Category Archives: Detail

As found in drawings and pictures.

In the pipeline.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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As mentioned previously there is a small queue of stuff which is patiently waiting to get onto the blog. It all needs scanning and fiddling with slightly to get it into the right shape to do that. This process seems to take more time than it rightfully should but, then again it’s worth making the effort to get them all looking as good as possible, even the sketches. So here are the first couple of recipients of a bit of tinkering.

This first one, above, is a half done colour version of a biro ink drawing which was originally posted back in October. That was quite a popular post, so encouraged by that and another watercolour picture which featured in September, it seemed like a good idea to see what this one would look like if given the same treatment. The base image is a scan of the original pencil sketch printed out onto a piece of plain fine grain watercolour paper. I paint straight onto this without bothering to stretch the paper or anything fancy. Filling out the detailed areas of the drawing first, the bike is then followed by the rider and finally the background. As this one is somewhat of an experiment, a black rapidograph pen (a Rotring 0,35 remember those?) was used to emphasise some of the outline stuff at this stage to see how it would look. Most of the above is done in a combination of greys. Oddly the solid block Payne’s grey in the paintbox, and the liquid Payne’s grey that comes in a tube are completely different colours, but this provides a nice choice between one which is quite blue in hue and one which is much blacker in character. I avoid using pure black as much as possible, which goes way back to being “informed” by an old tutor once that nothing in daylight is actually ever really black. Hoping to complete this very soon.

This second image is a detail of a drawing which is taking shape on the A2 Cartridge pad which spends most of its life leaning against that wall here in the micro-studio. Having talked about scribble sketching in a post before Christmas it seemed like a good idea to see if that technique could be explored a bit more and the jump up in size from A3 to A2 felt like the right thing to do. In all honesty there is a little bit of cheating going on here, there’s a very rough pencil layout underneath all the ink. Essentially though this is drawn pretty much off the cuff using my previous small sketch as a rough guide. This slightly rougher paper lends itself well to leaning the biro over almost to the point where it won’t make a mark, and scribbling away. There are some bits still to do to finish it off. Apologies if the image is a little dark around the edges but it’s too big to fit under the scanner so out came the camera. Really looking forward to finishing this one and then I can put both finished images in the gallery.

Two for One.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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Welcome to 2012, it’s the new year, and here’s hoping for all of us it will turn out better than the sooth sayers suggest. The new year always brings a short period for fresh resolution and reflection. Being a serial resolution maker and breaker it helps to keep things to a minimum these days, and whilst being happier, healthier and a little wealthier are all things to work towards, it is this small blog which is the main focus for attention this year.

Viewing the newly received stats report from the guys at WordPress will be interesting but, before that’s done I know already that I want to increase my blogging output this year, be more creative and get more stuff out there. Small and obvious goals but ones which are worth noting down. Employing a slightly sideways approach to this challenge the first task at hand is to clear the decks, as it were, and bring to light some things which have been sitting here waiting for a chance to strut their stuff and be viewed. By tidying up some loose ends, particularly in respect of showing a sketch and not the subsequently finished drawing, I’m hoping to clear a bit of a backlog, physically as well as mentally. The hope is that this will free up some much needed brain space for new ideas and projects.

The drawing at the top of the post featured as an initial scribbly biro layout and then a more tidy pencil sketch waiting to be given a good inking. It follows a theme which is proving to be quite enduring, lots of healthy detail centered around the middle of the drawing, some punchy contrast areas and a kind of fish eye lens effect in the perspective. It’s one of my personal favourites and neatly treads a line between feasibility, if you drag the idea towards reality, and a cartoon if you pull it the other way towards fantasy. Again it’s done in black Bic biro on A3 Bristol paper (250 gsm) which is rapidly becoming a kind of default medium for this type of drawing.

This second drawing, completed shortly after the previous one, again has the detail and contrast areas coming through. I don’t like to comment on my drawings too much other than to discuss more technical aspects of them, preferring to leave aesthetic judgements to others. What’s important to me in looking at these is seeing whether they show any improvements in style, technique and composition, that kind of thing. How far have things come from the early days of the blog when bike related drawings were starting to be a larger part of life.

Observations, of course, tend to vary depending on mood and other variables but, today three things in particular come across. First is the quality of my sometimes wayward cross hatching. It’s getting more even, probably due to being better able to balance control and patience. Certainly the latter, as making a zillion lines can get to you after a while, and remembering to wipe the end of the pen occasionally helps too, none of those horrible little inky blobs to contend with. The second is to do with shadows and ground lines. By worrying less about crispness, and more about texture, the “hairy” and “lumpy” approaches give texture to the ground the bike is riding over through implication rather than needing to render bits of earth. A happy accident really, it wasn’t part of the original plan. The final bit is about the riders and their clobber. Folding fabrics have always been a challenge and hard to figure out no matter how many times clothes were sketched etc. All I can summise is that less is more. Fewer wrinkles and bolder shading seems to be doing the trick. All that’s needed is to repeat how it goes from one drawing to another, the habit of referencing one drawing whilst making another has yet to take root fully, but it will in time.

