smb
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From the album: Night Photography and Lights Reflecting in Water
The colorful lights of the Senate Building, reflected in the water of the inner harbour at Victoria, B.C. (Canada,) on Christmas day, 2006 To purchase a high quality print of this image, please visit: ArtWanted.com Various gift items and dozens of personalized products such as mouse pads, t-shirts, greeting cards, mugs, puzzles and a lot more besides are also available, customized with this image at ArtWanted.com© © Vic Rolfe
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Winter Afternoon Sunrays at Victoria, B.C.
smb posted a gallery image in Sunsets, sunrises, clouds and the sky
Just a shot of the late afternoon sun's rays, splitting up and radiating outwards through a gap in the clouds. I can never resist this kind of shot. It's as if I want to preserve images of all the moments of natures glory that I see in my daily life, forever... Photo taken from along the foreshore at Victoria, B.C. (Canada) - Christmas day, 2006 -
Photographing the Photographer - Bird-watching!
smb posted a gallery image in People, portraits and street scenes
I subtitled this one "Bird-watching" because it basically arose out of my passion for watching 'birds' - i.e. me watching the 'bird' with the camera! This photo was taken along the foreshore at Victoria B.C. (Canada) on Christmas day, 2006 -
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 to big. I'll have to try this one again some time...
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From the album: Have a go!
Another practice painting. This one was done on a 12" X 16" sheet of Canson Mi Teintes pastel paper. (The background color of the paper was a light, pinkish-grey). I took the photograph, on which this painting was based during a visit to Mindanao, in the Southern part of the Philippines during May of 2006. The photograph that this painting was based-on can be found at: Photography Forums for Photo-artists > Gallery > People and portraits > Teenagers To purchase a high quality print of this image, please visit: ArtWanted.com Various gift items and dozens of personalized products such as mouse pads, t-shirts, greeting cards, mugs, puzzles and a lot more besides are also available, customized with this image at ArtWanted.com© © Vic Rolfe
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From the album: Have a go!
First, I used a charcoal pencil on a 12" X 16" sheet of pinkish-grey Canson Mi Tientes pastel paper to sketch out the basic elements. I chose the paper color based on the dominant color of the wood panels of the door and walls of the house; which would form a large part of the background in the finished painting. -
From the album: Have a go!
Just some flat background color. I did'nt use any water for this one. I just used my finger to spead the pastel around and fill in the depressions in the paper where I didn't want the base color to show through - which was mainly on the clothing of the two girls and on their faces and other areas of exposed skin. -
From the album: Have a go!
Having laid down some background colors, I sprayed the whole painting with Sennelier "Fixatif Delacroix." This is an extremely high quality fixative - mainly intended for charcoal and pencil drawings - but I find it works very well with my Rembrandt and Schmincke pastels. As soon as the fixative had properly dried, after about 20 minutes, I was able to apply further layers of color in a "scumbling" technique, to the clothing - together with some elementary shading... -
From the album: Have a go!
I started to roughly map-out the areas of the different skin tones - highly exagerating the areas of light and shadow. I deliberately left the hair only in rough outline at this stage - which is why the two girls look like a couple of "baldies!!" The reason for this was that, in the finished painting, the hair would overlap the face and, of course, the interior of the house in the background. I wanted to put the hair in right at the end, so that it would come out 'on top' of everything else in the painting... -
From the album: Have a go!
The finished painting. Not quite what I had hoped it would be but, anyway, it was useful practise and I hope the next one will be better! I was reasonably happy with the way Jelyn, (the younger of the two girls,) turned out. I like a bit of 'style' or 'artistic licence' in a painting and, no matter how good I may get in the future, I don't think that I will ever attempt to do "photo reallism" in a painting. I really admire the skill and patience of those who do that kind of art but, for myself, I'd rather use my camera for photo reallism... -
From the album: Have a go!
Here's a recent discovery of mine... Incredible Art Board, from Incredible Art Products, based in Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A. They don't appear to do mail order but check out their website, (link above,) for more details. I bought a 24" X 32" board at Opus Framing and Art Supplies in Victoria, B.C. (Canada). The thing is incredibly light and extremely rigid - ideal for a portable drawing / pastel painting board! -
From the album: Have a go!
