Saturday, August 27, 2011

The Giants are coming, part 2

 

Every now and then I draw a sketch of a giant. These clumsy guys have developed a bad habit of popping up in my mind without any prior announcement, like knocking on the door, or saying politely - “Is there anybody there here…”  You know, the giants usually speak quite poor English. it is as almost as bad as mine.





14 comments:

  1. Great drawings as always, Petar. I just received your sketchbook from stuartngbooks.com and it's truly wonderful.

    In an earlier post you mentioned that you had a breakthrough while learning how to paint transparent shadows. I was hoping you could elaborate on what you learned technique-wise. I'm specifically wondering how you paint your underpainting. Do you pre-mix a few values of your underpainting color in a transparent medium or do you lay medium on the canvas and paint into it with the transparent color? I'm having trouble figuring out how to create dark and light values without mixing in white or another more opaque color.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I could look at your sketches of giants all day long, Petar. Have you had a chance to see the Norwegian movie Trollhunter by any chance? (My brain sees the word 'giant' and makes an association with trolls, another wonderful myth that I love to see drawn and sketched.) Thanks for sharing these!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Full of life and character, great work as usual.

    ReplyDelete
  4. anatomy of the arms and hands, as you do them, I love

    ReplyDelete
  5. I really love your rough yet highly refined style. The amount of time and effort that you have put into learning your craft really shows.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nonsense! Petar, you have great English. And these drawings are just Fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Scott – Thanks to Stuart NG Books ( www.stuartngbooks.com ) the US audience is able to purchase my sketchbook.

    Yes, I did say something about that breakthrough, but this did not come to me overnight. It was a consequence of many years of hard work, determination, persistence and relative isolation. I will have to organize a workshop one day in order to explain such, and similar, kind of things. As for underpainting, I do pre-mix a few values of my underpainting color. I use much medium in this stage (painting medium + turpentine, about 50/50%). In order to paint transparent shadows I, first of all, try to use the transparent paint as much as possible. If the painted object requires to be rendered with one of the opaque colors, I use more medium, or if necessary the painting pasta. By mixing the painting pasta into the opaque paint, you enhance the transparency of the paint. I have used this painting pasta years ago, these days I do not need it any more.

    I believe I have said this before; you can use the most exceptional mediums and paints, but if you did not learn how to move the brush and produce the strokes from your wrist, and still did not develop the feeling of how much you should press the brush, the results will probably be not very satisfying.

    The right answer to the questions that truly intrigue us is often to be found in the least unexpected places.


    Larry – As always much appreciated!

    Thekiltedgerman (Next time leave your real name, please!) – After I read your comment I searched for the Trollhunter movie, for I have never heard of it before. From a movie trailer I saw on the internet, I could say that the movie is quite originally conceived as a concept, that is reminiscent of a documentary. Although I have to say that, at the first glance, I did not like how the trolls look like. But, I guess I should see the whole movie first. Thanks for the hint!

    As for my giants, I call them “giants” because they are, more or less, from human origin, though much bigger in size. Whilst trolls are, as far as my own perception of them is concerned, they are not exactly connected to humans. They seem to be an ancient autochthone race from the mythological universe. I will shed more light on the differences between the giants and trolls in my new book in progress, titled “The Giants are coming”.

    Hi Adam, Jason, Joshua, Zachary, Eric – Thanks , guys. I appreciate your support very much!

    Hi Justin – You have always been very positive about my English, even when it was much worse than it is now. However, by improving my English over the years, I think I proved that even a clearly overenthusiastic remark has its own good sides. Thanks, friend!

    P.S.
    To all “anonymous” people – If you want me to reply to your comments, please be kind and leave your name.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you so much for answering my question, Petar. It would be great to see a demo some day, perhaps as a post on your blog. You're an inspiration to us all.

    Scott Talevich

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks, Scott! I will try to come up with a demo, some day. But, I think the best thing would be a master class workshop here in the Netherlands, including the shooting of the demo. I’ll think about it seriously, as soon as I find some free time...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Fantastic sketches Petar! Can not wait for your new Giants book! Always a inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Greg ,

    Well, I can’t wait for that Giants book either. The problem is that it's far from being finished. There is still much to be written, drawn and painted. However I hope it will take me less than it took me to do the Steel Bashaw book...
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete