Arts & Crafts

[Neil]

So, what are you people doing in the real world, artistically?  There's that photography thread, and a post yer tunes one, but it'd be great to see some more sketches and paintings and stuff.  I took up painting again before Xmas there, after realising that (and this was a big thing for me) it doesn't matter if you're not good at it!  And I've really been enjoying getting back to watercolour painting.  I also bought oils and acrylics as I'd never used them before, and wanted to experiment.

Last week I built a pretty decent bird house, and then pimped the shit out of that beeotch by painting a landscape on the front, and some animals on the sides and stuff.  I'm really pleased with it, and had a very fun couple of nights slapping paint over it.  I've given it to my Mum's other half so he can varnish it with water-proof varnish for her, and get it stuck up in the garden. 

I was in a craft shop last week, looking for inspiration, and bought some clay, but I've not done anything other than roll that around in my mitts, thus far.  I'd like to get some magnets and make little fridge magnets for people.  I'm also toying with trying some stop motion animation!

I'll get some pics up, but in the meantime, let's see what you lot have been upto.

[The Widow of Brid]

Got three big abstracts on the go now, acrylic/collage/spray paint stuff with a theme but one that means fuck all to anyone but me so isn't really worth explaining. No pictures of that though.

Here's a slightly racist doodle in pastels of something from a dream I had though. I keep thinking it's origionally from a film or from an album cover or something but can't remember what.



And something green which doesn't look quite as crap in real life.

[alan nagsworth]

I've been touching up (ohoho!) on my drawing a lot lately, and I think I've finally honed my own style of comic drawing. The various random people I create all have similar styles to the shape of their heads and eyes, etc. It's looking nice, I'm finally pleased with my output on paper. Always use biros aswell, and never outline it with a pencil first - what are ya, chicken?! Besides, it saps the fun out of it if you spend too much time on it.

Also started making music under a different name and style. Going for techno/electro (early AFX-inspired) with basic synths and electronic drum sounds. I'm really enjoying the stripped-down style and I find I make music better when I'm not pouring my heart and soul into it constantly. I like to take a step back and ease up, that way it all seems to snap together much nicer.

Oh! And the other night, I made a crocodile out of five tinfoil apple pie trays. It's a damn good crocodile.

More when I actually have the internet at home and have time to show my workings.

[Neil]

Oooh I love that green abstract, The Wid, very nice.  I was just reading up on abstract painting last week as I really want to try it, I'll get stuck in this week and get some photos up.  I'll ask my sis to put up the painting I did of her kitty, I was pleased with it!  (I ran right out of money buying Xmas pressies, and couldn't get cards, and felt really guilty...so on Xmas Eve I sat up doing some paintings till about 5am, and they went down pretty well.)

[biggytitbo]

Something I did a while ago:

[Ginyard]

Its a work in progress:

[weekender]

A satirical piece on 'art as life', I like it.

With the green, you have an almost 3D trapezoid structure which is clearly designed to incorporate some of the other feelings.

I think the red represents ANGER, possibly FRUSTRATION, and the arching branches of red clearly illustrate the underlying anger of the artist.

Then we have the orange, and I note the oranges are more curved.  Clearly underneath it all the artist is very artisan, and is challenging us all with sweeping gestures.

The purple really highlights this piece though, it looks like that bit in Eastenders where you see The Thames in all it's glory.  Only this time, The Thames has been shut and the water is starting to build, giving pressure on the Londoners.  The purple streaks really emphasis this point.  I suspect the artist is a Londoner, and is trying to represent modern life in London.

Then, on the first layer, you have a magnificent representation of Canary Wharf, but with people leaping up and out from the roof, such is their frustration with modern life.

It's a triumph, darling, a triumph.

[Ginyard]

ITS A FUCKING UMBRELLA MAN!!.

Anger....Pain....Fear....Agression....

[Melody Lee]

Nice thread idea... though it's a shame that the non-photoshop arty threads usually die a death pretty quickly.

