Tumblr Era 2012-2017

http://hsuhonen.tumblr.com/


So I blogged at Tumblr during 2012-2017 (major part of the university years which I started 2011) but never really got into the culture there as it was mostly about reblogging . Blogspot/Blogger is  still among the Big 5 Social networks so lets reactivate this.

Drawing study

Conté Carbone on A4 paper. After Ingres' "Monsieur Leblanc". Good training for the hand-eye coordination as Ingres is one of the greatest draughtsmen in world of art, The Master of Line. Innovation is based on solid foundation (Old Masters) plus study of nature plus one's own personality. Just as the pianists play Bach over and over again so should visual artists learn from the giants of art.

Ingres copy: finished!

Mastercopy after J.-A.-D. Ingres' The Valpincon Bather (La Grande Baigneuse 1804) oil on canvas 81x120 cm. Indirect painting method (earth red imprimatura, grisaille underpainting, 5-7 glazes and scumbling finish).

 I read somewhere (James Gurney's instructional book Imaginatice Realism) that mastercopying is a traditional practice, romantically considered a transcendence rite in which the student absorbs the previous great master's skills and spirit and analyses the masterpiece's composition, value control, figurative structure, anatomy knowledge, craftsmanship, technique, palette use, drawing, texture portrayal and tries to feel the same emotion the painter must have felt while painting the subject. I essence, meditating on the beauty and intelligence of the work. Therefore it is important to pick only the classic works by the finest figurative painters in history since even the greatest painters sometimes produced mediocre work and copying mediocre works only enhance mediocrity so it must be avoided.

The Valpincon Bather is considered the greatest nude painting of the 19th century, one of the definitive figure paintings in entire art history alongside Velazquez's Rokeby Venus. Valpincon Bather is Ingres' calmest painting as his other paintings of the female figure were quite wild, the scholar Gerald Ackerman commented even "perverse" (in Gerômé: Life and Works). Ingres' paintings are some of the most meticulous and finished to the highest degree in art history. This finishing and simplified classicising is what I wanted to learn from Ingres as well.

After summer break, back in Rovaniemi, I immediately began finishing this master copy, as documented in the blog post on late spring. I bought a pair of 4000 kelvin cool light bulbs for better lighting and painted from Friday August 31 till tuesday September 4 late night, detail after detail, zooming the reference image from computer screen. The deadline was on Friday, September 7, and the work was almost dry then. The teacher simply commented that this is "a stunning display of patience."

It could be the camera distortion but the right shoulder seems just a bit too wide, and the curtains still need some fine tuning.

By the way, I also finished the self-portrait.

Late summer studies and pocket sketches

 I read a book about the American Golden age of illustration and made master study of Charles Dana Gibson's iconic pen-and-ink drawing. A fraction of a millimeter makes a difference in such a delicate profile.

My summer job is over. I used every chance to draw from life when I could. These pocket sketchbooks were really handy. Drawing from life is like doing push-ups for the mind. I used the Reilly method to capture gesture from moving figure and then  relied on memory more or less.

Open air sketching

 

Gas station at Järvenpää. Watercolor on sketchbook.

Watercolor on sketchbook. My brother and I went open air sketching at Ainola, the home of the national composer Jean Sibelius. The importance of observational drawing and painting from nature cannot be emphasized enough.

Thumbnail sketches at Itäkeskus,  Kellokoski, Jokela and Purola. A bit rough but it's all about the experience, keeping the skills up and recording color scemes for possible later assignments.

Motorcycle WIP

Oil on primed A4 illustration board.

Digital painting WIP (updated 2)

 

Edit 2: The stage after rendering, detailing and fine tuning. I used a reference to achieve fluorescent light feel. There's also a slight desaturation filter. The shiny bag is still pretty sketchy,  and the face could be less stiff, I tried to avoid making it over worked, not too much air brush. I may add some skin pores and cloth texture for credibility to see if that helps.

I was sketching while returning from work via commuter train. I painted a preparatory value study of the sketch with Art Rage 2. Finished with Painter 11.

Practicing

I once sculpted a clay study based on a figure. The statue is rather clumsy but still useful for observing light and shadow. I decided to practice my anatomy knowledge combined with the clay statue for value study and then color study with blue-gray guache ébauche and pastel on top.

 

Cat anatomy studies. One has to know what's inside to avoid making shallow drawings.

Field sketching

 

Kids at local mall. At my previous school we were encouraged to go to sketch at malls and other public places every now and then as drawing moving people enhances the ability to draw from both observation and memory.

Landscape paintings may not be interesting as works of art, but the process of trying to capture the colors to scientific accuracy is what makes it challenging and compelling. It helps to understand how light and color function in nature.

Aerial vehicle

Aerial vehicle design, oil on A4 illustration board.

Midsummer glimpses

While on a trip to summer cottage during Midsummer, I painted some quick impressions of the landscapes that went by. Watercolor on sketchbook.

Rubens study

An acrylic study of Peter Paul Rubens' selfportrait with his wife Isabella, detail, rearrangement focused on faces. I read that Rubens usually had a silver gray underpainting on which he drew the outlines with burnt sienna. The rest is typical Flemish layer painting technique. I wanted to understand his trademark use of lush, vibrant colors which he is famous for.

I also now understand better why the masters seldom showed unfinished pieces to anyone except for other artists because until the final detailing stage the painting usually looks pretty dreadful, and people may not understand the process. And because the faces are center of focus they need  lots of work hours to paint until they look correct which is crucial for the painting's success.

Painting studies

 

Rembrandt selfportrait study, detail, acrylics on a5 sketchbook.

 

Arnold Böcklin selfportrait study, detail, acrylics on a5 sketchbook. 

Trying to figure out how the masters painted, to raise the skill level.

Pastel drawing

Sanguine pastel and  white chalk on tinted paper. Augustine's jewel of wisdom, depicting his sharp-witted thinking. No reference used, just imagination. I'm striving to master imaginative realism. The academicians of 1900s, after their intense practice of life studies, plein air paintings, master copies and color theory, could illuminate classic literature and historical events with just value drawings like this in hand.

Excavator

Watercolor sketch, plein air.

Sitting figure

Sitting figure with a cow skull. Oil and acrylic on board 29x 41 cm. 3 days. This is based on a similar life study drawing with sanguine pastel. I wanted to see if I could now render a more realistic result without copying from photograph. I did a preparatory color study prior starting. At first stages the figure was very dark in color so I wanted to test Delacroix's famous quote "Give me a piece of mud and I'll paint a light skin with it, just let me decide the surroundings." Well what do you know, darkening the background later with a mix of burnt sienna and ultramarine blue did make the skin look white.

Daily study

 

L. Ball photo study.

Plein air sketches

 

 Some plein air studies on watercolor sketchbook. Jean Leon Gérôme said to his students that one must paint observational studies every day to learn to mix colors as accurately as possible.

  

Doodles

 

oil pastel sketches