When I'm not painting...

MidnightFunk_Audran by Audran Guerard on Mixcloud

Some more design/studies

 

A little study

Here is something I'm working on at the moment, I can't talk much about it at present time, but more samples and explanation will follow in the upcoming weeks.

Below is young Frederick Douglass being scolded at.

 

Meet Jennifer

 

Cornerstone! - Pascale

I've been drawing a lot recently, and I wanted to go back to the training ground and see how I was faring compared to yesteryear. When the model stroke her first pose, a 1 minute (2nd drawing from the left), I knew it was one of those "cornerstone"moment, … and I wished Frazetta was here. He would have loved to work with her. She got a powerful, curvy and sturdy body. I drew the whole night internally monologuing with Frazetta. He was mostly making fun of my drawings, and sometime smiling with satisfaction.

I left the studio with a new thought on the art of drawing…uh-oh... that I'd like to share :)

Here is a collage of the best 5 drawings. Poses ranged from 1 min to 10min. 

Drawing a model is like… "I hear what you are saying, but let me say it louder for you."

The equivalent in a verbal conversation would be, repeating after someone, with a loud Gospel or Opera voice.

e.g

Model: Look at my hip

Artist: LOOoooOOK AT MY HIIiiiIIiiIIIiiiiiP!!!!

Cheers!

sketchbook selection

From time to time, i like to visit my old sketchbooks. I browse them discovering them with fresh eyes, and new perspectives. Here is a quick selection of what caught my eyes recently.

 

 

 

 

Pastels?

After finishing my first children book, I'm thinking about what shall I do for the next one. Our next story is ready, and I would like to try something new, artistically. I'm experimenting mixing oil pastels and watercolors.

For the piece below, I started with a saturated wet in wet wash, then once it has dried, I used pastels to finish it up. I kinda like the result, I've never done something so saturated in my life. Using pastel is making me realize how weak or pale my watercolors are, and there is a much bigger range that I've barely touched yet.

For the pastels, I'm using sennelier oil stick. They are gorgeous to worth with, fat, greasy, they glide on the paper with such an ease and grace.

Still trying to figure out water

 

Following this weekend experiement, I went back to the shores of Riviere du Nord for another try.

I think I got caught up in the overwhelming amount of details, and failed to see the simplistic version of what the watercolor expression could be. I do like the value arrangement. It Does feel natural. 

Its Spring!

After 7 months back in Canada, this is my first plein air painting...and when I think of it, It's actually the very first time I was doing plein-air painting in Canada. I found this spot near my home, in a small parc called, Nicolas-Viel, the big wide building across the river is a HighSchool. The river itself is  called Riviere du nord, meaning  river of the north. It's the nothern limit of Montreal. I wanted to emphasize the gradation on the water, but I think I've overdone it a bit. I should've used a cooler darker brown. I'll surely go back later when leafs come into play.

Having a break

I took a mental break this afternoon from my current project.  Mixing colors for dark complexions still puzzle me, I should try an auto-portrait someday.

 

 

Latest Work: Fennec Cub & Butterfly

This is the project I'm working on days & nights, a children illustrated storybook. It will come first on digital platforms(ipad, kindle, android), and then later this year will be available in print. Enjoy the sneak peek!

 

 

 

With time to kill, Gotta keep running

 

 

 

 

Nathan Fowkes is coming to town!

You can register here!

Session No. 5

 

 

 

With Marie

Session #3 at Loisel's

 

 

My good friend Wayne, told me to work on my actual line, it's true that I have a tendency to fiddle too much sometime, Sweep, he says... SWEEP!  I'll show you sweeping.

Life Drawing with Regis Loisel

So I reached Montreal and I didnt loose any time to find a life drawing to join. Lucky me, it's with no other than the great Regis Loisel. I reached the studio not really sure of what to expect, I rang at the door, no answer, I stepped in...walk up the stairs... knock at the door... still no answer, but I was hearing the muffled sound of chit chat. I was just hoping to be at the right place, and not opening the door in a random family house somewhere. I pushed the door... and phew! It was the right place. People where scattered around waiting for the model to arrive. On the walls hundreds of frames hunged everywhere. I was intimidated. The caliber of the people is really high, and for a first timer, I wanted to make a good impression. It was out of question of having a bad session. The model soon arrived and started posing. Fortunately things went well and I was happy with my output. The pressure I put on myself helped me to stay focused. Below is a selection of what I consider the best of my session. 1min to 20min. Meet Veronique!