Week 2 I decided to change things up a bit, out of necessity and to try something different. I love Sharon’s style so I decided to take a small tip from her work. While Sharon does do the full figure, I wanted to work as fast as she does. I was very distracted this week with getting a new blog (thanks to Nick for helping me figure it out) and a few minor house hold issues that took a lot of time.  I also have been very curious about the differences between how illustrators work as opposed to fine artists.  The first 4 days I just concentrated on getting a line of action and trying to express the movement. I think doing fast, stick-figure drawings really helped me see a bit of the difference in the approach. I loved seeing the motion and the movement. It helped me get a sense of the slight weight adjustments the body makes.  By the 5th day I was bored with the stick-figures. They are very fun and I will most likely go back to them, maybe start to develope them a bit more as I get faster. To keep myself interested in the project though I went and bought another reference book by Mark Edward Smith. This is The Nude Figure: A Visual Reference for the Artist. I will try to add a link on the side bar.

I remember once in a class I was in where there was an illustrator w/ a bunch of fine artists, the question came up what’s the difference between the two and is there a difference? The disappointing point was that the illustrator wouldn’t participate. She would say we were wrong about something but not actually give her reasons.  I think that there are and there are not differences. It’s also a question that will  most likely never be answered or could be answered.  I also understand her frustration at having to defend her art for what was probably the millionth time, but I was more interested in hearing her discuss it than actually figuring out if illustration was the same as fine art.  Any thoughts?

*Edit:This is an updated picture. I finally had time to set up my wonderful HP Photosmart C4580. (It’s amazing!) I also finally installed photoshop on my computer not too long ago and now I am able to scan my paintings and let photoshop piece them back together. This makes a much better image because my photo-taking skills leave much to be desired. So after a very busy busy weekend of painting and the exhibit I bring you the new image.
This is a portrait of Joe. I did this one in three days. The portrait of his mom is a full sheet, this painting is a half sheet. I think this one turned out okay. My teacher said it was the best portrait in watercolor that he has seen come out of the academy. He really likes it, clearly. I like the way I painted. I don’t think there is anything wrong with painting, I just don’t like how I drew it. That’s a huge problem. My other watercolor teacher has been telling me for a year that I need to stop being such a shitty drawer (not exactly his words, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he said it like that). I figured it would sort itself out, but I think I may have just gotten lazier over time. This also comes on the heels of working on a painting yesterday that I drew over the summer where most of the drawing is so wrong. I was very proud of that drawing until I looked at it as I was painting yesterday and noticed that most of the lines are very off. Granted, that was a semester ago, but I really haven’t improved. I’m not patient enough.

Also, I need to scan this painting in because this picture is really too yellow. All the nice greens and blues are missing. I will try to fix that on Monday, but I am also going to be getting everything ready to enter two contests later in the week so I will be very busy Monday.

This is a quick painting of Joe. I had to make up a project during the week we used a model and he was kind enough to sit in for me.