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December 21, 2011
merry solstice from scarlet star studios!
by sven at 11:40 am
Tonight is the longest night of the year. As the world gently tips, beginning our journey back toward light, we send you our best and brightest wishes…
From Sven & Gretchin: merry solstice!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
July 4, 2011
clyde
by sven at 5:00 pm
Happy birthday to my brother Shield! As a gift, I created this little goblin fairy, "Clyde."
If you scan back through my work, you'll see that I've been experimenting with wall sculptures for several years. And monsters… Since childhood. This feels like the next evolution for both. Very excited.
Clyde can be detached from the abstract painted backdrop panel. As an afterthought, I created an additional alternate wall mount, which focuses attention just on Clyde.
I think I kind of like the simple presentation better… But now Shield has both, and can pick whichever one works best for him.
While figuring out what I wanted to do for this piece, I did some sketches in clay. I allow a lot of room for improvisation while sculpting — I thought you'd be interested to see how different the sketch is from the final.
A big discovery on this piece: how to make a good core armature. I'm an armature guy — you'd think I'd already know what I'm doing. But armatures for stop-motion puppets and armatures for static sculptures are two very different things. Realizing that a simple block of wood on two steel posts makes a good core opens up whole worlds.
This armature isn't that great, actually. I was improvising, and didn't drill the holes for the rods perfectly straight. And I used hot glue rather than epoxy for attaching limbs. Still, the concept is there.
Super Sculpey (a polymer clay) needs to be fairly thin for baking. You bulk out the basic form using aluminum foil.
Here's the sculpture before baking or painting. After baking, I did a lot of work with sandpaper to smooth up the form.
I wound up spending a fair amount of time painting texture, highlights, and subtly different colorings for different parts of the body. Basically, though, the paint job begins with a dark base color, then proceeds to dry-brushing on the blue. It's a good way to make sure that crevasses are dark — instead of trying to paint them in with a tiny brush.
Here's what the back looks like with the two 1/8" dia. steel rods protruding.
I hope that Clyde enjoys his new life with Shield and his family.
And Shield: stock up on sugar cubes. I think this little guy has a high metabolism.
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting, sculpture
January 27, 2011
the stars love us
by sven at 7:00 am
Happy birthday to my niece Chloe! Here's the painting she'll receive as a gift, titled "the stars love us."
As with the piece I made for Zoe (my other niece), I've got a 3D element hovering over the painted background. I carved the little person out of a bit of scrap wood using a flexible-shaft Dremel moto-tool, then gave it a faux stain with acrylics -- which then got sanded away to create highlights.
I quite like this idea of having elements that pop out from the painted background. I did a few pieces back in high school with just this sort of dimensionality... Curious how it's coming back into my work now. I foresee going even farther with it this time.
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 11, 2011
2010 birthday card countdown: #1
by sven at 7:00 am
Thank you all for playing! Please tune in next year for the 2011 birthday card countdown... :)
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 10, 2011
2010 birthday card countdown: #2
by sven at 7:00 am
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 9, 2011
2010 birthday card countdown: #3
by sven at 7:00 am
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 8, 2011
2010 birthday card countdown: #4
by sven at 7:00 am
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 7, 2011
2010 birthday card countdown: #5
by sven at 7:00 am
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 6, 2011
2010 birthday card countdown: #6
by sven at 7:00 am
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 5, 2011
2010 birthday card countdown: #7
by sven at 7:00 am
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 4, 2011
2010 birthday card countdown: #8
by sven at 7:00 am
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 3, 2011
2010 birthday card countdown: #9
by sven at 7:00 am
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 2, 2011
2010 birthday card countdown: #10
by sven at 7:00 am
This past year I did ten paintings to decorate birthday cards. With the new year, a new series begins -- so at last I can share the art!
...Let's do this as a countdown, shall we?
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 1, 2011
happy new year from scarlet star studios!
by sven at 5:07 pm
To one and all: May 2011 be our best year yet!
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
posted by sven | permalink | categories: exhibits & events, painting
November 15, 2010
it gets better
by sven at 7:00 am
Here's a painting I just did for my niece's birthday, titled "it gets better."
The title was inspired by the It Gets Better Project. The project was founded by Dan Savage in September 2010, in response to a spate of teens being bullied to death (suicide) because they were perceived to be gay. As the site says:
Many LGBT youth can't picture what their lives might be like as openly gay adults. They can't imagine a future for themselves. So let's show them what our lives are like, let's show them what the future may hold in store for them.
