Details... can be rough

Yoda-Kitteh says: "Strange sleeping pose you has, little padawan..."

Gouache n Cats

I should mention that I had to write this blog entry TWICE because Hanni decided to jump onto the computer where the whole electic stuff is located and since she managed to jump directly onto the OFF button... well... :/

Treadle is such a photogenic cat. Mostly because he's not as active as his sister I guess.

Hanni... oh well... I have no idea how many nose shots I have... a lot.


"WHAAATT???"

"WHAAAAATTTTT??????"

And even if I actually manage to get a shot she doesn't look as cute as she is in real life. Dang! They grow so fast...

... which leads me to Gouache. I normally sketch on normal paper and transfer the final sketch via lightbox. Which means taping the paper makes a lot of sense.
The drawing board is from Boesner for those who wonder. 43 bucks that make my life (and finally non-existing pain the back and neck) better. :)

Gouache tubes in my wooden box (neccessary because the cats tend to stumble around on my table and kick off everything).
I bought too many but since those will be good for upcoming agency work I guess it is kinda okay... kinda.. gods, I am so broke =_=;

You can see the difference.. a bit. That's basically the elephant after 1 hour.
I started adding deeper shades and light shades on that point. I can't stop saying that the lanqauarelle is a wonderful paper...

Final details (brush size 1 and size micro something) with a mix of blue, red, white and black.
The very final details where done with prismacolor penncils and a white Signo.

Brushes that make no sense:
Morani retouch brush (which is my favourite for acrylics)
bigger synthetic ones

first time the Kolinsky brushes make sense...

Gouache- first attempt...

Gouache can be a real bitch.
I like the color as much as I dislike it. It's like taming a lion for me but I guess I won't give up.
I'll upload some progress pics later.

First thoughts:
- I started too dark
- used too much white (okay, next time no white)
- the grass is reddish-pink (actually better than I thought since I wanted to stick to 4 colors while mixing... red, white, blue and black).


I'm unsure if I really love the colors or hate them. I guess my first attempt isn't that bad but it's still a long way to go.
I started because I wanted to try something new and well, it is new. Acrylics are great when you actually found out how to use them right and I got bored of them after the last book. Maybe bored isn't the correct word.
Better: It doesn't surprise me anymore. Which is good but I miss the feeling "Dang, how the heck does it work?!"



My day started actually really WEIRD.
Every Thursday the garbagemen are busy in our street and I just ran into the "mob" when they started collecting the garbage cans. One of the men started staring as I walked by. Am I looking that gross?! (okay, I literally fell out of bed but oh my... )
He still stared when I passed him.
"Excuse me..."
Yuck!
"My son.. he's ... what is he doing again?... Oh, manga!"
Still unsure what he wants. AND late...
"Aren't you one of those girls?" (sounded a bit like I have a disease...)
"Uh... if you mean if I am one of those doing comics, than yes.."
He smiled.
"I knew it!"

Doh! I live in the middle of nowhere (for Berlin).

Gouache- my new best friendenemy

... after spending ridiculous amounts of money on little nasty tubes you can decide if you want to see pictures of fails and progress or not.
Since the medium is like an alien with four heads for me I guess I rather create fails.

I tried to find good tutorials on the net but nada. Maybe a good point for posting those... o_o

hello colors!

Color Testing on new paper (which is awesome!)
Hot pressed watercolor paper (Laneaquarell, 300 gr) with a smooth satin texture. You still see texture if you add pastels or oil pastels which is fine but generally the texture is practically non-existent.

My colors.... finally every space is filled. I just need to sort those o_o

What is really interesting is neutral grey. The first thing i learned 12 years ago in art-school was mixing neutral grey. It's my prefered color for light outlines and details and it's not as hard as black but still prominent. I think mine is from Schmincke but some more companies should offer it.

If you want to mix it yourself: Blue, red and yellow in same proportion (1:1:1). The result should be a neutral greyish tone.










Details of a test-illustration. I'm still unsure if water colors are the right medium. Right now I am tired of acrylics but a mix of water colors, gouache and oil pastel might be a solution. Which is kinda odd since I have like everything except oil pastels and gouache =_=; ... and I really have no idea if I can handle those but alas, I guess there's always a "first time".

Yes, No, Yes... No? Maybe... yes?

You know the situation when you are stuck in work and you get a phone-call and become like "Oh, ah, squee, omg, omg, omg!" .... and than you realize that you practically won't be able to sleep for 6 months if you won't say no.

I had to learn how to say no. Even without lame excuses. Sometimes it was really really hard, sometimes I was relieved, sometimes depressed (because it really would have been cool).
I think it's something you won't do when you start because ... everything is so exciting and crap, skip the sleeping part and you see all those €s and $ and think: Just another one and better too many than no jobs at all.
Ever made the experience? and if not: Would you say no?

I really wanted to work at the week-end but Nata hogged my couch after a very bad B movie and Sunday was our "Treadle and Hanni get their inoculation" day. Urg...

Since my deadline for some test illustrations is on Thursday I might take some fail pics of epic watercolor tests. Not that interesting alltogether but alas, it could be worse.

Rant of the week: Why on earth does a bigger Kolinsky cost around 30 bucks?
 It's a bloody brush and I don't see any gold on it. Poor marten anyway. But I can't use synthetics for the project. Dang!

omg, watercolors....

... again after 10 years of happy absence.

Bought hopelessy too many things because the last couple of years have been devoted to acrylics.

I hope I find some free time on Sunday to test everything.

And since it looks like I'll have to spend a lot more time with my watercolors within the next months I should reactivated everything I learned in artschool like... 1998 O_o

My test-illustration will be Hanna- I love her little pigtails. Last time I drew her was for a scouts cover (for junior scouts :) ).

....and a little - very little- details of an illustration for my publisher. Love to paint rough- if an illustration is too clean it tends to look kinda odd.