An Artist's Sketchbook

Rambling...

It has been a busy week and I haven't had a chance to do any drawing. I was approached last week at work about an illustration project. The organization I work for is celebrating it's 50th anniversary (in its current inception). To honor the occasion they will be rolling out a top ten list of the greatest engineering achievements of all time. The idea came about to illustrate these acheivements as woodcut prints, simular to ones created in the sixteenth century. Should be a fun and challenging project to work on. I did some experimenting with different ways of executing a rendering that would mimick this look. I think I will use a #2 fine brush and black ink on Bristol board to acheive the effect. Will post the progress

I am getting ready to start doing some painting. I have been looking at different artists and techniques. I think I am really going to love plein aire painting. I love the loose style and painterly brushwork of this style of painting. Soon I will begin my color theory training, I could get away with just jumping in and painting, I have done well in the past simple using my instincts to guide me through a painting when it comes to color. I feel, however, that it is time to start learning the ins and outs of color so that I can better acheive the look and feel of a subject that I may be looking for.

I found this great instructional link on wetcanvas for preparing your own panels using masonite(hardboard). I am going to do that this weekend. I figured I could get 36 10x12 panels and 4 6x12 panels from a 4'x8' sheet. Cant wait to get this done so I can start working through my color theory book and begin putting some paint to canvas (or board as the case may be).