Audran

Lost Fox: Africa

2012-01-29T16:19:00.000+01:00

Still exploring ideas for the Butterfly and the Fox story. What if at some he was exploring some part of Africa. I don't want to explore the postcard Africa, with golden skies and girafe silhouette in the savanah. Africa is vast... and I want to explore some other typical aspect, like these akward looking trees, the baobab. This variety kinda look like a giant Daikon.

Defeated

2012-01-24T17:33:00.000+01:00

Still on my sketching spree, I want to make this year a record, I've slowed down in 2011.
For this one I wanted to go simple with value, complexity in shapes and a dramatic effect. No matter how I scan it, and fix it, the original is so much better to look at. With all the subtleties in colors gradient,

Lost Lagoon - Final

2012-01-23T17:08:00.002+01:00

I've done some more research & studies, and tried to really nail down the gesture of the girls. I'm kinda satisfied on how they turned out. I guess I find myself at one of these cornerstone again.

WiP - Lost Lagoon

2012-01-22T07:38:00.000+01:00

A quick rough for an idea I'm exploring. I'll do a tight pencil drawing next. For the final painting, i feel the cliff on the left side should be warmer, I also want to leave the white of the paper for the skin tone, so they really stand out against the waterfall, and increase the overall sunlight effect.

Japanese Garden(wip)

2012-01-19T12:39:00.002+01:00

This morning, I realized someone stole my electric charger for my scooter, I was f*cking pissed off.

To whoever it was, I'm pretty sure you are not reading my blog, but I pity your morally bankrupt state of mind. OK :) I am no longer angry...

Anyway... the rest of the day went without a hitch. Even more I would say, I was quite inspired. So I wanted to try some good old photoshop. I kept a step by step progress, because I was constantly spamming Jin's inbox with updates. This is still WiP, I may finish it, or not. I feel the stones are not thematically integrated. I'll have to fix that. Feel like random shapes... badly designed.

The Golf Player

2012-01-12T17:25:00.001+01:00

If you l.o.v.e. James Bond you surely know where I got my inspiration. That character always elude me no matters how many time Iwatch it. I would like to redesign the whole shapes, I'm often way too conventional and I could use a bit of excentricity. Skew things a bit, get a stronger statement. Yeah, lets focus on that.

Crash!

2012-01-11T17:36:00.000+01:00

A bit of fun today, the quotes along side with this could be...

"I didn't meant to interrupt m'am, but do you know where I can get a monkey wrench? It's a national security matter"

The real deal here, is... I wanted to test some grass, twigs and flowers work... so I started with the setup. The foreground would need to be opaque and I wanted to try gouache, I really struggle with gouache and I wasn't sure of my success. But by the time I was done with the setup(all transparent Watercolor), I couldn't proceed by fear of ruining it. I liked it too much the way it was, but still I gave few gouache brush stroke and kinda ruined the foreground. So I stopped before making it worse. Lesson learned here... ALWAYS follow your instinct.

A Fox's stump

2012-01-09T02:14:00.000+01:00

Still developing the Fox & Butterfly idea. the size is 1/4 of a full Arches 140lbs CP.

Pigs on Trampoline

2012-01-04T04:22:00.000+01:00

New Year Rez

2012-01-01T08:39:00.000+01:00

Happy new year to everyone,

So my resolution for this new year, is to artistically seriously kick ass.
Below are some vizdev for a story I'm trying to come up with. It's about the friendship between a butterfly and a lost fox cub. I'll post some more as the ideas are getting clearer in my mind.

Playing with fire

2011-12-08T16:14:00.000+01:00

I was browsing my Frazetta folder today, and I felt energized. I wanted to paint, no matter what. I made a martini drink and then sat at my desk. 30min later, I was done but the glass was still half full.

After a Year

2011-12-06T03:23:00.000+01:00

After a year, living in Shanghai. This is what i'm dreaming about...

White & Blue

2011-10-19T15:09:00.000+02:00

Another study for the short I want to do...

Oldies

2011-10-19T10:51:00.000+02:00

From my sketchybook

2011-10-11T15:46:00.000+02:00

Tom Buchanan

2011-10-09T17:38:00.000+02:00

I'm reading The Great Gatsby and feeling inspired by the era and the setting, I'd like to make an attempt to design some of these characters, here is a quick study for Tom Buchanan. My design for now is too suave, Tom should be more rugged and beasty, a gruff husky voice.

Art: Triumph & Despair

2011-10-07T14:48:00.000+02:00

I grew up along the West coast of Africa, in a wealthy family far away from the daily struggle of the surrounding population. A family of mixed origins, proud of its tradition and proud of it strong convictions. I remember my uncles and aunts during parties and dinners, they, loudly, loved to talk and laugh. All dressed in colorful splendid fabrics, the scene was a dazzling explosions of shapes and colors, cigarettes smoke floating in the air and the smell of J&B Whisky. They were all laughing about our own idiosyncrasies, the ape-like regime running the country and the plundering hands of western countries. While my cousins and brothers played outside, I loitered around in the living room eavesdropping on adults talk, playing waiter from time to time. The best parts was when they suddenly lower their voices almost to nothingness, so you had to read lips to complete the sentences. Stories of how they defied the government, stories of people disappearing, or the latest officials slip ups. These were fun times. Inevitably, in the story arc of any dictatorial regime, things started to get really sour when a series of plots where discovered followed by outburst of firefight. The Empire crushed the rebellion, we had no Jedi. We couldn't afford G.I to help we have no oil. The Puppet President started arresting peoples, including some of my family members. Have they been unjustly accused? I hope not. Anyway, after a year in jail, my mom got released, she decided to take care of what was more important for her, us kids, and chose expatriation. Abandoning all she has built behind to start all over. How did she got out of prison alive? My dad befriended a high ranked officer in the army. It seems after all, dancing with the devil has its perk.

