smb
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Having had a few technical problems with the artfreaks.com Blog Spot - (in the process of which, I ended up deleting my old travel blog) - I took the opportunity of replacing my former blog with a new one, more suited to a website which is primarily intended for amateur artists. As such, any further ramblings of mine on my progress, (or otherwise!) as an amateur artist will go in my new blog at: http://www.artfreaks.com/forums/index.php?...p;blogid=5& I'll leave this topic in place, though, so guests can still post their replies, if they want. And if any members want to start their own topic or blog, please feel free to do so! I look forward to hearing of your experiences in taking-up the brush, pen, pencil, chisel, computer mouse - or whatever!
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A Disastrous First Exhibition
smb posted a blog entry in Vic Rolfe's Art, Photography and Travel Blog - (formerly smb's Blog)
Originally posted in the Forums: Oct 16 2007, 09:44 PM I just had my first - (totally disastrous!!) exhibition - where I didn't even sell a single painting... I was ripped-off for PHP40,000 by the Lilet Artista Art Gallery in MH Del Pilar Street, Ermita, Manila. The half page press release that I was supposed to get in the Manila Bulletin, ended up as a single paragraph in Tikatik - or some such cheap rubbish tabloid newspaper. ? No flowers, as promised - and not even a tin of Skyflakes for the opening ceremony... ? All my paintings were crammed together on 3/4 of ONE wall of the gallery in question. No attempt at any form of curating - and they were up for less than 36 hours!!!!!!!! Almost enough to put me off panting for life!! (I gave the bloody lot away - every single one of them!) ...'Only saving grace was, there were plenty of eager takers for the free paintings among some of the Ermita bar girls! When one potential customer tried to haggle the price of one painting down to, basically, the cost of the frame - I decided to withdraw the whole lot from sale! Later that same day, I got a friend to come around with his little "owner" jeep. We gathered up the entire collection of exhibition paintings and proceeded to go around Ermita, Manila - giving them away for free!! I am very happy to report that Hotel La Corona were willing recipients of two of my paintings, (although, I suspect - because I have been a long-term guest of the place - this may have been more out of politeness than anything!?!!) Anyway, the rest of the paintings went to various people like, as I said, some of the local bar girls - who really could not afford to buy one; not even at cost price for the materials. I am happy to report that there was something of a scramble for the paintings - with the whole lot gone in less than an hour and nowhere near enough to go around for all the people that wanted one! It done me a power of good to see my collection going to grateful recipients and, for the time-being at least, I am going to forget about even trying to sell any of my own work, for the time-being - and just concentrate on painting for fun... Basically just giving away the finished paintings to anyone that wants them. Cheers! Help to support ArtFreaks.com as a free website for amateur and professional artists and photographers: Shop discount arts and crafts supplies at MisterArt.com! -
The Finished Product!
smb posted a blog entry in Vic Rolfe's Art, Photography and Travel Blog - (formerly smb's Blog)
Originally posted in the Forums: Jan 21 2007, 11:58 AM And the finished product: Pastel painting of a pretty, smiling teenage country girl in the Philippines, sitting on her elder sister's motorbike. Jelyn Nakaupo sa Motor ni Ate - (More-or-less finished) I will probably have to work on the hen and chicks some more. Jelyn's shirt could also do with some more white and shading. But, if at all, I will do this immediately before framing... -
Originally posted in the Forums: Jan 2 2007, 08:04 AM Not so much of a struggle now! Here's my latest 'work in progress...' Jelyn Nakaupo sa Motor ni Ate! - (In progress) Who knows how this will turn out. All I can say is that I am enjoying myself here! Watch this space!
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Originally posted in the Forums: Dec 25 2006, 06:08 AM Here's my latest attempt... Sheine Mae and Jelyn It should have looked something like this... Sheine Mae and Jelyn I'm not aiming for photo-realism here - (even if I did have the skill and the patience to do it). In fact, I like a little bit of style... But, looking at the photo and the painting together like this, I realized that I made Sheine Mae's head far too big. I'll have to try this one again sometime... The struggle goes on!!
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Originally posted in the Forums: Nov 13 2006, 03:51 AM Oh, Here's one that I didn't burn... A sexy, very pretty blonde girl with lovely breasts!! I know that most people will think it is a pretty corny painting but, who gives a damn?! I enjoyed doing it, and I like it! And, I have to admit, it was done mostly in Rembrandts... So why am I getting hot under the collar about Rembrandts? Because I have completely run out of my Schmingke SOFT pastels, I can't afford to order any more over the internet, at the moment - and I couldn't have done this... without them! ...Reason being that the above painting uses a lot of acrylic modelling paste, mixed with sand, in order to get the textures for the grass and the rocks. If you try to use anything other than a really soft pastel for this, when you try to cover up the sanded modelling paste, most of the pastel ends up as dust on the floor. And, if you are not careful, you can wear your fingers down to the bone!!