Good stuff. Even President Obama has contributed a video in support of the effort.
Anyway, the painting itself isn't intended to be political. I just thought that "it gets better" is a good thing to remember in all our times of darkness. Something worth hanging on the wall.
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 10, 2010
2009 birthday card collection
by sven at 9:30 pm
In 2009 I made 31 hand-painted birthday cards… And here they are!
In 2010 I'll be doing a birthday card series again… But this time I'll be using color laser printing as part of the project.
It's a necessary evil. Printing allows me to make a smaller pool of paintings -- so there's more time to do animation. It also enables me to send cards to a larger number of recipients. At 3-4 hours per card last year, I wasn't able to be as inclusive as I'd like.
There are still limits… But it's definitely a more expansive project this time around.
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 2, 2010
paintings for ann & mike liebert
by sven at 7:00 am
For their Christmas this year I did some paintings for my mom & stepdad. Travel's kept them from opening gifts on the big day… Even so:
Merry Christmas from Sven & Gretchin!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
December 21, 2009
merry solstice from scarlet star studios!
by sven at 7:00 am
Tonight is the longest night of the year. As the world gently tips, beginning our journey back toward light, we send you our best and brightest wishes…
From Sven & Gretchin: merry solstice!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: miscellany, painting
November 20, 2009
birthday card: maija prakash
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is my cousin Maija's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Maija!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
November 12, 2009
birthday card: zoe albright
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Zoe's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Zoe!
Look in the closet or under the bed… You may just find one of the thousand hidden ladders that lead down to the underground city of Mania… Which is ruled by the mighty punk rock ballerina, who wields a shining hoop of pink and gold… And commands an army of ninja zombies to do her bidding. She walks among us in secret. Perhaps, charmed by the hypnotism of the cats who control the surface world, even she has now forgotten her domain below.
But it waits.
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
November 9, 2009
birthday card: carl caputo
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Carl's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Carl!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
November 5, 2009
birthday card: culley schweger bell
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is my cousin Culley's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Culley!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
October 20, 2009
birthday card: salix bell
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Salix's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Salix!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
October 14, 2009
birthday card: dayna collins
by sven at 8:00 am
Today is Dayna's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Dayna!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
in memory: elena raymond
by sven at 7:00 am
In memory of Lane…
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
October 13, 2009
birthday card: shel wagner rasch
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Shel's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Shel!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
October 11, 2009
birthday card: leeann heringer
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is LeeAnn's birthday...
And she's in Morocco to celebrate it!
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday LeeAnn!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
October 9, 2009
birthday card: grannie follett
by sven at 11:59 pm
Today is my grandmother's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Grannie!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
September 30, 2009
birthday card: cecilia nguyen
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Cecilia's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Cecilia!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
September 27, 2009
birthday card: alison dunfee
by sven at 7:00 am
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Alison!
…And congratulations on your graduation!
…And happy house-warming party!!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
September 3, 2009
birthday card: shelley noble
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Shelley's birthday...
Happy birthday Shelley!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
August 15, 2009
birthday card: shu-ju wang
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Shu-Ju's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Shu-Ju!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
August 10, 2009
animation: paint improv
by sven at 7:00 am
When I was at ASIFA Portland's summer social on 7/18, I got to play with a sandimation set-up… Down-shooting at a light table with sand on it. It got me jazzed to try some down-shooting at home.
I used some modular light supports that I built a while back, and simply clamped on a cross-brace. The camera is attached with a 3" long 1/4" dia. threaded rod. Unfortunately my good digital still camera broke in Wisconsin -- so I shot using a video cam, which is more prone to flicker.
Altogether, it took about 14 hours… Nearly half of which was sound work. Sound design was very influenced by Joanna Priestley's animations -- which I highly recommend.
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting, stopmo
August 4, 2009
birthday card: gretchin lair
by sven at 2:22 pm
To my scarlet star:
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Gretchiiiiiiiiin....
Happy birthday to YOU!
....And many mooooooooorrrrreee!!