Now looking back I understand where I took this pride from. The principle to stay true to my belief, even in the face of adversity. To disregard authority when it contradict my ethic. No consequences on earth is worst than the one after being subdued. It allowed me to do some pretty stupid moves in my life. It’s like a blessing and a curse at the same time.

I grew up with the conviction that I could achieve anything that is humanly possible, probably more... As long as there is a will. So with pride, I decided to become a video-game artist. Some people think artists are born as they are, that the gift of artistry is given at birth. Therefore failure was the only outcome, there was nothing in me at birth. Just an empty canvas. My parents aren’t artists, I barely drew as a kid, my favorite subject matters in school was math, right handed, outside as far as I was concerned all shadows where grey. My only asset was a deep love for video-games. I started sending my portfolio to various studios across the globe, mainly 3D renders but I soon realize that I wasn't up to the standard. My technical knowledge was fine, but I lacked something. I couldn't articulate it, because I couldn’t speak a word of a language I wasn't even aware of. Out of this relentless job search, help came. It was one of these rejection letters, but unlike the others, it had some pointers on how to improve. I can't retrace that person today, but she took the time to explain to me what was wrong in my work, the 3D modeling itself was fine, but my presentation was weak. I had a 3D render of a church lighted in a horrible way, light was white, contrast was low, the image was boring to look at, all the incredible amount of details was meaningless. She told me, “Think batman, think star wars, be dramatic”...and my life changed. I started to see in colors and few months later I landed at Ubisoft.

Was I an artist then? Nope... to some extent I was faking it. Which ultimately led to the impostor syndrome. Thinking that soon someone will discover who you really are. Instead I was moving up the ladder...my work was often chosen to be used for public demo by the marketing team...I was flabbergasted. I tried to catch up, life drawing, pastel painting, photography and addiction to art book. Along the years, I became Art Director, and the pressure even grew stronger. Socially it sure felt good, but at home in the quietness of the night it was a horrible thing. The shoes and the hat felt far too big. Even after shipping my first game as AD, Splinter Cell Double Agent 360, I was still feeling mediocre. I was entangled in a strange dynamics, while I was getting approval from my peers and superiors, earning a regular paycheck for my art capabilities, I was still doubting myself, yet trusting that I could be greater than what I was currently offering. I picked up watercolors and started blogging, first to keep a record of this journey, but also to be out there, naked, in the community.

I remember in 2006 opening an old sketchbook from 2001, It was shocking, because I really liked what I found in it. I was discovering it like someone else’s sketchbook. I got sad, because I felt I couldn't draw the same way... total confusion. The content of the old sketchbook was fresh and done innocently, my sketchbook of 2007 was done with a tons of art principles that I was trying to control at once. Direction, Value, Rhythm, Balance, etc... In 2001 I was drawing from the heart, intuitively. In 2007 I was drawing with clumsily acquired knowledge, cold.

Undeniably I was progressing, just unaware of it. It’s a slow painstaking process, it will make you doubt and reach dark places, sporadically intermitted with intense moment of joy and creative flow. No matter what, you have to persist for what you really want, do not subdue to popular belief around any craft, you choose who and what you want to be. You’re the one setting the tune for your life. It’s just take time.

The greatest help I’ve received was surely through friendship that came along. There are generous people out there, talented, giving away all they can for the sheer pleasure of sharing. Sometime in a friendly manners, sometime like a knife thru your skull. One way or another, the key is to really listen without being gullible, drop the ego, take a step backward, squint, evaluate and only then you’ll know what to do.

If I could give any advices to art students and people dreaming of a life of artistry, be aware of these few points below. They reflect the beliefs in which I found comfort and enable me to do what was needed to become who I wanted to be.

1-Artists are made, not born.

2-Trust in yourself, don’t ever give up.

3-You will rarely discover things on your own, share that journey with others.

4-There will always be a difference between your vision and what you’re able to do.

Its the only way to grow.

5-Fake it til you make it.

Today, am I an artist? Yes, I am, I’ve chosen to.

Do I paint/Draw like I want to? Nope. Far from it.

Will I ever be able to? I doubt it, but that’s the way it should be.

There is no destination, only an open road ahead.

SHoWMaN

2011-09-21T16:17:00.002+02:00

If you've been in a karaoke night with me, you'd know who that guy is!

Trying Stuff

2011-09-19T16:43:00.003+02:00

Meanwhile...

2011-09-15T14:10:00.001+02:00

Some stuff I've been doing recently, the piece below is a piece I did helping some friends, Watercolors on 1/4 Arches paper, then inked with a japanese brush pen. The life drawing is a 20 minutes poses same size 1/4 of a full sheet. I'm quite happy how it turned out, I usually struggle a lot with althetic or skinny models. I'm starting to feel a maturity in my colors arrangment. Ahhhh.... progress at last...

San Francisco #2

2011-09-04T23:10:00.001+02:00

I recently spent few days in San Francisco. I love being there, and that city love me. The diamond sparkling sidewalk and the beauty of the constant changing light from sunshine to fog in half a minute. With countless waves of panhandlers with each a unique way of approaching you. I've joined Dr Sketchy to wash down some tequila and shuffle my brushes. The highlight of that trip was the quest for the perfect burritos, and I think I found it at La Corneta on Diamond street. Steak & Shrimp, serious $%@%$! I also discover a great breakfeast place, Pinecrest Diner. They have a mean Reuben. Already looking forward to get there again.

Me & Jin

2011-07-08T12:34:00.001+02:00

I'm very fortunate these days, Jin, living in Singapore, has decided to take a little break to visit Shanghai. So here we are, walking down the cut-throat alley of Shanghai. Armed with brushes and paper, we assault all shapes, volumes, shades, and mood daring to challenge us. We're unstoppable, riding the surf of our washes trying to land on the shore of beauty island. The fight is fierce but under the constant gaze of the curious Shanghainese crowd.

