day #365 - the end of an era

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I thought I was on top of it; I had finished early and was looking for a movie to watch already 3 hours ago. And I don't know how time went by. A phonecall, some networking studying, some online shopping and here we are, already past the time for an early movie. Regardless, today is a special day. The blog is over! I finished 365 days of daily painting and recording it, whatever that means. A big part of the process I will have to keep doing mainly for myself. Perhaps taking daily photos of my work and saving it on some folder. This has provem useful many times when I trying to date a piece I've been working on. Also making a small diary of today's achievements. It's still useful. But this will be done for my eyes only. I also don't know if I will be continuing my obsessively daily painting. How would life be if I had days off? Now for example that I'm moving out and I have to daily chores that until now were completely taken care of, perhaps I'll allow my
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day #53 - In the balance

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What an unbalanced day! It was day off and was in desparate need of going out for a coffee or walk. Eventually I gave up. As the day progressed I picked up my iPad and started drawing and I was in one of those rare moods that I'd rather paint/draw that socialize. I painted until I could no more and then I stopped. A few hours later, my desire to paint returned, so I picked up my (el cheapo) sketchbook and did two pieces.

Results-wise, it's been one of the most satisfying day; I tried to pull horses from memory (has been more than 25 years when I last studied horse anatomy) but turned interestingly fine (not necessarily correct anatomically, but well enough that you get the likeness of a horse). What I'm most proud of today, I painting scenes, ie. narrative. A reinterpretation of Frank Frazetta's Moon Maiden & the Centaur, A scene at the amusement park (I love the way the couple is holding one another -there is some tension), various animals... I chaind princess and some goblins, and a scene from Isaak Asimov's book "Second Foundation". I also did a thumbnail painting which turned much rougher than the initial sketch, but it still is impressive to my eyes since it's somewhat complete in-itself. And I like the palette a lot!

And then, there are the two Illustrations in my sketchbook; the first one started randomly like most things do but I like the palette, the composition and the shades of green I've created. Finally, I decided to do something that I am doing a lot: Try and create a clean lineart straight away. How I tackle this, is by drawing only the important edges as dots. This way I can tell whether the proportions are off and if I have to place them elsewhere I can do so easily. You can see a few stray dots in the chest area. I'm very happy with the overall design; while I miscalculated and the legs would have to be cropped, I somehow managed to balance it . Don't ask me how. Many difficult things turned out fine; the hands for a start; I usually don't get them right in the first try, if at all! I love the vegetation, the branches, the bluish flower, and the attire is good for somebody who doesn't pay attention to clothes. If anything, the elbow is too close to the body, and the head too big for the body, but passable. A very successful piece, especially given the fact that there is a story in it!

I'm very happy for the narrative/world-building aspect of my art today; not so much of my socializing though. But for now, all is well.

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