It's almost that time of year again, so if you're thinking about sending some cards to your people this Christmas you might like these.
If you'd like to purchase them in units or having a pack but with assorted models you'll probably prefer Zazzel.com or Zazzle.co.uk, you can also personalize them there changing whatever you want, adding or removing stuff.
If you're bound to buy sets of 10 or 25 Deviant Art is offering a retail sale due to Black Friday, that means a 20% discount!
Click on the images or the links to go to the stores, hope you enjoy your goodies!
A couple of weeks ago I saw a gorgeous painting of a dragon that incorporated some metal leaf here and there and then was watercolored over it resulting into a really interesting look.
The actual result has been my latest order turning from brushes, restock of paint and paper into all kinds of metal leaf, hmmmm…. How did that happen?
I’ll be making some experiments watercoloring over those metallic pretties and trying to achieve some textures soon enough.
Also, I ordered a small bottle of sealer just in case because I read the metals would tarnish, I’m not sure if I’ll use it or how it’ll affect the watercolors, will the tarnish be THAT bad? Anyone has any experience with this? Share with me your experiences, will you?
As soon as I heard Massive Black was to do a dvd with Donato Giancola I put it in my wish list, "why? after all you don't paint in oils yet Teresa" well, the main reason is that I've been a diehard fan of Donato for years, notice how I call him by name, and second because it happens that the only other dvd about oils I have was made by Massive Black too, featuring another of my idols, and judging by it I could tell that the amount of knowledge dropped into this one would be enormous even if it would only have a 10% of the Dan Dos Santos one, and I wasn't wrong!
What you get inside this DVD box is 2 dvds filled with 5 hours in the studio of Donato Giancola extraordinare, up close and personal, creating The Mechanic from start to finish:
What I've always loved about Donato's works is that he paints like the old masters, he's a classic master embodied in a current 21th century painter, so I was looking forward to see how he paints skin, as if it were a chance of peeking over Rembrandt, Rubens, or Michael Angelo's shoulders, if you don't believe me is that you've never seen his works. Check Faramir at Osgiliath or The Battle of Agincourt or Elegy for Darkness-The Lady of Shalott if you don't trust me.
That was my main expectation, to be able to see him rendering skin and talking about how it's done to get that kind of finish, I must say I was a bit disappointed when I found that the demo would be a sci-fi illustration instead of fantasy, maybe because I relate him so much to the classics and sci-fi didn't click for me for the one and only Giancola's workshop I'd get.
Well, I couldn't be more wrong, whoever made the decision nailed it because there's a bit of everything, not only skin but a spacesuit that equals any armor demo, machinery - in case your metal needs weren't fulfilled by the spacesuit - and a galaxy, enough technique insight to your heart content.
Being a bit more specific what you can expect to get from this dvd is:
- Preliminary work, one of the things I love in the 2 dvds I have on oils is that they didn't stick to show oil techniques, there's a lot of information about a lot of other stuff, in this case starting with a talk about the concept sketches or a whole photography session with a model and objects in the studio so you can see how and why it's done.
- Beginning of the painting process, or should I say the drawing process, from start to finish, how all the drawing is made, materials, influences, adjustments made from the concept sketches and an explanation why every decision was made. Drop in some talk about his influences and the old masters and you have a happy Teresa, it's great to hear someone talk about the classics knowing he obviously knows what he's talking about, it's so evident that Giancola has studied in depth the old masters works that you can't help to smile while hearing him talk about them, you can feel the enthusiasm and admiration.
- Mounting process of the final drawing, getting ready to paint.
- And the oils workshop per se begins, I was surprised of the amount of medium he uses because my only reference was Dos Santos and you can tell it's completely different, don't ask me which one is more often used, I have no idea, the only thing I can say is that both of them seem to work for their users and I've always been a true believer in Whatever Works so... Well, he starts with the galaxy, a deep analysis of how he makes it and why, and how many failures it took him to get to do them the way he does them now, then begins the rest of the background (and finish it after painting the foreground). After that he goes to the flesh, I was drooling too much at this point to be coherent writing about it, perfection, the way he blends is perfection, also he talked about different pigments and how they react and why he uses them. Then he begins an analysis on metal, how it reflects it's surrounding and the light and how to make it believable and paints the upper spacesuit making some changes to the base drawing as he goes on. After that come the parts of the spacesuit that are not around the focal point and the machinery with some more talk about the old masters and how he used to go to the museum to copy them (with examples!) while he was talking about editing out information in some areas.
This hasn't happened to any of my paints other than this one, I've had it for half and a year now, haven't used it because I still have a tiny bit of W&N Cobalt Violet but each time I pull this American Journey one out of my tubes' box it looks like this, like resin dripping off a tree, I clean it and the next time it's just the same, this can't be good LOL, maybe when I finally use it there will be only pure pigment in that tube?!?!? Hmmmmm....
Yesterday I spent the day with my friends, breakfast, stroll by the city, shopping, lunch at the japanese and then to the theater to watch the latest Harry Potter, good day, and I bought books!
