Painting Drama 2 - New Horizons Pt. 3

The Final Project for Painting Drama 2 was a re-do assignment. We took one of our previous paintings from the class and repainted it.

So, I chose my "Hi-Key Exploration of Green" piece.

I chose this one because my classmates felt it had potential to be something more. But the process of unlocking that potential was very frustrating. If I'm honest, I wasn't quite thrilled to redo this one.

But I trusted my peers and began to work it. So here's a visual summary of what I did.

The final turned out like this:

I tried to make a more interesting painting and to make it feel more cohesive, with all the elements working together. Part of the critique I received for the original painting was that the character didn't feel as if it belonged. It just didn't have the integrity of the environment around it.

So I really tried to make everything feel part of the same world. The shapes of the trees, the topography, camera angle, flowers, lighting, values...these were all things I thought about while working.

The class ended with a bittersweet eight hour meeting in which everyone was asked a question about what we learned and what our plans were.

It was difficult to describe the sheer amount of knowledge that came from this class. The moments of clarity, where determination overcame fear, the discoveries of what color can do...

I don't remember what I answered, but I remember the recommendation that Chris and my classmates gave me. It was:

Do more studies.

It makes sense. I can see how my work will improve with studies. If you follow me on facebook, you may have noticed that I've been posting a lot of them!

Here's one of the better ones from a few weeks ago:

Painting Drama has helped me find my feet as a storyteller and an artist. I can't recommend it enough. If you're looking for inspiration and a good group of people to work with, please check it out.

If you have any questions regarding my experience with the class or about the projects I'm working on please leave a comment or find me on facebook! I love to meet other artists or writers.

Painting Drama 2 - New Horizons Pt. 2

One of the biggest challenges in Painting Drama 2 is painting an entire color script. It was hard, so hard that I forgot I was painting. I forgot to let my hair down and just discover things.
In the previous post, I talked about how I learned to let go of perfectionism. Well. During the color script weeks, I forgot that lesson.

I think as artists, and maybe even as humans, we can forget the things that ease stress on ourselves.

So, I focused on all the wrong points for the color script, like local color and accuracy. And it turned out...well... not the best. I should have focused more on story, lighting, and mood.

But I didn't.

Overall, the script was a let down and a very hard letdown. But it wasn't a failure. It was a wonderful learning experience. And that learning experience shows with what I did for the assignment after the color script.

This was the Time of Day project. After a huge challenge of a color script, these seemed like a breath of fresh air. I was reminded, once again, to let go and paint, to try new things.

The unicorn is about to enter a forbidden and treacherous land. A land where unicorns have never returned. Had Chris allowed it, I would have considered these my best works of Painting Drama 2.

But he didn't.

There was one final assignment and, I have to admit, it's one of the best pieces I've ever expressed. I'll go more into detail for that in Part 3 (the final part)! So stay tuned!

Have any questions? Feel free to post in the comments
or find me on facebook!

Painting Drama 2 - New Horizons Pt. 1

I've survived.

Survived Chris Oatley's Painting Drama 2.
If you're not familiar, please check it out.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some experiences and paintings
from the class. I improved quite a bit!

This is a scene from The Book of Lost Things,

by John Connolly. If you haven't read the book,
I highly recommend it. Especially if you're
into fairytales.

The boy is about to enter a frightening
tower to retrieve his friend.

It's a low key study of analogous colors.
I started using different brushes and
decided to try things I wouldn't normally try.
Much to my surprise, it wasn't terrible!

It actually became a bit of a turning
point for me. This is where I realized
that I could do anything I wanted,
so long as it conveyed the story.

Once that thought materialized in

my perfectionist brain, I let my

hair down and began to try more

and more things. Techniques, color

combinations, and more.

It became less hard to begin.

And beginning is always the
first step.

Stay tuned for Part 2, where
Time of Day became my favorite
assignment!

December 15, 2014 - Creating Kensra

November 29, 2014 - A Different kind of Unicorn

November 16 2014 - More Concepts

November 2 - Nailing down a character