I'm designing creatures; hand-drawing them and then scanning them and digital painting on top (I don't have a graphics tablet yet, so it's all done on the laptop with the touchpad, which is slow and annoying).

Here's a 3-foot tall thingy from another planet.

[Jack Shaftoe]

Ooh nice, I loves me a bit of alternate biology concept art. Ever read any of Dougal Dixon's books, like the 'After Man' one?

I have absolutely nothing of artistic worth to contribute to this thread, unless D&D maps count.

[Jemble Fred]

Ooh nice, I loves me a bit of alternate biology concept art.

The Pleepluple. Gipgyppus Ultravulgaris.
The whole of the British Island is swarming with these loathsome, tasty creatures. They were first bred on fourth century Manhattan in an attempt to make everyone sick. But the bouncy, trouncy and above all, flouncy creatures that the ancients reared had their uses. Its urine could be used for stinking-water-related products, and its back-slime made an absolutely peachy smoothie. Its joyful cow-stroke-snail-stroke-pancake gait (very like its close cousin the Thhhhhpicank, Ono Ohnonous), make it a generally tolerated, even popular form of rodent, and thus they were enticed to Albion with promises of a better holiday package in 1410, and for centuries they have proliferated – bred for sport and favour. Who could have thought we'd see the end of these dopy, tasty creatures? But did you know that, unless we stop shooting them randomly for fun, then they will quite possibly die out in the near-to-nearer future.



The Swindyr. Donut Extremis.
You generally find them on tennis courts in the south of France, but this one must be on holiday. These strange, billed animals are actually down to just seventeen in number, but they're BORING! And useless. They live on man-fat, hawthorns and whelks, but none of their skins can be used for any product, their meat tastes like cat's arse, and they're completely untameable. Having said that, their hooves are always shiny and they are the only animals to have neat side-partings. . In ye olde third century Los Angeles it was believed that meeting one in a wooded grove on a moonlit Thursday would yield you three wishes. This was proven to be true in 1979.



The Phylisant. Farficarcus Farcinaturus.
This highly excitable mammal, with good skin, had evolved as far as it damn well wanted to a million years ago. Its poncy feet were perfect for the marshy bogs, its luxurious beard kept it warm in the frosty weeks, and its arse was absolutely gorgeous. So they fled to the New Forest, where they keep a regular population of 300 or so, despite none of them really being what you'd call lookers. So we encourage them to get right on down on the floor jiggy style by erecting massive posters of Moira Stewart and Bruce Willis so they've got something nice to look at as they're humping. Their feathers can be used for lapdancing, their pelt for chutney. And they live on oriental children.

[Jack Shaftoe]

I like the Swindyr best.

[The Boston Crab]

Here's a slightly racist doodle in pastels of something from a dream I had though. I keep thinking it's origionally from a film or from an album cover or something but can't remember what.

Predator!

[Melody Lee]

Ever read any of Dougal Dixon's books, like the 'After Man' one?

Not yet... though I've been meaning to, after getting a couple of Wayne Barlowe's books.

The Swindyr is strangely cute, Jemble Fred! And The Phylisant has a Pot Noodle, doesn't it? My kind of beastie.

[Jack Shaftoe]

Not heard of Waybe Barlowe, will check him out. Dixon's stuff is great, mostly done in a very Victorian Naturalist's style, which makes the near-familiarity of the animals all the more unsettling. Proper educational stuff too, although the Man After Man one was pushing it a bit, I thought.

[Lookalike Mark Chapman]

Very nice, Melody Lee and Jemble. Neil and nagsworth - show us some stuff, you little craft-teasers! I've been trawling through my photobucket account to see if there's anything appropriate for the thread. When I first saw the title, I thought of craft shops. People tend to buy me 'creative'-type presents - which are clearly intended for children - from craft shops every birthday or Christmas. Not that I'm complaining - hours of remedial fun:

A Visit to The Hospital, fuzzy felt


Einstein, fuzzy felt


Greek Mythology, fuzzy felt


Under the Sea, tap art


Kite Flying On A Sunny Day, tap art

But, well, in a slightly different vein I did used to do an awful lot of painting and that. It started out at school, when we had to, but it did become a bit of a hobby for a while. I liked having a go at a few different media, although I never got the hang of watercolours, and I think I like working with oil paints most.