Love,
Sven
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
July 29, 2009
birthday card: linda womack
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Linda's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Linda!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
July 4, 2009
birthday card: shield bonnichsen
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is my brother's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Shield!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
July 2, 2009
birthday card: todd lisonbee
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Todd's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Todd!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
June 27, 2009
birthday card: mike brent
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Mike's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Mike!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
June 2, 2009
birthday card: aiyana bonnichsen
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Aiyana's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Aiyana!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
May 2, 2009
birthday card: bridget benton
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Bridget's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Bridget!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
April 18, 2009
birthday card: michael granberry
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Michael's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Michael!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
April 10, 2009
birthday card: michael hall
by sven at 7:00 am
Wednesday was mph's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Mike!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
March 31, 2009
paintings from december
by sven at 7:00 am
Back in December I was doing a lot of paintings in my sketchbook. I've been meaning to post a sampling for a long while now.
I was finding that abstracts were a nice way to warm up the visual part of my brain. Lately, though, the painting energy's been getting spent on birthday cards.
As you can probably tell, these are all improvised pieces. I only have the roughest idea of what I'm going to do when I start out.
The text reads: "A long time waiting, waiting I've said so many times, but not now, the river flows and falls… All out of time, out of mind, then fall out, these words like swords on the tongue, long and dangling over the last man on Earth, we wait and our tongues hurt as we watch each last ear turned to hear the snap as it breaks and drops… So close your eyes and forget the name because there is no name… If we gave him a name the pain would multiply -- but no, we forget the words and let go -- we fall like knives. Damocles in the bull's-eye crosshairs, our planes drop downward to Pearl Harbor, thirsty for time to halt and tongues tied in knots."
It's stream-of-consciousness writing, largely there for texture. (Also a little shout out to Grant, whose film "The Sword of Damocles" popped to mind.)
Text: "Long time I waited -- does waiting ever pay? I waited but the river did not. So unhitched from my moorings now I'm falling downhill with water toward a fall. But in the meantime I sing along with the trouble of currents, a song of drowning stars. Look up through moving windows to a dark like sleep itself, yes dark close to me as my own eyes closed. Dreaming awake is its own reward."
Painting lettering is slower and feels more meditative than just using a colored pencil.
I keep imagining that some day I'm going to draw upon these abstract textures for painting a stopmo backdrop.
More use of text as texture.
The weirdest part about doing this painting was snipping off fingers from the photocopies of my hands. I've still got at least one hanging around, which I'd like to use in a future piece.
I did this one while staying up all night on New Year's Eve, waiting to see the first sunrise of the year. Contrary to what I'd thought, the loopiness of being sleep-deprived didn't make me feel looser and more creative… Rather, exhaustion poisoned the process, and sucked all the fun out of doing art that night.
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting, sketchbook
March 30, 2009
portrait of ben hall
by sven at 7:00 am
A while back I did a birthday portrait of my friend Michael Hall. Alison, his wife, liked it so much, I did a portrait for her, too. Their son Ben turned 5 on Jan 24… So, rounding out the family, I did a portrait for him.
As with the other paintings, I started with a photo.
To get the 3-tone design, I spent a fair while in PhotoShop using Gaussian Blur and Posterize. I wound up cobbling together a bunch of different versions in order to get the clearest image.
I didn't imagine when I first painted mph's portrait that I'd be doing a whole series… It was very helpful to be able to borrow back Michael and Alison's portraits, so I could make sure Ben's fit nicely into the set.
Best wishes, Ben, Alison, Michael!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
February 26, 2009
birthday card: linnea bell
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Linnea's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday Linnea!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
February 25, 2009
birthday card: jeffrey roche
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Jeffrey's birthday...
From Scarlet Star Studios: happy birthday Jeffrey!
Deep down in the murk of the old bayou, where Jenny Greenteeth lurks, there is a golden eye watching. A lightning bolt spider web of nerve-thin legs anchor it to the billowing weeds... And to the witch. Thirty-two soft pink hands grip onto Jenny's hair while she sleeps fitfully -- her own lidless eye restlessly twisting in its socket.
What is this horror? And look, there on one of its many tiny fingers... A wedding ring?
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 31, 2009
birthday card: kristen dideaux
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Captain K's birthday...
From Notorious Sven & Nefarious Gretchin: happy birthday!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 27, 2009
birthday card: chloe wicklund
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Chloe's birthday...
From Sven & Gretchin: happy birthday!