It's been quite some time since I stepped in a shop here, took a look at an illustration book that I didn't know existed and fell in love, it happened yesterday, I haven't read Fables, not even one number, but James Jane does such a terrific work for each issue! plus there's not only the finished pic of each cover, there's the concept, pencil and commentary by the author, not any of his other works not-Fables related though, but it's ok like this, it's going into my inspirational shelf. Man it feels good to unexpectedly find one of these gems in a local shop.
And since I had to wait in the line to pay I though I could add a couple more books that I've been wanting to read for quite some time, they are Amélie Nothomb's Ni de Eva ni de Adán (Ni d’Ève, ni d’Adam) and Paolo Giordano's La soledad de los números primos (La solitudine dei numeri primi), the first one because I loved Estupor y temblores (Stupeur et tremblements) wholeheartedly, Nothombs has a way with words and is fresh and different; the second because I listened to a review in the radio a couple of months ago and got me so curious about it, we'll see if I like mr. Giordano's way of writing.
Oh! I painted today after 3 weeks without properly handling a brush, YAY for me! Now onto finish Ni de Eva ni de Adán.
Since I could have had a better day I guess it's time to spice it up with some stupidity that'll let me go to bed with a smile in my face so, here! Rhonda, you thought I wouldn't do it, right? but I did! just in my journal though, it's probably not apropiate for a big banner after all,
And I got some goodies last week that I forgot to post, I was going to smell the aqua fix (yes I had to buy it after all, even if there's a chance I never ever use it) but it happens to have one of those secure caps, stupid thing! one of those that can't be opened just by turning, you need to push and then turn to make sure that children can't open it, well I spent over 2 minutes trying to open it duh', and after all the effort it doesn't really smell! I don't even know why I have to smell all these new products when I buy them lol, anyway I bought some sketchbooks too and a set of Pitt pens that I love, I'm a new fan! And of course the excuse to place the order in the first place, a tube of raw sienna :)
And the under coat of all the kanji and prints is finished, in the blink of an eye! I know, I know, it looks horrible lol but it's not really horrible, just in the middle of an ugly stage, the important thing is that I haven't had to do it slow motion, it's wet on wet, it has continuity from shape to shape and finally it looks like it's progressing.
I haven't used masking fluid (nor continued painting yet) around the bases of the lanterns because I won't be using the same method I'm using for the kanji and prints, those bases are big and simple enough to let me work on them my usual way without worrying to much so they'll remain like this until the final stage.
On a different subject, I have 2 orders of goodies on the way home YAY! maybe I don't need them but lord, how do I "need" them XD Now I'm in a quest to find a place in Spain that sells Fabriano paper rolls, I assume there's no one around who knows about Spanish art shops that could provide them, right? I've only found them at Artifolk but they don't sell them out of the UK, my chances of finding it here are close to zero I guess.... maybe I should take that as a signal from the painting gods to stop purchasing things that I don't really need at the end of the month, maybe.
This morning the washing machine attacked me during laundry, it jumped to the sink in front of it throwing everything that was on top of it to the floor on its way, so first it was the shock, then the cleaning, and after that the urge to draw the event in my sketchbook, that has reminded me I haven't posted anything in that journal since the slam dunk, so I've scanned a couple of pages, both of them are about gifts I got on the 3 wisemen day (back on january):
This one is based on a cologne I got that I totally love! From Gwen Stefani collection, there are others that I haven't smell yet but they are as cute looking as this one; it's a small bottle with a big doll lol but I've already included it among my favourite fragances. It started as a doodle just because it was there in front of me, then it begged for color and I started to add things from the box, then adding random harajuku girls lyrics looked like a must
This other one is based on a Starbucks' jar that has became my favourite, I can't help looking at it and read the "my journey begins today" message it has, so eventually I had to sketch it.
And here I was thinking this was going to be another stupid monday, but then I got home just to find that my latest 2 orders had arrived, yay!
Perfect, PERFECT! it's almost midnight but I won't go to bed until I've watched one of these, maybe Nick Simmons', and then I'll dream of vibrant colors flowing all around...
A couple of weeks ago I saw a gorgeous painting of a dragon that incorporated some metal leaf here and there and then was watercolored over it resulting into a really interesting look.
Who's been good this year???? ME! And that's why among my birthday and 3 Kings day goodies I've gotten all these gouache tubes, YEAH! 
And since I had to wait in the line to pay I though I could add a couple more books that I've been wanting to read for quite some time, they are Amélie Nothomb's Ni de Eva ni de Adán (Ni d’Ève, ni d’Adam) and Paolo Giordano's La soledad de los números primos (La solitudine dei numeri primi), the first one because I loved Estupor y temblores (Stupeur et tremblements) wholeheartedly, Nothombs has a way with words and is fresh and different; the second because I listened to a review in the radio a couple of months ago and got me so curious about it, we'll see if I like mr. Giordano's way of writing.
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