GANESH drawing for the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo

Usually this is a slow time of the year for me. But this year is different. It wont let up.
I've been digging deep. Like the energizer bunny, I keep going. It always seems like I bite off more than I can chew and the task is impossible. Yet, I get it done!

Here is the list of things I've just wrapped up since my last post; CAOS project animation, Wreck City installation and take down, The Calgary Underground Film Festival,  and the Calgary Comic Expo.

Meanwhile I made this appearance on ShawTV's Calgary Now program.

Today I'm back at it.

It's a good thing too, today is tax day and I balanced and filed my taxes which make me feel like I'm on top of the world. The numbers may not say that however.lol.  That being said, I can finally post the making of my GANESH drawing. I donated the original to the Calgary Comic Expo for the Children's Make a Wish Foundation. It was printed on page 10 of their artbook this year.

Above is a progress shot of the drawing I created on canvas paper.

 I outlined it with my Copic multi-liner pens and began coloring it in with various copic markers based on prior work so that it would with my special 3d glasses.

 Here is is colored. I did the background in a soft pencil crayon and then decided to revisiting the piece and darken the background and add some clouds around the outer edge.

 This is from  the photo I sent in to the Comic Expo for their artbook submission competition. I didn't hear back for a log time so I assumed I was not selected to participate. Days before the Expo when I was on the TV show I ran into the CCEE people (Kendrix and Emily Expo) and they told me I was in fact in print! Booyeah!

It was great seeing my work in the publication. I donated the original fully framed to their auction to help raise money for Children's charity. I signed hundreds of copies for those fans who came to my booth G01 in the Artist Alley at the Expo this week-end and let people borrow my 3D glasses to get the full effect of the artwork.

Ganesh - a little bit more

I kept going on the details of this piece and really hit a good stride.

I busted in details and danced over the whole piece pulling together the entire cohesiveness.

I drew in a necklace onto the body.

I painted in gold jewellery and the bowl. Later I plan on applying actual god leaf but for now and photographic purposes I am using yellow ochre and brown and white to create the illusion of gold.

At the crown on top of Ganesh's head is the sweet fruit - peach. Later on I will probably challenge myself to guilding a gold leaf design as a crown element.

I painted in long eyelashes on all of the eyes. They are not as smooth as I would have liked due to my shaky state at 2am but I can live with it for the time being, it does what I need it to do.

Ganesh - a bunch of details

The journey continues......

This is the deepest end of my studio, a welcoming sight, but plenty of work still needing to be done.

As you may see, I began shading over the face and trunk with variations of red, yellow and orange. I worked in to the ears and did touch ups and wrinkles over the entire piece.

I went back in with a pure hue of Cobalt blue and outlined all the fabric lines then I worked in darker areas of shading in order to give it more punch and contrast.

I put in wrinkles and folds on the knuckles and gave the nails some more definition. I also touched up the peaches some more. You can see how the paint is applied on the trunk here as well.

Here is the empty hand that needs the ritual implement added, n this case a hand axe.

Here is the axe with details that I created for the painting. I imagine a dark steel for the blade. The decorative top may be painted gold afterward too. I'm going to let it sit for a bit before I commit fully.

Ganesh - progress

I locked myself down this week-end to get some serious painting done on this piece.

The first thing is to block in more tonality to the blue fabric that wraps around Ganesh's body. It was a mixture of Cobalt blue and Titanium white. It took the majority of the session to finish, I still intend on adding deeper shadows, an outline as well as a pattern on the material.

Using Alizarin Crimson and deep yellow hue I also turned the circles in the bowl and on the crown to some juicy looking peaches. The interesting thing about Alizarin Crimson is that it yellows over time, so this fruit will continue to ripen with age.

I continued with the Alizarin Crimson remaining on my palette and outlined and added more details to the lotus flower in the top right corner of the painting.

Then I got bold and jumped right into pure red to outline many parts and to begin defining the elephant skin folds. I will later layer onto it covering a lot of it but allowing the dark red to show thru like a deeply cut shadow in a wrinkle.

Here you can see all the work done on the flowing fabric and red outlining and details on the face. I still have a lot of plans and a few more tricks up my sleeve for this piece, I guess you will just have to wait and see ;)

Ganesh - Deep Purple Rays

After my week plus of Systema training in Toronto and one night at home to recoup, I hopped right back into the studio as any professional bunny must!
"They keep going, and going....."