Look for the little purple cars. ;-)
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 20, 2009
birthday card: justin rasch
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Justin's birthday...
From Scarlet Star Studios: happy birthday Justin!
And congratulations on premiering Gerald's Last Day!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 13, 2009
birthday cards: violet & steve bell
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Violet's birthday...
From me and Gretchin: happy birthday!
Violet's dad, Steve, also just had his birthday...
Only a little belatedly: happy birthday Steve!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
January 9, 2009
birthday card: grant goans
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is Grant's birthday...
From Scarlet Star Studios: happy birthday Grant!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
December 23, 2008
birthday card: mike liebert
by sven at 7:00 am
Today is my stepdad's birthday. I'm getting more interested in making hand-painted cards lately... This is the front of the one I made for him.
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
June 23, 2008
paintbrush holder
by sven at 9:42 pm
Two weeks ago I built this paintbrush holder. While I'm waiting for animation to render, sometimes I use the time to work on a "B project." This project was one of those.
The top is made of clear acrylic. There are divots in the base to help keep the brushes from sliding out of place.
And yes, I've put matching labels on the brushes and in front of their respective holes. Anal? Well...
Toward the end of Monster Month 2007, I decided that I wanted to invest in a bunch of decent brushes in different sizes, but all of the same brand (Winsor Newton). Prior to this, I'd been using a completely random array of brushes...
I want to move in the direction of understanding what distinguishes one brush from another. Making a holder that forces me to think about what brush I'm reaching for is part of this process.
posted by sven | permalink | categories: other art, painting
May 21, 2008
j&m's wedding card
by sven at 8:00 am
Third wedding this year: our friends Jacqueline and Mari are getting married in July. (Yay Oregon!)
Their gift is still a secret, but here's the hand-painted card I made.
And here's the inside... Simple, but heartfelt.
Interesting story: I actually figured out what I wanted to write inside the card during one of my clown classes.
There's an exercise called "Experience," where you imagine that someone from your life is going to be leaving on a boat the next day, never to return. You do a guided meditation about spending the night talking with them, driving them to the boatyard in the morning... And then at the last moment, you go with impulse and run up to end of the dock to shout one last thing.
And this is what came to me:
Take care of her!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
May 20, 2008
k&t's wedding gift
by sven at 6:21 pm
A fun little painting project...
Our friends Kristen and Todd just got married. Seemed like their gift should have some snazzy decoration -- so I pulled out the butcher paper, acrylics, and white artist's tape, and threw together this stained-glass/Mondrian-sort-of thing.
What's inside the box? This print of "Almond Branches in Bloom" by Van Gogh, which was the image on their wedding invitation cards.
In hurrying to the wedding, we actually forgot to bring our gift along! So, we took it by later that day, and consequently got the satisfaction of seeing it opened.
Both box and gift made a big impression. Yay! :D
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
December 27, 2007
monster month book for sale!
by sven at 12:47 am
Monster Month 2007 is now available in book form, for sale at lulu.com!
I'm really proud of how it turned out. It really looks and feels like... a book. Gretchin and I put in some crazy hours during December, secretly slaving away so that we could get copies to people in time for xmas. Now that the recipients have unwrapped their surprises, we're making the book available to anyone who wants it!
For the book version of Monster Month, I wrote up a new foreword, assembled 7 gorgeous new maps, and did a new painting for the cover. The book's a bit pricier than I'd like -- but ya gotta understand: everything's in full color!
Here's the promotional text for Scarlet Star Studio's first publication:
Monster Month
by Professor Ichbonnsen
Thirty-one days, thirty-one monsters: Monster Month!
After a lifetime of trekking jungles, climbing mountains, and spelunking caves, the world's foremost cryptozoologist at last reveals a selection of his greatest discoveries. Herein you will find the Adameve, the Dark Strider, the Opium Gore Golem, the Trick Squilligoss, the Zompire Bat... And many more fantastic beasts!
With the keen mind of a scientist and the bold heart of an explorer, Professor Ichbonnsen provides illuminating descriptions of how the creatures live -- and astonishing tales of how he found them.
Both adults and children will marvel at the Professor's adventures... And be left wondering what else remains yet undiscovered in the unexplored corners of our rich planet. Like the map-makers of old, you will understand: "Here be dragons!"
Monster Month is lavishly illustrated with 32 full-color paintings by Sven Bonnichsen, and 7 full-color maps tracing Professor Ichbonnsen's travels.