Tong Li

2011-06-26T13:46:00.003+02:00

Today I went out of Shanghai. After an hour bus ride, I've arrived in a rural area of China, a beautiful village, with water canal a la Venise. The old town center is forbidden to cars. It's quiet and peaceful, It's The postal Card's China. I've fled the tourist track, and wandered in the tight alley until I stumble upon this view. I've unfold my stuff and paint. Some kids were occasionally passing by.

The Crow

2011-06-16T12:24:00.000+02:00

The main evil character of the the animated short I'm working on. This is just a 1st draft to get the ball rolling. Ideally I would like more stylized lines and shapes. A lot has been lost in the watercolor phase, and I was too eager to ink them back... and failed most of them. I'll give another try someday.

Coquelicot Picnic

2011-06-12T17:50:00.002+02:00

The setup of the animated short I'm working on. Nothing is settle yet, we're still exploring at the moment. I like the way this one turned out. How the flowers scatter across it. I'm trying to illustrate... "The perfect day to propose".

Liu Shu

2011-06-09T15:50:00.000+02:00

I had a lot of fun yesterday, I went outside of my palette, I tried a combination of Orange Iron Oxide, Nickel Azo Yellow and Indigo. I really liked to work with these pigments, the azo is very very strong, but the two others are very transparent and need a good wit to have them to punch. They are very forgiving when making unsure marks, as they lift off the paper very easily. In this particular session, I had trouble with the head, the model had quite a large head compared to her body, so i tried to compensate, but... I guess I did too much. All poses were 30minutes.

Env Design #2

2011-05-30T16:16:00.002+02:00

A second sketch following my yesterday's attempt. I'll do few more iteration of this one, to really get where I want. 2 things noted from yesterday: First the background wasnt distant enough with the foreground, I partially fixed this issue on the left part, but I still feel some fighting near the main tree and the bushes at the back. Secondly, the overal was too cool(in term of atmosphere not color) for what I wanted, so today, I forbidded the use of ultramarine blue(not completely) but mostly relied on Phtalo Blue, the overall result give a much more sun filled atmosphere. This is confusing because Ultramarine is a warm blue... and phtalo is cool... how cooling off a palette get you a warmer effect of light? Strange but it works...

Some Updates

2011-05-29T15:35:00.001+02:00

Ok, so The short movie is done, we shot it last weekend, but we couldnt make it to the 48hours competition, the render time took 30min too long. We missed de deadline by a hair. Nonetheless the movie was still screened tonight, but unfortunetly I missed it... duh... yeah I know, I was already absorbed by something else... the other short movie I'm working on. Below are some recent studies I've been doing.

10,000

2011-05-17T04:34:00.002+02:00

There is saying, every great artist has at least 10,000 bad drawings behind them. Considering another theory, to be excellent at something, you'll need 10,000 hours of practice. At 5000hr you can teach, at 8000hr you're good, but at 10,000 you're excellent. I tried to make a count... of how many hours I've been doing all this, since... 2001. I've reached a gross average of 6000hours. Considering my daily job is kinda related and the amount of actual practice I'm doing outside of the job. What is seen on this blog, is maybe 1/20 of what I'm actually doing. (All failures are usually tore to pieces before the water has dried out.)

There are 8760 hours per year, in which 2/3 is dedicated to work and sleep. The last third is to eat, leisure, transportation etc... so there isn't much left for self improvement. If you're lucky enough to work in your field of interest, you can leverage some of the 2920 hours you spend in the office for self improvement. Otherwise it's really hard to get off the office, reach home, be good at parenting, and then find some time to improve. But not impossible if you believe in it. And remember that....The only way for an artist to fail, is to quit too early.

Below is a study for a character research I'm doing for an animated short. More to come later!

Zhu Fang Hua

2011-05-11T17:40:00.004+02:00

Today, we had our first life drawing at the office. I had the pleasure to call on Zhu Fang Hua, an old friend I met in 2005 when she was modeling for us back then. She didnt change much, even her poses where quite the same style. I still have some of thoses drawings, it might be fun to compare a series and do some reenactment. Overall today was a very good session, and I believe one of the sketches could be another cornerstone of this journey. I'm not quite sure, because I want to see it again tomorrow, with new eyes. But tonight I love it and I want to share it. When I saw the pose, I knew something was bound to happen, and it was up to me. The way the light was falling, and the gesture she was holding, I couldn't let it slip.

Palette is M. Graham, Cadmium yellow deep, cadmium red, ultramarine blue, and tiny touches of Alizarin. On Arches CP 140lbs, rough.

Movie studies

2011-05-04T16:00:00.003+02:00

I've been doing some movie studies, practicing color mixing. I'm learning a lot doing this, especially how deceiving a color can be when juxtaposed with another. You might think something is blue, because you perceive it as blue, but in reality it's a dull green.

Change of Focus

2011-04-29T14:41:00.001+02:00

I haven't post anything for while. I've been happily busy at home, at the office. I also find some time to do some introspection. Thru the course of these last few years, I've made tremendous progress, artistically and technically. I worked my patience with the whims of water. I remember when I settled for this journey in 2006, buying my first kit of watercolor, brushes, papers, reading Charles Reid instructional book. I didn't know much about what was ahead of me. It was an adventure into new territories. A typical journey of self discovery :), sound cliche. It all started with a specific goal: Learn to paint with watercolor. Inevitably, all I could find along the way, under every stone I was flipping, was fragments of myself. I learned a lot about me and what I could achieve. I always had misconception about my abilities, things I thought I could or couldn't do. This journey, so far, has been everything except boring. On multiple occasions, I was fighting myself, my ignorance, my impatience, my stubbornness and so on and so on. I'm definitely more serene, when it comes to painting. Which is good, I guess only few people would know the internal gust of emotion such an enterprise could cast. The bitterness of failure or the intense joy of "nailing it down". So... where am I going with this thread... Change of focus, right. I've done a lot of observation drawings/paintings, I've neglected the storytelling aspect of art. My ultimate goal is still to entertain people. Characterization, mood, stylization....here I come.

