Techniques and Training

I really wish I could go back to school. College was some of the best years of my life. I loved the energy, meeting so many people, hanging out, and being an art nerd. I remember being so scared to leave because I felt like there was still more that I wanted to learn.

Times are tough right now and going back to school for a second degree or possibly grad school is always an option, but I know I can't afford it. Financial plights won't stop me from learning! I've wanted to do some really colorful illustration work using paints after watching Brian Stelfreeze do a live commission at this year's New York Comic Con. I couldn't get that scene out of my head. It was haunting me in a good way. I saw him paint Lucy Liu's character from the movie Kill Bill. And if I recall correctly, he did not have any references on him and the image looked exactly like her! He mentioned that he was able to do it because he studied her face a lot. She appears in his sketchbooks more than a couple of times because he found her face interesting. I guess Lucy Liu must be his muse.

Not only is he an amazing artist, but he's a really nice guy and a great teacher! All the while he was painting [he's super fast too!], he was having full conversations with everyone that said hello. Hey, he's a professional! He gave me some great advice and I took those words to heart. Ever since that day, I've been exploring different ways to approach art. My newest adventure is painting!


I picked up these two books at the library:


I've read my fair share of technique books and these are really good!

All About Techniques in Acrylics is a really good reference book. Its nice for beginners, but its not too watered down for people who have painted before.

The New Acrylics is exactly what the title says. It explores all the advances in acrylics. Have you ever gone to the art store and felt overwhelmed by all of that stuff on the shelves? This book tells you exactly what they are, how they are used, and the difference between all the different products. The photography inside is beautiful, actually, I might have to use the word "sensual". There is a section in the book where they explain the consistency of mediums through pictures of food. Paint is described as whipped cream, honey, and melted chocolate.

This is the first technique book that is actually written for the artist by an artist. It has all the technical talk, but also the encouraging warmth of a very good art professor. I renewed this book to keep it longer, but I might have to buy it someday!

I didn't exactly start with acrylics. I started with gouache instead. This is one of my mixed media experiments in my sketchbook:


It felt good to be painting again!

Here are some other pages in my sketchbook:

I like drawing creepy girls with sad eyes. They appear a lot in my sketchbooks. I find them interesting to draw. They're definitely inspired by Edward Gorey, Tim Burton, and Arthur Rackham's version of Alice in Wonderland.


I drew this a while ago, but I colored it yesterday with my markers. I'm pretty happy with the image except that I really really wish I didn't draw that pelican! It was the first thing that I put on the page and with [permanent] blue ball-point pen! I drew it because I saw it at Sea World. But now it sits on top of Rivers Cuomo's head for all of eternity.

Finished art:

Here's something I submitted for Illustration Friday. I don't think I shared it with you guys yet.
I posted it on my Deviant Art a while ago.

here's what the sketch looked like:


That's all that I have for now!
I hope I have more cool stuff to show you next week! <3