[Ian Coltman]

Day 88 | Work Song digital composite – reference: Scott

 

 

I still wanted to do a Scott composition, so I threw together the last few into a digital spread.

In contrast to creating a spread on a single sheet of paper, this process feels more like a collage and exercises slightly different motives – involving deference to existing form instead rather than active intervention.

[Ian Coltman]

Day 88 | Please Hammer Don’t Hurt ’em in mixed Sepia ink – reference: Scott

 

 

Same ink as last one, though watered the mixture down slightly.

[Ian Coltman]

Day 88 | Scott Portrait in mixed Sepia ink – reference: Scott

 

 

Dirtied my yellow ink back up with Nightshade to create a custom sepia… also gave Scott a nose job.

[Ian Coltman]

Day 87 | Scott in RYK ink scheme – reference: Scott

 

 

I diluted the red with water to tone it down and substituted black for blue for this one.

[Ian Coltman]

Day 87 | Scott in RYB ink scheme – reference: Scott

 

 

One last rainbow RYB ink scheme before I decided to switch things up.

[Ian Coltman]

Day 86 | Vanna in RYB ink scheme – reference: Vanna

 

[Ian Coltman]

Day 86 | Trace in RYB ink scheme – reference: Trace

 

 

Continuing portrait and ink materials study with a drawing of Trace.

 

[Ian Coltman]

Day 85 | Ink Drawing from Imagination 2

 

[Ian Coltman]

Day 85 | Ink Drawing from Imagination 1

 

Did this last night using the kit from my visit to the park.

Loosely abstracting some of my plane studies while experimenting further with ink palettes.

[Ian Coltman]

Hi Jan,

Thank you so much for your kind words! Having a gel pen helps me hide many of my mistakes on the Vilppu planes, but I’ll take the compliment!

 

Day 85 | 10-minute Park Sketch 

 

 

Finally made it to the park today, and had a few spare minutes to sketch.

3 Ahab fountain pens with a cool red, light blue, and dirty yellow. Plus a brush and water. I’m hoping to find the right palette of three inks to take on sketch trips as an alternative to watercolor.

[Ian Coltman]

I love this!

It reminds me of Joe Andoe… very expressive.

[Ian Coltman]

Thank you so much Iliya for your comments and suggestions! I am in agreement with all of them and will focus on some of these areas for improvement in my final lap.

 

Day 82-84 | Vilppu Planes 2-3 – reference: NMA The Planes of the Head model (Vilppu layer)

Moire head study and pen practice… been busy preparing for a move so my focus has been limited.

The Vilppu planes from 45 degrees and front turned out to be more complex than the profile drawing. I leaned on the gel pen heavily to keep the 45 in play, then slowed down on the frontal to avoid too much reliance on it. The gel pen provides a living document of trouble spots which actually seems useful for this type of thing.

[Ian Coltman]

Hey Christopher,

I did not mean to be harsh… I am sorry if it felt that way.

I’m not implying that you are not heeding Joshua’s advice, I am asserting that the wisdom of his statement will resonate as your journey continues.

Put simply, when we push our boundaries, our perspective changes, and the basic exercises we return to present new opportunities.

The master studies are something everybody should be doing more of here. They are pursuits upon which failure is inevitable (and often embarrassing on the first few warmups) but they are also critical to gain a better understanding of design and technique. Unfortunately, nobody wants to post pictures of their failures.

IMO, the mortar of a solid foundation is best mixed with a ratio of 1 part success and 3 parts failure… if you’re not falling, you’re not skiing.

 

 

[Ian Coltman]

Hey Christopher,

I wanted to follow up on your comments… my skulls are kind of weird because they were actually sourced from the NMA model in full wide-angle lens mode which created a mild point perspective rather than a true parallel projection… kind of a cinematic effect. They were really just the product of a torrid first date with my fancy new pen and not a good model for an effective analysis of the skull.

It seems like my challenge is a little more calisthenic in nature while you are doing some regimented weight training… we would both benefit from trading workouts from time to time.

 

Some Advice…

 

First, you should revisit what Joshua told you on July 11th frequently and reflect upon what it means.

 

Second, I would refer you to Elizabeth’s drawings for the model of what you should be doing in your anatomical shading exercises… looks like you already found them.

I’ve observed some difficulty arising from these “slow down” continuous tone anatomical studies. People tend to deviate toward less confident and over abbreviated strokes… by the end of the drawing, many are working completely from their wrist.

Elizabeth’s mechanics appear properly dialed into her shoulder, elbow, and mid-section muscles as the rule and her wrist as the exception.

Eliminating my wrist was a subgoal of my challenge… even when we slow down, it never hurts to remind ourselves to be mindfully training the muscles that will work to our greatest advantage.

 

Keep up the great work!

[Ian Coltman]

Day 81 | “Thanks, but no thanks” Ink Portrait – reference: Monika

 

 

More portraiture in ink… three Ahab pens with mixed sepia, mixed purple, and Shah’s Rose palette.

The purple goes black on sepia which became an interesting asset to this scheme.

[Author]

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