Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Progress Shots

Perhaps some of you would like to get a little more insight into the stages of development of my Death Dealer: Homage to Frazetta piece. Here are a few progress shots.
 







 

6 comments:

  1. Absolutely tremendous! Thanks so much for sharing. I've learned so much from your blogs. For your underpainting, is that just burnt sienna and the white of the board? Also, one thing that I love about your work is your use of color. For example, nothing is a solid color. Death Dealer's helmet reads as bronze, but you are able to incorporate flecks of green and blue into it. You do this on every surface and form and it amazes me. Can you explain briefly how you achieve this?

    Thank you Petar. I can't wait to see more.

    Phil

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    1. Hi Phil,
      The color I use for my underpainting consists of the following colors: titanium white (fast drying), yellow ochre, cadmium red light, burnt sienna, burnt umber, cobalt blue and permanent red violet. I make different combinations depending on what I want to achieve, but the basic combination of colors is: titanium white, yellow ochre, a little bit of cadmium red light and burnt sienna. I use a mixture of turpentine and painting medium (50-50%) for this stage. Later when the underpainting is thoroughly dry I switch to the painting medium.

      Yes, the use of color…this is an interesting question…where shall I start …? :) There are so many ways to explain this, it depends on how far (deep) you want to go… Ok, there we go, here is MY brief explanation:

      From the very technical point of view – A beam of white light is not solid but consists of various colors (different wave lengths or energy levels), look around you, everything reflects on everything; look closely, analyze the color and in time you will be able to detect much more color in your surroundings than before.
      From the art history point of view – Think of Impressionists who were primarily interested in painting light (mood) instead of the form. Think of Pointillists. Think of optical mixing of color.
      From a conceptual/philosophical point of view – Nothing is solid, in fact there are no clearly defined borders between things and phenomena (especially as we go deeper into the matter), in a way everything reflects everything, all-is-one!

      I wish people asked these kind of questions more often :)


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    2. Thank you Petar! I understand completely what you mean about white light being made up of many colors. I just have a hard time achieving this in my work without it turning into mud. I guess I must continue practicing, which I will.

      On a different note, I just saw the ads and the trailer for the new film "Jack the Giant Slayer" and while I am excited to see it, I am disappointed that you were not involved in the concept work of this production. The giants in this film are mediocre compared to yours. No one does giants better than you!

      Phil

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    3. Phil,

      If you lay down the strokes of different, though related, colors next to each other without mixing them on the canvas, you will avoid muddy results. Or, if you put different colors on the top of each other while the paint is still wet in one or two brushstrokes and then leave it as it is, don’t touch it or try to manipulate it further, you will also avoid muddying.

      As for the giants from the “Jack the Giant Slayer” movie; yes, the giants look a little too proper, to usual, without a particular twist, and I think that the absence of this twist makes them slightly less intriguing. I am afraid my giants, although in fact not very original, might be a little too characterful (personal) to serve the objectives of the film producer well. Above all, I am quite sure they are not aware of the existence of me or my giants at all, although I might be wrong by saying this, for Justin Sweet, an extraordinary artist and a friend, who worked as the conceptual designer on this film, knows my work. However, the movie trailer looks good and I would love to see the movie. I only hope I will not leave the cinema again disappointed, as it is too often the case these days, unfortunately.

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  2. I will agree, no one does giants like Petar. So much character. I'm afraid they would steal the thunder from the main characters.

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