Again, where can you get it? At lulu.com. Here's the direct link: http://www.lulu.com/content/1744791
Thank you to Gretchin for the fantastic help laying out the book... And thank you to all the readers and supporters of Monster Month!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: bestiary, painting, writing
December 20, 2007
fish!
by sven at 1:37 am
Two Sundays back (12/9) it was my friend Lane's birthday. I'm point-person for organizing her party each year. So I ask: Cake? Angel food with strawberries. Movie? Ice Age 2. Decorations?
...FISH!!
Fourteen years ago, during a difficult summer, I decorated Lane's house with lots of ginormous painted fish. It helped.
Play it again, Sven!
So, in the midst of an all-nighter, wherein I was hard at work on a super-secret xmas project, I managed to squeeze some time in during the wee hours just before dawn -- painting fish.
The original fish were watercolors. The new ones were done in acrylics. I cut 'em out, stacked 'em up, and drove 'em across town... Our friend (more like family, really) Jacque distracted Lane while I redecorated the house into a walk-in aquarium.
Lane was delighted! ...What a fun little project. :-)
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
November 11, 2007
paint storage boxes
by sven at 3:15 pm
While you're painting, it makes an incredible difference to be able to easily see all your available colors at once. Alesia Zorn gifted Scarlet Star Studios with a paint storage box that really transformed the experience of painting for me... But now I have more paints than it can hold, so I set out to make some customized storage boxes.
I'm using 2oz bottles of Delta Ceramcoat acrylic paints which I get at Craft Warehouse for $1.29 each. This isn't an "artist's quality" brand... But for most of my purposes, having an abundance of colors to choose from -- and feeling like I don't have to worry about wasting expensive materials -- outweighs any quality concerns.
The paint bottles' diameter is approx. 1.5", and they're 4" tall.
Each paint storage box holds 56 bottles of paint. I could have made a single 2'x2' box that accommodates more than 200 bottles at once... But paint is heavy. It would have been a bear to move; shelves bowing would have been a concern; and it would have been more difficult to organize the rows by color.
The silhouette of each box is 12" wide by 13" tall. That means the interior space is 11" wide by 12" tall. This very neatly makes room for 7 shelf spaces, each exactly 1.5" tall.
The boxes are made from poplar that I bought at Home Depot. The sides of a box are 1/2" thick. The shelves are 1/4" thick. The backing for a box is 1/8" thick hardboard.
The boxes are 3.5" deep. The wood I purchased was listed as 4" wide -- but the reality is that 1/4" gets planed off either side of that at the factory.
The shelves sit on 1/4"x1/4" rails, and are removable. The rails are each attached using two 5/8" long #16 wire nails.
Home Depot sells 2' lengths of Poplar that were very convenient, in terms of not having to make many cuts.
The stuff that's 1/2" thick cost $2.48 and each box requires 2 pieces. The stuff that's 1/4" thick cost $2.09 and each box requires 3 pieces. Rails that are 3' long cost $.69 each. A 2'x4' piece of hardboard costs $2.48. Thus, materials for each box cost approximately $13.
My prototype took 3 hours to build. I did a batch of 4 more all at once, which took 9 hours -- thus only 2:15 hours each. (One box is going to be a gift. Who for? My lips are sealed.)
Process-wise, there were a few things that really helped make this project turn out nicely... I used a miter saw to cut the wood, giving me really clean and straight cuts. I used corner clamps to hold the box sides at 90 degree angles while putting them together -- and 2' long clamps to hold the pieces tightly together during drilling. I inset the screws so they wouldn't scratch anything... I drilled pilot holes for the screws, then drilled into the same hole again with a larger bit -- but only went about 1/8" deep the second time.
Oooh... It is such a thrill to sit in front of my "wall of paint" now! Looking at all those colors just makes me lust to create something!
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting, studio space
September 1, 2007
monster month challenge
by sven at 8:00 am
Woo-hoo! I've just gotten my first paid illustration contract!
My employer is noted cryptozoologist, Professor Ichbonnsen (no relation). He's hired me to do illustrations for his forthcoming book, "Lifeforms Heretofore Unknown by Science: New discoveries from the world's most renowned monster hunter."