My task was to make finish off the background radial stripes. I mixed up a new purple, making this one favoring the red side of the spectrum and using a richer chroma Viridian hue for the green stripes.

 

 I gave a quick spray over the background with a clear varnish to ensure the tape would be removed without lifting the paint layer. I also stuck the tape to the wall first to remove some of the stickiness before application.

I find thatt he green painters tape is not sticky enough and creates areas of bleed so I decided to us regular masking tape. Here is the piece entirely taped up. I have already started applying the darker of the two green tones around the outside of the Ganesh painting.

I made a stronger contrast between the two tones for this hue. It should pop more and create a bit of dynamic undulating energy to the overall piece.

I then started to paint in the deep purple rays onto the missing stripes. I am putting it on fairly thick and painting around the edge of the canvas so that it need not be frames.

I then painted in the lighter purple hue to create a circle of light radiating out from the center of the painting. I really liked how the colors I mixed turned out.

I paid careful attention to my edges and to not push the paint underneath, that way there would be less clean up required once I removed the masking tape.

I removed all the masking tape. I used nearly an entire roll. You can see a small portion stuck to grandpa's chair. The oil paint was still wet and got all over me, but I couldn't wait until it dried to remove it to see what I have.

I am really happy with how it turned out!

Ganesh, do you see what I see?

After teaching my Layout and composition class at ACAD, I rushed to my studio to get in the last 4 hours before I have to jet off to Toronto for my Systema training camp. I wont be able to work or post for about two weeks, so this one is a bit longer than norm. Below are some of the notes about panels, and bubbles and timing for comics that I put up on the whiteboard to go along with the handouts.

I was really happy I could go into the studio one last time. It is a bit frustrating having odd times to work. It is also too hot and there is no parking in the day. It is so hot my oil paint is bone dry in just a day! I cant imagine how frustrated the artists working in acrylic must be up here right now, oh right, there aren't any artists working in the studios lately.

My studio is a bit out of control right now, but rather than get distracted and clean and organize, it is far better that I strip down to my skivvies and get to work. I decided to take the plunge and add an eye to Ganeshes palm after a little bit of deliberation and research to determine if it is appropriate.

In doing so I trapped myself in to painting a bunch of lines in the palm. If I did one hand I had to continue with the rest...

Here is the hand that will be gripping an axe. I also made a lemon yellow for the cuticles on the nails. I redrew some of the palm outline as well and will most likely go back with a lighter flesh tone for highlights.

Here is the hand that is holding the flower. I decided to change some of the shapes a bit and will go back to paint in the knuckle details. I also intend on trimming the pointed finger back because it is too thick. I'll do that when I paint the rest of the radial background lines in.

Since I id  the hands, it stands to reason that I should also do the feet. I also did a little bit on the belly button, and you can see the palm which holds a bowl of sweets in the top right of this picture.

I then outlined the flowing fabric with cobalt blue thinned down with my 3:1 turpentine and linseed oil. This was a time consuming process and at times like these I really wish I had a proper pinstriping brush so that I could hold a lot more paint so I don't have to get paint for every inch and a half of line. At times like these you realize how important having the proper tool can be!

I put a red moon on the forehead with the last remaining red paint. By the end of the session, I was really happy that I spent the night working and didn't go out, or say farewell to any friends before my big trip. C'est la vie.  I can see what the next stages are for me to attack. I was reluctant to start on the head and all the folds of skin for a time when I have more confidence and determination.

I look forward to continuing upon my return, with a fresh new outlook and a fresh pair of eyes ;)

Ganesh, the 5 O'clock shadow

Surprisingly, the palette still had wet paint even though my studio is like an oven.

The first thing I tackled in this studio session is the shading of the flower. I  used Alizarin crimson
which is quite transparent. I used a soft bristled filbert to gently shade it. Meanwhile Carl Sagan is making whale song sounds in an episode of his Cosmos series on my laptop. I got out some sap green and added shadow definition to the stem.

 There was still plenty of red on the palette to begin putting down shadow definition on the lower half of the body. I also painted in the iris and eyeball with high light. I am going to wait until I paint the skin folds to add the eye lashes back in. It was too hot for me to keep working so I went home before 11. 

