Painting

[thestrangequark]

^Faces are the thing I've always enjoyed doing most. It's interesting how different artists find some things come so easily and some so difficultly -- or don't come at all.


Here are a couple of quick sketches I did recently, Degas' Little Dancer:

And a pretty grave I saw:

 

[Me-Ike]

^

These are amazing! Seriously, I can't decide which I like better. They're both so beautiful.

Did you ever professionally learn how to draw/paint or are you self-taught?

 

[thestrangequark]

^Thanks! I'm self-taught. I posted a few other pics earlier in the thread. Including my Star Trek comic!

 

[Me-Ike]

^ You are my new internet hero.

 

[thestrangequark]

^The comic? Much of the credit goes to Jayson for that. Were it not for his most brilliant thread ever it wouldn't exist! (The comic is just an illustration of his thread.)

 

[RJDiogenes]

Indeed; the detail and shading on those are amazing. And I love how you used lack of detail and shading to make the flowers stand out in the second one.

 

[Me-Ike]

^The comic has its very own level of fantasticness (if that is a word); I've seen it before, in my lurking days. But what I was referring to was your astonishing talent without you ever having had a teacher. I dabble in drawing from time to time and your work is inspiring.

 

[thestrangequark]

^Ah, well, thank you!

 

[Venardhi]

Working on a new project with some friends, this was yesterday's effort:

 

[blablover5]

I got to have my weird wedding paintings attacked by anonymous commenters. Can I hire you RJ to come to my defense? And maybe TSQ, she seemed to like them as well I seem to remember.

It's possible that you may find my name among the Posters there.

Hurray, the grape is like my own superhero. Wherever there's injustice I can send him off to something something American way.

I should hire TSQ to do faces for me (it's the damn noses, I just can't figure them out). I just got myself talked into a corner to do an angel in a forest painting. Forest no problem. Angel, uh oh!

But in the mean time here's another tree for our new house

 

[melancholymecha]

ok my turn, here's an example of how Im pretty decent with animals but terrible with humans.

griffin = ok

Vash & Meryl from Trigun= yuck!

 

[Me-Ike]

^Provided one likes the manga style, then you're humans are pretty good!

I really like the Griffin, though. Wings are also on my damned hard to draw list!

 

[thestrangequark]

I should hire TSQ to do faces for me (it's the damn noses, I just can't figure them out). I just got myself talked into a corner to do an angel in a forest painting. Forest no problem. Angel, uh oh!

Noses aren't to bad, once you realize that less is more -- you want to draw as little of the nose as possible. Noses are all about shading; you may want to try looking at some high contrast black and white photos of faces and copying them exactly -- I think that's the best way to learn to draw noses.

But in the mean time here's another tree for our new house

This is absolutely gorgeous. I would hang it in my house! Your use of texture is exceptional.

I did a picture of a red tree lately too, though in a very different style to yours! This is actually one of my favorite drawings I've done (though my scanner's not quite large enough and it's cut off the edges):

You've actually inspired me to set up an Etsy site of my own. I'm going to work on it this week, and hopefully have it up by next weekend. I want to make prints of drawings like the one above, in different sizes, and sell them for a cheaper price. I'm so attached to my originals I don't know if I can sell them yet, but maybe if I create some specifically to sell it'll be easier.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Hurray, the grape is like my own superhero. Wherever there's injustice I can send him off to something something American way.

"Here I come to save the dayyyyy....."

But in the mean time here's another tree for our new house

Wow, very striking; reminds me of the Japanese Maple my Mother used to have in her yard.

griffin = ok

More than 'okay.'

Vash & Meryl from Trigun= yuck!

Are you kidding me? That is completely professional. I wish I was that 'bad.'

I did a picture of a red tree lately too, though in a very different style to yours! This is actually one of my favorite drawings I've done (though my scanner's not quite large enough and it's cut off the edges):

Very surreal; I love it. It looks like a magazine cover from the 1920s (actually, I think that a lot when I see your work).

