Saturday, January 4, 2014

Page 3, Part Three

[Click to enlarge.]

Despite how it may appear, the tortoise did not win.

Raena and I took, well, a nine month break from our joint blog.  But we are back!  And we intend to treat this sketchbook like a hot potato - or at least a lukewarm one, so that we will post more often in the future.  We resolve not to try for perfection and not to be intimidated by the blank page or each other.  Instead we are going to be challenged by one another's art and ideas, and grow, grow, grow!  (We hope).

You can see how we started this page in the last two posts.  To this page, I have now added the boy who is pulling the dinosaur's tail.  Months ago I had no idea what to do when Raena added the dinosaur.  I was toying with the idea of a boy swooping down, riding a pterodactyl.  I made several pre-drawings.  But I couldn't make it work.  I'll leave that kind of thing to James Gurney, at least for now.

This time, the idea of the boy trying to hold back the dinosaur came to me right away.  First I looked at several tug-of-war photos.  I was aiming for a certain body position, and found a woman that was just right.  Then I found a photo of a young Indian boy.  Then I looked for facial expressions by googling the word "determination", to get his expression.  I used all of these as guides for the final product.

The entire time I had Sadami's advice in my head - I tried to capture his movement, effort and resolve.

I'm using a thicker pen these days than before and automatically picked it up without thinking - it gives the boy a rougher appearance than the girl that works, I think.  In the arms though, I accidentally picked up an even thicker pen.  It's okay.  I think whatever background is put in place will minimize most of it.  I've learned that this is the attitude we must have - use the mistakes - it's what makes your art unique.  Also, perfection is boring!

So there you go, Raena - it'll be in the mail shortly on its cross-country journey to you.  What will you do next?

26 comments:

  1. What a delight to see the two of you collaborating again! I look forward to seeing the continuing development of this one. Love hearing a bit about your thought process as you work on it, too.

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    1. Thanks Mary! I will continue to share how I do things, and the problems I run into. That's half the fun! Please keep following!

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  2. I love this idea of a collaborative sketchbook and it will be fun to see the two of you both back at it.

    The boy pulling the dinosaur is a perfect imaginative addition to the page. I can't wait to see more!

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    1. Thanks Rebecca! I didn't know how imaginative the idea was, just knew it would work. I'm glad you like it! More to come!

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  3. At last! It's such a great idea it was a shame not to keep going. Love the the little boy and the dino.

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    1. Well, I'm so glad and a bit astounded that this started up again! It needs to be done!

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  4. This is brilliant!!! you two back working on these drawings again, Finally! Love seeing how things get added and what lies behind each detail, the boy tugging on the tail is great and I like his facial expression.

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    1. Thanks so much Mari! To me the expression was so important, as well as his body language so I am glad those elements worked!

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  5. Yeah! so glad that you are again doing this project. I know who hard it is to keep this type of project going.

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    1. No question. Now if we could just keep doing our art and push all that other pesky stuff out of the way..

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  6. Hey Dan! Great, great idea! Love this. I'm not sure how you managed to remove the ink so well!? I didn't even know it could be done. The watercolor, yes; but the ink? Well done. I am so excited for this to get to me....especially since I already know what I'm going to add!! This time it came to me immediately!

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    1. Your comment makes me smile, with a narrow squint, and one raised eyebrow. But I'll tell you anyway. I used an exacto knife to gently lift away the pen lines. I've done it before. But it is risky. You have to use care not to dig through the page. Also, the watercolor tends to fill the narrow cut lines darker than the surrounding area, so it isn't really completely gone. And you cannot lift the color from those lines. I grew a bit careless with the color, and it is kind of amazing I was able to pull it off. In truth, I was too heavy handed with color and line, and I could have and should have stopped with the area sooner than I did.

      I can't believe you know what to add. I'm stumped. :)

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  7. Wonderful page… so glad to see you both didn't give up.

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    1. Give up? Never! Wait months and months? Well..

      Thanks, Captain!

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    1. Well you needn't miss them anymore! Follow away! Thanks!

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    1. No words of your own left to describe what you are seeing, eh Pamo? You are obviously working too hard on that book! :) Thanks!

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  10. Hello You Two,
    Well this is really hotting up! I just love it.
    I had to laugh as, as soon as I saw it I thought of James Gurney (in a good way).
    I keep thinking - I should do something like this (a sketchbook collaboration) as it would make me sketch more.
    Super Fun!
    Stew.

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    1. Stew. I just love the way you talk. You put words together in ways I can never imagine. Yep, it is hotting up after being mighty cool.

      I think it is really neat that you thought of James Gurney too! How could we not, though.

      So do it! All you need is a sketchbook, a virtual friend, and a stamp. :)

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    2. I would have to agree with Dan! Love the 'hotting up'; think I'll try putting that in my lexicon! :) Of course, it was SO cold that I would think the only thing that could happen would be to hot up...unless of course it died.

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  11. Love it so far. Can't wait to see what Raena does next! Dan - did you ever see the pictures of Raena and I together in Houston two years in a row?

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    1. I sure did! I loved following how you all went to those conventions. I've only met Raena's avatar and heard her email voice! Most importantly, her art! We have stayed pretty close in skill and interests for our ink and watercolor - and that I think is the key to our collaboration. That and her constant assurance and affirmation "No worries," that helps. I guess not meeting her in person is part of the fun of the collaboration. The distance really makes this exciting!

      I'm glad you love it so far - keep following! Thanks!

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  12. I wonder if he's saving her or teasing her pet. Both could be a boy's action! Now what will happen I wonder.

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    1. I love this comment - thanks Timaree. It is another reminder how the artist does what he(she) does and the viewer takes it to a whole new or different place. I never thought of the idea of teasing, but you are absolutely right!

      Me neither - I have no idea what Raena is going to do. How fun!!

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  13. HAHA!!! (rubbing hands together, in a wild-eyed, crazy sort of way) You guys won't believe what I have coming next! I just finished getting some reference photos together and I think this one is going to be wild....and something you NEVER even expected! (Took a while to get the refs though...sorry. But the good news is that I started a new job this week, which would also be my excuse!)

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