2015 | Day 15

Day Fifteen

Tonight I painted the teensy bears behind Biteyou a black that is darker than the painted black paper behind them.  I think they look more glow-y again.  There was a whole lot of breath holding during this process and by the end of the last bearish guy my hand was getting fairly shaky but I wanted to finish them.  Alas, I messed up the very last edge of the very last one and had to go back a few minutes ago and try to mix up a small batch of paint to match the others...I think it turned out pretty well.  I like it better now than when it was messed up...so at least there is that.

My starting point.

Halfway through the third bearish creature...

...there, they absolutely look glow-y again.

The other two.

A parade of teensy glow-y bearish creatures.

The overall view.

The messed up edge of the last guy.

The fixed last guy.

I would really like to get started again on Biteyou himself, but I am still not sure where to go with him.  The background might not make much sense, but at least those little bearish guys tie the painting together.

2015 | Day 14

Day Fourteen

Tonight I took a stab at giving the teensy bearish creatures behind Biteyou a faint glow and then mixed up a very pale yellow color and filled in their outlines.  I need to go back and tweak them IF I decide I like them enough to keep them.  I like the idea of them...not totally sold on them yet.

My starting point tonight.

Closer view of the starting point.

Mixed up one shade of yellow, then wanted to go paler.

I gave them a glow...and I liked how that looked, but the white outlines were very irregular and messed up so I filled them all the way in (holding my breath).

I think I like them...they might need a stronger glow and they definitely need to be touched up.

Farther back view.

Coming back and looking at the blog post after I published it has given me a couple of ideas for the teensy guys.

2015 | Day 13

Day Thirteen

I've been thinking about bears a lot today...I really like bears.  I was also looking at the Biteyou collage/painting and wondering what the heck I can do to finish it.  Maybe it needs bears!

I tried drawing a few bears -- and believe me, it took a long time.  I finally looked at photos of bears and got a better idea about where I was going wrong.  And of course, these will be bearish creatures not actual bears.  

These are two of the bearish creatures I drew...I did about ten of them...THEN I looked for inspiration...something just wasn't right.

I needed a roundier back end more movement for the legs.  I cut out a version of the drawing.

I taped it to the horizon line -- but I needed something else...

...I love repetition, so how about a whole line of them?  I traced around the cut out with a white Prismacolor pencil...not sure if I will keep them or not.

I like the idea of them...not sure if these are exactly what I want yet. 

Next will come a bunch of decisions...do I want to keep them in the first place...do I want them to be just a white outline of a black creature...should I fill them in with a solid color...should they maybe be just filled in with the interference blue paint that makes the glow around the orb...or maybe a different color of interference paint -- as if the glow is creating the illusion of them.  So many questions.

Day 348 - 365/2014

Day Three Hundred Forty-Eight  (updated)

Tonight I have been working on a hand for the arm of the new hand sewn guy.  I am not going to keep track of how much time I put into this one...that last one was a fluke -- I don't normally care.

Earlier today and this evening I worked on filling in the background on Biteyou's painting/collage, as well as slightly outlining his eyes (using just straight-out-of-the-tube Phthalo Blue).  I mixed Paine's Gray with Phthalo Blue and came up with a very pleasing dark blue for the background.  It looks pretty good over the chalky black paper.  The inclusions in the paper aren't as readily seen and I think I like that...but they are there.  (Lots of holding of my breath on this one.)

I think I will make the other hand now...mostly so I remember how I did it.

UPDATE:  there -- I finished the other hand...but the hands are still separate from the sleeves...just posing them here.

Day 249 - 365/2014

Day Two Hundred Forty-Nine

I was hoping to work on more/other things today and tonight, but it is just not happening...stupid heavy air, headaches, swollen sinuses, etc.  Sheesh.

I keep hoping for something to come to me for this "painting"-turned-collage.  I love Biteyou and I have had a few ideas...it is the execution of the ideas that I am struggling with.  I even like the little bit of light at the very top of the collage in the photo...maybe (yeah, right) I can "paint" something in like that.  We'll see.  But not tonight.

I was also looking at this collage today -- but I have seriously fallen out of love with it -- the whole shebang...I need to paint over (or paper over) the image and start again.

I decided that before I go to the mess/trouble of adding more paper(s) to this, I'd turn it upside down and try to salvage it as a "painting" ... now for some paint drying time...

And I do think that Pup needs whiter sleeves on his shirt...back to the blending chalks...

"Before"

"After" -- yes...definitely better with the whiter sleeves.

And now that the paint is dry on the other canvas...I thought I could perhaps turn the guy into a cat, but no...it doesn't want to be a cat.

Nope...definitely not a forced cat face.

It might take a few days, but it will let me know what it is...I have a slight feeling there may be a lot of small bits of color involved.

Day 243 - 365/2014

Day Two Hundred Forty-Three

Creatura Lupus Ursus came home from the Members Biennial Exhibition at Paint Creek Center for the Arts and I have been meaning to put it up on the wall somewhere -- I just did not want to leave it packaged up on the floor in the studio.  I needed a long wall space so I moved some things around.

This is good for now.

And yes, it did take me most of the evening and into right now (9:30ish) to think about and layer papers to this collage.  I have been wanting/needing to do something to further Biteyou's progress.  I had about ten papers I was working with and then I narrowed it down to four, then three, then the two I ended up with.  The end result is nothing like what I originally had in mind, but I have a few other ideas now.  If I really hate it when it is dry I can always cover over it...but I like it right now.

Thinking...thinking...thinking.

Trying out a paper...taped on.

Getting ready to start.

I narrowed it down to these three...the heavier ones with the ridges/lines was just too light or distracting or something.

Very wet dark green/gray/brown with inclusions over a medium purple of the same kind of paper.  I am not at all a purple fan but I like how this looks.

It looks better in person.

Drying for a bit before I move it back into the studio.

Between Sunday and Monday -- extra blog entry

Between Blog Entries

This didn't make my midnight deadline and it is waaaaay too early for a Monday post...so this is just between blog entries.

I have been thinking tonight about Biteyou and the planet that might go behind him...with the black paper background being a night sky and the inclusions in the paper representing stars (or other sky things).

I made some cut outs from paper I already have, just to see what it might look like.  I still don't know for sure what I want.

Laying flat on the table with the plain butcher paper cut out.

BY1 - pink/orange stripes

BY1 - detail

BY2 - blue/purple/gold marbley

BY2 - detail

BY3 - sort of mushroomy brown w/inclusions

BY3 - detail

BY4 - sort of burnt orange w/inclusions

BY4 - detail

BY5 - olive w/black stripes -- one of my original choices

BY5 - detail

BY6 - reverse side of olive stripe paper -- sort of olive/black leather look -- original 2nd choice

BY6 - detail

I am just listing these in a blog entry so I have them in one place when I can't find them later.