Monday, May 4, 2009

Tradition!

I've been working digitally for months and today I returned to traditional media.

I've been bouncing back and forth between traditional media and digital media for a couple years but this is the first time I've been away from real paint for months. I was apprehensive about busting out the acrylics - after all there's no undo! I spent a lot of time this morning reacquainting myself with brushes, paint, medium and the additive known as flow enhancer.

Creating a color digitally is easy: pick a swatch, move some sliders around and presto! The perfect color! Mixing paint is more like alchemy. Rarely is paint straight out the tube satisfactory. Some colors are easy to  mix, others are counter-intuitive. The dino's tongue is medium magenta and vivid lime green with a little cad red and a dash of Payne's Gray.

Overall, I got back in the groove fairly quickly (I think). This piece is a gift for an unsuspecting person that I hope doesn't follow my blog!

9 comments:

John B. Watson said...

Very cool! You haven't lost your magic touch with the traditional materials. This piece is a real winner. Very close to perfection. The only thing I'm a little bummed about is that I know it's not a gift for me because I'm a regular follower of your blog. Lol!

Chuck Dillon said...

If I stop following your blog will you draw me something?

Ha ha! Nice work! Once you learn to ride a bike, you never forget (unless, of course, you hit your head or are very drunk).

Gina Perry said...

Looks gorgeous! The really impressive part is that you're STILL digging dinos after what you just went through!!!!

Ben said...

I'm glad to see the forelimbs are in an anthropologist-approved configuration. Those books look delicious.

Edith S White said...

You are good with paint aswell as computer. I am currently painting on digital for a childrens book and I was wondering from your last post how did you manage to get rid of the black lines on the digital image for hierarchy?

April Jarocka said...

Lovely work Robert. I thought it was digital. I paint realistically in acrylic and feel really comfortable painting with them for my stones. However I seem to get artists' block when I use them for my illustrations. Is this normal?

Aja said...

Your stuff is great!

Robert Squier said...

Hi Edith-thanks for the question! I work in Photoshop and this program (like other graphics programs I assume) allows me to place art in different "layers". I typically scan my drawings and then paint the color in a layer below the line art. When the line is in a separate layer it can be easily turned on or off. I hope that answers your question, good luck!

Robert Squier said...

Hi April-another interesting question! Many artists who paint from their heads often look to the real world for inspiration. An example would be using a lizard (and maybe a bat) for reference when painting a dragon.

I recently completed a project involving dinosaurs and I found inspiration by studying dino fossils, paleo art, dinosaur models & toys and even living animals (reptiles, elephants & birds).

Your stone paintings are lovely!