© Gina Florio Sous 2016
Showing posts with label plein air. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plein air. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Proko Video: Sketching People with Stephen Silver
Online figure drawing teacher Stan Prokopenko recently produced this 15-minute video, wherein he observes and talks with acclaimed character designer Stephen Silver while Stephen sketches people in public. I found the whole thing informative, entertaining and chock full of useful tips - it got me just in the right mood to go out and draw people of all kinds in their natural habitat.
Friday, August 1, 2014
People Watching
James Gurney has a great series of posts about plein-air painting going on his blog, Gurney Journey. The more popular posts deal with the people who come up to you while you're drawing in public.
Curious Spectators Part 1: The Problem
Top Ten Ways to Deal with Curious Spectators
I'm always friendly, but I'll admit, I really hate people watching me draw or paint. My least favorite experience was with a 12-year-old girl who made me reconsider my condemnation of violence against children. Watercolors apparently come really easy to her and she made it her life's duty - for a full half hour! - to tell me how to mix my paints. There was also a guy who complemented me on the houses in my painting. There were no houses in the painting.
Aside from these two encounters, everyone who's ever come up to me has been overwhelmingly thoughtful and respectful. But it just takes me out of the zone completely when I know someone's watching. And I have to admit that the question "Are you painting?" is hilarious the first time and less hilarious the next 300 times.
Someone responded to the post with this quote which I decided I'd share. I think it sums me up better than any other quote I've ever heard.
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| Image credit: James Gurney |
Curious Spectators Part 1: The Problem
Top Ten Ways to Deal with Curious Spectators
I'm always friendly, but I'll admit, I really hate people watching me draw or paint. My least favorite experience was with a 12-year-old girl who made me reconsider my condemnation of violence against children. Watercolors apparently come really easy to her and she made it her life's duty - for a full half hour! - to tell me how to mix my paints. There was also a guy who complemented me on the houses in my painting. There were no houses in the painting.
Aside from these two encounters, everyone who's ever come up to me has been overwhelmingly thoughtful and respectful. But it just takes me out of the zone completely when I know someone's watching. And I have to admit that the question "Are you painting?" is hilarious the first time and less hilarious the next 300 times.
Someone responded to the post with this quote which I decided I'd share. I think it sums me up better than any other quote I've ever heard.
© Gina Florio 2014
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Nomad Art Satchel Kickstarter: 1 Week Left
Hey everyone, quick note - somehow I had not heard of this project yet, but I'm so glad I did before the Kickstarter ended! Check it out!
Direct link to Kickstarter page
Like I've said before, I have a tendency to hole up in my apartment and not go anywhere to paint or draw - which is silly! I live in Los Angeles where there are so many good places to sketch! I always WANT to go out sketching, but I definitely don't do it enough, and "I hate having to hold up my sketchbook while fumbling for my materials" is way high on the list of excuses I make for myself. This looks like it solves all those problems in one fell swoop.
For me, the real ingenuity of the bag is in the configurable strap that allows you to carry it like a messenger bag, then switch to the sling-supported sketching mode. You essentially become your own drawing table, keeping the pad stable while experiencing little to no arm fatigue.
It's $150 AUD for one, plus $35 AUD for shipping outside of Australia (comes to about $175 USD total). That's a steep price... but the bag looks incredibly well-designed and high quality. For me, anything that gets me sketching outside more easily and more often is worth it.
Direct link to Kickstarter page
Like I've said before, I have a tendency to hole up in my apartment and not go anywhere to paint or draw - which is silly! I live in Los Angeles where there are so many good places to sketch! I always WANT to go out sketching, but I definitely don't do it enough, and "I hate having to hold up my sketchbook while fumbling for my materials" is way high on the list of excuses I make for myself. This looks like it solves all those problems in one fell swoop.
For me, the real ingenuity of the bag is in the configurable strap that allows you to carry it like a messenger bag, then switch to the sling-supported sketching mode. You essentially become your own drawing table, keeping the pad stable while experiencing little to no arm fatigue.
It's $150 AUD for one, plus $35 AUD for shipping outside of Australia (comes to about $175 USD total). That's a steep price... but the bag looks incredibly well-designed and high quality. For me, anything that gets me sketching outside more easily and more often is worth it.
© Gina Florio 2014
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Daily Sketches Weeks 28-35
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| July 6 - unfinished painting from week 6 of class, on the CalTech campus |
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| July 9 |
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| July 11 - sketches from The Drawing Club |
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| July 11 - more |
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| July 12 - coffeeshop sketches |
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| July 13 - unfinished painting from week 7 of class |
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| July 21 - Thadd and Jack passed out on the train back from Comic-Con |
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| July 22 - very frustrated this night. |
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| July 23 - this is an example of what I do on the days where I don't document what I drew. Mostly viscom exercises and head/form practices. Boring! |
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| July 24 - more viscom exercises and a concept sketch for a painting I want to try... |
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| July 27 - my favorite painting from class, week 8, at El Matador State Beach |
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| July 31 - eyes |
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| Aug 3 - unfinished painting from week 9 of class, Eaton Canyon |
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| Aug 10 - unfinished painting from the last week of class, at the Getty |
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| Aug 11 - getting ready for the trip by sketching some PARIS!! |
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| Aug 14 - a house in Amsterdam, from a photo by my cousin Kelly |
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| Aug 15 - completed house |
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| Aug 21 - this took a while! watercolor of some houses in Florence, also from a Kelly photo |
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| Aug 23 - just doodling |
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| Aug 25 - starting a picture of Neuschwanstein, which we will be visiting at the end of September |
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| Aug 28 - Neuschwanstein almost finished... when I dropped a big drop of ink right in the middle of the castle. Oh well.. |
