Ed's thread (8 Viewers)

Strandman · Nov 14, 2010

RussB said:
Ah!, yes, I can see how useful the reference material comes in. I have often wondered how much photos and skins are used when illustrating - I guess quite a lot in many cases. I appreciate that if the 'meat and potatoes' of the species portayed (the jizz) is lacking then all the 'window dressing' (can't think of a better description at the moment!) is pointless. The tricky bits been done - jizz of stoat has already been cptured in your sketch.

Cheers

Russ

you ask the right question there- there's a higher realm out there where artists are truly working off and from sketches to finished works, some of whom we are lucky to see on here

but meantimes I had half an hour this morning to sneak away to Abberton (bunking off from spectating a very conveniently located and scheduled football match in the badlands west of colchester) and there a lovely flock of lapwing, with a floating reed amongst a stacked group of four birds, reed cutting the reflection- so my drawing is really just to record the idea: effectively its not even to record the image and only part way to getting the jizz right- for me its more a way of capturing the excitement at seeing something that's maybe going to be a picture..a sort of exclamation mark, form of notation, almost could be done in words: from here I have some mobilphone-thru-scope snaps and we'll see how far using them sucks the life out of the sketch

back on planet stoat I thought I would have one more go at it- here's the disappointing drawing #2 from above rotated thru 90degrees to reduce the roadkill feel and reintroduce boing factor

Lykos · Nov 14, 2010

very beautiful Ed

friendly greetings Gaby

colleenc · Nov 14, 2010

love the lappys and know just what you mean to get the idea down which is a main function of what sketches are intended for...the stoat by most standards works, but I don't think you will think so, and compared to that sketch well....

Funny isn't it how an image will stick with you and you want to paint it and somehow can't bring it off right, just like I'm having a time with the lone gull I'm working on ....it's a good image, but I can't translate it right.

Still doing them is useful, who knows down the road the missing piece will fall in and Eureka!

Whistler used to memorize his scenes, repeating over and over to friends on a walk the scene he was trying to fix in his mind until he had it exact, then later would paint it, no sketches just using words...this is in relation to his nocuturnes...

solitaryVSong · Nov 14, 2010

colleenc said:
totally joyous and seemingly impossible sketching MORE MORE!

Don't know how I missed commenting on these, unless I was just about to head out the door on vacation. In any case Colleen and many others have it right. Totally joyous and full of life!

And you have it right about just getting down something to recall the sense of excitement at what you saw. Sometimes I think that's why I love sketches so much - they really are shorthand versions of a truly exciting experience. Anything developed from them may be strong in other ways but it's all so difficult to keep most of that excitement.

phil baber · Nov 16, 2010

Great RAW Lapwing sketch, and the Stoat is bizarre enough to be real!

The dances they get up to are beyond comprehension!

Lovely!

RussB · Nov 18, 2010

There's 'something' about the stoat (perhaps the bizzare shape it's thrown) that says clearly to me 'I'm alive'! Great.

Brilliant, rapid, sketching of lappies too. I really like how you've caught the light and shadows here - but of course that's what you'd have been looking for!
Cheers

Russ

Strandman · Nov 18, 2010

RussB said:
There's 'something' about the stoat (perhaps the bizzare shape it's thrown) that says clearly to me 'I'm alive'! Great.

Brilliant, rapid, sketching of lappies too. I really like how you've caught the light and shadows here - but of course that's what you'd have been looking for!
Cheers

Russ

I should maybe open a pub called the Leaping Stoat and this will do as the sign.

Lapwings are hopefully heading for painting but there's a technical problem

- whether to have sleeping bird at front the focus, but then rear awake bird will be a distraction unless I put it to sleep (mean that in a nice way)

- or rear awake bird as the focus (in which case front sleeping bird with reed is a distraction)

may have to front-end load the composition with front bird awake, rear asleep but that seems slightly too obvious

views welcome

colleenc · Nov 18, 2010

ed keeble said:
I should maybe open a pub called the Leaping Stoat and this will do as the sign.

views welcome

love this idea, but it would mean less time for making your stunning paintings so I suggest you just paint the sign.....could trade for brewsB

re the laps...sketch it out and look at the comp in a mirror, or upside down, an old trick many artists use.

timwootton · Nov 19, 2010

BOING!!!!! - Brilliance, it is. Lappies will do just fine - looks to me like the hard work's been done.
Sorry it's a quickie . . . . . . as the actress sai . . . . . . .

Strandman · Nov 28, 2010

don't take long to drop of da page hereabouts- well done team for all the activity

here's a skit from the weekend- four teal on an evening ditch: in true life the bulging contours of the glowing ditch against the dark background looked just like an x-ray of a barium meal

JTMB · Nov 28, 2010

Nice sketch! Interesting analogy...:eek!:!

solitaryVSong · Nov 29, 2010

Very striking colors in this Ed. If the finished piece looks anything like this it should be stunning.

phil baber · Dec 2, 2010

Nice, presented, raw.

colleenc · Dec 2, 2010

ok ed lets see it

Strandman · Dec 4, 2010

colleenc said:
ok ed lets see it

good prompt- I've been a bit tied up with work, shock horror- but as a first step today I have blatted on some acrylic underpainting and left it to dry, so I can do some messier and browner on top

some mild birding excitement in the air- there's two velvet scoter and a great northern in the main channel just above the top margin of this picture today, so will nip down tomorrow, tho' the light promises to be less exciting than last time

colleenc · Dec 4, 2010

shades of the fauvists ED....:-O

nickderry · Dec 4, 2010

not too much brown on the top Ed - brown is a poo colour, and the colours you have here are very exciting!

nickderry · Dec 4, 2010

actually, this is a plea to keep this as close as possible to what you already have - it's really, REALLY beautiful!

solitaryVSong · Dec 5, 2010

colleenc said:
shades of the fauvists ED....:-O

Ed did you post more than one version of this? I could swear I looked at it on my laptop and it looked like a good beginning, but not exactly Fauvist. Then I looked 30 minutes later on my ancient desktop PC and it looked like Maurice Vlaminck had stopped in and brightened it up a bit. I know that my laptop always makes things look a bit off because of the glare I think, but I've never noticed such a strong change.

It's a bit stronger than your initial sketch I think in terms of color but both indicate a very strong sense of light and color in the scene. I'm sure that's what struck you and that's what's coming across: a really strong sense of something seen. Can't do better than that.

Strandman · Dec 5, 2010

solitaryVSong said:
Ed did you post more than one version of this?

only the one Ken- its fairly juiced up colourwise in original but monitors may also be having their say (my monitor varies depending what angle you look at it too)

I thought I would stop and think about this one before daubing it brown, so meantimes here's a roan antelope I did in front of tonight's crap telly - one of my favourite beasts that popped up on some of the safari threads here recently and jogged me into action (background desaturated on the computah)

roans have a rather cunning strategy to avoid the big predators consisting of
1 living on low hills
2 listening really carefully with their big ears
3 hoping there are enough wildebeest down on the flat bits to provide a distraction

so as a result they are rather scarce and rather jumpy..

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