The Menagerie Amasses

It's the beginning of the week again (sort of), so in case yours is off to a bad start (or not) here are a couple of animal paintings to brighten your day.

First up is a monkey.  Usually I'd be more specific with the monkey's species name, but for the life of me I can't remember what this one is.  I worked from a photograph on this, so I know it is an actual species... Anyway, I painted it because I like monkeys.  Add to that the fact that for some reason this particularly bizarre little monkey was chewing on a piece of volcanic glass, and it was practically screaming (to me at least) to be painted. Some day I'll find just the right place in my house to hang this one. Since he's apparently hungry enough to eat volcanic glass, maybe over the kitchen table would be appropriate. Definitely not the bathroom, though. I don't think anyone would want to have a wide-eyed monkey staring at them as they step out of the shower. Well, maybe some people...weirdos...

This next little guy is a scarlet ibis.  I tried a different painting technique than I usually use on this.  As opposed to most paintings where I start with a solid white canvas, on this one I painted the whole canvas black first (for other examples of this method, run an Google image search for "velvet Elvis").  The desired effect (which was achieved) was to give the ibis a stronger sense of chiaroscuro, or light and dark and, in doing so, gives the subject a stronger sense of three-dimensionality. A similar effect could have been achieved by using the "standard " method and painting tones and shades of the bird's natural bright scarlet by adding white, black, or even small amounts of green paint to it while mixing. That method, however, can easily make vibrant red into muddy pinks and dull reds if not done correctly.

There you have it, Sund...er...Monday's post. Hopefully I'll be able to get back onto some kind of normal posting schedule this week.  Don't forget: Comments are always greatly appreciated. Let me know what you think about my art and/or blog.
Stay creative,
AH!

Reptiles... Mostly

As the title indicates, this week features three pictures of reptiles... sort of.  I really like drawing reptilian skin and scales. There's something about the details of the skin and scale textures that puts me into an almost Zen state. Drawing plain old lizards and snakes over and over and over again gets a little monotonous, though. To  combat the tedium, I improvise.

First up this week is an amalgamation of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a chimpanzee. Whether it's deserved or not is up for debate, but the T. Rex has the reputation of being one of the baddest of the big-bads in the dinosaur world. Then I thought about a chimp (Don't even bother trying to figure out how my train of thought reached that station) Chimps, as entertaining as they are, also have a mean streak at least a mile wide.  Since the eyes and hands, in my opinion, are the most expressive aspects of any primate, I combined the Rex and the chimp into the roaring beast you see here.

 And here's Ossie.  He's unlike the other two creatures in today's post in that he is entirely reptile. The inspiration behind this drawing is actually found in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible. According to the Genesis account, prior to tempting man to commit the original sin, the serpent got around in Eden by walking. After the fall of man, he was cursed to slither around on his belly. This is my idea of how he might have gotten around before the curse. The name is an acronym for Original Sin Serpent In Eden.

Finally is another student inspired creation. I'm not exactly sure where he got the idea, but somehow the idea of a bull/alligator hybrid seemed to click with me. A short while later the bulligator came into being. I took an alternate approach to the combination of these animals than I did with the chimp and t. rex, opting for a blend of their aspects throughout the body this time. Regardless of those differences, I can safely say that I wouldn't want to run afoul of either of them (or Ossie for that matter).

Thus ends another post. My mid-week Wired Wednesday series continues this week, so check back then for more of my three-dimensional art. Before I sign off, here are a couple of reminders.

REMINDER #1) As an artist I thrive on feedback from my audience, so questions, requests, ideas, or comments about this or any other post are both welcomed and strongly encouraged. That's what the comment section below and my email are there for.

REMINDER #2) There's still an artistic challenge waiting for your response here. It's not too late to take up the challenge.

Looking forward to hearing from you all.

Stay creative,

AH!

Some Things That Aren't Real... I Hope

Okay, so I'm having a hard time coming up with the right words for this first little guy.  I believe that, all things considered, he is one of my favorite drawings that I've ever created. In fact, maybe even the favorite.  As has already been well established, I think monkeys are pretty great.  So how do you make a monkey even better? Give it wings, of course! Just ask L. Frank Baum.  I decided to go in a little different direction than the Oz creator, however, and gave my monkey the wings of a dragonfly in place of the feathered variety.  It seemed only logical to give him eyes to match.

The monkey's fur is fairly straightforward and simple, and I left it that way intentionally to offset the complexity of the wings veining and the facets of the eyes. I also thought that even though monkeys ears are not typically pointed, that they would fit better stylistically if they were. After all, monkeys don't usually have faceted eyes or insect wings either.

This next one was inspired primarily by the mythological Argus Panoptes. In case your Greek mythology is rusty, Argus Panoptes was a giant with a hundred eyes. Mister H fact of the day: From early childhood I've had a fascination with classical mythology. That in connection with how much I like to draw eyes made this creature's creation all but inevitable.

