more studies

didn't have drink and draw this week, so i've continued with my studies.

these are based on photos we took during a really beautiful hike in the sunol wilderness, just east of fremont. in addition to being a nice hike, this hike is memorable also because we came across and were half-chased by an agressive cow. nearest we could figure, it didn't like D's orange jacket.

getting a better feel for my paints this time around though i haven't quite figured out what to do about the whites - they are much less opaque than what i'm used to. this means i have had to reserve the whites like in watercolors. i'm overall pretty satisfied with these two - it wasn't quite as big a struggle as the previous few. however, i hate the clouds on both of these - probably ought to use a different brush.

drunk and drawn sf pt 2

so as i mentioned before, the dudes at the next table were really pretty annoying. after a while, it broke up and we were blessed with the normal low-level buzz of the bar. it didn't last long, as the loud mouth of the group popped up outta nowhere and decided to join us at our table. he was pretty drunk and obnoxious but seemed determined to be our best friend...i guess...he just didn't get our sometimes not-so-subtle hints that he was not welcome. him and his little friend (see drawing) who joined a little later. they claimed to be regulars at the bar, but we had never seen them before. now that i think of it, there was even a third weird guy who showed up asking to card us. huh? we're supposed to find that funny?

anyhow, despite our relative unfriendliness, the little one insisted he'd see us again. gulp! maybe we'll have to move our base of operations next week...


i suppose my little story is a bit mean, but "super douche" (did i even spell that right?) were his own words describing himself. honest!

drunk and drawn sf

latest edition...started off a little annoying because the next table was loud and obnoxious. D was telling us about some library patron who left a note on the door which read (among other things): "invisible edgar eats people". the drawing isn't all that great - horrible composition...i just kind of jotted down my first thoughts. still, i found the idea kind of intriguing.

some studies

been working on some gouache studies last few days. these are about 45 minutes each. they don't completely suck, but they are far from where i want to be. this new brand i'm using seems less opaque than what i used to use, and the color mixing also is a little different so i've been struggling a little with that.

the dude on the moped in the alley is from a really cool photo i found on the BBC once (this study does the photo no justice); the other two cityscapes are from regensburg germany; and the mountain is from castle craggs state park.

not strictly from drink and draw

...but i suppose the kernel of the idea came from there. and developed into this sort of flying craft. thought it was an interesting shape. might put it in a scene at some point..

some sketches of a coffee shop over time

there's a coffee shop i go to every now and then that i've drawn often. it's grungy and cramped but full of character. i've drawn it so many times. here's the latest as well as an earlier one from a similar angle.

from the previous drink and draw

i wasn't feeling particularly imaginative that night, so i resorted to drawing the always interesting and challenging hanging motorcycles. bikes and motorcycles are such complicated shapes i find.

from friday

i've decided (as i have before in the past) that in my time off i need to paint more using real paint. i'm trying a different brand of gouache (holbein acryla) than i usually do (windsor newton) and also trying to work more transparent, so definitely signs of struggle here above and beyond normal challenges of figure drawing. these are two, five, and ten minute poses i think. somehow never managed to get to the model's face...hmmm...

as with most life sketches i do

there are some things i like about these two (from a few months back), but some things that i don't and in retrospect i wanna kick myself for not having seen it/thought things through. in this first one i like that i was able to get the model's face in a few strokes. on the other hand, that back leg...ugh...also she had this beautiful bright red orange hair (see second image) but worked too dark here. and above all, in both these paintings i don' t really make good use of the toned paper, and in not taking advantage of this they ended up being in many places overworked. these are both 20 minute sketches.

Boddington's Brewery Gnome