Along with that goal, I have 2 projects in the pipe,

A short animated movie, I doing some characters & env design, and later some shader, lighting and rendering.

A Short live action, which should be finished by the end of May 2011, I'm DOP & 1st Camera.

Stay tuned, I'll be posting more stuff as soon as I can.

Cheers,
Audran

The name is Bond... err I mean Audran...

2011-03-11T10:41:00.002+01:00

My neighborhood harbor many embassies, as I walk often nearby, I always thought their fixed security guard would make great subject to sketch/paint. Let me tell you the story of this little watercolor.

I was out, dying winter, the light was awesome. I was in no hurry, and of course I had my full watercolor set in my bag. I was hunting for a subject. I walked past an embassy, with their guards standing like statues. Now is the time I thought. So I walk around it to find the best subject of em all. My gaze stopped at the little one. He was in the light, nicely cut and define. I quickly glanced around, and found on the opposite sidewalk a nice place to seat. So I sat... pulled my pad and pencil out and started sketching. As my drawing was progressing, I realize that the little one wasnt still anymore... he was using his walky-talky. uh-oh...and he was looking at me. hmmm problably nothing I thought. Then he went still again, but not for long... he walked into the cabin behind him and use the phone... still starring at me. Ok, it's about me... should I pack and leave!??!? no that would look too suspicious... they'd probably shoot me in the back. A dark man, thick black beard, black fisherman cap, in black clothing, with piercing deadly eyes, in front of a europeen embassy... any law enforcement manual would grant them the right to shoot on sight. No keep cool I thought... I unpacked the rest of my gear, just in case they wanted to have a closer look before opening fire. One guy came to talk with the little one... they talked...looking at me. On my left I could see another guy coming, he had crossed the streets, and was walking toward me, a hand on his holster... This is the time you wish you have Ninja SmokeBomb in your pocket. I didnt. He was smiling and that was creeping me out. Trigger happy kinda smile. At last something was happening in his day, and maybe today he'll have to open fire on a deadly threat. As he was getting closer, I wondered... should I raise my hand in the air like in movies? very slowly... and avoid any brusque movement. No my stuff could fall on the ground. He was now close enough to see my full arsenal. Brushes, pencil, paper... and colors... he sighs, and shout to the others, "TA HUA!!!" (he is drawing). The little one rushed to the phone in the cabin... came back and wave at him. A little "ni hao" came out of my mouth. "b-bye" he replied. The little one went still again, I could continue my study. At the end... I folded my stuff, and gave him a little military salute. He nodded back. I hope nothing happen at this embassy in the near future... They probably got plenty of satellite imagery of me, I must have been followed and my photo is probably hanging in a Chinese Secret Service Agency for a full background check. The name is ~~Bond~~ Audran... Audran Guerard.

Project with friends

2011-02-26T06:05:00.003+01:00

I havent posted anything much recently, here is an insight with a project i'm working on with some friends.

Focus?

2011-02-05T02:38:00.000+01:00

When it comes to plein air painting, the most annoying part for me, is how to deal with curious people. I know I shouldnt feel that way, because in the end, they are just people interested in art and curious to see the process. From my point of view, onlookers are a concentration breaker. Where I'm pulled out of my bubble, and start being too concern about how the painting look at every stage. Anyway, this time, I tried to stay focus. The crowd was just getting bigger and bigger. Like a flock of seagull around a McDonald trash bin. at some point I had to ask the people in front of me to clear out, because I couldn't see the landscape I was trying to paint. Anyway, I think it's a good school, if you need to learn how not to care, Shanghai is THE place to do your plein air painting.

Playing the Ball

2011-02-03T10:00:00.003+01:00

Retro, Another Attempt

2011-02-01T03:17:00.001+01:00

Retro

2011-01-30T00:59:00.002+01:00

I like vintage stuff, retro, 50s, 60s. So I would like to make a serie of vintage-like playmate kind of things. Inspired by graphics and fabrics design for the background. I start with an old life drawing studies I did. I redraw the pose, and then compose the background. This one is actually my 4th attempt. Roughly a total 8 hours in the making.

San Francisco

2011-01-29T04:24:00.003+01:00

Two quick studies I've done while I was in SF, the 1st one is the EA campus at Redwood, and the second one, is a dog on Haight street. I went to Napa, but by the time I started painting, the sun disappeared on the vineyard and I couldnt finish it. :) Too bad because it was a beautiful sight, at Whiterock winery, the wine tasting was quite nice too. One thing that strike me everytime I reach California, is the quality of the light. The sun is much brighter than everywhere else I've been. Very similar to south of france type of sun.

Sarah & Genevieve

2011-01-15T09:33:00.001+01:00

I've been revisiting some of my work I did few months ago, discovering them as if they were from someone else. What was bothering back then seems to have vanished, with the memory of what I wanted them to be. I haven't done life drawing since we landed in Shanghai. But have some opportunities ahead, I'm flying for 2 weeks in San Francisco, and I've already spotted some places I can drop in. I will try to do some landscape too.

Sarah

Genevieve

The New Pigments

2010-12-11T12:50:00.003+01:00

I've often been deceived by watercolors once they dry out, they loose their saturation and a bit of value. I've read this almost in every book and blog, I thought it was something normal inherent to the medium, and that I was supposed to live with it, Until now... Few weeks ago, I was browsing dickblick.com, I was about to order papers and some new tubes... then the question came... I've always used Holbein since the very beginning, sometime W&N, Schmick but mostly Holbein. It was recommended by the famous Charles Reid, the price was cheap and it was made in Japan. All 3 elements to convince me this was good stuff. I got curious about other manufacturers, ended up my search on handprint.com. So I decided to try out M. Graham & Co. My stuff finally arrived, I threw out the old pigment, put all Graham in my palette and started painting. I was under the impression that the colors were much brighter than usual... but I wasn't sure... afraid of being under the placebo effect. But the next day, without her knowing that I had changed anything, my wife commented on the new painting, she talked mosltly about the unusual bright colors. Bingo! M. Graham & Co succeed the wife test.

