010 - Painting is the Job

Studio

Now, I have 4 big canvases waiting.

Reference

Decided it would be good to reference parts from an existing drawing. I didn’t want to overwhelm myself by overthinking the subject, but just make existing things come to life.

I took a few photos and printed them out:

Photo of the drawing

Some options

Just looking at my old drawings, there’s loads of content to move to paint:

An old, detailed colored-pencil drawing on a large white panel

Painting Process

Started by drawing the concept out with charcoal:

Charcoal time

Then, layered on an underpainting in red. This mixes with the charcoal and produces some depth:

The canvas on the desk with the drawing blocked in as a red underpainting

Roughed out some color overlays. Spilled coffee. Started to question if this was a good idea:

The canvas with rough blue, green and red color laid over the underpainting

Added some lines to build it out. Then, it felt worthwhile and made more sense:

The painting with dark outlines and patterns added to the shapes

The painting lying on the desk, seen at an angle

The painting propped beside the original drawing and a small reference print

That’s where I have paused.

Progress check

Listening

1 - Storytelling

I have a “storytelling workshop” to lead next week and figuring out what to share. While painting, I have been listening to lots of videos on Storytelling.

What that turned into is binge watching David Perell’s “How I Write” channel. Never heard it before and have loved it.

This interview with Mark Forsyth was fantastic.

This is like painting in a room with smart people talking about smart things.

2 - I Am Rey

Found this creator’s channel on TikTok and decided to see if there was more on YouTube. If you can handle the way he talks, the content is superb.

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