pub sign- continued

this project has proved to be something of a love and hate relationship, i love working on it but hate the end results. I hit a rut and so decided to re pencil the drawing to make the hair appear more natural and give the animals a bit of energy, i will post the pencils when i get round to scanning them in the meantime the inks.

 

fresh from the scanner the inks (above) and some rough water colouring, my reason for the latter is something of an experiment. it means i can apply the washes digitally with none of the commitment of having to paint over the originals. the inks took several attempts on rice paper and then eventually i settled on cartridge, the main aim was to beef the lines up a bit. 

 

rough poster final

With the finished pencils completed i could think about inking, with a light box i was able to get a few slightly different inks, completed with brushes from a standard round to a sword, and squirrel hair. They all gave a unique quality to the finish whether it was chiselled edges or clean lines, i had one attempt which failed epically however second time was the charm.

 this was the end result, the text is weakest part so will be redrawn but other than that i think its nearly there. This was inked with a sword and then alizarin crimson was dribbled around the page- with any luck it should guide the eye.

poster pencils

having produced some quick pencils it was about time i refined them into something relatable and recognisable, from start to finish it has been about a days work involved in getting this poster to a clean pencil sketch. the inking or water colouring will be the real challenge, yet to decide whether to work more like David Downton or Michael Gillette,

my cleaned up pencils (above), and some of the amazing work that i am constantly in admiration of (below)

 David Downton's portraits of the male subject, quite reminiscent of Falcucci's more decorative work. the pale grey used for the mid tones simplifies the finished portrait hugely- not saying that it is easily done but might be something i appropriate.

Michael Gillete's work, above are some chinese brush paintings enhanced with felt tips, the immediacy of the aesthetic is hugely appealing, the accents of colour send your eye around the composition without distracting from the face. below is one of his water colours, it looks nice.

Poster development

Having got an idea of how to sketch the subjects face to a recognisable standard i began thumbnailing to work out a composition, i didn't want to over complicate the focus of the poster rather just draw attention to various personas and mood of the music.  

 with an idea of how to stagger the imagery as to promote hierarchy i produced some quick pencil sketches as a piece of further practice. Being that my subject is well known in the local area it puts pressure on my final to look no less than perfect, as im sure it will be criticised and commented upon gratuitously on a regular basis. with that in mind any practice is good practice on this brief.

 

campari poster

My employers the Queens Arms on the Plymouth barbican have music every sunday from 8:30, one of the first acts i saw from behind the bar was the rat pack tribute Michael Campari. As a reason to produce a series of portraits i have decided to immortalise this entertainer in a tribute poster- whether he likes it or not.

to begin with i sourced some references and found three images which i felt conveyed the type of showman he is.

once the references had been gathered i decided to start some paintings with ink and brush, they started in the middle of the page and gradually got better as i got my eye in. these quick sketches were a good way to try and understand the most relevant features to establishing a likeness.   

drawing from dvds

to help refine my process and reassure confidence in mark making i have been sketching from dvd covers, they are something i have in abundance also they are very good examples of extreme poses, lighting, makeup, costumes, props and so on, just about anything imaginable.

for this page i was working from An Idiot Abroad 2, Saw, Bad Lieutenant, Lucky Number Slevin, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, District 13, Red Lights, and Scott Pilgrim vs the world.

they were all sketched in a moleskine with some calligraphy ink, dip pens, and brushes, this is the sum of the best bits- put together in photoshop. 

this is an amalgamation of all the sketches above just left how they appear in the sketchbook, some pages are denser than others, purely depends on the source imagery. as a little drawing task it has kept me busy in between writing the dissertation providing a bit of recreational relief. 

Sketch pages

thought id try and keep this blog a float with some quick sketches i've been doing in between the dissertation, 

some sketches of eddy the cat in biro, i caught him on a day where he was just enjoying a good stretch, the poses made good reference for animal anatomy

this was some drawing with a dip pen and red ink, on the left page is a series of characters and the right was copied from the Lawless dvd case, the formal clothes, dynamic poses, and extreme light appealed for refining character sketching and setting a mood.