wednesday-esque update...

so although there was plenty of progress on the LEFT_OUT series last night, i've decided to wait a bit to post pics of more serious progress.
in other news, i also did a major overhaul on my main art site, trimming quite a bit of fat [including my game art, which doesn't necessarily reflect _my_ art], and streamlining it for ease of navigation- [HERE] is a link, if you don't have time to move your mouse over to the one to the right. enjoy!

... patenaude

dilemma, dilemma...

so one of my favorite aspects of this recent art "resurgence", is that i "thought" it'd removed my photoshop crutch, and gotten my hands dirty again [ink, gauche, etc.].

BUT! in order to generate prints from these pieces, they need to go through the PC by way of scanner, etc. and as soon as it hits the screen, aside from saturation/ color issues that need to be righted, other faults spring from seemingly nowhere, when you're staring at a piece @ 300 DPI... and those need to be fixed of course.

AND WHILE I'M ALREADY THERE... i just can't help but feel the urge to do another pass on it, which the STRAY series [after staring at it for a bit on the monitor], seems to be begging for.

... so after all this push to go almost completely analog, it looks like i just won't be able to shake my ol' friend photoshop. i suppose when all is said and done, i should embrace any tool that helps me get the job done, although i can't help but at least TRY to reduce the complexity of the process... yes- THESE, my friends, are my issues.


... patenaude

STRAY series... done?

originally intended as a print test series to gauge how well my art translates into prints, the STRAY series evolved into quite the little project, also helping me to further develop and refine my process- after wrapping 'em all up forthemostpart, i sent them off to [chroma works] last night for test giclee prints on a variety of papers: Enhanced Matte, 100% Cotton Rag Papers Textured Fine Art, & Canvas Piezo Pro Matte- will post reviews of the prints [and where you can buy them;)] when they arrive.

STRAY_loiterers [click image to enlarge]

STRAY_connoisseurs [click image to enlarge]

STRAY_tunes [click image to enlarge]

next up- a teensy bit more painting the LEFT_OUT series before inking & wrapping 'em all up!



... patenaude

mo' progress...

getting closer- about to wrap up the "stray" series & just have some inking and bits here and there to work into the "left out" series.

"left out" series, waiting for some inky love.

"stray" series, almost ready to go.

in other news, checked out the [r. crumb exhibit @ the [frye] yesterday]- brilliant work! and after that headed over to the highly-recommended [utrecht] for some new supplies [felt like a kid gearing up with school supplies]- i have a feeling i'll be frequenting that place quite a bit!

... patenaude

a collection of possible art outlets...

just pasting a bit of [paraphrased] info that my ol' buddy, junkyard sam sent me about possible sites to sell art on- posting this more for my reference than yours, but use it if ya want!

"good info on here about where to sell art online [if ya wanna]: http://www.emptyeasel.com/art-market/

The big question is - do you want to MAKE YOUR OWN PRINTS or have a company make them and send them for you?

If you want the COMPANY to make them, IMAGEKIND is probably the most popular.

If YOU want to make your prints, then BOUNDLESS GALLERY seems to be the only mainstream art site that doesn't try to make your prints for you. I like prints made by the artist. I think that is like a thousand times cooler than art from some company.... But on the other hand, it takes time to get my prints together man... And you might as well say fuck it. All that packaging and cutting and stuff --- i can't lie, it adds up to a LOT of time that could be spent making art.

ETSY is different. It's an extremely cool and easy to buy from store -but it's like mostly people who are into CRAFTS. And it seems like...you have to price real low to sell there. And people have a weird taste in art. You can look on the site and see who's selling what, etc.

What I'm doing is having that jumpstation and a different set of art at each. So there's no overlap.
Gallery 1 = http://www.etsy.com/ (open edition handmade prints)
Gallery 2 = http://www.boundlessgallery.com/ (limited edition handmade prints)
Gallery 3 = http://www.imagekind.com/ (future possibility for commercial prints)

and info on a couple more he's not using...
http://www.tinyshowcase.com/
I look at that site every week. Art ranges a lot in quality, but the site has a huge set of fans and the prints sell out every time
http://weheartprints.com/

THANKS, JUNKYARD SAM!

ps. so far, i'm leaning towards tinyshowcase, we heart prints, and etsy.


... patenaude

wednesday update...

so... getting antsy/ excited i started a little series while waiting to do a small series WHILE i was waiting on the canvas paper for the "floating beasties" series... hence... a lot of art going on- i'm calling this one [working titles] "strays" 'cause again- it's a buncha sketches i wanted to milk a bit more by using them in diff. compositions + i'll be using them to test out a new print company out [better to test the quality of prints inexpensively with small-scale pieces, as opposed to relying on them for something larger:)]. here it is so far [might play around with the balance & color a bit more + it needs the outlines]...

... yep- looking at 'em, there are definitely some balance issues- will take care of that tomorrow.

enjoy!,
patenaude

new series progress...

so... being as impatient as i am, while waiting for larger sized canvas paper needed for the "floating beasties" series, i decided to salvage some older drawings i'd done nothing much with, did a bit of composition work, and came up with something to keep me busy while i waited for the delivery: the "left out" [working title] series. i'm using that little rabbit guy, and similar layouts to unify the series. here's a shot of how things go so far...

progress shot of the "left out" series [in addition a few random pieces included on the top left of the photo].

i finished up the 1st ink pass [used primarily to lock down the image] yesterday, and am planning on getting the painting started this weekend- good times.