You've actually inspired me to set up an Etsy site of my own. I'm going to work on it this week, and hopefully have it up by next weekend. I want to make prints of drawings like the one above, in different sizes, and sell them for a cheaper price. I'm so attached to my originals I don't know if I can sell them yet, but maybe if I create some specifically to sell it'll be easier.

If you don't want to sell originals, you can sell prints through deviantArt, along with other cool goodies like jigsaw puzzles, and posters and tee shirts and stuff through CafePress.

 

[thestrangequark]

Are you kidding me? That is completely professional. I wish I was that 'bad.'

I agree! I recognized the characters instantly and I think they're very well-rendered!

I did a picture of a red tree lately too, though in a very different style to yours! This is actually one of my favorite drawings I've done (though my scanner's not quite large enough and it's cut off the edges):

Very surreal; I love it. It looks like a magazine cover from the 1920s (actually, I think that a lot when I see your work).

Thanks! I like that! Actually, I just did one that very much suits that era. It wasn't intended to be a self-portrait, I just wanted to do a picture of one of my hats, but it turned out to look a lot like me (again, the scanner has cut off some of the picture):

Me (it's one of my favorite custom hats):

I think I am going to do a series of them -- all my different hats. They'd make fun postcards or something, and as I have more than 20 hats, I'll be able to make a bunch.

You've actually inspired me to set up an Etsy site of my own. I'm going to work on it this week, and hopefully have it up by next weekend. I want to make prints of drawings like the one above, in different sizes, and sell them for a cheaper price. I'm so attached to my originals I don't know if I can sell them yet, but maybe if I create some specifically to sell it'll be easier.

If you don't want to sell originals, you can sell prints through deviantArt, along with other cool goodies like jigsaw puzzles, and posters and tee shirts and stuff through CafePress.

Would you recommend deviantArt over Etsy?

 

[RJDiogenes]

Thanks! I like that! Actually, I just did one that very much suits that era. It wasn't intended to be a self-portrait, I just wanted to do a picture of one of my hats, but it turned out to look a lot like me (again, the scanner has cut off some of the picture):

Wow, the eyes in that one are captivating.

Would you recommend deviantArt over Etsy?

I can't really talk about Etsy; I've never used it except to buy the one painting-- I'm not a seller there. It seems like it's set up more like eBay, to sell physical stuff that you have. blab will know all about them.

deviantArt is more of an online gallery and the products seem secondary. I use them mainly because they have jigsaw puzzles, which was something I always wished for at CafePress. CafePress is the one that's really set up as a store to sell products based on your Art (or Photography). Take a look at the list of products. We even have little video cameras now.

 

[melancholymecha]

^Provided one likes the manga style, then you're humans are pretty good!

Yeah, I prefer manga & carton style b/c Id imagine my attempts at realism would probably end in disater.
I guess one is always their own worst critic b/c I see so many flaws, hehe.

I did a picture of a red tree lately too, though in a very different style to yours! This is actually one of my favorite drawings I've done (though my scanner's not quite large enough and it's cut off the edges):

that is amazing (the hat one too.)Your style would be great for graphic novels!

 

[An Officer]

I am surprised TSQ isn't already a famous artist. You have such a distinct style. I am flabbergasted by your talent.

 

[thestrangequark]

^Wow, thanks! All of you are very kind. The truth is, I never thought of making money off my art until my Senior year of college, when we had an assignment to create an educational (math) children's book. People were impressed with my book and told me I ought to get it published. But devotion to my work coupled with a fear of rejection has prevented me from ever trying to sell my art. Recently, though, as I've come to realize that bipolar disorder may prevent me from holding a full-time job for a while to come, and that part-time won't ever pay the bills, I've decided now is the time to try to make my art work for me. If I could work from home, as an artist, I wouldn't have to worry about my mental illness affecting my job.

I've written and illustrated a children's book that I really want to get out there. I'm creating a dummy this week to start sending to agents and publishers, but it's a tough market to break into. In the meantime, I'm going to start making prints and postcards to sell online. I'm definitely going to check out deviantArt and cafe press, thanks, RJ. I hope people will want to buy them!

 

[An Officer]

I have no doubt you'll be successful. Glad you're finally going to share your work with the world.