Still life:

Pine-cone, oil paints


Oranges, gouache


Funnels, oil paints


Close view of a clarinet, pencil

And I did a few landscapes too, although I didn't enjoy them so much:

Corfu, oil paints


Barcelona, chalk pastels

I also tried a few portraits, although I can't draw faces for shit. One I was actually quite keen on, when I was studying fauvism, is this one (cunningly avoiding the whole 'face' problem):

Colour study, oil paints (bit of the old impasto going on)

But it's been a long time since I did any proper painting. I buy oils and brushes, palette knives and canvases sometimes, with a view to starting again, but it never happens. My main creative output - and the majority of my time - is spent on uni-related work, which is what got me into Photoshop and that sort of thing. In fact, so much presentation on my course is digital that if you do squeeze in the odd bit of hand-sketching, it's bound to get cooed over as a rarity. I won't show you any of my coursework, but what I'm currently working on is poster art/DVD box-art for a couple of horror films my boyfriend made:

Blood 2: More Blood poster
(Going for the 80's red and black style. Needs work)


No! Don't Lose Your Head! DVD cover and spine
(More of a grubby modern-style one. Possibly complete)

Ah, I love doing those. Probably because they're not uni work. Artist for hire, etc.

EDIT: Sorry, this post would really have benefited from the old style spoilers.

[Retinend]

http://retinend.deviantart.com/



My favourite piece to come out of my life drawing classes. Ink and pipette on paper.



Pencil/ fineliner studies of Ross.



A hung mole in fineliner



'Winter Scene, 2 of 2' oil on board



Self-portrait aged 16

[Ginyard]

I really like that. Its like an aged superhero, a shadow of his former self, trying to shit through his enlarged prostate on to a recycle bin.

[Melody Lee]

Some gorgeous work there, Lookalike Mark Chapman & Retinend(!)

[alan nagsworth]

nagsworth - show us some stuff, you little craft-teasers!

Ha, sorry. I'm still only online at work right now so I can't upload anything. Besides, they pail somewhat insignificant in comparison to yours and Retinend's work - some fantatic stuff there, truly.

Still, it'll surface one day.

[Kishi the Bad Lampshade]

Fucking hell, you guys. I can barely draw a smiley face without it going all wobbly. Talented cunts.

[Cerys]

Brilliant.  Duncton Wood?

[Ginyard]

Brilliant.  Duncton Wood?

Long as its not the hundred acre wood.

[Retinend]

Brilliant.  Duncton Wood?

Never heard of those books. Does one of the little fellas end up on a fence? Moles hung on barb wire are a pretty common sight where I live. I had to explain exactly why they were to a lot of people when I showed it to them, though (damn townees).

[Jemble Fred]

It's because of vengeful weasels and stoats, yes?

[Cerys]

Rings a bell.  Bear in mind that I've only read it once, over twenty years ago, though.

[Retinend]

It's because of vengeful weasels and stoats, yes?

Yeah, the bastards do it for sport. They take advantage of their poor eyesight to lure them onto little see-saws and catapult them up there.

[DocDaneeka]

A couple of cartoony drawings for you. Pishing about with differently coloured lines.

Scanned in,coloured and neatened this one up a bit in Photoshop:


Just scanned in the rough outline of this one and drew the rest in Photoshop:

[fanny splendid]

I like the 'muff-rocks' of Ross.

[MojoJojo]

Rings a bell.  Bear in mind that I've only read it once, over twenty years ago, though.

I read it about 15 years ago. All I remember is the disturbing amount of mole sodomy and necrophilia.

I'll have to show this thread to my mrs'. She's the artistic side of our partnership.