Cork Museum Sketches a dó

Bronze Age Axe

Bronze Age Amber Necklace

I have no exciting making of to show off this week, perhaps another week I will have time to do one. For now I just have some sketches from the Cork Museum, the above is a hafted Bronze Axe from the early Bronze Age ie about 2,000-2,5000 BC and then the lower a quick sketch of an Amber necklace, which is from the same period, the amber was imported from Scandinavia at the time, showing early trade links between here and there.

Skate Deck

From first layer to completion. A wee photo compilation of my process for painting a custom skate deck. I've had the pleasure of collaborating with FALL Longboards in the past, culminating in an exhibition in February of this year which saw myself and fellow artist Kieron Black customising the hand crafted decks with graphic artwork.

The decks themselves are beautifully crafted and it's a pleasure to add my work to them.

This was the first one I did, a commission for a friend who had bought the unpainted deck and subsequently my introduction to FALL. If at all possible I try to leave as much of the wood unpainted so the beautiful natural patterns can be seen. I sketched out the design and then primed the area with a layer of white. Painted with acrylic and paint markers, then sealed with yacht varnish. I'm told the deck has been put through it's paces (I heard mention of it being run over by a lorry) and the paintwork still looks sharp. Yacht varnish is the boss!

SURFING THE NET:

This Dwarf Surfer showed up at my door and it made me think...Surfing...Been bit tied up in a project but thought id share some links to sites and artists that I frequently check for inspiration and aid. Its by no means exhaustive and barely touches on the vast amount of sites well worth checking but maybe some of you have some other great art related links worth checking out?

http://ctrlpaint.com/
A great site if you want to learn Digital art and full of short videos and healthy advice about art practises and inspiration!
http://www.posemaniacs.com/
Good resource for figure drawing practise at home. 
http://fengzhudesign.blogspot.ie/
Feng is the Boss in Concept work! 
http://beta.imaginefx.com/
The Digital Art magazines official site with galleries and forums. 
http://www.deviantart.com/
probably the biggest online Art gallery. millions of great artists to be found here.
http://www.illustratorsireland.com/
The cream of the crop in Ireland. 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kvlr/sets/72157621895736986/
The Spoom Collective, a group of great Irish street artists!

And now for some of my own fave artists through the years.

http://www.bromart.com/   
Dark but fantastic!
http://www.john-howe.com/blog/
Fabulous artist, theres a great documentary about him floating around youtube somewhere. 
http://alan-and-john.tumblr.com/  
Alan Lee is amazing, but apparently no official website? Heres a link with images from him and some more from John Howe.
http://timbradstreet.typepad.com/
I got into Tim via his work on the Vampire rpg and Hellblazer. Gritty and Dark. 
http://www.toddlockwood.com/
Aka, the Dragon guy. :) Great fantasy artist. 
http://www.worldoffroud.com/
Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal and Faeries (with Alan lee), Brians work IS faerie!

Also there's this great pool of artists on a blog called Islander Ar---oh wait.. :) Anyway, enjoy the browsing! :)

7 DOGS

This illustration was made for an exhibition I did one year ago, It was mainly about caricatures, this one was the only one I made with animal faces, it is based on Akira Kurosawa´s film "the 7 samurais". I took each samurai and I bring them their dog alter Ego according to their appearance/personality.

For the next post I will try to show something recent, unfortunately because of the work I don´t have too much time for my work.

 

Deargdul

This was my initial character design for the main nemesis in the Ghost of Shandon sequel. The characters name is Deargdul which translates to 'bad blood' in Gaelic. The character is based on a real life vampire legend from Macroom, County Cork. The Irish vampire legend sprang from the tales of a high sheriff of County Cork called Cormac Tadhg McCarthy who was located in Castlepooka near Macroom in the late 16th Century.

Skeletal study

Hey guys, sorry its taken me super long to start posting something here again, things have been insanely busy for me over the last couple of weeks. But in my spare time I have been working on this skeletal study and this weekend I'm making an Écorché (or muscle study). Built in Max and then modelled in Zbrush, this will be part of the ole new portfolio. I've also started life drawing classes again (so awesome) so I might be posting those If I can. Hopefully I can post the Écorché next week, see you then.