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Originally posted in the forums: Nov 13 2006, 03:42 AM Rembrandts are a soft pastel? I don't think so!!!!! Depending on the colour, they range from hard to rock hard. You can keep them! And where did this all come about from? I've just wasted a PHP250.00 sheet of 300gsm watercolour paper and God only knows how much fixative and poxy Rembrandts - on a painting that I have just burned. Sorry... I should have taken a picture first, in order to show you how bad it was? In all fairness to the makers of Rembrandt Pastels, I can't blame them for my failure. But, to be honest, I DON'T enjoy painting with them. They are too Damned HARD! They are, however, about the least hard of all the pastels that you can buy in the Philippines - which is the only reason that I use the things! But Soft, they Ain't! Postscript Edit - dated November 18, 2007: Having just re-read the above entry, I think it was actually a little unfair! I have to say this, because I have, in fact, been using Rembrandts, (usually in conjunction with Schmingke and Unison pastels,) ever since I wrote that - over a year ago!!!!!!! OK. The Rembrandts are certainly NOT as soft as Schmingke. However, now that I have developed my technique a little, I find that quite useful in certain circumstances - like, for instance, when I specifically don't want to apply too much colour. I also use them as blending sticks. (I never did get on with those rolled-paper stick things - whatever they call them?) One other area that I do use Rembrandt a lot, is in the initial stages of a pastel painting when working on a heavy watercolour paper. These are usually landscapes. Because the paper is invariably white or off-white, I tend to block in large swathes of background colour with my Rembrandts - then turn these into very rough watercolour washes by going over them with a large "mop" type watercolour brush with plenty of clean water. That way, I create my own multi-colour tinted paper before I start the painting. So, whilst what I wrote in the original post above was what I found to be true at the time of writing, I have now revised my opinion of Rembrandt pastels. I DO find them very useful and I sincerely apologize to the makers of Rembrandt pastels for my previous, hasty, and not very accurate comments!
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Originally posted in the forums: May 10 2006, 08:36 PM I've been getting a bit carried away with my pastels lately. Here's a fairly recent painting that I was quite proud of: This was based on a newspaper photograph, depicting a couple of children trying to keep warm around a camp fire after an earthquake in Nepal.
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More Practise Needed!
smb posted a blog entry in Vic Rolfe's Art, Photography and Travel Blog - (formerly smb's Blog)
Originally posted in the forums: Jun 11 2005, 03:44 AM So now, after about 2 weeks of practice - and with the aid of the most excellent book: Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain I have come up with a couple of passable drawings. Ok, I know that my attempts at drawing are far from perfect... Life doesn't have to be perfect and neither do my attempts at art!! The main thing is that I am happy with what I produced. Not bad, eh?!! When I made the second drawing, I seemed to have gone into some kind of a "state of "flow." I completely lost all sense of time and the drawing just seemed to flow from my pencil. (Well, Faye is extremely pretty and, I suppose, it helps when you are drawing your favorite subject!!) I have tried to repeat this experience but, without that level of success. I guess that it depends on how you are feeling at the time and various other circumstances? Even my other drawings of Faye haven't come out quite so well. Anyway, this drawing has given me the encouragement that I need to keep trying... And I hope that one day, I will be able to produce great drawings at will! Time for another beer!!! -
First Drawings
smb posted a blog entry in Vic Rolfe's Art, Photography and Travel Blog - (formerly smb's Blog)
Originally posted in the forums: Jun 4 2005, 04:45 AM Ok... Now I have exposed myself to ridicule!!! It's about 33 years since I last attempted to make any of my own art so these are very much the "Before" drawings. Hopefully, the "After" (reading a few books and a lot of practise) ones will be a little better... Learning to draw is an exciting challenge for me. And although the standard of my work is a bit of a joke at the moment, I have to say that I am NOT in the least bit disappointed with it. Far from it! I just feel chuffed that I've finally managed to pluck up the courage and have a go at doing something that I have always admired in others - drawing life-like images. I am currently working my way through an excellent book called "Drawing on the Right side of the Brain." I'm well impressed with it so far and I'm planning to do a review of it, once I have finished it. What I can say already, though, is that far from being a big heap of technical instructions, it is an excellent tool in breaking the psychological barriers that can prevent people from drawing. Right...! Time for a beer to celebrate!!!! -
How I got started
smb posted a blog entry in Vic Rolfe's Art, Photography and Travel Blog - (formerly smb's Blog)
