A bit of a fluke?

Posted on by Soulcraftcandyman
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76_Big_Red

There are moments during the process of attempting to learn a particular skill, method or process when ones hopes are bolstered hugely by a result which exceeds ones expectations. Although these are fantastic moments to be savoured, they often come when we least expect them, they can be the harbingers of something of a very different nature. This picture today possesses one such moment. My “big smoke” theme threw up this image which demanded to be done and, as a further opportunity to practice  my smoking tyre technique, I could not resist having a go. Heeding a kind of mental warning, stepping away from the airbrush seemed like a good plan, so focus turned very much to using a humble brush, a light wash and a layering approach to find a little more of the secret sauce. Suffice to say I’m much, much happier with the result which has some depth and texture, but maintains the cartoony feel of the picture. A rewarding result, but it could be a bit of a fluke.

 

What is the point I’m attempting to make here? Well, it is this. When we experience an early success our confidence is rightfully buoyed, but what happens next rarely follows an upward trend, my next attempt at smoke was, to me at least, utterly rubbish. In a rare display of coyness I’m declining to show that today, suffice to say that I will doubtless get over it in a day or two and reveal the awful truth. In the meantime enjoy this one, it’s one of my better efforts I think.

 

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.