Oil portrait step by step..

As there was a mention of posting demos and techniques I thought I might add a portrait demo today.

This is a step by step description of a portrait in oils of my friend Lawrence Humphrey, painted and displayed with his kind permission. Lawrence is a portrait artist himself and I believe has painted more portraits than I have eaten hot dinners so I wanted this to finish out well.

The work itself took several stages to complete. The first was a drawing of Lawrence in order to become more familiar with his face. Doing this helps me find any problems I will encounter in advance and allows me to time to foresee any problems which might occur and deal with them before I begin the painting, even though the sketch is done separately it will provide a good reference during the painting.

It took me quite a few sketches to arrive at the Lawrence I know, each time comparing the sketch my pen delivered, to the face I expected to see and each sketch moving closer to what would satisfy my recognition. Below are two examples of the sketches done. The first is just a ballpoint sketch done very rapidly at the early stages of the work. I know it is the first of many and the correct shape and pattern will automatically create itself with repetition.

 After quite a few sketches I begin to arrive at a point where I can draw a good semblance of my model that I find satisfactory. While the first sketches were rapid and loose the final few sketches are delivered at a much slower and more methodical pace each one re-enforcing the recognizable features of the model.

Once I am comfortable that I can easily draw the person in a recognizable fashion with minimal effort, I can then proceed. The process of drawing many iterations helps me to understand what are the dominant features in the model and during the sketching process helps me to refine my understanding of what it is that causes me to identify this face. With the rough sketch done I then begin creating a completely new work in oils on a canvas.

Here the sketch now begins again but this time with a bristle brush and a wash of burnt umber oil. I use burnt umber due to it's high manganese content which causes it to dry relatively quickly allowing me to work above it for quite a while before requiring the oil to tack up. In this early stage I am just generally trying once again, to place the features I felt were important and maintain their relationship to each other in order to achieve likeness. Once I am satisfied with their proportions and relationship I then wash in very thinned color. In this case I am placing on the canvas the color shapes with cadmium red and cadmium yellow washes. As I continue to wash color on, the work slowly leaves the stage of underpainting and begins to take on the initial appearance of what the finished work will look like.

At this point the portrait is beginning to take shape, the main light and dark shapes have been established, I am satisfied with the features and their proportions and the painting is starting to gain presence, this is the point where I feel the painting is starting to take on the illusion that you are looking at somebody and not just a painting. Of course there's still plenty of room for a change here and there if need be. I let the painting sit for a while to tack up, a week or two will do it.

Now I can work a little more on the shadows and lights and try enhancing some of that sense of presence. A portrait like this could be continued ad infinitum, but I like it with it's roughened look where the colors still provide some enjoyable agitation for the eye. I am glad to say that having seen it himself, Lawrence is quite pleased with it also.

Mesolithic Hunter

An illustration of an Irish Mesolithic hunter this week, very little survives from the period, except for stuff made from stone or rarely wood, so required alot of guesswork but was fun. A big long, boring as hell, background archaeological information is over in my blog you fancy knowing more, found HERE

Step by step: Character Art

I haven't been able to post anything decent the past few weeks, sorry for my partial absence. But here's a little step by step of how I approach some of my character drawings. I rarely go traditional these days, but for some clients I still dig out the good old pencil and draw. The color is digital though, but the client wanted to purchase an original sketch as well.

Royal Tenenbaums

Two complimentary pieces I created recently for a Wes Anderson themed exhibition in the Little Green Gallery in Dublin. I think with  his distinct style of film-making, you either love it or you hate it. I happen to love it. The Royal Tenenbaums in particular. I think the scene with Richie in the bathroom is so haunting with the Elliott Smith's song 'Needle in the Hay' playing over it, a perfect marriage of mood and song choice.

'Needle in the Hay' - Richie Tenenbaum

'You're not gonna do it again, are you?' - Margot Tenenbaum

From the Page...

So not an Artwork post, but related. I'm a bit of a book fiend and art books are no exception. So i decided to post some books that I've found both inspirational and educational. Some of the books veer to Digital or specific areas like comics that i hold an interest in but all are valid and well worth a browse at least. There's of course many many more out there but some of these might prove beneficial to somebody...

