Just recently I took a two-day
illustration workshop at Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia. Our teacher, Scott
Kirschner, was kind enough to teach me to stretch Bristol paper. Now I don’t
have to store canvas anymore! This way of working has allowed me to paint with
acrylics on paper! Scott also showed us
how to plan out an illustration in a better manner than what I was doing. He
also taught us how to apply research to help aid in believable details to make
a picture more authentic to your objective. After purchasing all that I needed
and sending Scott pictures to make sure I was doing it right, I began to work.
A big thanks to Scott for all his help and support in this endeavor! Where
would we be without people like him that take the time to make sure we
understand?
The first step was soaking both
sides of the Bristol paper in the tub. Then, the corners were stapled to the
board, then the middles, and finally all around. After that, the paper was wavy
and need to dry flat overnight. I thought I had done the process wrong until
the next morning, when it dried tight as a drum!
After two coats of medium gray, the
first problem arose. I quickly realized that the brush had left textures in the
gesso. With that it was more difficult to lay all the needed pencil work accurately.
With the help of my projector, I laid in all the pencil lines where they should
be. Still, they were rough.
I have been studying Drew Struzan’s
process of painting. I hoped to become a bit more detailed in my way of
working. With an understanding of his process, I applied black paint to whatever
areas needed it.
Then, I airbrushed transparent
coats of paint on all the other areas. Another problem. I really have no idea
what I am doing. Fearlessly and messily, I pushed forward. This experiment is
halfway finished. Come back and see how it finished out in later entries!