Getting ready to paint.

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All the prep was worth it.

Before getting stuck in to the painting of the bike parts I thought it might be useful to share some of the things I’ve learned about spray painting. This is not a definitive list of top tips merely some things I’ve picked up over the years through being taught basic technique and learning from some ugly mistakes.

My memory is full of useful tips passed on to me and hard learned lessons about putting paint onto objects. The first is that paint and its application is nothing to be scared of and secondly, that the process rewards the patient. All manner of practical skill areas are full of old maxims and adages that seasoned practitioners swear by, and for good reason. One that applies to painting anything is the six P’s, and it goes like this: “preparation and patience prevent piss poor performance”. The first two P’s are the critical ones I think. Over the years, working in modelmaking, prototyping and design it has been an often painful experience to witness hours of painstaking work be reduced to scrap because of a lack of patience and prep in the paint phase. For some unknown reason people often behave as if paint were some magical substance that has the ability to apply itself and achieve the most perfect of finishes by its own volition. This is not so of course. Paint needs a lot of help to do what it’s meant to do properly and, give you a finish that is both beautiful and durable. Paint needs time so the more you can allocate to it the better. Planning out all of the various steps that you will need to go through is a good habit as it allows you to tackle things in batches rather than individually, piece by piece.

It’s also worth taking time to prepare the area you’ll be working in with as much attention to detail as the part you’re going to spray. Dust and other airborne particles are your enemy so minimising their presence is worth it too. Sprayguns, mixing pots, stirring sticks and turntables all have the capacity to ruin your finish so making sure they are clean and dust free helps too. Similarly, cover up surrounding areas with dust sheets as any overspray will cover everything in the vicinity with a fine layer of dust which you will only have to clean off later. Obviously if you have a dedicated spray booth this helps but giving it a good clean is never a bad thing. In fact if you can hang some dust sheets around your work area forming a kind of cubicle to spray in it’s worth doing, but make sure you’ve got a bit of air flow in there.

There are many different paint systems out there so it’s valuable to know your paints. Ask your local supplier, research on the internet or talk to an experienced hand but, always make sure that your primers, top coats and lacquers are compatible with each other and with the material your object is made of. Nothing disappoints more than a top coat that crazes over a different formulation primer or decals that gently dissolve as the first coat of lacquer goes on. If you’re in any doubt, ask. Finding and getting to know your local paint specialist is well worth the cost of any time invested. Experts love giving advice if you ask for it nicely anyway.

Whether you’re using rattle cans or a spray gun apparatus, the technique is essentially the same. Any differences are really in how much control you can excerpt over each method. A can comprises paint, gun and air supply, or propellant, in one convenient vessel. Using a gun requires a compressor and all manner of sundry bits and bobs to effect the same result. But the can doesn’t allow you to control air pressure or flow, paint flow or paint consistency. Often the final result is reliant on knowing the limitations of each method and working within those parameters. It’s amazing what you can do with a spray can if you follow basic rules, and it’s staggering what messes I’ve witnessed people create with a spray gun set up.

Spraying to a high level requires a good deal of rubbing down between coats to key surfaces and to gently eliminate surface irregularities. Sadly there is no quick way to do this. But it helps to use warm water with your wet and dry paper whenever you can. It not only helps keep the grit on the paper from clogging, obviously, but also stops your hands from getting freezing cold in the process. Despite it being very tempting to rip into old paint with coarse grit paper to speed removal, it only ends up putting deep scratches into the base material which you only have to remove as well. It’s surprising how much paint you will need to eliminate all the scratches.

Spraying to a high level requires a good deal of rubbing down between coats to key surfaces and to gently eliminate surface irregularities. Sadly there is no quick way to do this. But it helps to use warm water with your wet and dry paper whenever you can. It not only helps keep the grit on the paper from clogging, obviously, but also stops your hands from getting freezing cold in the process. Despite it being very tempting to rip into old paint with coarse grit paper to speed removal, it only ends up putting deep scratches into the base material which you only have to remove as well. It’s surprising how much paint you will need to eliminate all the scratches.

If you can, and have the room, create separate areas for paint mixing and storage, spraying and drying. Helping to minimise contamination from one part of the process to another can save a job from ruin. Small splashes from mixing and cleaning can travel a lot further than you think. It also enables you to store your paint and work piece at the same temperature. Cold paint on a warm object and vice versa can often be a sure fire way to achieve a dodgy finish.

As a final cautionary note, always wear an appropriate mask or respirator. Those flimsy paper things may protect you from some dust but not some of the rather nasty solvents that paints often contain. And get some protective gloves too, vinyl or latex. Personally I use vinyl as latex can irritate my skin, and ones without talcum powder keep your hands free of white dust that only ends up on the work piece if you’re not careful.

So there’s a bit of background to set the stage for spraying up the bodywork parts.