Parachute guy toy - study

Parachute toy - study

This was the last of the studies I did for this image.  This one was kind of rushed too but I kept with it to get it some sort of finish. After this I dove right into putting the image together. 

Bloodsports 11 -studies

Boat study

ornament -study

These were some studies I attempted to get done prior to getting into the main image.  They were miserably unsuccessful.  The biggest reason was I think that I rushed them.  If I had stuck with them I might have overcome problems and learned something.  I had spent a few evening working on this study and that seriously ate into my time for this challenge.  I figured if I stopped working on the Boissieu I would have lost the momentum and benefit of it. 

Bloodsports 11- starting

Bloodsports 11 thumbs

Bloodsports 11  consisted of the following -
"Your Task is to use a monster (pre-existing or self developed) and turn it into a living statue version of itself. Similar to the concept of a gargoyle, these statues can be of any monster, and can be made of any  material. Once youve decided- bring it to life! backgrounds are a MUST."

 This one was gong to be hard - creature - textures - environment.  I started doing thumbs.  Unfortunately most of them got lost as  I juggled files between my computer and laptop.  The remnants are above.  I plumped for a toy come to life.  Originally it was going to fly but that got ditched when I moved into more detailed sketches. 

Lobster Dinner

Lobster Dinner

I went back to oils to complete this still life.  This guy I got frozen. I thawed it and put it on top of some freezer blocks to keep him cold while I worked.  It felt odd painting this guy cos this is the first time I had painted something with an eye in a still life.  This took about 2 hours and yes on completion he went back in the fridge and the next day was dinner.  I took some pics so when I get a chance I will do some Photoshop studies.

Past and present

Found this really interesting merging of past and present photographs.  Turns out the building bubble in Ireland did not obliterate all the character of our towns.  Kudos to the artist  Colm Williamson. 

After Jean Jaques de Boissieu A Male Saint

After Jean Jaques de Boissieu  A Male Saint 

This is a master study of a work attributed to Jean Jaques de Boissieus  A Male Saint (1781).  I saw this painting on the Sothebys auction site.    What really struck me about this painting was the execution.  I didnt know much about the Boissieus.  Turns out he was best known as an engraver. 

A search of internet could did not reveal any other paintings.   Estimate for auction is only $8000 to $12000.   

Olympic Diver Oil Painting

Olympic Diver Oil Painting

Last Olympics I had a tv card in my computer.  I recorded a whole set of sports that arent usually televised.  At the time I had the intention of using them at some point.  The ones that were really stricking were the divers.  The filming of these was really high end stuff.  Along with the slowmo it was possible to isolate the diver from the background.  It was from one of these sequences that I grabbed this image. 

Olympic diver

Monk Character

Monk character

I was messing around with some doodles when this guy showed up. Dont know where he is going. 

Trappers Return

Trappers Return

This started off as a random doodle exercise but with the idea it would be some environmental piece.  It continued form that to the final piece.  About two thirds way through I tried to move to a more finely rendered piece but it just didn't work so I scrubbed the layer and kept the roughness.  It was a good exercise and a different way of working for me.  

portrait practice 4

Portrait 4

Another episode of Awesome Horse last weekend.  It was a painting demo with a live model.  I didn't have the courage to reach for my paints so I retreated to Photoshop for this.  Original image and submitted results are on Facebook.