 

 

• Andrew Loomis- Creative Illustration and more.Essential reading!
• Betty Edwards- Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain  More Essential reading!
  
• The Illustrators Bible-Rob Howard
• 100 ways to create Fantasy Figures-Francis Tsai
• Extreme Worlds-Francis Tsai
• Making Comics-Scott Mcloud
• How to draw and paint Fantasy Architecture-Rob Alexander
• Wreaking Havoc-Chuck Lukacs, Jim Pavelec, Chris Seaman and Thomas Manning
• Mecanika- Doug Chiang
• How to draw Comics the marvel way-Stan lee and John Buscema
• Complete Digital painting techniques-David Cole
• Drawing and Painting Fantasy Figures-Finlay Cowan
• Bold Visions-Gary Tongue
• Drawing Cutting edge Comics-Christopher Hart
• The Fantasy illustrators Technique Book-Gary A. Lippincott
• Hi Colour for Comics-Brian and Kristy Miller
• Creating Manga -Ryuta Osada

Giant nerd (possibly geek) fan-art

Loads of Potter based fan-art this week because I'm a giant nerd... or possibly geek... I'm not sure which.

Hermione

Dumbledore and Fawkes

FALKIRKS SWAMP DWELLING

Messing about with Corel Painter. Loving the Real 2b pencil tool. I had Corel painter 10, but hadn't used it much. Just upgraded to 12 and beginning to get the hang of it. 

(Not So) Giant Panda

I've been a big fan of Nintendo's Pokémon games for over half my life at this stage. The inventiveness and economical use of shapes in the series' creature concepts have always amazed and inspired me, and it and the other games I played during my childhood were what first opened my eyes to the possibilities of character design. So, naturally I'm really excited about the upcoming 6th generation instalments in the series: Pokémon X & Y! Some promotional artwork for the games was showcased a few days ago, and I liked the design for their panda Pokémon so much that I was compelled to draw some fan-art. 

This started out as a quick pencil/brush-pen sketchbook doodle (in which I took some liberties with the character's proportions) as seen below:

Initially I was going to let that be the end-point for the drawing, but then I found myself scanning it in, and - as can often happen - things got a little out of hand from there. (You might even say that… pandemonium broke loose! I should be disallowed from using words.) I ended up working at it for a couple more hours in Paint Tool SAI, and pushed myself to try painting a simple bamboo background for the critter, since I feel I could really use lots more practice with environments. Anyway, here's the final result!

Thomas Crofton Croker

This is the pencil work for an illustration of Thomas Crofton Croker from the sequel to Ghost of Shandon. Thomas Crofton Croker was a Cork antiquarian and writer. He spent his life researching and writing about Irish folklore. His most famous work, Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland was translated into German by the Brothers Grimm.

Hello Everyone!

My name is Yvonne Kennedy and I am a freelance illustrator and designer originally from Kilkenny, but now based in South Co. Dublin near the sea. Although I began drawing with indian ink when I was about 15, I decided to do graphic design instead of fine art at 17. Although I love design, I didn't love the industry here and left it to pursue a less stressful life! My time as a graphic designer allowed me to develop a style of drawing in Illustrator (probably from designing so many logos and graphs etc.), using the mouse as my pencil - you'll see samples on my website. I would work on my pieces at lunch time or in the evenings and it helped to anchor me in the fast paced environment. I never lost my love of pencil and pen and ink and a number of years ago I bought a little pot of indian ink, a holder and some nibs and honestly it was emotional! I wondered why I hadn't just spent my life so far just sitting and drawing with ink. I find it very meditative and I love the sound of the nib on the paper, but if my mind wanders onto something...the ink drops. I love it! I have managed to combine indian ink illustrations and vector work in my greeting cards and while I love the vector work I used to do, I don't do them any more; they were very time consuming, obsessive and my right shoulder has paid the price over the years. I found I have to compromise in our commercial world, but I am finding ways to balance doing what I love and still paying the bills. My website is www.yvonnekennedy.com if you would like to have a look. Thanks for having me! :)

This piece is called 'The Dreamer' and is very recent. It is being published in a magazine that is being launched today.