A small, (27cmX 38cm) landscape that I did as a practice painting. This was based on a photo of a rice field, or "palayan" that I took in Mindanao, during a recent trip to Davao del Sur at planting time. The original photograph can be seen on one of my member's albums at: The artfreaks.com Forums > Gallery > Mindanao The painting was done on a lightweight "Conda" watercolor paper; mostly with Rembrandt pastels but finished off with some ultra soft, super smooth pastels by the German manufacturer, Schmincke. After framing, I gave the painting away as a Christmas 'exchange gift' present to Mr. Theodore "Tio" Abria, one of my shipmates aboard c.s. Wave Venture. (When I went back to the ship, after a couple of month's vacation, I found the painting, abandoned in a cupboard in my cabin... Theo obviously didn't think it was worth the bother of bringing it home!! - Not that I can blame him... Anyway, it was a shame to waste it, so I brought the thing home myself - and subsequently gave it away to one of Lorna's customers at the E. Santos Art Gallery in Ermita, Manila) To purchase a high quality print of this image, please visit: ArtWanted.com Various gift items and dozens of personalized products such as mouse pads, t-shirts, greeting cards, mugs, puzzles and a lot more besides are also available, customized with this image at ArtWanted.com© © Vic Rolfe
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Send the troops a Christmas card... (The following was received in an e-mail:) Subject Something cool that Xerox is doing for the troops Jean Ball wrote: Something cool that Xerox is doing If you go to this web site, http://www.letssaythanks.com, you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq. You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to some member of the armed services. How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! This is a great site. Please send a card. It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our guys and gals over there need to know we are behind them...
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And the finished product. (To see the painting at various different stages during it's making, click on the image above, which links to the "Have a go!" album, which is one of my Members albums at the Forums > Gallery. There is a thumbnail 'filmstrip' underneath the intermediate images...)
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Great recipe. I normally only use A-B products but this looked so good I had to try it. I really enjoyed making it if I remember right. JACK DANIELS CHRISTMAS COOKIES Ingredients: 2 cups of flour 1 cup of water 1 cup lemon juice 1 tsp baking soda 4 large eggs 1 cup of sugar 1 cup nuts 1 tsp salt 2 cups of dried fruit 1 cup of brown sugar 1 bottle Jack Daniel's Whiskey Sample the Jack Daniel's to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the Jack Daniel's again to be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink. Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point it's best to make sure the Jack Daniel's is still OK so try another cup, just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Pick the frigging fruit off floor. Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the Jack to check for tonsisticity. Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who gives a sheet. Check the Jack Daniel's. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink, whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to tip over. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the Dack Janiel's and make sure to put the stove in the dishwasher. CHERRY MISTMAS.
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From the album: Have a go!
And here it is - the finished painting... As expected, when I was able to buy some Schmincke soft pastels, they adheared very well to the underpainting. Had I not had access to these ultra soft pastels, I would have had to abandon the painting at stage seven, when I probly would have destroyed the thing as I was not really satisfied with it... This is not a briliantly fantastic landscape but I am reasonably happy with it. I am not very good at this particular genre, (I much prefer doing portraits,) but this is probably the first half-decent landscape that I have managed to do. I enjoyed the challenge - and, hopefully, the next one will be better! -
From the album: Have a go!