... patenaude

my process [at least for the next few series]...

first off- i lied- here's another update with no image, but i'm taking lunch, and i need to purge a few thoughts [but i plan on working enough images into this post to get you through it... eventually]...

so because of what i've been doing professionally for the last 13 years or so [building levels for video games], i've sorta slipped into a method of producing art, that's quite similar- so here's a description of my process...

basically i start creating/ drawing "elements" for pieces, much like i model meshes [in CG] that i arrange to create levels [not as much any more, but whatever]. anyway- i love working this way- it allows artists like me with [self-diagnosed ADD] to work on quite a few elements of a piece, jumping around to whatever i feel like working on at the time AND increasing efficiency, because i get in a groove, and can crank away on a certain aspect of a series- which leads me back to creating the elements.

the elements are simply small drawings [my 5.5X8.5" sketch pad] of whatever i feel like drawing or need to draw at the time. so i can do rough passes on a buncha different ideas, and revisit them later for an inking/ nailing down pass.

because these aren't the final products, i don't concentrate on the line quality at this point any more.

so i scan those in, and arrange them [hopefully artistically] into a PSD in photoshop.

that is then printed out [for anything larger than 8.5X11, i either tape them together or hit up kinkos (who i hate) for large format prints in B&W].

that is then traced onto canvas paper using a light table with pencil, detailed out a bit more here and there, then "locked down" with ultra fine sharpie [which also helps funtion to repel the guache, and keep it off the outlines].

now it's time for the gauche, which takes quite a while, and can sometimes require multiple passes depending on the opacity and thickens of the paint. then a layer of 3M? artists' workable fixative, to protect it all a bit from water [which can "undo" it all at this point], etc.

then comes the windor ink, which can be quite dangerous with those unpredictable [yet spontaneous] nibs i use.

when they bleed or puddle out [which is all but unavoidable], there's a time-sensitive process that helps save it all [paper towel to blot up the bulk, brush some water on to thin out the remainder, then more paper towel action]- the fixative usually prevents it from getting tot he gauche, but not always- in that case, it's time to bust out the gauche again.

ALMOST DONE!

now comes the final sealant... and it's done! or so ya think... then ya keep eyeballing it, noticing things here and there, so luckily the windsor ink will lay over the sealant rather nicely. then another layer of sealant [hopefully the final], pop it in a frame [note: http://www.framesbymail.com/ has pretty nice frames which are essentially custom, for a decent price].

... next step: trying to find a decent place to do prints.

ok. so yeah- as always... IMAGES TO COME!! I PROMISE ART WILL EVENTUALLY BE POSTED ON MY ART BLOG!!

... patenaude

mo' tests [canvas paper]...

well- the new canvas paper finally arrived [i never get tired of recieving packages in the mail- always fun], which i'd ordered last week to accommodate the sizes of one of the new series i'm starting, workingly titled "floating beasties. they'll be 21X7 [yes- another odd size], which i'd like to blow up 2X into a print, if they'll hold up [the penciling i have done for it is just begging fora bigger canvas].

anyway- for the smurf pieces i was working with fredrix, med. texture, 16X20" canvas paper, which i was really digging. but because that was the biggest size i could find @ michaels [go figure;)], and i had to order more online, i've decided to test a few new 18X24" ones out...
01] biefang papier canvasette: very rigid, with plenty of texture- feels nice.
02] fredrix cotton artist canvas: super soft- can't wait to see how that'll effect whatever painting i decide to throw on there.
03] blick studios triple-primed w/ gesso, feels like it has a med. rigidity- the most like the fredrix, and after a couple tests, it's what i'll probably decide on for the floating beasties series.

yes- i'm sure all this seems quite boring, but it's what i'll be dealing with to get my process nailed down as i get back into all of this.

ps. i'll try my best not to post any more on here without including some nice images for your oogling pleasure.

... patenaude

sat. morning cartoons show!

... @ "ouch my eye gallery" on march 1st, 2007- my first art show... ever [which unfortunately i wasn't able to attend because of jen and my prior engagement that weekend- the 30th annual napa valley marathon]. anyway- after never ending tests to figure out which sealants and ink will work best with gauche, here are a few pics of the fruits of my labor...

the show's flyer- apologies abotu the resolution- obviously i haven't gotten the hang of blogspot yet.

... jen poses with her fellow smurfs;)

... a shot from outside the "ouch my eye" gallery, when we checked out the exhibit on march 7th.

... "smurfs_b", the central piece in my poorly planned triptych.

... "smurfs_a", barely made into the set, but after i'd commit ed to "smurfs_c" [yes- i need to work on my titles;)] i was worried about the balance of the series. and with the process for the series already developed, things were moving more smoothly, so it seemed like a no-brainer to work it in.

... "smurfs_c", mixed thoughts on papa's shenanigans.

so! when all is said and done, this experience has been invaluable. despite the pieces not being my proudest achievement, it was great finally getting my foot int he door with my first show, and i received quite a bit of positive feedback on the pieces. not to mention the whole process really got the ball rolling with my art- i have ~15 pieces in the works, and don't plan on stopping any time soon!

this just in- shots from opening night: http://www.flickr.com/photos/plasticbandito/sets/72157604061741952/

... patenaude