Al Fresco Art Club July 18, 2021 -- Geology Obsession

No time to add ears.I like his alien look.

I’ve been obsessed with geology for the last few weeks. If I were to college it all again, I’d study paleontology and geology and my mind would think in terms of millennia. I’d dream of ice ages and extinction events rather than spending my time pondering what I should have for lunch tomorrow.

The Al Fresco Art Club didn’t meet today, but I spent some time fussing over this digital painting. I used a pencil brush and a blur brush, painting on one layer. Fun stuff.

Almost Al Fresco Art Club, June 20, 2021

Oh, no! My friends have been turned into stone statues!

Today we resolved to restart the Al Fresco Art Club on July 5. We’re finally getting back into our pre-puppy and post-injury groove. I’m looking forward to doing normal things.

In this picture, Betty has just realized that while she wasn’t paying attention, the angry volcano demon has turned Jimmy Jay and Dylan Dolphin into stone statues. Oh, dear!

Al Fresco Art Club Is On Hiatus

We’re taking a break from the Al Fresco Art Club. We’ll be back once we’ve got the puppy house-trained. As it is now, he’s 13-weeks old and still needs to constant supervision. We can’t take our eye off him. Our moments of carefree relaxation, of which the Al Fresco Art Club is one, have to take a backseat to puppy training. That’s life.

In the meantime, I’ve been thinking about this question: What is my style? I’m a relative newbie and my interests are mercurial. If I see Steve Huston painting a quick acrylic portrait, I want to be an acrylic painter…until I watch R Crumb draw a pen and ink portrait with his Rapidograph technical pen or I see some Instagram artist painting a perfectly thrilling landscape using Procreate on his iPad. I’m drifting whichever way the wind blows. What is my real style? That is the question.

Al Fresco Art Club Challenge: Use Tayasui Sketches Drawing App for iPad

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Today’s art club challenge was to try a new app and use it for one hour. I chose Tayasui Sketches for the iPad. It has a simple interface and pleasing brushes. It also has some convenient shortcuts for comics such as the diagonal hatching I used for the background. The watercolor brushes are convincing, too. As usual, I didn’t bother looking at the documentation, which means I probably did everything the hard way.

The largest image size is 4k by 4k, big enough for my books, but too small for hi-res work. All the same, the app has a good feel and I’ll use it again.

Al Fresco Art Club Challenge: Create a One-Panel Comic

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Today’s art club challenge was to do something amusing — draw a one page comic. I’ve been thinking of drawing a heads-up logo to use at my day job because I’m always using the phrase “heads up!” when I send out emails to my customers to gently inform them of important details about the project that they will probably overlook. My favorite falling piano cartoon is Gary Larson’s. I would link to it on Pinterest, but I know that he detests how people have appropriated his comics on the Web.

Comparing a Graphite Sketch to a Digital Copy

Digital

Pencil and paper

I’m having a hard time creating a graphite feel using digital painting programs. I’m sure it can be done, but I can’t do it. When things get tough and I get lost in Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint, my first impulse is to simplify and removed rendering.

When I look at the two pictures above, the digital drawing looks flat. The pencil and paper version has a gritty texture that I like. I didn’t have to know any tricks to get the texture — it’s built into the paper. The kicker is that the pencil and paper version was completed in one hour, while the digital version is unfinished after three hours. I think my problem is that I really haven’t mastered Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint. I’m still a rookie at digital painting, and pretty much everything else.

I do think the digital version will be just right for my online comix. By the way, I think about that imaginary community college every night before I fall asleep. I’ve given it a name: Subliminal Community College located in the city of Sublime, California.

Al Fresco Art Club, April 18, 2021 -- Express an emotion

Pancil

Today’s art club challenge was to draw an emotion. I chose Keanu Reeves heart-wrenching “Noooooooooo!” wail in Break Point. This expression was my actual reaction after trying to watch his latest movie, Bill and Ted Face the Music. It was abominable and unwatchable. I quit watching after 10 minutes. It was a waste of $5.99. and, worse, a waste of 10 precious minutes.

Al Fresco Art Club Challenge -- How to Draw a "Pretty Girl"

Today’s Al Fresco Art Club challenge was to draw without self-judgement and without planning. On the way to the studio, which is the kitchen, I pulled Cartooning the Head and Figure by Jack Hamm off the shelf and randomly opened it to page 46, where he shows how to draw a pretty girl. His style is definitely corny, which is perfect okay with me because I love corny. I drew this on my iPade.

I spent the rest of the day installing software on my newly upgraded pc. And tonight I’m going to watch the a movie of Persuasion, which was Jane Austen’s final novel.

Chore & Al Fresco Art Club Day, Mar 27 -- Chopping Down Trees and Redoing Old Paintings

I couldn’t complete this assignment in one hour…I’ll continue next week.

Today was Chore Day and Alfresco Art Club Day. For chores, I did the laundry and vacuuming, and I pruned our giant shrub growing out of control into the neighbor’s yard. What a pain in the ass, literally. The bush is on a slope and the footing was loose decorative rocks. As I was pruning a tough limb, I lost my footing and fell on my ass. Fortunately, no damage was done.

For art club, the task was to simplify an old painting. The idea was to find a way to convey the same meaning as the original, but with a simpler, more efficient technique. In other words, remove all unnecessary details such as excessive rendering and goodies that do not convey meaning.

(edited Mar 28)

Al Fresco Art Club, March 21: Mere Doodling

Today’s art club challenge was to doodle without any planning or references. I started by drawing an oval, then I thought of the main character of my next book, a cynical Pomeranian who has seen more of the down side of life than the bright side. From that point on, it was just having fun.

I drew this in Procreate than repaired it in Photoshop. By “repaired it”, I mean that I used the liquefy tool to correct the lopsided eyes. They’re still a little lopsided, but they’re good enough.