It's Mooooonday!

I think my art block finally ended. I drew pretty much all day last Wednesday and it was a spectacular day. This is the image I came up with.

I've actually got a fair amount of art for today's post.  First off we have the completed piece from last week.  I just downloaded firework brushes, but I'm pretty pleased with it. I like the lighting a lot :) They are all just so happy!

Then we have Accordion Bear alone in the back of a nightclub forlornly playing his accordion.  Accordion Bear is kind of a sleaze.  He likes women, smoking, alcohol and doesn't treat Banjo Rat all that well when they aren't jamming. Banjo Rat still loves him, but he can't keep dragging him out of the gutter. Banjo Rat leaves Accordion Bear and heads back to the Bayou after a year or so of touring. Accordion Bear is devastated when Banjo Rat leaves. He wallows in self pity for awhile before he realizes that Banjo Rat is really the only important thing in his life.  Those musicians- sure are a complicated bunch.

Still in progress, but I love how the bricks turned out.  Playing with colored light sure it a lot of fun :) There are going to be a bunch of cigarette butts on the ground and he'll have some alcohol dribbling out of his mouth maybe. I love how gritty this character is.

In a completely different direction, I finally got around to scanning my third Intaglio project. This one was done using aquatint. You basically spray paint the plate and the paint acts as a ground. That's how the splotchy texture was achieved.  The character is Creepy Rabbit Guy. I just doodled him in Art History one day and have been drawing this weird creature ever since. He's a mash-up of a rabbit, goat, greyhound, human, and a meerkat.  He has hands! I love it :)

Intaglio is a really neat process. I have to say, I feel pretty badass when I'm putting plate in an acid bath and adding all these neat textures through these awesome techniques. Yep, I'm one badass artist ;)

M m m m Monday, er tuesday.

Art block still going strong.  It's not a creative block, I've got lots of great ideas. My brain and my hand just aren't communicating so well and everything I draw just comes out terrible.  I think it's partially because of my most recent Intaglio print.  I don't have a copy of it yet, but when the assignment is graded I'll post it.  I drew this piece when I was at the height of my art block, and it looks really bad.  But I don't work on it everyday. I take a break, do some good drawings and I think I'm out of this funk.  Then I go back to this crappy piece and I get all frustrated with it.  Ugh, I wish the art department was forgiving when the students have blocks.

Oh well.  So here are somethings that I've been working on to try and overcome this block. First we have the whole Bayou Gang! Accordion Bear, Trumpet Muskrat, aaaaaaand Banjo Rat!!! Whooo! Rockin out! Clearly not finished yet, just the flat colors. I'm thinking there will be a bunch of fireworks in the background, I'm excited. I hope it turns out well.

I listen to a lot of music when I draw these guys, and my inspiration has been Mumford and Sons and Freelance Whales. Love them both, but Freelance Whales has an accordion and a banjo, way cool. 

The other piece I have is the continuation of the pirate piece I was working on.  It's going well, and I think it'll be really pretty....if I ever finish it.  Doing those ropes is going to take forever!

I love the colors of the ocean and sky. I really want it to be finished, just don't know if it'll happen :(

If anyone has any tips for getting over art block, I'd greatly appreciate them.

oy, monday

It's been a hard week. So I think I lied when I said my art block had ended.  I haven't been able to draw anything lately.  Coloring is different, it's so much easier to slap on some color and shade a drawing especially digitally. That's why I thought my art block had ended, I colored some pictures all pretty like, but I haven't actually drawn anything new for awhile. Being an artist is hard sometimes.

Well here's a pic in progress of Baby Banjo Rat, he's trying so hard to learn how to play the banjo, he can't be bothered with his silly siblings. No need to run around when there's a banjo to play! I dunno, I wanted him to be all focused on the banjo, but I think with the other characters in the background it draws too much attention away from the main character. Composition has always been the hardest thing for me to get right.

Opinions on this would be greatly appreciated.'

And here we have something I don't normally do, a sketch that I did entirely digitally. I always scan in my doodles and then trace the lines and color that way, but sometimes I do a very very rough digital sketch and keep refining it until it looks decent. 

I'm excited about this image, I imagine it looking  so pretty, with a pale orangey sunset and the wind blowing in the deckhand's hair. The imagery wasn't even mine though. A friend of mine told me about it and this is just what popped into my head.  I hope it turns out the way it looks in my mind. 

The thing about art block is that I can draw pretty much anything. I drew this fantastic lady that looked really realistic ( wont post it here since there's nudity and I dunno if that's okay)  I was so happy with it form a technical stand point, but it was just an exact copy of a photo.  There was no creativity that went into that drawing. That kinda concerns me honestly, I can churn out decent art but it will have no feeling and life to it. That's the main reason I do art, for the expressive qualities. If I can create "art" without putting any thought into it, how is it different from a menial desk job? I don't know if I'm making any sense, but I am having concerns about this. Oy...I think I should just go drink some tea and chill out. Stop trying so hard. Except...I'm an art major, I can't just take a creative hiatus. Tricky, tricky business indeed.

Whoops missed Monday again, here have some cute animals

Art Block has ended! Yay! I've started coloring Accordion Bear, which I'm really excited about.  He first showed up in my sketches a few weeks ago, ( scroll down, you'll see him) So I've done the line work and the flat colors for one of the images of him and Banjo Rat, don't know what to do for the background yet.

I imagine their conversation goes something like: 

"Oh, Allo little rat.  You seem so happy with zat banjo sound" says Squeezebox Bear. (he's French) 

" Why yes indeedy, Mr. Bear. They call me Banjo Rat" Banjo Rat replies.

"I see. I play  zee squeezebox myself."

"Oh? Well then, I'd say we should jam together"

"Ah yes, zat would be most enjoyable"

EDIT: finished the piece today, I love how the trees turned out :)

They just have instant chemistry, and connect on a musical level that Banjo Rat has never really known. So here they are jammin' together, this piece was a lot easier to finish.  I just like the movement and and the action of the characters a lot. 

Drawing that accordion over and over again is going to be a paaaaaaaain. But look at them dance! They look so happy and cute!

Monday post slightly belated due to art block and sickness

Ugh, I have the cold from hell. My face hurts, and I kinda feel like I should just crawl in a hole and die.  It doesn't help that I have massive art block.  I have all these great ideas, but they just aren't turning out how I want them too.

First we have a doodle I did of Banjo Rat receiving the banjo from Papa Banjo rat.  I love the sketch, I love how scruffy Papa Banjo rat is.

When I scanned this image in to color it, I just had no idea what to do for a background.  Backgrounds are always the hardest part for me to finish, but very rewarding when they turn out nicely.  Still doesn't make me want to do them.

I just don't know of the background is overpowering the characters. I wanted to show where they live, in a neat little hollowed out log, but I thought if I cropped it then it wouldn't make sense.  But I don't like how small the characters are and I don't like the composition.  I don't know how to fix it either.  Ugh, I hate backgrounds. 

EDIT:

Finished this piece finally. I couldn't make a lot of the elements work, so I just decided to ax them.  I wanted to have all these cute homey things, like the rocking chair and a porch light, but I was so sick of this drawing I just wanted it to be done.  I'm still not super happy with how it turned out, but it's done and that's good enough for me at the moment.

I do like how the texture on the log came out though :) And I can't get over how excited Baby Banjo Rat is! Look at his big baby teeth! So cute :)