Maybe do one type of painting during the week, and another on the week-end?

You're doing great.

[Jason C-M]

Yeah, I think a compromise is where I need to head -- not drop the single-sitting quickies so soon, but maybe, I don't know, do two single-sittings and one three-sitting piece a week. I'm mulling it over.

[Craig D]

I had such a hellish time getting myself to do today's painting, it's really got me thinking about whether I'm going to keep this particular exercise up. Getting my palette ready seemed in impossibly tiring chore.

Jason,
at the end of a painting just chuck your palette with paint into the fridge or freezer. Maybe in a pizza box or something so you don't get too messy.
The paints will stay fresh that way for a week or two at least. When you want to paint just grab it from the fridge and you're all ready.

About your earlier mention of purples. get some dioxazine purple. Hard to get a saturated purple without it.

[Jason C-M]

I already keep my pallette in the freezer, so it was just a matter of replenishing a few colors -- so it's doubly pathetic that I was having a hard time working up the energy for that.

dioxanine purple, huh? I'll have to get a tube. Though I did mix up a decent purple later, just with paints that I don't usually keep on my palette and didn't have with me for my outdoor session.

[Jason C-M]

Haven't done my painting yet today, but here's a drawing from last night.

I'm noticing I don't place the eyes into the skull very accurately, so I'm going to be doing a lot of head studies soon to try to rectify that.

[Recursive_End]

Loooking good !
The paintings are well done.
About the last sketch, did you start from a ref ? Looks like it's from a movie or something. =)

[Jason C-M]

yeah, I used a couple of screenshots from "City of Lost Children" for that sketch/study/whatever

[S.C. Watson]

Hey Jason,

What size are you working? And how long are you spending on these? Just curious.

You've got me thinking about doing one-a-days as well. Not sure I can pull it off with my current schedule.

~Shane

[Jason C-M]

hey amigo,

I went to home depot and had them cut a sheet of masonite into 8 inch strips, then cut those strips down to a big stack of 6x8's and 8x10's. It was super cheap. $5 for fifteen boards or something like that. I grab whichever size I feel like at the time. I've almost used up all the 6x8's though.

Timewise, I spend 45 min on some, two hours on others. As long as you set things up to minimize setup and cleanup time, it's pretty slick (I try to use two brushes only to cut down on cleanup, keep a full pallette in the fridge, that sort of thing)

[Jason C-M]

I've got to write up a bit of an artist's statement this weekend for a scholarship I'm applying for. I have lots and lots of rambling thoughts about the nature of art and my/my work's relationship to it, but don't know how well I'll distill it down to an artists statment.

Anybody know of some good guidelines for statements or pitfalls to avoid?

[Jason C-M]

I've taken a bit of a fun approach to my next few non-still-life painting-a-days. Which is I had a bunch of friends (mainly internet people I don't see in person) send me a bunch of photos of themselves, and I'm doing a handful of headstudies each sitting from them, all on the same big canvas. I figure I've got room for 20 heads or so if I keep to the size of heads I've started with.

And hey, if you want to send me a photo, go for it!

[Jason C-M]

I still haven't written that artists statement.

[Jason C-M]

more noggin paintsketches

[Jason C-M]

I'm all out of my 6x8 boards. It's harder to cover an 8x10 board in an hour, but I did it (well almost, an hour five minutes if you're really counting)

[elisa]

awesome updates here! really beautiful stuff, especially like the recent head sketches. Thank´s for the inspiration boost! keep it up:)

[Seedling]

You’re doing awesome work, Jason. :-) Progress!

There’s something about the colors that keeps bothering me, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I would say it is the orangy underpainting, except that it seems to happen in the blue-underpainted ones, too.

I think it has to do with light colors. Specifically, I think there’s not enough bluey fill-light going into the shadows of your objects.

Something you could try is to paint a white subject sitting on a white surface, and start with either a white or a completely neutral background. That would allow you to focus entirely on the colors of the lights.

Cheers!

[Jason C-M]

I'll be keeping an eye out for those blues next few pieces -- thanks for the tip, Seedling.

Here's the next bit of the heads painting. I've been adding three heads each one-hour session (stretched it to an hour-fifteen for one, but in general, one hour). Not super-happy with the results, but going to keep cracking and push harder each session rather than loosed up the restrictions. When the whole board is covered in quick heads, I might go back and touch up some of the paint on certain heads, we'll have to see.

What seems my biggest fight is getting the paint opaque enough to cover the toned board sufficiently in the limited time -- seems like I can work accurately, or I can work thickly, but not both. Oddly enough, the two most successful heads are the one that I left the paint thinnest (left-most head) and the one I worked thickest on (bearded with glasses head)