Nice! And that's the cool thing about classes, they help you refine your craft. I took a photography class a couple years back, and just the practice and attention to detail really helped me.
Classes definitely help sharpen and refine inborn talents, that's for sure. I've always been a good artist but when I took art classes back in school my skills got a more consistent workout and consequently my artwork tended to be more elaborate and eclectic.
When I was younger I was a decent drawer and painter. I have very limited 'natural' gifts when it comes to art. So I always looked for ways to improve. I've read a ton of books, asked for tips and help from friends that were way better then me. I drew or painted somewhat regular until about 10/15 years ago. I kind of just gave it up, I just didn't have time or passion for it anymore. I'm trying to rekindle that a little bit, starting off with something that always boggled my mind, Watercolors. I'm not really into Chaos, especially in the art I try to produce. So this has been a real learning process for me, I signed up for the next class and it starts in a few weeks. If you look at the Watercolor I have done so far, I'm still treating it like Acrylic paint. Trying to force it to bend to my will instead of letting it flow. I hope to embrace it more in the next round of classes.
It's my understanding that watercolor can be quite challenging to master. One of my favorite watercolor artists is Jon Muth (I curated the collection that these originals were a part of - they're amazing. His work in Zen Shorts is also incredible). Best of luck in your next class and beyond!
My last art course was in school and that has been a while. But during a postgraduate study, I met some skilled graphic designers and that got me excited again about drawing. Since I've got a lot of free time at the moment, I would like to delve deeper into the matter. One person recommended me the book "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards. Has anybody read it?
I've never worked with watercolors myself, only oils. I drew another dragon...drawing dragons is like comfort food. I know I'm a grown up and should bake ziti and roast chickens and sketch nudes, but sometimes I want to eat Pop Tarts and microwave mac and cheese and draw dragons.
Nice attention to detail in regards to the lacrimal ducts in the corner of the dragon's eye. Splendid stuff.
A caricature of Teddy Roosevelt I drew, just for shits and giggles, and a sketch of the Mona Lisa used as a preparatory study for a canvas reproduction I gave to somebody.
Thanks! Here are some of the oil paintings I've done. I've not painted in over a year now...can't seem to get up the motivation.
That last one, is that painted on Slate? Sorry if it's not, looking at the painting on my phone. If not, wonderful background to truly bring out the colors of the bird. Just fantastic!
Thank you! I'm not a very experienced painter...I think I've painted about 12 pictures in total, but I really enjoy it, and I found a style of my own that I like. Thanks! It's from a phase I went through of adding quotes or lines from songs and poems to my drawings and paintings. This one was a gift for my mom; the line is from an Elizabeth Barrett Browning poem and is actually an ode to her dog -- about the unwavering loyalty the dog showed even when people let her down. It is really quite a beautiful poem, and that has always been one of my favorite lines of poetry. My mother has been through a lot in her life, and through it she had two dogs that helped keep her sane and helped her to heal, so the poem was really appropriate for her. Nope, just plain old canvass! Though I think part of the reason the background color turned out as it did is that I painted this picture over another painting that I didn't like! I was too broke to afford a new canvas, and was painting Christmas presents for all my family because I couldn't afford to buy them.
Started the next phase of my Water Color class today, decided that I would try and paint a bird. Found a great picture of a Cardinal... This is my pencil drawing for reference. Here, I redid my reference on Watercolor paper. I decided to go with a poured technique for the background. I used almost pastel colors, a light blue and lemony yellow and pale green. Unfortunately the green and yellow look the same when mixed with the blue. So it looks like I will have to go darker.