**it seems like some of these are really pixellated for some reason, so I'll try to fix that when I get home...
Okay! That's it from me for a little while! I've got a Comic-Con recap post scheduled to go up while I'm gone, but other than that, I won't post here until after we get back, at the end of September. Hopefully I'll have lots of awesome Europe-y sketches and paintings for you!
Until then, keep calm, carry on, and MAKE ART.
© Gina Florio 2013
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Disney News from 1954 and Today
Every once in a while, Andreas Deja or James Gurney (in this case, Gurney) will post another vintage Disney behind-the-scenes video. These shorts tend to be a little cheesy and staged, but they're fascinating insights into the way things were done at Disney. They also give me a strong feeling of nostalgia for the old days, when films were produced with love and care, and were allowed to move at their own pace, unconcerned about ADD viewers being distracted by their cellphones.
The film highlights Disney studio artists Marc Davis, Eyvind Earle, Walter Peregoy, and Joshua Meador in the various ways they contribute to a movie like Sleeping Beauty.
"Go forward with what you have to say, expressing things as you see them." - Robert Henri, The Art Spirit. I hear this advice repeated often nowadays by artists I follow: don't try to achieve or imitate a "style" - just draw, and you will find your own style, which is better than anything you could have attempted to imitate. (Reminds me of that quote, 'Be the best version of yourself instead of a second rate version of someone else'... or something like that.)
"Making an animated film is a cooperative effort. Each artist must be prepared to modify his own pet ideas, in order to achieve the best possible solution to the problem. No one has things entirely his own way, but in the end, the result is better than any one of us could have achieved alone." - Marc Davis
This second sentiment is something I've had to learn on my own at work. I'm often working with a team of editors to produce a show. I know I have strengths and weaknesses as an editor, and the other editors help fill in my weak spots while I contribute in the best way I know how. The end result is a completely collaborative effort, which none of us could have done by ourselves.
The four different paintings of the oak tree at the end of the film are wonderful to watch - especially since I am about to be diving into oil painting much sooner than I had thought I would. Concept Design Academy's summer classes went on sale the other day, and I was too slow to get a spot in my top choice for a class, "Sketching for Environment" with Ed Li, which sold out within 10 minutes. As an extreme last minute resort, I grabbed a spot in "Landscape Painting" with Leighton Hickman. I am excited but also very nervous. Oil painting is very much outside of my comfort zone, and I'd been waiting to tackle it until I'd gotten a better foundation in drawing. However, I'm hoping it will turn out to be a blessing in disguise...
Last but not least, there was the very exciting news of Disney announcing their latest animated feature, which will be called "Big Hero Six" and set in the future city of "San Fransokyo." If this first official glimpse into the film is a true indication of its look, I'm very excited for it...
The film highlights Disney studio artists Marc Davis, Eyvind Earle, Walter Peregoy, and Joshua Meador in the various ways they contribute to a movie like Sleeping Beauty.
"Go forward with what you have to say, expressing things as you see them." - Robert Henri, The Art Spirit. I hear this advice repeated often nowadays by artists I follow: don't try to achieve or imitate a "style" - just draw, and you will find your own style, which is better than anything you could have attempted to imitate. (Reminds me of that quote, 'Be the best version of yourself instead of a second rate version of someone else'... or something like that.)
"Making an animated film is a cooperative effort. Each artist must be prepared to modify his own pet ideas, in order to achieve the best possible solution to the problem. No one has things entirely his own way, but in the end, the result is better than any one of us could have achieved alone." - Marc Davis
This second sentiment is something I've had to learn on my own at work. I'm often working with a team of editors to produce a show. I know I have strengths and weaknesses as an editor, and the other editors help fill in my weak spots while I contribute in the best way I know how. The end result is a completely collaborative effort, which none of us could have done by ourselves.
The four different paintings of the oak tree at the end of the film are wonderful to watch - especially since I am about to be diving into oil painting much sooner than I had thought I would. Concept Design Academy's summer classes went on sale the other day, and I was too slow to get a spot in my top choice for a class, "Sketching for Environment" with Ed Li, which sold out within 10 minutes. As an extreme last minute resort, I grabbed a spot in "Landscape Painting" with Leighton Hickman. I am excited but also very nervous. Oil painting is very much outside of my comfort zone, and I'd been waiting to tackle it until I'd gotten a better foundation in drawing. However, I'm hoping it will turn out to be a blessing in disguise...
Last but not least, there was the very exciting news of Disney announcing their latest animated feature, which will be called "Big Hero Six" and set in the future city of "San Fransokyo." If this first official glimpse into the film is a true indication of its look, I'm very excited for it...
© Gina Florio 2013
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