So today I have 3 tips,

Watercolors : M. Graham & Co

Art Webstore: DickBlick.com

Information about pigments: handprint.com

With new pigments, come a new approach :) I just wanted to do some fun stuff, I like doing little stubby characters.

5x7 Study

2010-12-04T14:13:00.002+01:00

I was walking down FuZhou Lu, and found this skull in plaster. 22RMB(4USD), I grabbed it, it was still wet, not fully dry. FuZhou lu is probably my favorite street in Shanghai, it harbor many art shop, and books stores. For a tenth of what it could cost in any other city. I also found a Kazuo Oga art book. When I look at his stuff, I feel like trying some gouache.

5x7 Study

2010-12-04T02:46:00.002+01:00

The more I do it, the more I realize that it's only now that I'm really serious about painting. Alla Prima's book has taught me things I wasn't even aware of. My biggest challenge is to identify value and hue with accuracy. I think I'll make myself 5 punched card of 5 different values, from white to black. So I can evaluate on the scene by looking thru the punched hole, what is the range of the value I'm seeing.

This is our Hotel Apartement.

Shanghai Shanghai

2010-11-27T10:16:00.004+01:00

Here are some of the little studies I've been doing recently, walking down the street until something get my attention, but then again, it need to be a suitable spot to sit or lean on something to paint. On my palette I'm carrying, Ultramarine, Phtalo Blue, Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Cadmium & Yellow Lemon. Big focus on temperatures, I've discover interesting ways of making greys. I'm using a little block, Fabriano, 5x7 inches, 140lbs, grana fina, cp. 2010 is a year of progress for me, encouraging for what is coming next.

Temperatures

2010-11-13T16:44:00.001+01:00

During the last few weeks, I've read most of the book I was talking about, Alla Prima. I was very impatient to go out and try out some of the new discoveries I've found. Especially on color temperatures and ways of identifying colors with accuracy. I was excited to paint in Shanghai, new sceneries & the beautiful light of autumn. It was quite disappointing in fact. I find it very very hard these days to paint, because I have a lot of insight on what I was doing wrong, but also because now I'm more sensitive and aware of many aspect of painting (well i guess). I will assume that the current setback is actually a good thing, trying to swallow huge chunk of informations, while my clumsy right brain is trying to make sense out of it.

One of the biggest misconception I had about painting was... "Get the value right, and it will look fine!" Wrong!!! Well it will look ok, but not great, You also need to get your temperature contrast right, if you want your work to stand out. (unless you work in monochromatic, but this is not my lane).

This little "revolution" brought me back to the selection of colors I was using and even on their organization on my palette. Even thinking of designing my own palette. I used to skip the color theory chapter in every book I was reading. Big Mistake, I will practice at least twice a week to paint a color wheel, with variation in saturation and brightness. Using 3 primary colors, with a warm and cool version of each. Also I will restraint my outdoor paintings to 5x7 inches painting, to really focus on color identification and technical mixing.

A Must Share

2010-10-30T08:51:00.000+02:00

I would like to recommend a book, which has been recommended before me by Daisuke Tsutsumi. Alla Prima by Richard Schmid, http://www.richardschmid.com/ It is a must have book for anyone serious about painting. Full of Ah-Ha! moment and revelations, a cheap price to pay for the real value in it. The focus is not on technics, but more on various principles. Relevant to any medium you might choose.

Here we go again

2010-10-28T02:54:00.000+02:00

I havent post recently, not because I'm not drawing/painting, I'm still. But mainly because I'm going thru a big change in my life at the moment. Things weren't working well at my job, so I resigned, ending an 11 years at Ubisoft, feels a lifetime. When I joined, I was single, no kid, clueless about art in general. I'm now married, 2 kids, lived in 4 differents country, slightly less clueless about art. I had good times at Ubisoft, learned a lot and met great peoples. But in order to continue to grow in the direction I want, I had to resign. In a few weeks I'll be relocating to Shanghai, for EA. Looking forward to it :) Shanghai has some of the best masters of chinese painting & sumi-e I'll sure join some classes there and pratice the oriental brushworks.

Plein air Singapore

2010-09-07T11:04:00.002+02:00

Here are some on-site painting I did recently. both the same day. A bright sunny day, slightly hazy. While I was painting the statue of Raffles, a tourist stopped by and started talking... I quickly sent him away. That was rude, but I was proud. I cant talk while I paint, I'm trying hard to stay in the zone, I cant tolerate intruders. The incident threw me off anyway, you can see how the legs are.... bleh... So my advice to non-painter trying to make contact with a painter: Shut the fuck up and keep your distance, If you cant resist the urge to talk, wait till the job is done.

Once in a while

2010-08-10T15:30:00.001+02:00

Once in a while, (for some unknown reasons, could be the alignment of the stars, or the breakfast you had 5 weeks ago), you do a piece of work so strong to your eyes, that they become instant icons, or I should say a cornerstone of your journey. It's embedding all the qualities I've always wanted to put in a painting. It's the type of artwork that makes me jealous of other artists. I would have seen it a gallery show, and I would've said... "oh I wish I could do something as powerfully as that!" Well today, I take a rest and content myself with this piece. It's a proof of progress in this journey, and there is nothing sweeter as a feeling. Acquiring skills, this is what it is all about. Now... have to improve from this cornerstone!

Time Lapse Life Drawing

2010-08-06T19:05:00.000+02:00

Movie Study

2010-08-03T18:26:00.001+02:00

Phtalo Blue, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna

Movie Study

2010-08-02T06:45:00.003+02:00

Phtalo Blue, Viridian Green, Burnt Sienna.