I'm actually kinda baffled as to how he found me, given that I've never really done illustration work before. It's possible that he found Scarlet Letters by googling his own name -- after all, I did mention (1, 2) his work during last year's monster month.
It's also possible, though, that he's mistaken shots from Let Sleeping Gods Lie for actual documentary footage... And thus thinks that I'm a fellow crypto-enthusiast??
Anyway, the Professor -- he's never mentioned a proper first name (hm...) -- has asked me to do illustrations of 31 creatures, to be delivered one-a-day over the course of October. Doing that many is a bit of a challenge, so I've already started work on some sketches and studies. I plan to use this as an opportunity to develop my skills in painting with acrylics; that's how I'm hoping to do all the final pieces.
Ichbonnsen, frankly, seems rather eccentric. I confess, based on the adventure stories he's told me so far, part of me's wondering if he's flat out delusional! But, money is money...
(The "Dark Strider," the "Noble Shellkaye," the "Trick Squilligoss," the "Colossal Ubertuber," the "King Shielyana"... What the heck are these things, anyway??)
an open invitation
I'd like to invite all my artist friends to join in the fun. I'd love it if you'd do up some monster sketches of your own for October and post them on your blogs. ...BUT -- and here's the trick! -- be sure to make them illustrations of purely imaginary creatures!
See, I want to play a little game and test the good Professor -- to see whether he's really the World-Class Monster-Hunter that he claims to be -- or if, rather, he's a Certifiable Loony!
When I point him to the pictures on your blogs, will he believe that the intentionally made-up creatures are also "new discoveries, heretofore unknown by science?" ...Or will he immediately see through the ruse?
Help me discover the truth!
P.S. I want to give everyone adequate time to start thinking about this. But please DON'T post any of your pictures until October 1st! That's when I'll start posting my own pictures, one-a-day -- and we don't want to tip our hand to the Prof, OK?
posted by sven | permalink | categories: bestiary, exhibits & events, painting
June 16, 2007
like a good neighbor
by gl. at 9:40 pm
i helped linda paint her new studio this week. i enjoy being asked to participate in projects like this -- not because i am building up recriprocation points, but because i honestly enjoy helping people create things and making things happen. truly.
(and i didn't think i could really be bribed with pizza, especially since i don't drink beer and i am trying to be better about cholesterol. but i had an extra slice of rovente because it was so good!)
[last stroke!]
linda is converting her garage into a studio: the project is a lot of fun to watch & read about. she's certainly more patient & braver than i am! she's going to start hosting classes next month: go, linda, go!
posted by gl. | permalink | categories: miscellany, painting
August 26, 2005
LSGL painting
by sven at 5:31 pm
Fridays this fall are tentatively "studio days"... So to the studio I went. I was thinking about trying to do a little comic book version of "Let Sleeping Gods Lie" (painted then photocopied) -- but nothing came of it. Instead I got this painting... Which has some nice moments.
It's 10.5" x 13.5", acrylics, in a basic Canson sketch book. I've been trying to get more comfortable with acrylics... I feel like I made some progress today; still haven't found my own voice in the medium, though.
posted by sven | permalink | categories: let sleeping gods lie, painting, sketchbook
July 4, 2005
Portrait of Shield Albright
by sven at 8:05 pm
Today's my brother's birthday. ...Happy birthday!
Going with my 2005 gift-giving theme, I decided a few months back to paint him a portrait. As with the portraits of Michael and Alison, I started from a source photo.
It's a graduation picture, and bro is doing one of his traditional Boris Karloff mugs for the camera. I'm really quite fond of this shot, actually. Both my bro and I are a little... odd. This shot captures his... uniqueness ...rather nicely.
I was going to do a 5"x5" posterized painting. But after hours of fiddling, this was the best image I could put together. It's not so bad -- rather reminds me of a "Misfits" album cover. But it's just too complex for the scale I was after.
So, throwing up my hands, I started fooling around in new directions. When I came up with this next image, I fell in love. Notice, compositionally, how the frame of his eyeglasses creates a circle at the very center of the image. I thought that was neat; very powerful. It also gave me this Rembrandt / Francis Bacon vibe that I really wanted to capture.
I imagine giving this picture a title like "anxiety"... Yeah, it's macabre for a birthday gift -- but like I said, we're both kinda unique.