This was also a great way to draw eyes in a variety of positions and at various stages of openness.  Much like what I mentioned about drawing hands a couple of weeks ago, drawing eyes is great practice at improving the eyes realism. That realism in turn helps your audience identify (or not identify, if that's your intention) with the subject you've drawn, painted, etc.

Most mythologies are full of some rather bizarre creatures, but few compare in pure strangeness to Egyptian mythology's Set animal, or Sha.  Set was the ancient Egyptian god of chaos, so it should be no surprise that the Sha is a chimeric beast.  It was a (somewhat humorous) combination of various beasts often described with a long nose, long pointed ears, and a stiff tail that was forked at the end.  The decision to give it hooves and webbed, frog-like feet was entirely mine.
Making the textural transition between wrinkled skin on the nose, scales on its head, feathers on its neck, smooth fur on its back and legs, and bare skin on its back feet was fairly difficult but a good exercise in blending and of course in drawing those various textures.

That about wraps up another post.  The Wired Wednesday series continues this week, so be sure to check back. Also, check out my post from earlier today if you haven't already.  I'm hoping some of you step outside of your comfort zones and take the challenge. You may surprise yourself.

Keep art alive. Stay creative.
-AH!

Mid-Week #4: Wired Wednesday, Part the Second

It's time for the next installment of the Wired Wednesday series!  Okay, so it isn't exactly Wednesday anymore (well, on the west coast it is), but Wired Thursday doesn't exactly have the same ring to it.  Anyway, these are a few of my wire animals. These are all a lot more precise and less chaotically wired than Zeke-37. In fact, that chaotic style is almost exclusive to the wire man and his descendants now. So away we go...

First, I submit for your consideration a bat.  A lot like my drawing of the owl, this one isn't so much a specific type of bat as it is the Platonic ideal of Bat.  To give you an idea of overall size, he's about 16 inches from wingtip to wingtip He's currently hanging on my wall, so I obviously like how it turned out.  

This next one shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody who knows me or has seen my posts up to this point.  It's another monkey! Also not surprisingly it's one of my all-time favorites. I tried to get as much of that "Monkey-ness" into it that I could without overworking it.  The only thing it lacks is a name. Any suggestions would be thoughtfully considered.

Again for an idea of the size, it's about 13 inches to the top of the arch of his tail and about 10 inches from nose to back foot.

My rattlesnake is one of the more simple wire animals I've made.  The head is the most complex portion of it (at least as far as shape goes) and from there back it's mostly circles connected in such a way to give it the sense of movement.  The scale of this scaly slithering serpent is about 20 inches in it's current posture.  If it were able to extend to a straight line it would probably be around 26 inches.

The final animal offering for this post is my tiny giraffe. Standing a whopping 9 and a half inches tall, she's not exactly suited for grabbing the leaves at the top of the wire trees, but is a great height for hanging out on top of a shelf or chest of drawers.  She took just under two hours to construct, so given the level of complexity to her, she's one of my fasted wire-works so far. 

Next Wednesday (or Thursday at the latest) will bring more wire-works for your enjoyment, and of course the beginning of the week will bring more drawings (Sketched Sunday?). Until then, my friends, keep the arts alive.

Stay creative,

-AH!

Canines and Primates and Birds, Oh My!

Okay, so more accurately one canine, two primates, and one bird.  Either way, you get the idea. Titles aren't my strong suit.  These don't really require a lot of explanation, so... yeah... here they are.

First up is an owl.  I didn't have a specific type of owl in mind as much as a generic concept of an owl.  Again, working without reference or any experience with feather dynamics, there are some issues (with the wings in particular) but I'm reasonably happy with the way he turned out.

Next up is a bulldog.  His eyes are kind of big, but I wouldn't change that. I like to make eyes a bit too large for extra emphasis on the emotion they can convey.  For example, this dog's eyes are saying "Where's my food?" It was also a great dog to choose for wrinkle shading practice.

Primates are a little easier for me since I have a long-held fascination with monkeys and apes.  Not a lot to say about this gorilla. I wasn't crazy about the fact that his ear was hidden in his fur in the reference pic I used.  When I added it in during the early sketching process, though, it didn't look right so I just went with the hidden ear.  He looks rather indifferent about it.

I'm usually hesitant to say too much good of my own art (a large part of my reasoning behind starting this blog), but this little guy is an exception.  I easily qualify him as one of my favorite drawings.  Like the bulldog he seems to portray his thoughts very well through his facial expression.  He seems to be thinking "Mmm... this is some tasty bamboo."  It isn't especially deep, but what do you expect from a monkey.

As a finishing note, I've found that posting just once a week is just doesn't seem like enough, so I'm working on a few possible weekly mid-week posts. Probably some rough sketches or doodles.  Eventually, I'll likely post some pics of paintings and wire sculptures I've done, too.  Again, any ideas for future drawings or art projects can be dropped as a comment below.

-AH!