Meet Geoffrey

2010-07-31T16:52:00.002+02:00

A very nice session today. I'm quite pleased with the output. But the real surprise was after the session, when models usually run away. Geoffrey sat outside with us, and dived into the pleasures of alcohol & tobacco. Drinks in hands, we talked about a myriad of things. His traveling adventures, my blog, the inability of frenchmen to fluenty speak a foreign language. Later on, a thought rose in my mind. Our next session has already started, my next drawings of him are already in progress. But from the inside out this time. Quite a character he is, poised gentleman, polyglot, ex royal navy, master diver, cigar afficionados... He could have said 007 I would have believed it, but he prefered to qualify himself as... Kong Long.

A tough but rewarding session.

2010-07-25T07:15:00.002+02:00

So, as you may know, I've opened up my private session to friends and other artists seeking the thrill of life drawing. Yesterday, a bunch of frriends came along, with Xu Hui. I've setted up the lighting and all. Unfortunely my currents skills doenst allow me to portay the dramatic effect we had. Another attempt, not shown here for ego reasons, blatantly failed when I tried to use strong colors. I got myself a bunch of watersoluble oil tube. It's supposed to handle exactly like oil, without the hassle of oil, no smell, easy cleaning with water and soap. I'll give it a try stay tuned.

Night Ambiance

2010-07-18T07:14:00.003+02:00

French Ultramarine Blue, Phtalo Blue, Phtalo Green, Hooker Green & Burnt Sienna

Colored Lighting #1

2010-07-16T16:57:00.002+02:00

Dark Complexion for Frazetta

2010-07-12T11:19:00.002+02:00

I got this idea recently to make a tribute to Frazetta, my idea is to paint a Zulu Warrior (inspired by a TV show I was watching when I was kid... long long time ago). For me this hommage need to be grande, so It has to be the biggest canvas I've ever painted. Putting into it, almost, everything I've learned about the craft of picture making. I did studies, dust off my Bridgman collection, made capture of the TV Show, download hundred of pictures of the work of Frazetta. Eventually I started drawing. Then only I started panicking. I never painted a black person, succesfully. The skin seems dark, but in fact highly reflective, sligthly mosturized, it will make the darkest Senegalese bright and blue like the sky. I couldn't wrap my head around this complex problem. I looked at few frazetta for an answers, but in most case he relied on 1 or 2 colors with strong emphasis on value and reflection. But I dont want to go the monochrome way. On my desk I have a figurine of a Masai girl, and I started doing some test with her. I end up using alizarin, brunt umber, cobalt and ultramarine blue.

The figurine is done by Spencer Davis, look at his website.

Here is the Zulu himself, heavy and thick a la Frazetta. The paper is a full sheet of Arches Watercolors Paper. His right hand (too small at the moment will hold a spear). I will post my progress from time to time.

Life Drawing Session

2010-07-11T08:58:00.000+02:00

Oye Oye!

Starting next week, I will transform my living room, into an art studio. I will conduct life drawing in the evenings,

and week end for the next 4 weeks. This will be open to the public at a rate of 25$ for 3 hours. This is not a class, bring your own material(except oil and acrylics).

Different types of session are going to be available.

- Nude Long poses (3 poses of 1 hour each)

- Nude Various poses (1min, 5min, 10min, 20min.)

- Portrait (Dramatic Lighting)

Stay tuned, I will give details soon.

Xu Hui

2010-07-06T05:55:00.000+02:00

Still Life

2010-06-30T02:30:00.001+02:00

Monday Night Life Drawing

2010-06-22T03:15:00.003+02:00

The Last pose of the session. I mostly focus on contour drawing I wasn't in the zone at all. At the end of the session, something snapped... and here is the result.

Turf Club #2

2010-06-19T17:04:00.001+02:00

One more time!

2010-06-11T16:46:00.000+02:00

Cheating a bit...

2010-06-10T16:01:00.001+02:00

It does feel good to change medium. I've been inspired a lot lately by Dice Tsutsumi, his website and the artbook of Toy Story 3. I really like his lighting and colors tone. Vibrant and full of life. Anyway I just wanted to do something different. So I've downloaded Painter 11, and used the Pastel brush. The superman design is a very old little sketch I did some time ago.

Some recent stuff

2010-06-05T08:22:00.002+02:00

So I was exploring different things, new pigment, such as hooker green & mineral violet. I also tried to fix the elephant, while I think it's a more successful sketch, there are still many things that annoy me about this piece. But as Robert Henri said, never throw a piece until you understand what isn't working.

Phtalo Green Jungle

2010-05-31T18:16:00.003+02:00

I never liked phtalo green, mainly due to my ignorance on how to use it. The color always felt too vibrant and unatural to my taste. Remember me the felt pen kids use. But today, I discovered mixed with Venise Red and Burnt Sienna, you can get very interesting greys, At some point I really needed a dark value, the only way to get it (without adding an intrusive hue) was to mix ultramarine and phtalo green. For the very first time, I did a value thumbnail sketch before painting. I have to admit, it was a true help.

Red Cherry Lauren

2010-05-21T20:09:00.002+02:00

Monday session

2010-05-18T19:17:00.000+02:00

We had a new model for monday, it's always nice to get a change. She posed marvelously. I tried various technics, and some poses using just pencil lines, delineating the silhouette emphasizing only what I felt necessary. The first drawing at the bottom, suddenly hit me when I reached home, the whole body type remembered me an old photo of Simone de Beauvoir took by Art Shay. The pose is different, but it could've been her.

A trip to Long Island Iced Tea

2010-05-11T16:06:00.000+02:00

Long Island Iced Tea is the nickname I gave to Tioman Island in Malaysia. Principally because this is the only thing I've been drinking for 4 days, only to stop while I was sleeping or snorkeling. If I had a device to feed me with LIIT during snorkeling I would probably have rented it too.Yeah you can call me a drunk. But out of this drinking-bout, I tried what J.S.Sargent would have done, seizing the moment with water and pigment.

1938 - Progress

2010-04-17T11:48:00.001+02:00

Like a private Dr. Sketchy. I had Kim in my studio today. I dressed him like the characters of my project.

