The Painting thread

[odibrom]

Hello folks.

Since recently I've done some new paintings (I actually restarted to paint after some years just passing by), I though about, why not sharing them with you, you know, I kind of feel proud of them.

So I'll start with a photo of a triptych called Cube Trilogy. They represent a complete rip from my painting past, for good reasons, I mean, be it in atitude or expression.

These are 3 stereoscopic paintings to be decoded by the crossing eyes method. They are meant to invoke the need for different perspectives in order to understand our environment, in this situation, the space around us: size/dimension and distance. I wanted to confront the first understanding of space from the "2D" observation with the "3D" feeling of the stereoscopic one. These are 1x1 meters each and painted with acrylic paint over plywood. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Feel free to post your own paintings, to comment on these 3 or to ask anything about these or any others. I'm a Painting Graduate, Master in Drawing and PhD (in progress) in Descriptive Geometry, by the Lisbon's Fine Arts School (http://www.belasartes.ulisboa.pt/en/.

 

[Philligan]

Those are really cool.

 

[odibrom]

Those are really cool.

Thank you very much for your kind words Philligan. Were you able to see the stereoscopic 3D?

 

[feraledge]

I used to love watercolor. And drawing. I pretty much haven't done either in decades. My daughters asked me for some animal drawings. I obliged. Did three young river otters for one of my daughters and decided to color it with watercolor. On printer paper. Then I decided to just go for it.
So busted Walmart's not finest watercolor gear tonight and did my first watercolor only painting in 19 years. I'm pretty damn stoked on how it turned out, willing to let a soon-to-be Doctor tell me otherwise! Haha.

 

[odibrom]

@feraledge , sorry to just replying now. That is just wonderful. GREAT work of painting/drawing (touching the Scientific Illustration kind) with watercolor... on printer paper! Isn't the paper shrouded/wavy with the water? By the looks of it, I'm sure you have some kind of education in these arts...

Anyway, keep it coming, I'd like to see more of your works, if you feel like sharing, of course.

... and as a stimulus for this thread, I'll leave a drawing here, made a few years ago (10+)... graphite on paper (a little thicker than printer paper). It's a study/invention of an architectural arch of the Belas Artes Lisbon School. I like the concept of the composition, there are textures, different shades from light grey to dark black, density and subtlety lines, chaos and order, the here and the over there, the object and its reflection... or is it a window?

 

[feraledge]

That is just wonderful. GREAT work of painting/drawing (touching the Scientific Illustration kind) with watercolor... on printer paper! Isn't the paper shrouded/wavy with the water? By the looks of it, I'm sure you have some kind of education in these arts...

I should clarify, that one is on watercolor paper. Earlier yesterday I did a pen drawing on printer paper that I went over with watercolor and, yes, the paper doesn't look nearly as good. My watercolor gear is all Walmart stuff, nothing great. Hoping to upgrade over time here.
But, yes, I went a magnet high school and specialized in visual arts. I figured out proper watercolor techniques in the mid-90s, just hadn't touched them since. Thanks for the comments, I'll share more as it comes!

 

[odibrom]

In all arts, there are as much techniques as there are artists... plus some, you know, one artist does not uses only one technique, right? Keep them coming!

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Trying to get into ink-work. It's always overly sketchy unless I use a wash.

Some old studies I've done, I really wish I had the time to get back into painting.

 

[odibrom]

hey @KnightBrolaire, don't over judge yourself on the drawings that one looks good and promising. We're all in this for fun, that's what made us all start playing the guitar, it was fun and still is, I hope... and so is drawing and painting and so on. Keep it fresh, but focused! You're showing some pretty good skills, carry them over from one technique to another, "link the dots in between" and amaze yourself. Sketchy stuff is fresh and expressive, one doesn't always have to finish things (like those I posted before) and some things aren't to be finished. Art delves in mystery, otherwise, it would be descriptive imaging... like photography... hehehe, just a joke, photography is painting/drawing with light and has helped all other visual arts to jump out of realistic task/paradigm/responsibility that veiled them from the beginning.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

I crossed my eyes then blurred my vision... but still couldn't decode the images. I think that my right hemisphere is broken lol. Anyway... some horrible photos of a few random paintings.. acrylic, watercolor, oils, etc..

 

[odibrom]

@High Plains Drifter to decode those initial 3D paintings, one has to zoom each one of those 3 images so they fill all your screen. Then cross your eyes, so you can see 3 columns of cubes (basically you're overlaying the cubes on the right over those on the left... or vice versa). This will give a 3D feeling, but somehow incomplete or unfocused and blurry. Then, without loosing that crossed eye situation, you'll have to focus on the cubes in the middle column. The thing is that the converging point of our sight is matched to its focus point, wherever one goes, the other follows. To decode these paintings, one has to detach these actions into 2 conscious, voluntary and different movements. Not everyone is able to do this...

About those posted images, they have some moments, most embedded within a 70s psychedelic vide, but they are all too different from each other. To better understand them, could you explain why you posted exactly these images? Was it a random choice or do you like particular elements within them?

 

[High Plains Drifter]

Thanks for the additional info... I'll see if I can manipulate my perception. Was just arbitrarily posting some mediums that I've enjoyed working with. No real reason I guess. Apologies.

 

[odibrom]

No need for apologies, it's just harder to comment on something without proper context (like objectives, goals or purposes) when there is too much and diverging visual information. You clearly have representation skills and you can express yourself objectively on different mediums, which is pretty cool, so keep it up.

I'll leave another image here, also graphite on paper, also made 10+ years ago. This one is pretty special to me, because it shows a inner view of the entrance of Lisbon's Fine Arts College. It is a 12th century old monastery that was converted to an art academy in middle 19th century (if I remember correctly). It's a pretty damn awesome school, just for the history on its walls. Lots of cool memories there.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

a more recent piece in graphite, could've used more contrast. oh well.

 

[odibrom]

@KnightBrolaire that is some seriously difficult Yoga pose. Did you draw it by direct sight? How long was the model on that pose?

Regarding the drawing itself, yeah, I agree you could have used a bit more contrast, but you can still do it, unless it is not on your possession anymore. Get an eraser and open up some light, or a darker shade of Graphite and enhance some shades. I must be honest though, I feel the "background" doesn't add to the drawing, it is too "scratched". One has to dedicate as much attention to the page background as to its front theme, and I think/feel the background is lacking attention... The yoga pose itself is nailed and the human anatomy is spot on! Congrats!

 

[KnightBrolaire]

@KnightBrolaire that is some seriously difficult Yoga pose. Did you draw it by direct sight? How long was the model on that pose?

Regarding the drawing itself, yeah, I agree you could have used a bit more contrast, but you can still do it, unless it is not on your possession anymore. Get an eraser and open up some light, or a darker shade of Graphite and enhance some shades. I must be honest though, I feel the "background" doesn't add to the drawing, it is too "scratched". One has to dedicate as much attention to the page background as to its front theme, and I think/feel the background is lacking attention... The yoga pose itself is nailed and the human anatomy is spot on! Congrats!

Thanks,that piece is actually a photo study. I usually end up doing the background last (which I know is frowned upon/wrong) largely because I forget. I know I should build background to foregound like I was taught, but it's been quite a while since I've taken any composition/art classes.

 

[odibrom]

Generally it makes sense that way, BUT, one should just paint/draw the way one feels like, so go with whatever pleases you most. As for doing the background first or last, it all depends on one's objectives. One may even not draw it at all and just focus on the theme. Doing a background just for the sake of having a background is also a bad move, because it will show that it is there for no reason at all.

Drawing is quite a hard discipline, because it will show how we feel and think at the time we draw, it really tells something about the author in the way he traces lines, hatches or shades.

Also, @KinghtBrolaire, if you allow me to suggest some corrections, try to do the hatches in the same direction, for example: from left to right and lift the pencil, move the hand back to left and start again a new line. This is preferable to doing Zigzag lines to get a faster fill. The previous "technique" allows for a better control of the shade lines, though it may take a little longer to achieve the desired shade. It will also spice up your drawing identity, taste and overall results. Last but not least, try to have 2 or 3 different shades of graphite to work with from the beginning, one hard, for the light grey, one in the middle for intermediate grey and one soft for the dark shades. Obviously, one can go from light to dark with only one shade of graphite pencil, but give it a try, you'll like it.

... and now something completely different, this is an illustration of a poem I've made for my daughter 3 years ago, it was a homework from the kinder garden for us parents to so...

The poem goes like this, google translation from Portuguese with some small corrections.

In my yellow room
I see the street from the window
I draw a picture of the garden
With green blue and brown

Hygiene matters
What dirty I learn to clean
And right on the shelf
I'll get the toys sorted

With lots of music and gymnastics
I'm an elastic artist.
It's my turn now
I'm grown up Inês
​

Explanation: my daughter is called Inês, she was at the yellow room in the kinder garden and she was 3 years old, so it's the time to learn about hygiene and getting things sorted out about rules and the places of things. She likes a lot to express herself through her drawings and paintings, she likes music (once I was hearing King Crimson and she was dancing on time and tempo with the music!) and gymnastics... this rhymes in Portuguese, by the way...

 

[odibrom]

Ok, so this thread has been quiet so I'll give it a push again... no comments on this one, I just like it.

Acrylic on canvas, 1x1m, circa 2006...

 

[IGC]

Hope this isn't too sub par for your thread odi, but I probably did this in high school (calss 1996) or early college..
On the back of one of my little brothers (8 years younger) homework assignments.

 

[odibrom]

@IGC There is no bar level in this thread, and it is not "mine", it belongs to whom ever posts here, so it's yours already! My role here is just to stimulate painting/drawing sharing, that's all. I know there are a lot of talented people here, so let's all share our doings in these areas, shall we?

That drawing looks nice, would you like to share a little more info on that? I can understand it is some sort of graphite as a base medium on paper. Who is the portraited fellow, how did you do it, by photo, live session? These things bring some additional charm to the images, which are the real object of the thread.

Did you not develop your drawing skills any further?