Category Archives: Inspirations

Double helping.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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74_French_cafe

It is the weekend and what better way to celebrate a couple of days free from the grind of the working week than to post a double helping from the Soulcraftcandy studio. This first one is called “French Cafe”, for obvious reasons, though it was not my original intent to make a specific gallic reference when applying the colours, which I attempted to limit the number of. Perhaps it’s because I was thinking about our friends Veronique and Chris whom we are visiting in Bordeaux in April, who knows.

 

I don’t seem to be able to stop myself from drawing these old style rocker guys, I’m not sure exactly why. That said I’ve always admired the paired down nature of the bikes and the almost iconic look of the guys who ride them. As well as the structural and visual appeal there is also some emotional appeal too. Some might consider the whole scene a little hackneyed these days but this can not deny the fact that it has endured, and so remains a rich source of inspiration.

75_Burnout

The second image is slightly different. During the idea churning sessions it became clear that certain groups and themes were emerging, large amounts of smoke was one of them. The dynamism of a smoking tyre is a unique thing but in my experience quite difficult to capture, I have pretty much failed on all previous occasions. Now seemed like a good time to try once again to get some proficiency in their rendering. The shading on this one was attempted with an airbrush and only partially succeeds, the rest I’m happy with and I like the idea that the front wheel is somehow prevented from moving by the line of the boundary box. It’s called simply “Burnout”.

 

 

Experiment and learn.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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73_Big_Green

These small images are really coming along thick and fast, well, relative to the time it takes to do the larger ones anyway. The working title for this one is “Big Green” for obvious reasons and every time I look at it I’m gladdened by the brightness of the colours. Being a head on view there wasn’t the complexity of an engine to carry the detail so it needed to be found somewhere else. With such big tank bulges showing I thought it would be fun to see if detail could be included in the reflections shown. It’s only a small image so there’s not that much room but I managed to get some in.

 

These smaller pictures are a lovely canvas to experiment on, the technique is quick and you can try things out without worrying about wrecking a picture you’ve spent weeks working up. The process also teaches you what does and doesn’t work, and you can then apply that learning to bigger pictures when they come along. I’ve always found reflections tricky, so this is a really unthreatening way to get a bit more familiar with them.

 

Keeping track of ideas.

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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Comp_for_blog_1

One of the consequences of conducting ones creative activities in a small studio room, essentially a converted child’s bedroom measuring barely 10×6 feet, stuffed with bookcases, desks, computers and all the required paraphernalia, is that keeping track of things is a perpetual challenge. The question “now where did I put that?” rings in my ears all the time. Any activity, creative or otherwise, brings about default behaviours in us like how we file things, store items and arrange our work area. We create our own individual systems which are very particular and often not logical in the eyes of others. I’m also sure it’s a truism that we spend countless hours every year modifying our little systems in the search for an ideal solution. I know I do, and it’s not always about easing the process of finding stuff. Being able to see your ideas is a very important part of stimulating the creative process. In the past I’ve enjoyed the luxury having lots of sketches and drawings laid out to view, it helps with seeing where you’ve been and also where you’re going, or would like to go with an idea. The challenge is being able to maintain that connection between your vision and the work in progress. This applies as much to images we collect as reference as to our own output.

Comp_for_blog_2

I have a wall in here upon which I stick sketch sheets and stuff, but it never feels big enough. As a result it constantly changes, acting as a road map for current work and keeping the connection going with ideas and thoughts which still hold my attention. It would be fantastic to sit in a studio the size of an aircraft hangar, but that’s not going to happen any time soon, so making the best use of what’s available really counts. The computer, which holds a huge resource in my image bank, and provides access to the universe of the net only has a screen that is so big. So to cram as much into this space as possible these compositions of ideas, as shown here, are a great way for me to see lots of ideas all at once, make decisions about them, and assist myself in direction finding.