@ Home with Xu Hui #3

2010-04-06T13:35:00.002+02:00

@ Home with Xu Hui #2

2010-04-03T07:46:00.002+02:00

A private session, an average of 1hour per pose. My favorite palette, Phtalo Blue, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna, Cadmium red & Schminck English Venetian Red.

Some recent stuff

2010-03-27T11:33:00.001+01:00

Last Session with Lee Jia

2010-03-15T18:03:00.004+01:00

A cool session, 30 min poses, enough time to quickly sketch, do some planning... wetting paper and brush... and of to the next. I like cropping, seems to make the whole thing a lot easier. It is actually... the less you do, odds are you will make less mistakes too. Lee Jia will leave to Australia, that was our last session with her, it's always sad to see a good model leaving... need to find a replacement.

The Boxer

2010-03-09T15:52:00.002+01:00

Meet Dan Lin

2010-03-09T13:16:00.003+01:00

Our life drawing on Monday has been cancelled due to spring break. So I decided to move the session to my new home studio... after all Saturday was a terrific experience and I wanted to do it again. With Jin(yes he's a lot around lately and I appreciate his presence) we occupied my small room, unfold our palettes and sunk into the realm of water and pigments. This time I used a Saunders HP paper, smooth as silk. I actually really liked it's flexibility. Drawing with lead, it's quite easy to erase without damaging the surface of the paper. I used the same colors as Saturday.

@ Home with Xu Hui

2010-03-06T10:35:00.001+01:00

Me and Jin had Xu Hui for ourselves for a 3hours session. We did 3 poses of 1 hour each(more or less). It was very fun, and we'll surely reproduce the experience. I painted on 140lbs, 31x41cm with my new palette made of English Red, Raw Sienna, Phtalo Blue, with dash of Cadmium Red and Ultramarine Blue.

Daily WC with Jin

2010-03-04T17:10:00.002+01:00

Yesterday It was the first of a series with my friend Jin. We are encouraging ourselves to do at least one watercolor per night after work, and mms it to each other. The taxi driver was yesterday's one. Today I made this one, after a failure. Not really a failure, but I wasn't satisfied, especially when I saw Jin's. A beautifull render of Bob Marley. I was jealous.... so I went back to my easel. I allowed myself to use reference, Sam Riley from Franklin. I didn't watch the whole movie yet. My palette is Ultramarine Blue, Phtalo Blue, English Red, Cadmium red and a very tiny hint of Cadmium yellow. Fabriano Paper 140lbs, 24x32cm.

Yielding power

2010-03-03T16:54:00.003+01:00

I was on my way home few days ago and quickly sketched this old taxi driver. Depleted by an entire life of hard labor, yet holding the wheel with a firm grip. His arms, pure nerves, yield the Toyota Crown thru the busy streets of Singapore. Safely arriving home, i folded my pad with the firm intention, to constantly wield my brushes the same way, with confidence and intensity. Few days later, I took the sketch and applied watercolors to it. Phtalo Blue & English Red(schimcke). I use a hake brush for 3/4 of the job. I forgot how much I loved this brush. Size is 24x32 cm, on 140lbs Fabriano paper.

Sentosa

2010-03-02T09:59:00.002+01:00

Sunday I went to Sentosa beach, the sun was all out, and the distance was very hazy. It was hard not to squint. The wind was blowing, and it was hard to keep my equipment at one place. Ants and flies came in helping me adding textures. None died in the process. The original size are 9.5 x 12.5 inches, my scanner is slightly smaller so they're a bit cropped. My palette was Phtalo Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt sienna, raw sienna, some yellow cadmium & very little cadmium red.

Dr. Sketchy #11

2010-02-27T14:13:00.002+01:00

Again, Xu Hui

2010-02-22T17:52:00.008+01:00

I've talked about her many times before. The way I feel used after a session with her. During break, she'll walk up to my easel, nod, sometime smile and simply walk away. She speak moslty mandarin, and I'm not really able to converse with her. So I don't really know what's on her mind when she see render of her thru my eyes. She might actually learn more about me than herself. I'm the one being really naked there. My sight stop at her skin, she must see far beyond mine. For this session I used Red Cadmium & Phtalo Blue. I really like this combination and the range of grey in-between.

Cloudy Sunday by the pool

2010-02-21T16:35:00.002+01:00

I don't know how to name this entry.

2010-02-19T18:41:00.004+01:00

Thursday afternoon, the sun was playing hide and seek with me. I wanted to go out but a menacing cloud was hovering constantly. Stubborn as usual, I went out and took a cab. Apparently, the cloud was just above my condo, the rest of Singapore was bright and shiny. I sat down near Arab Street, ordered a lemonade, and start painting furiously. After an hour and 2 glasses, I wasn't happy at all with the result. I finished it the next morning, darkening and cooling the shadowed area. I also added some figures, they could have been done better.

This one was inspired by a photo I saw on fffffffound. It was a CCTV camera, with a big square on top of it, with two holes. The picture lingered in my mind for days... so I put down my version of CCTV Robot.

1938 -Progress

2010-02-19T18:31:00.001+01:00

I like the progress I did with this project, I'm getting looser, unlike the previous one I showed. I really wanna keep the properties of the watercolors. Fresh, spontaneous, suggesting rather than depicting. I added Phtalo blue in my palette. Ultramarine wasn't enough, too warm. It needed a cold blue.

Char Dev #4

2010-02-15T15:10:00.001+01:00

Few research today on this project, I find it too stiff and not fluid enough. I will try something more misty, blurred and moody.

Practice, practice and pratice.

2010-02-15T15:04:00.002+01:00

To train my ability to see clearly and also pigments mixture reflexes, I bought few blocks, painted them with poster colors. I put them in different lighting situation and try to reproduce them. I am ashamed to say that my actual difficulty was to draw those cube solidly. They always end up being skewed, different size, or floating around. I really like the exercices, the simplicity of it make mistakes much more visible. Another good point is you dont spent too much time drawing, but more time is spent focusing on colors and mixing them. I went back to the store to get donut, cones and cylinder, I will paint them with secondary colors.