This is not the finished product but I have to call a hault on it for the moment. The paper, pastels and fixative that I am using, (a light weight watercolor paper, Rembrandt pastels and Senelier Delacroix fixative,) will not allow any further applications of pastel. The "Fixatif Delacroix" is an excellent, first-class fixative. It leaves the colors virtually unchanged and would be my first choice in the final layers of a painting. However, it is not really that strong a fixative for pastels - being primarily designed for charcoal and pencil drawings. Anyway, I am lucky in that there are two or three excellent art supply shops here in Victoria, B.C., where I am temporarily stationed. And I know one, at least, where I can get some really soft pastels by the German manufacturer, Schmincke. Being very soft, they will definitely take, where the Rembrandts fail to get a grip. I still don't know if the finished result will be any improvement, or if it will be a complete desaster... However it turns out - even if I end up burning the thing - I promise to upload the final result... Watch this space!! -
OK... Here's my current project: I'm not going to describe every step in detail here, as I have already done-so with the descriptions to the images that I have uploaded on my new member's album: Have a go! You can see the first of the recent uploads in that album by clicking on the image above, which has an embedded link in it. The painting is not yet finished, as I write this but I promise to upload the final results - no matter how embarrasing they may turn out!!
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Palayan Sunset - The Materials (and a Can of Beer!)
smb posted a gallery image in Members Albums - Index Page
From the album: Have a go!
This painting was done in my spare time, whilst working aboard a ship, (the c.s. Wave Venture, berthed alongside in the Port of Victoria B.C., Canada in December, 2006) As you can see, my cabin was fairly cramped. There was also a limit as to what I could carry with me from the Philippines, (where I live.) I was working from an image on my laptop and I took the photo, on which the painting is based, during a recent trip to Magsaysay in Davao del Sur, Mindanao, in the Southern part of the Philippines. You can see the original photo on my Mindanao album and it is entitled Palayan Sunset Paper used was a very lightweight watercolor paper. I would have prefered a proper pastel paper but this was all I could find in one of the National Bookstore branches that I visited before leaving home. Aside from the laptop and paper, you can see a small selection of watercolor paints, one small brush and a collection of Rembrandt pastels - which I bought at Diovir Art Store in Sta. Cruz, Manila. Fixative is very conspicuous by it's absense here - only because I didn't have any. (I like to work my paintings up in layers and, with pastels, fixative is absolutely essential for this method - at least in the early and mid-stages...) The can of beer on the desk is optional! -
From the album: Have a go!
First, I made a rough sketch using my pastels and a charcoal pencil - just to map out the main elements of the painting. -
From the album: Have a go!
I then filled in some background color using broad sweeps of my pastels. -
From the album: Have a go!
Next, I used some of my watercolors and the brush dipped in plain tap water, in order to spread the pastel around and make a background 'wash,' which was to form a kind of 'underpainting.' The plan was that I would add subsequent layers of detail, in order to build up to a finished painting. Unfortunately, as you can see; even though I was using watercolor paper, it was far too thin a grade and it rolled up like a swiss roll as soon as it started to dry out...!!! -
From the album: Have a go!
Having pressed the thing for a couple of days, under the weight of several books, I still wasn't happy with the results... -
From the album: Have a go!
No choice! I had to mount the thin watercolor paper onto some stiff card. (I used the back of one of our old log books - and stuck the paper down, using a glue stick.) The front cover of the offending (Conda) paper can be seen at right. It was the best I could find in National Book Store, Ermita, Manila. Anyway, if you are a student on a limited budget, you just have to make-do with the best that you can afford. If you can afford better but still can't find what you want, you still have to make-do with what you've got! I don't know if Conda make a heavier grade of watercolor paper but if you are planning to use watercolor - or even just water with your pastels on the light stuff, it will need "stretching." Or be prepared for some buckling! (I am not planning to use water on this paper any more... I'll either give it away or just use it for pastels, without any water for blending.) -
From the album: Have a go!
Now that I had solved the buckling problem, I just sprayed some fixative over the whole thing, waited 20 minutes for it to dry and then started to add further layers of pastel to start filling in some of the detail... I was unable to bring any fixative with me because you are not allowed to bring aerosols or even solvents in bottles with you on the plane... not even in your check-in baggage. However, I was lucky in that, when I arrived on the ship, I found out that we would be in port for some time and I was able to go up the road to buy some proper fixative. Had this not been the case, I was planning to make my own onboard - using some ordinary wood varnish, highly diluted with alcohol. (I have no idea how that would have worked out, never having tried it before - but like I said before, if budget or availability of resources are stretched, you have to make do with what you've got. But don't let that put you off painting!)
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