Watts Atelier (fall schedule)

Click for a PDF of the full brochure

Life Painting: gesture

Here is a quick gesture painting from life.

Perspiration: facial features and expressions

Another area of artistic study that is often neglected are facial features and expressions. A great resource for the study of the human figure in general, but specifically the features of the face is The Human Figure
. For expressions I would go to The Artist's Complete Guide to Facial Expression





















Also here are some tutorials by my good friend Stan Prokopenko
Ears
Lips
Nose
Eyes

Inspiration: Fred Fixler

photo courtesy of Dave Darrow

Fred Fixler founded California Art Institute (CAI) in the early 1980's just north of LA in Calabasas. Prior to that he taught at nearby Brandes Art Institute. He studied with Frank Reilly from 1947-49 at the Art Students League, during this time he was roommates with James Bama. It seems that the bulk of his illustration career was spent doing sports illustrations, and movie poster work. It has also been rumored that he did uncredited "sleaze paperback" illustrations for Brandon House in the sixties. Fixler instructed a generation of Southern California artists, including Morgan Weistling, Greg Pro, Mark Westermoe, Shawn Zents, Glen Orbik and Laurel Blechman.
I will leave you with an anecdote from Morgan Weistling

"The secret to capturing the essence of what you are looking at can be found in your high school yearbook.

Fred Fixler would have us look at our high school yearbooks and find that page that has everyone in our grade standing together in one big group shot.

"Can you find yourself?" he would ask. Yes, we could.

"Can you find your friends?" Yeah.

What's the point? Well, in those photos your head is almost the size of a pea - if not smaller! And yet, without seeing eyelashes, nostrils, pupils in the eyes, or any other details, you recognize people you haven't seen in years! Yet, most of us sit in front of a model drawing the most unimportant details and miss the simple overall shapes that form the essence of who we are observing.

Details are not the answer.

Thanks, Fred."

Here are a couple links to some interesting reading courtesy of Norm Nason
Fred Fixler: notes on drawing
Fred Fixler: notes on gouache

photos of life drawings courtesy Glenn Orbik & Laurel Blechman

Collectors: Gregg and Yvette Spatz

Here is a nice interview with two very nice people. I have been lucky enough to be invited up to Gregg and Yvette's home on a couple of occasions, and words cannot describe what a wonderful collection of art they have.
So hop on over to Sour Harvest and check it out

Materials: studio painting 2.5

After my surface prep demo earlier this month I was asked by a few people about a technique I have used before for mounting a printout or sketch to board. Rather than put together my own inferior tutorial I told them I would just put up a link to the source where I learned how to do it.
Donato Giancola

Painting From Life

I have been taking a bit of a break from painting from life over the last couple years (with the exception of an occasional demo). I am now hoping to start back at it, here is my first attempt. I am not very happy with it, clearly there is room for improvement. I post it here in an attempt to document my development over the coming months/years.

Drawings and Demos (Aug 09)

4 x 5 Min QS warm-up


4 x 5 Min QS Demo


2 x 10 Min head lay-in demo


20 min head tilt demo


20 Min head warm-up


10 Min fig lay-in demo


25 Min fig demo

For My Bro

This is a sketch I had been promising my brother forever. He is a Major in the Army and pilots both UH-1 and CH-47 helicopters. If I got this right this is a CH-47 or "Chinook" So Nick it is in the mail.

Venture Bros Season 4 Trailer

I know what your thinking "What the hell, more videos? Make with the art!" or maybe not, maybe you hate my art, maybe you hate me. Anyway second to movies (particularly horror movies) I am a huge Venture Bros fan. Anyone who wants to be my friend send me Venture swag. Because I am a Venture Bros fan here is the season 4 preview. Tomorrow more art I promise.

Monsters

This is how it is done
House Of The Wolf Man

Materials:studio painting part 2

Surface Preparation:
Here is the process I follow to prepare a surface for a finished studio illustration.

Image 1:
The materials I use are Liquitex Basics Acrylique Gesso, a craft foam brush (I usually get these in a multipack at Michaels), double-sided hardboard (I get a 4ft x 8ft sheet and have them cut it into 4ft x 2ft strips, then cut it to whatever size I need on my tablesaw at home), Black & Decker Mouse electric sander, and an old hair dryer (optional)


Step 1:
Lightly sand the surface to remove any oils and imperfections on the surface.


Step 2: Mix your gesso with a little bit of water in a separate container to give it a creamier consistancy that is more conducive to smooth application


Step 3: Thoroughly clean the surface of any debris with a damp cloth


Step 4: Using your foam brush apply the diluted gesso evenly with smooth parallel strokes


Step 5: Apply perpendicular strokes to those you initially used to gain a smoother grain (you may need to use more gesso at this stage if you applied it very thinly on step 4) Do not press too hard with your brush strokes, lightly brush across the surface to gain a smooth surface.


Step 6:(optional)
I used to use a hair dryer to speed the process, now I use the drying time as a chance to take a break and get something else done.


Step 7: repeat steps 4-6

Step 8: Lightly sand the surface to your desired smoothness, and then clean surface of gesso shavings


Step 9: repeats steps 3-8 till you achieve your desired coverage and texture. I generally do this 2 more times so that I have a very smooth, bright white surface. Occasionaly I will skip the final sanding if I am going for a brushier look to a painting.