However, let it be known that it may be hot in the kitchen but my work ethic is still strong. Officially, as of today I sold my Burning Man ticket and will not be attending even though I've been going since 2002. Instead I will be in my studio painting during that time!

Ganesh gets a skin treatment

I created a palette of ranges and a tonal range from black to white.

I proceeded to describe the general fall of light over the Ganesh body. I started with the eyes because it is always a good place to start, hence the greys to shade the eyeball.

Starting at the bottom feet is a vibrant orange. As it moves up the body it gets more golden. I included some shadow areas along the way but will be revisiting them again later in another layer.

I added "flesh tone" to the palm and bottoms of the feet. Although this flesh tome is hardly fleshy at all and generally seems Pink to me.  Then I attacked areas with bold strokes of read. There is beginning to be some back and forth play between me and the canvas now, we begin having a conversation.

By the end of the session, my brushes and colors are getting a little muddy so I step back to assess some of the advances and mistakes that have developed and take a breather until the next session.

Ganesh becoming encircled in rays

This was an entire studio session, mind you it is a 5 X 5 foot oil painting.

I mixed up some Viridian green and white in two tones to create the radial stripes. I also painted around the sides of the canvas, without taking the canvas off of the wall mount, which was difficult but it'll look really good even if it isn't framed.

I then created a purple with a Deep Cadmium red hue and Cobalt blue. I created two tones by adding white and painted the radial stripes in between the green ones. I am liking how it is turning out. There is an optical illusion that the Ganesh is in a bright circle.

I have to wait for it to dry before I can paint the other stripes, it is oil paint after all. I might tape it off to get a crisp meeting between the stripes.

GANESH dead coloring

dead coloring begins to bring Ganesh to life.

As is my practice, I work on many pieces at once. My method keeps my mind keen and helps keep me busy rather than watching paint dry. It is oil paint after all. I am currently working back and forth between the two paintings, I have posted here recently. This is how the elephant god, Ganesh is progressing.

I  blocked in some bold mustard hue for the skin tone. It was mixed with Raw Sienna, a tinge of Cadmium Orange and lightened with some Naples yellow. The consistency was perfectly creamy, just how I like it, liquid love. It is slightly transparent, once brushed on you can see some of the shadow areas beneath. 

I filled in some orange for the fruit. I was feeling Cezanne come thru on the color but I think I may make the fruit peaches, not certain yet. I blended a nice soft blue made of cobalt blue and titanium white for the mid tones of the fabric. Some of the charcoal particles mixed in but I still have lots of work to do on this part anyhow. I blended the leftover blue and mustard yellow to make the grey/green base for the bowl and tusk.

 I also had enough juice left in me to paint a fancy lotus with a fragile stem. I am happy with the progress, however, didn't feel confident enough to tackle the axe or background so instead I turned my sights on the Rama fall of light, will post tomorrow;)

Thanks to everyone who has been reading my posts!

GANESH

my battle with the elephant headed god has begun

 At first I made a central horizontal and vertical axis on my 5 X 5 canvas. I used red and blue colorerase pencils to mark it out. I then created intersecting diagonals or radial lines. I used string to create a compass and created some circles to help plan out the sacred geometry used to create the image of deities.

 

 I had some reference images printed out and created a dark red grid to base the character on. My studio is so hot and has no windows, I'm drawing in my skivvies. That;s just an aside, don't imagine it unless you are female.

I used the central axis for the sternum and drew in the weighty seated part of the figure. I decided to drop one leg so it could also be in dance and to create a dynamic symmetry. I also used the second square for the third eye area of the elephant head. I tilted the head in to echo the leg angle.

I began t block in the tilted head and trunk. I am using vine charcoal and a brush to rub it out. My hands are black by this point. Hi five!

Constructing this image has been a real battle!  I decided it is necessary to enlarge the limbs and the feet. Getting the placement just right takes a bit of trial and error.

I finish off putting in the four limbs and sketching in a bit of material around the figure. I decided to get rid of the lotus throne for the time being. By the end of the session I gave it a spray of workable fixative which stinks so bad and is a carcinogen so I have to exit the studio and call it a night.