The Hidden Gallery

... watercolours or acrylics?  oil or acrylics?  drawings or paintings? big or miniature? paper or canvas?  digital or old skool? I just don't know...some stuff...





Well, I guess I finally finished this abandoned painting.  You may remember this from this post. This painting was based on these reference pictures provided by </a></b></a>magical_krystal in fantasy_models  .  That was a long time ago... I found the unfinished painting lying around in a big pile of other unfinished paintings.

Acrylic on Canvas 12 x 16.


This:

is junk.  Done with very little time and consideration (I know, it's obvious) in Photoshop.

I still don't know how to organize my layers best.  And am still unfamiliar with the different brushes... If you got any advice, or links or anything that can help me... bring it on...  Mucho Gracias!

I got into that mood again where I feel like everything has lost significance compared to the crazy stuff happening in the world.  Everything I write  seems trivial. 

Can someone please explain this to me?  WTF is going on?  People buy and wear this?  o___O  Considering how the American government treated prisoners at Abu Ghraib and how the Iranian government treated the British hostages, social commentary such as that makes me want to puke.


Back to my little world.

I never had a fast enough computer to be able to digitally paint with the tablet.  I'd try, but the lag would be so bad I'd give up.  Now I do have a fast enough computer, but when I tried to paint, there was still lag.... until now.

I dunno what happened (well, I did reinstall os x and cleaned up the computer after the nasty hard drive incident a few weeks ago).  Having enough ram now I decided to give it another shot... and photoshop is responding nicely.  There is still tons of lag when I want to use the smudge tool but who cares if the brush is working so wonderfully! (I don't care now, but I have a feeling I will in the future).  These paintings were done with just the airbrush tool.

My first goof off:



Yeah, I know, it was just a quickie.  I had to abandon it because we went to all-you-can-eat sushi for Larv's birthday.

Next try:


Way better I think.  Mostly painted while watching The Daily Show.

Digital painting is way faster than actually painting.  And way cleaner too.  Having control over each layer of paint and also having the "free-transform" tool sure makes it a lot easier.  I haven't decided if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  It certainly makes me sloppy and less accurate knowing I can change the proportions and I can always "undo".  I have to get familiar with the other brushes and tools in photoshop.  Using only the airbrush just doesn't bring any texture to the painting.

The paintings themselves are nothing to write home about, but I am pleased with my use of the tablet with photoshop and for my first tries, they aren't so bad.  This also makes me realize even more that I'm better at painting than drawing.


We played the Wii at Brenden's house this weekend.  I am hooked!  Where the heck can I find one?  I've been faithfully and regularly checking out Zellers, Toys R Us, EB Games, etc...etc... I'll even buy one at Walmart if I have to even though I've been successfully boycotting it for months.

I hate racism, homophobia and misogyny.  I also hate it when people stoop to that level to insult.  Why are those people so evil?  And the phrase, "Compassionate Conservative" is the most ridiculous thing ever.  Compassionate to who?  Other selfish bastards?  (Please excuse my horrid language... I just don't know of a better word to describe these people).

My bad for not sharing my art with you... so here is a WIP for you... I don't know where it's going...



I'm using acrylic paints on stretched canvas.  I cover the canvas with a 'ground' which is just a layer of colour on the canvas.  I think when I work with oil, I don't usually use a ground and will start painting straight on to the canvas.



This is the really 'ugly' stage of my painting.  I'm working really fast and just 'blocking' in the shapes with solid colour.  In this case, I started with just white and burnt umber.  Hopefully, limiting my colour choices will force me to evaluate my values more objectively.



I'm still sticking with only 2 colours.  I've blocked in most of the shapes and have started refining the figure.  I think my head is too big and since I don't have a 'free-transform' when I go old skool, I decide I better fix it now before it gets outta hand.  lol



I arrogantly think that I've established the values accurately and decide to add some colour to refine the shapes.  I add a light green for contrast and add colbalt blue to darken the shadowed areas.  You can see where I've been dripping paint...lol  The next day, when I take a look at my painting, I think to myself, "wtf?  I thought that was green, not yellow!!" and realize once again how important it is to work in consistent light....

More to come!  I'm giving you fair warning!  lol

Yesterday, I committed more than 5 mins on a drawing....



and got decent results....




Anyway, if you don't want to see me stumble through my exercises, you can take a look at this.  He makes incredible art out of shopping carts!  And if you haven't already, go to http://makezine.com/blog/ where you will find far more interesting things than what I've got in my blog!

Going to read my flist now.... I'm especially thinking of a few people and sending warm thoughts their way... :D

I like this sketch...

After complaining about doing miniature art, I went and drew big.



So how big?

Well, as I said, "End of Summer" will be featured on some products!  I especially like the tote bag for some reason.  All new goodies are at

The Hidden Gallery Cafe Press Shop  where you will find fairy mugs, tote bags, clothing and housewares.  Enjoy!



Also, some friends from school started a design company called PICA UNITED.  Recently they set up an art forum for display, critiques, etc...  They are very talented!  Larv and I participated in an art show they held last year.  Check out the forums because these guys can draw!

PICA UNITED ART FORUM

I also want to congratulate friends who submitted art to the Amy Brown site!  Wonderful job guys!  Go check it out here!

*Happy Birthday* to Dawn to who I didn't get a chance to congratulate!  ^.^

Well a long while back, magical_krystal posted some lovely photos in the fantasy_models community.  I requested 2 for reference pictures.  That was months ago.  I have a really big problem with commitment.  Huge issues, obviously.  Anyway, here are some junk sketches that I promised to post.  They were done really quick and therfore considered "junk" by yours truely!  I dunno if I like them enough to develop.  Maybe if the sketches were a bit more refined, I might see the potential.  Right now, I'm posting them because magical_krystal has been so kind and it's only fair I get a few things up in appreciation of her photos.  Thank you magical_krystal!






I know my website is really not up to date.  People keep mentioning this to me.  I hope to update it all soon with links to my etsy shop, cafe press and ebay.  There is a ton of art that I have to upload so bear with me because we all know how much I hate doing computer/internet stuff!  Damn you html!  ^.^