Stories Illustrated

I remember first seeing Daniel Lieskes work this image which was created for a CGSociety challenge.  I loved the design, the detail and of course the delicious colours used.  

 It was another image The Journey Home created for another CGSociety challenge which was an early seed of another brave and imaginative project.  Daniels graphic novel The Wormworld saga was launched on 25 December 2010.  This is the first chapter of the story.  

Go along and check it out.   Digital media and the new ways of delivering content such as the iPad  are revolutionising the graphic novel. 

Let it snow - artfully

As the frost and snow continue here Mark Hudson of the Telegraph ranks his pick of the Telegraph ranks his top ten winter scenes. 

Limbourg Brothers - "Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry - February" (ca. 1410) was number one. You can find a copy of the image here.   The image is discussed as an example of art without shadows plus the author makes another very amusing observation, ha, ha. 

Lunch Time Doodle

As the temperature dropped to below zero (coldest December on record).   I swapped out my usual bottled water for something hotter- tea making.  This offered a welcome subject change to the usual fruit.  This is the used tea bag - a pyramid.  About 30 minutes in Photoshop.

Reference Images Copyright

So when I am using images other than my own as  references  there is a nagging question.

The law is that copyright remains with the creator of the image unless you have an instruction from the creator saying otherwise.

Using the image as reference means I will no doubt recreate elements but how much is necessary so as not to infringe on copyright?  How derivative must the image be ? 

This has proven to be a difficult question to answer. The famous case of Rogers v Koons  demonstrates some of the key elements of infringement.  A really interesting commentary on the case is included on the American Society of Portrait Artist Site.
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Reference Image Sources 1

Finding good references to use in the construction of images is necessary.  I use them to generate accurate representations of subjects but also to aid in colour design and composition choices.  The idea is that you refer to these while drawing  as much as you can and eventually you build up a mental reference library. 

For me that is a loooong way off so for now I have to find images to aid me.  There are a vast numbers of resources on the web.  My first impulse is to hit Google and perform an image search.  sometimes a good choice but what is pulled up is only as good as the image tags.  If you are looking for references you will be most likely looking for particular subjects, poses and locations.   

While one word searches such as dog (255,000,000 results) or sea (215,000,000 results) will pull up a wealth of images, a search for a Doberman Pinscher by the sea will not be so useful (25,300 results).  

The success and usefulness of image searches is heavily dependant on the filename the user has given the image and the context the image is used in. 

 Googles advice

Try to make your filename a good description of the subject matter of the image. For example, my-new-black-kitten.jpg is a lot more informative than IMG00023.JPG.

Also the additional image contained in the alt attribute 

Not so good:

<img src="puppy.jpg" alt=""/>

Better:

<img src="puppy.jpg" alt="puppy"/>

Best:

<img src="puppy.jpg" alt="Dalmatian puppy playing fetch"> 

To be avoided

<img src="puppy.jpg" alt="puppy dog baby 
dog pup pups puppies doggies pups litter puppies dog retriever 
 labrador wolfhound setter pointer puppy jack russell terrier 
puppies dog food cheap dogfood puppy food"/>

The last one risks being flagged as spam.

Google has made attempts to improve image tags.  Well rather it has tried to use us to add additional tags to images in what I think is quite an ingenious device. 

By using a web based game called Image Labeler  additional descriptive labels are given by users to images on the web.

This will hopefully  improve the accuracy of results. 

While these improvements are been made there is a possibility that this broad search approach will disappoint.  Using specific reference image libraries is an alternative. Next time I will discuss some of the resources I have found to be useful. 

Happy Christmas- Ben Bulben oil painting

Happy Christmas / Holidays to all!

Well made it to the big day.  Travelling home just 35 miles away was more like a relief mission than the usual trek to be with family. The extreme cold meant I had to bring heaters and water (in case pipes froze).  

Anyway below is a painting  that I did for my sister as a gift. Earlier in the year she asked if I would do one for her - something from Sligo.   It is of Ben Bulben -a mountain near where my parents home is. It has a very distinctive profile.  It was done on a square canvas which meant I had to think a little bit about composition.  It would have fit a little easier in a landscape format but I think it ended up being more interesting. Anyway I have completed it early November and have been looking at it since. Touch ups and a big rethink on the sky. Originally a lot of Cumulus clouds - it was too claustrophobic.  I think this works way better.  I will be sorry to see it go.  Hope she likes it.