A portrait of a friend 'Dylan'

'Pig & Alliums'

'Lismore Crozier' for The National Museum of Ireland.

Messalina

26 x 20 cm

This is a study from a work by Henrique Bernardelli called Messalina of the woman of the same name who to this day still enjoys an infamous reputation. For this work I used Derwent pencils and Faber Castel Pitt Graphite pencils.

Some art for my webcomic project

Here is some art for my webcomic project. It is a modern retelling of the Phantom of the Opera. Originally it was a classic retelling that went on hiatus. But almost two years ago, I crammed the project out of my closet again and turned it into a retelling with modern setting. I planned it firstly as a black and white comic, tried my luck with digital coloring and I am now in my watercolor phase.

Sketches from Cork Museum

Mesolithic Microlith Cutting Tool

Mesolithic Flint Spear

The above are sketches I made in Cork Museum a week or so ago, they are both reconstructions of mesolithic tools, the top one has small flint objects, called microliths, glued into a piece of wood with resin to form a cutting tool. The second is of a flint spearhead attached to a wooden shaft. Its a nice little museum, the Cork museum, always like sitting in their once and a while doing some sketching, they have a nice small selection of  pieces from all periods, from Mesolithic to the Irish War of independance and Civil war.

Musicians

This is a quick sketchbook sketch of musicians in action, playing traditional Irish music. I didn't manage to capture the flautist's fingers, as he kept moving them!

Friz - Introduction

My first post! My name is Marian Noone but professionally I work under the alias 'Friz'. I'm a Belfast based freelance artist who works in a range of mediums, most recently taking on the challenge of gaining some control with spray painting.

I studied Classical Animation and although I never entered the profession it has had a marked influence on my illustrative style. A lot of my work revolves around the female form and in recent years I have taken inspiration from some of the larger than life characters from Irish Mythology.

 'Scathach' - spray paint - painted live at the Festival of Urban Art Sandyford - 2012

'Godzilla Vs The 15' Luchador' - Ryan's bar - Belfast - 2012

'Simply Ravaging Dahling' - watercolour - 2012

'Queen Medb' - spray paint/acrylic- Ulster Museum Belfast - 2011

First Fortnight - spray paint - Dublin - 2012

'Bayou Bloodbath' - Project A Apparel collaborative t-shirt design, 2012

You can find more of my work on my website:  http://thisisfriz.com/

Last of all I'd like to express my gratitude to the Islanders for the warm welcome, this site is a wealth of inspiration and I very much look forward to contributing!

The Crow Road

A bit under the weather today but here's an old sketch. Drew it while sitting on a train from Dublin after glimpsing a Crow perched on a branch while stopped briefly in a station. Rendered with Markers.

Storm Light Commission

Unfortunately I missed my post last Sunday because I was in the Netherlands, visiting the newly refurbished Rijksmuseum. This is an illustration that I was recently commissioned to produce for Storm Light, a County Cork based Film and Television production company. The illustration depicts a mad Moscow scientist and a robotic chap celebrating. The illustration is to be used in an upcoming multimedia project. 

Early morning Forest

www.richard-smythe.co.uk

Portrait competition

Hey guys, just thought I would stick this up for anyone interested. A self portrait competition by sky arts, not much time left to the deadline but I only just found it.
LINKY WINK

May I introduce me.... :)

Hi,

my name is Sara Otterstätter and I am a freelance artist, so I am making pictures for a living. :) Thank you very much that I can be part of this nice group. I am looking forward to more awesome art by the other members. :) Okay, I am not really an Islander, more a Islander in my own head. Maybe that applies to the theme of the group. And maybe, one day I'll make it to the Green Isle. But long talk, short sense,  here are my works.

So, I tried to limit myself to some of my favorite work from my jobs and the preperations for my private webcomic project and one illustration from my studying time. What I wish for the future?! More awesome projects! Meeting more awesome people! Making my webcomic! And doing a gigantic picture book about the recently extinct animals in mixed media!