Now here's the painting I did. It's 2'x2' on gessoed masonite, charcoal and acrylics, covered with clear tar gel medium. Those rich blacks -- they're all charcoal. I had intended to do the whole thing only in charcoal, but I couldn't get the whites I wanted with just erasing. I wound up going in with white acrylic to work the highlights.
It's a bit distorted, but I'm OK with that aesthetic. It's free-hand afterall. The forehead isn't quite what I intended -- but I'm pleased with the hands. And the completed results look very painterly.
It seems like a very raw piece, so I didn't want to frame the portrait. Instead, I hot-glued wooden rails to the back, and used them to attach a wire for hanging. The intent is to avoid putting anything between the viewer and this presence in the room.
This was a good project: it didn't go in the direction I expected -- but it helped me transition to working on a larger canvas, and more expressively. It took forever to complete, and how I got it packaged for mailing is a whole story in itself. But hey -- here's a gift like nothing else you'll ever receive, something with some magic that will live with you (or haunt you, as the case may be) for years to come.
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
May 12, 2005
Portrait of Alison Dunfee
by sven at 7:03 pm
Last month I painted a portrait of Michael Hall for his birthday. His wife Alison liked it so much, she asked if she could have one too. How could I say no?
Michael passed two photos on to me, as possible references. The first:
And here's the second:
I liked Alison's expression in this second one -- but I needed to have a full shot of her head, like in the first. I wound up stitching the two images together in PhotoShop. The angles aren't a perfect match -- but I don't think anyone will ever really notice. Here's what the image looked like after posterizing and a lot of tweaking:
Alison and Michael liked the image at this stage. They gave me the go-ahead to do the painting.
...It took longer to do the actual painting of Alison than it did for Michael: 6 hours. This was largely due to the paint itself. I hadn't realized just how much different colors of acrylic can vary in terms of coverage, runniness, etc.!
Phthalo green is my mortal enemy. It's all gloppy -- whereas the white-ish color was pure joy, rolling off my brush. Phthalo also winds up looking like black, except in bright light. I might recommend that this painting be hung in a breakfast nook.
Since I wasn't doing this painting for a birthday, I got more of a chance to sit and look at it...
I think there's maybe a bit too much contrast in this one. If you put lightness/darkness on a five-point scale, then Michael's colors were 2, 3, & 4 -- whereas Alison's colors are 1, 3 & 5. Michael's is the more subtle of the two pieces.
I also sort of wish I'd compared the sizes of Michael's and Alisons faces in the source photographs more carefully -- so that the paintings would be a better match when hung side-by-side.
Oh well. Here's the finished piece framed:
As with Michael's portrait, the side rails are simply hot-glued onto the base. I used a better mitre-box this time... But figuring out how to get the perfect lengths for the sides of the frame is still eluding me.
Bottom line: More time-consuming than I'd expected, and there are minor details I can quibble about -- but all told, I'm pretty darned proud of this one. Half an hour from now I'll be at Michael & Alison's and I'll present it to them...
posted by sven | permalink | categories: painting
April 11, 2005
Portrait of Michael Hall
by sven at 12:31 pm
My friend and personal tech guru Michael Hall asked for "something creative" for his birthday. So I decided to paint a portrait of him. Portraits, I figure, are a very appropriate way to celebrate a person's birth.
I started with this photograph, which Michael uses as a by-line for his on-line columns:
Next, I fiddled with the image in PhotoShop -- mainly using "posterize".
I applied "find edges" to the image, printed it, applied graphite to the back of the paper, and transfered the image to to a 5"x5" piece of hardboard by tracing its lines with a pen. The hardboard was gessoed, and I applied an undercoat of red. The image was painted in acrylic, and I applied two coats of "clear tar gel" to give it a glossy finish. The end product sort of looks like a porcelain tile.
To frame it, I used left-over wood from the flat-files project. The rim is built out of wood from the rails -- and is the first time I've cut a 45 degree angle since I got my new mitre box. I didn't have appropriate nails, so the rim is just hot-glued on. The "tile" sits on a riser made from another piece of hardboard.
Including photo-manipulation (which I didn't time), the project probably took 6 hours. I'm excited -- it's a relatively simple gift to make, and it has a high "impressive" factor. I've been wanting to get into acrylics more; 5"x5" is an approachable scale. I could see myself making similar paintings as gifts in the near future...
In fact, I've already agreed to do a similar piece for Michael's partner, Alison.