#OctoberDechART Day 31: Multiverse

#OctoberDechART
Day 31
Multiverse
Pencil, ink, brush pen, acrylic & SketchBook

My final piece! A little self-insert piece, a self-portrait with me as a Bridges Porter and also me as an RK800 Android, using all the media I have used for this event. A tad bit self indulgent, but screw that, I had fun making this!

Also, that is supposed to be me, but as I look at it, it looks more like if Ken Watanabe and Patrick Stewart had a baby and that baby grew up. 😄

Here is the original scan before I added the digital bits.

#AugustDechART Day 12 – Prompt: ZODIAC

#AugustDechART
Day 12
Prompt: ZODIAC

This time, I am going with the actual prompt of the day, and I also used a reference photo for this.

Guess my Zodiac. 😛

Weekend Plein Air Diary (31 July – 1 Aug 2021)

Finally decided to give plein air a try. I must say, it was kind of fun. A total of 3 attempts so far, all at the same local park.

The first attempt was on Saturday (31 July 2021). I was sitting on a swing after my late afternoon jog and then I saw this tree in front of me, with the sun shining through the leaves.

The second attempt was in the wee hours of the following Sunday (1 August 2021). This was after my early morning jog, between 5:30am to 6:00am — my second one ever in a long while. I had done my usual rounds and as I did my cooldowns, I came up this path (I seldom took it from this direction) and it suddenly occurred to me to paint the view. It felt so eerie and mysterious, with the lamp being the only illumination.

The third attempt was within the next hour, from the same spot where I stood, only facing the other direction. I had just finished the painting above and when I turned, I realised then that it was dawn! I immediately set to work to get the colours painted in, and quickly, too, because I learned from this that once dawn broke, the colour of the sky shifted and brightened up pretty fast, and I didn’t wanna lose it.

Overall, an interesting experience, and I definitely wanna do this again soon. And once I have the confidence and the equipment, perhaps I will attempt traditional plein air painting next. 

Painting ‘Milford Sound’ With Acrylic

It has been a while since I last used acrylic as a medium. The last time I did, I ended up not quite liking the results. The painting was a disastrous mess, and I remembered vividly not knowing what I was even doing half the time. Such an experience kept me away from the medium for a while. Until recently.

I have been following a number of artists on several social media sites, mostly to help feed my inspiration and to expose myself to as much of the field as possible. This includes YouTube, and so far there are two channels that have been, up to this point, major inspirations for my development.

One of them, who is a major inspiration behind this recent endeavour, is James Gurney, the author and illustrator of Dinotopia. He has these plein air gouache painting videos that I would occasionally watch, and over time I gradually picked up several techniques and tips that I thought could be similarly applicable to acrylic.

And tonight, having coming off of one of his more recent videos and moving through New Zealand on Google Maps, I felt quite positive about trying it again. So I pulled out my old acrylic set (a Christmas gift from my cousin) and my brushes and sketchbook, and began my attempt.

I’m glad that I did.

‘Milford Sound.’ Acrylic on paper. 17cm x 10.5cm

The Detour

The two women who went on ahead towards the main library building came upon a sign blocking the path that would lead up to the library entrance before turning around.

That was when my suspicions began – that the library was closed. How else would the car park be so empty today? Regardless, I went up the path towards the sign, the girls walking in my direction, seemingly confused and uncertain as they looked at me.

The sign read along the lines of: ‘Please be informed that the library will not be open today for Labour’s Day. The library will be open again on 2nd May 2021.’

Of course, I thought. I opened Instagram and Facebook, baffled that I had missed an announcement from the library’s social media accounts, only to find nothing. They didn’t announce anything.

Well, that’s a bummer, I thought. I had hoped to get some writing done, more so this afternoon because I had just had a rather… exhausting time before this.