IF: Shaky

"Feller Bug" is sporting a Shaky Trigger-Finger as he's roused from a fitful sleep by the snuffing of a hungry Wolf Spider!

This is part of my latest series of bugs doing silly things... not sure how this works into my Thesis, but it IS giving me experience with the medium, directing the eye and fun subject matter.

The previous posts for the week show the progression, from Greenbottle Fly, Bug Rustler and the grayscale and color comps for this piece. It's been a fun week at the easel.

Happy 4th to all you Yanks!

Lucas Watercolor on Fabriano - Click to view at a Larger size.

Wolf Spider Color

not sure about this... it's a watercolor that got out of hand. turned into a gouache as i started lightening areas that i went too dark, but i think i would be able to do it much better in oil. maybe i'll use it as a color comp for a revisited final in watercolor. I like the bug though... he's got a bit of personality. thinking the Wolf Spider is way to scary for youngsters, but the Harry Potter kids would dig it.

Wolf Spider

This is a new one from this afternoon at the picnic table. Niki thinks it's the best wolf spider I've ever done... It's the only wolf spider I've ever done, but thanks!

Mr. Rustler Bug ( He's a Feller-bug, not a Ladybug! ) is a bit surprised in his bed roll... Grabbing for his trusty Winchester Rifle, loaded with DDT!

This is a graphite drawing, ported into photoshop for some grayscale shading. It should be a painting by the end of the weekend.

Click to enlarge.

bugrustler

no idea what this lunchtime theme is or where it's going. This is similar to yesterday's lunch piece, Mr. Greenbottle, except this fellow has a mighty steed.

a long drink at the ole' waterin' hole while gazing at the horizon for signs of the law...

winsor newton watercolor on 140 lb lanaquarelle

click to enlarge

fly

Mr. Greenbottle is lighting his pipe as his flock grazes around his feet.

i was eating lunch at the picnic table behind the office and watched the beautiful iridescence of the greenbottle fly as he lighted on the tabletop. That started the whole thing. I did clip and shift the two little flies, since they're over the character piece in on the original sheet. this arrangement makes a much better story with them around his feet.

click to see it bigger.

3 oils

i visited some of my favorite people this weekend, Joel and Sarah, along with many of their friends and neighbors, musicians and artists... great fun at Meisnerfest 2009. Brother Mark drove down from NJ with daughter Anna and handsome husband Mark Diamond to take a long gander at how Virginians like to party. Son Niki and I drove down to Appomattox in the 'Lude, really digging the twisty and hilly roads through the Blue Ridge. Mark (bro) brought a mini wood lathe, and set up to demonstrate wood turning with Sake bowls and baby rattles from apple wood... shavings were rolling off of his tools - quite fascinating to watch someone with that kind of skill and control working the material.

While the musicians played, I had set up my Jullian easel and picked out a lonely tricycle with handlebars askew. I hung at it for a while, as the light flickered through the canopy I was under. After working it to a satisfactory finish, I moved over to where Mark was turning, and began a short portrait of the man at work. I had problems getting the posture, but at the end of the session, it looks like him, and the color is right... exactly what you want at the end of an hour. The third painting couldn't have been more than 15 minutes as I watched a very, very active Foxhound puppy (less than 6 mos) sniffing around the party. He was never in the same position, and I would have to think more about color than portrait. I laid in a very calligraphic brushline for the form and started filling regions with color... I got the color right and even a bit of the sense of his youth.

Well, I'm back home... scratching mosquito bites and remembering the good times with family. Some cousins are headed back to Ukraine while others are looking for new career positions... It's nice to touch base and eavesdrop on all of doings from the previous year. Hoping my thesis is in good shape prior to Meisnerfest 2010, or else I've have to miss it next year. Better hunkerdown and get it done!

All of these are oil studies, with turp as the medium... Trike and Pup are 8x10 on wooden panel. Mark is a on a piece of cardboard at 10x12.

Click'em to see'em.

IF: Worn

Summertime's Here! That means long hours avoiding the outside world and zoning out in mom's favorite chair, wearing a major rut in the cushion where your lazy butt lands each day as your thumbs desperately try to get to Level 32...

"TURN THAT TV OFF!!!"

"Get outside and run around a bit! When I was your age, all my pants were green from the kneecaps down from sliding in the grass or flipping rocks in the creek..."

"Yeah, yeah... Just let me finish this level!"

Lucas watercolor on Strathmore sketch page, with graphite under-drawing. click to enlarge.