April 2012 - Art Update

I manged to lose my login info and my bookmark for this blog in a fit of ineptitude recently, but I'm back again.  Not a huge amount has happened since my last update, at least not that I can post here, but the following are a couple of new pieces I finished a few hours ago.

"The Morrigan"

One of the myriad aspects of this interesting mythological character.  Google 'The Morrigan' for more information, she's not exactly Girl Next Door material.

"Austin Maestro Clubman D"

The misery that is the Austin Maestro Clubman D (non-turbo Diesel) depicted in this somewhat tongue-in-cheek picture

Chrysler Sunbeam "Mel's Folly"

Drawn from several reference pictures.

This is, believe it or not, a restoration project to take it from being a battered grass track racer to being a road legal Chrysler Sunbeam.  You can read more about it over here: http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=78084

Ford Fiesta

Recently completed automotive portrait for a new customer.  Enjoyed working on this one but as usual with blue, the scanner really hasn't done it justice.

Watercolour Practice

It's been a while since I updated here.  I've not had much opportunity to do artwork of late, had a lot of other things to organise.  I did get a few minutes free and decided to relieve some boredom with a little watercolour practice.

It's a shame my scanner doesn't like blue, this looks so much better in person than it does on the screen.  Ah well, I hope to do more stuff like this.

Sketch Commissions

Lately much of the work I've been producing has been sketches.  I've been kept away from my art desk by a rebellious body that insists on being fixed at the hospital, but now that the rebellion has been quelled I can at least get back to work and updating my blog.

Here's the finished general audience stuff that's made it out of my pencil during June

1920s themed bartender

A raptor playing on a wiicube or a Xstation or some such.

A drunkard.

Chiron - Commission

It's been an interesting few weeks for me lately, including a stay in hospital.  Thankfully, I'm well on the mend again now and have been able to do some artwork, which I can share with you here.

Most of the work I've had through the books lately has been adult work, it's the mainstay of my income which can sometimes be frustrating, but one must go where the money is.  However, I do occasionally get non-adult work and in this instance it was for a sketch of a draught horse centaur.

New Start

A little while ago life had got the better of me and I went through and made a mass deletion of various blogs and information.  Happily, things are resolved and I've realised the error of that decision, so this is to be a fresh start.

This blog will focus on the items I create for my small business Stone Orchid Creations.  Primarily I produce artwork, but I produce other items as well so this seems as sensible a place as any to showcase those things.

Updates will likely be sporadic as is the nature of the work, but I will attempt to release an update at least once a month.

To begin with I've decided to share a few of my favourite artworks with some details about them.

"Magpie"

This painting was based on a photograph for the anatomy with the cloth and mask imagined afterwards.  Part of a slowly progressing themed series of paintings featuring men dressed to depict birds this one is as the title suggests a Magpie.  Created on Bristol Board paper in acrylic paint and watercolour pencils, this piece has around 20 hours work in it and is approximately A3 in size.

"Jebediah Huufenbacher"

This piece was created as a sketch just to see what I could do by way of translating my imagination into a painting.  The entire piece is completed in watercolour with some finer details being picked out in coloured pencil.  As a challenge to myself I used a webcam to provide a live show of the piece emerging from barely-visible sketch into fully coloured completion for those watching.  Much like Magpie, this piece took many hours to complete over the course of several days but remains one of my favourites.  This piece is completed on A4 sized Bristol Board in watercolour and coloured pencils.

"Prayer"

A small piece, this is something of a milestone for my work.  Created by commission, this piece is only A5 in size and shows a pair of hands praying with a stained glass window behind.  The reason this is a milestone is that I've always had the greatest difficulty depicting hands but this bears some resemblance to them I think.  Completed on Bristol Board in watercolour and coloured pencils.

"The Laughing Zebra"

This piece is tiny but another of my favourites.  The texture of smooth fur and bristly mane always pleases me when I look at this miniature and the happy, laughing expression of the zebra is delightful.  Completed in watercolour and coloured pencil on Bristol Board.

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Watch this space for the next update when I should be showing some of the Crochet Critters that I've begun producing and some more artwork.