Happy Chinese New Year

2010-02-12T12:41:00.003+01:00

Happy Chinese New Year! I used to hate the process of digital painting, the total opposite of watercolors. The safety net of unlimited undo render me simply unable to progress. Deleting, and redoing, to arrive at my starting point, a blank file. But lately I gave it a more serious try, there is so many possibilities.

Anyway, I'll make this new year mine. Sorry for being egocentric here, but 2010 for me is a do or die kind of thing. I have a burning passion for where I wanna go. It will happen this year. We can call this a a serious commitment, a pledge. I crawled, I walked, I'm running... it's time to jump and soar.

Zhao Li with Ink

2010-02-08T16:25:00.023+01:00

It was good to see her again, simply yet gracious, she posed with ease. At time candid. I hesitated to go in with colors or just black. I haven't done pure value study in a while so the question was, why not?

After the 1 minute pose warming session, we did 15min studies. There was few uninspiring poses from my point of view, I just did some hands\feets studies.

Marlene Inspired

2010-02-07T08:31:00.001+01:00

Still in my mood for Hooks and McGinnis, I tried to reproduce a Marlene Dietrich b&w photo. I didnt try to go for the likeness. Gotta find another cheesy title for this one. For my next exercise I should try to tell a story within the frame.

Pulpish Mae West

2010-02-06T10:17:00.002+01:00

I always been attracted to old master from the impressionist era, but i'm getting more and more attracted to the american illustrators of the 40's to 60's. Like Robert McGinnis or Mitchell Hooks. They were giants in the business of mystery books. I wouldnt be surprised if Sienkewicz or Ashley Wood were both inspired by these two. Especially Hooks, with his more graphic style. So I was fooling around in my studio. Nujabes was playing loud, and I decided to try something in that genre. I used a black and white photo of Mae West as reference.Now i need a bold super long cheesy title, like... "Don't wait for me, i'll be dead by then." or "Kiss me twice then die."

Session with Rachel

2010-02-02T03:00:00.000+01:00

This session started quite hard, but in the end I manage to do some. Near the end of the session, I realize actually that I was bored only trying to draw the model, and I suddenly got excited when I choose to include the background in the process, I should've started this long time ago.

Char Dev #3

2010-01-23T14:29:00.001+01:00

So again, saturday, locked in my room and forcing down something. I did some figure studies, browsing history books, reading about the Kwantung Army. I wanted later to make a full render in Watercolor, but I felt too exhausted after 3hr of drawing\researching. My concentration stamina is quite low :).

Johnny

2010-01-22T11:38:00.002+01:00

Forgive the harshness of my scanner, sometime it's just refuse certain kind of colors & contrast. Anyway, I was experimenting with the palette I use for my graphic novel, I wanna get used to it and express as many as i can with this 4 colors. I didn't do much at this session, my mind was wandering with a lot of uncool stuff. I tried to go for a slowly contour type of drawing.

Character Dev #2

2010-01-17T02:15:00.002+01:00

Again this saturday, went and sat on my desk, with grapefruit juice and Bob Marley. Few days after my previous post on 1938, I was unappealed by the characters I drew. They were stiff, and complicated. The whole week I promised myself to try to simplify them. I like the 3rd Yamamoto, but somehow I can't keep the consistency drawing like this. Unnatural to me. Honda is better than last time, but can be simplify more. The bigger I draw the more complex things are. Like if empty space on the paper was beging for a pencil stroke or a wash. I also felt the need to expand my palette with Raw Sienna, a nice yellow was missing.

Character dev

2010-01-02T07:17:00.002+01:00

I've done 2 concepts today for my graphic novel, 2 characters. I barricaded myself in my room, with some grapefruit juice and loud music. Very limited palette, burnt sienna and french ultramarine blue, I kinda like it, and probably will stick to it. I have a problem keeping the pace with this project, the time spent on it is too random.

Singapore Turf Club

2010-01-01T10:09:00.001+01:00

I took my brushes for a walk today, went to the Turf Club on Bukit Timah. I have to make horses studies for my graphic novel. It's the perfect place for what I need. After few quick sketches, I noticed a young one holding still. Gotcha! Burnt Sienna, Ultramarine, Indian Yellow.

My Friend Venturi

2009-12-19T06:07:00.004+01:00

I promised a long time ago to do a portrait of him, the first one doesnt look like him, but I like the painting itself. the character behind. The second one is minimalist but efficient, the neck gesture and the mustach is all i needed. The hand add a groove. Bob Marley was singing all along.

One regret i have, I should have done the hair wet in wet, to soften the light on the top of the head. the cut feel very abrupt. I fought the urge to go back in, thank god. It would have been a terrible mess.

Zhao Li's Back

2009-12-15T03:26:00.005+01:00

I thought we lost her forever when she went back to china, I didn't expect her to come back at all. But when Xu Hui told me she was in town, and all of a sudden the model I had booked for yesterday cancelled at last minute, I knew who to call. And there she was, with a new haircut. She posed gracefully, as usual.

Loosing Mojo

2009-12-08T14:09:00.003+01:00

I don't know what to think of my latest attempts. Even Xu Hui couldn't wake my senses. I'm loosing a freshness i had some time ago. At that particular time, I didn't thought of having any freshness at all. Today looking back at my earlier work, is like a kick in the teeth. It's truly hurt to see stuff that you did but cannot do anymore. I expected a progression. Where am I going with all this. Maybe I should recenter on why I started it all in the beginning. The will to do a Graphic Novel, is the root of my affliction. I will be a restless soul until I fulfill my obsession. End of 2006... this is when it began. I still haven't done that graphic novel. 3 years, in the process of learning, experimenting with watercolors. I think it's time to do it before I get disgusted. I'm getting super skilled at finding excuses to not start it; Not tonight, too tired, got this new video game, wanna watch a movie and so on and so on... the list is long you wouldn't believe it. But in the end I'm only cheating myself...