Originally posted in the forums: May 29 2005, 02:20 AM At the tender young age of 47 years, I've finally decided to have another go at making some art... I was never any good at drawing but, at around age 14, I did once produce what I considered to be a pretty good oil painting of an A4 Pacific- (steam locomotive) hauled train, speeding down the tracks (supposedly! ) on its world record-breaking 126mph run. Having spoken to a few artist friends, I have come to the conclusion that I need to brush-up on my drawing and sketching skills before I can take my art any further. I was touched by Hermes Alegre's story of how, when he was a boy, his mother had to fork out on a blackboard and some chalks for him when he got into a fight with one of his friends. Apparently, his family didn't have enough money to buy paper and pencils so he used to draw by scratching his sketches into the earth. The fight started when his friend erased one of his drawings - as kids do!! :roll: I've bought a couple of books on drawing and I'll be giving you my reviews on these - together with some pretty awful "before" and, hopefully, slightly less awful "after" examples of my attempts at drawing and sketching - when I have finished reading these books and (tried!) to put some of what I have learned into practice. Watch this space! If any one else would like to share their story, tips, suggestions - or comments on mine or others attempts at making art, please feel free to post your comments here or, if you prefer, you can also start your own thread in this forum. Please check-out the top tips for artists and photographers in the Articles section of this site. (The link is in the main Navigation Bar at the to of this page - or in the Main Menu, if you are using a mobile device...) -
Hi and welcome!
I'm looking forward to seeing some of your work here on artfreaks.com
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Interesting image. Nice one! -
Hello and welcome to artfreaks.com! Please feel free to post your links here. It's a free world!
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My Pit Bull Terrier, Shoubi, making herself at home! October, 2007 - Philippines Shoubi has lost a bit of weight, lately. She has become very fussy with what she will and will not eat. Argentina corned beef just WILL NOT do, anymore. Nor will most of what I am quite happy to eat myself! Lately, I just found out that she is quite partial to "tinapa," (a kind of smoked, sardine, I think?!) Only problem is, tinapa is quite expensive - especially in the kind of quantities that Shoubi would need in order to make her fat again...?!!
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My Pit Bull Terrier, Shoubi, making herself at home! October, 2007 - Philippines This photo is a bit blurred but so what? I like my dog and I couldn't bring myself to erase this!
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Nice one!
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I just had my first - (totally disastrous!!) exhibition - where I didn't even sell a single painting... I was ripped-off for PHP40,000. The half page press release in the Manila Bulletin ended up as a single paragraph in Tik@$tik - or some such tabloid newspaper. All my paintings were crammed together on 3/4 of one wall of the gallery in question - and they were up for less than 36 hours!!!!!!!! Almost enough to put me off panting for life!! (I gave the bloody lot away - every single one of them!) ...Only saving grace was, there were plenty of eager takers for the free paintings amongst some of Ermita's bar girls! When one potential customer tried to haggle the price of one painting down to, basically, the cost of the frame - I decided to withdraw the whole lot from sale! Later that same day, I got a friend to come around with his little "owner" jeep. We gathered up the entire collection of exhibition paintings and proceeded to go around Ermita, Manila - giving them away for free!! I am very happy to report that Hotel La Corona were willing recipients of two of my paintings, (although, I suspect - because I have been a long-term guest of the place - this may have been more out of politeness than anything!?!!) Anyway, the rest of the paintings went to various people like, as I said, some of the local bar girls - who really could not afford to buy one; not even at cost price for the materials. I am happy to report that there was something of a scramble for the paintings - with the whole lot gone in less than an hour and nowhere near enough to go around for all the people that wanted one! It done me a power of good to see my collection going to grateful recipients and, for the time-being at least, I am going to forget about even trying to sell any of my own work and just concentrate on painting for fun - and basically just giving away the finished paintings to anyone that wants them. Cheers!
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Hehe! You are very welcome, my good friend! And thank you too, kind sir, for posting your wonderful words!
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I like it! (Even better, now it is the right way up! Pasensya lang, po... Ngayon lang ako napansin na may bagong upload ka na pala dito. Ang tagal kasi na wala akong internet, habang sumakay sa barko.)
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