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Speed Painting #1: Furniture

Abu Nasu
Code Monkey
Join date: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 476
07-28-2009 12:20
I said I would do it, and so here I am.

Speed Painting

A subject is given and it is your job to paint it in approximately 60 minutes. You can take less time, but please try not to go over the limit. Post what you did and any information along with it.

Strictly painting only. Don't get fancy with filters and all that jazz - just paint.

If you've ever taken an art class, then maybe you've done speed sketching. One of my art teachers would give us a mere 30 seconds to sketch in a 4" x 4" square. We had to convey so many things with very few strokes. It was an awesome exercise in basic form, communication with simplicity, and - more importantly - eye-hand coordination. This is in the spirit.

For this speed painting, the subject is furniture. Could be the chair in the corner of your flat, or a concept sketch for a futuristic beanbag. Paint it and post it up.

I got my tablet 5 hours ago and it is a whole new world for me. What I'm going to be posting won't be any where near grand. Probably won't even be decent. But that's cool because this is about practice and improvement.

Bring it on!
Abu Nasu
Code Monkey
Join date: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 476
07-28-2009 13:32
PS CS2 + Bambo Fun Medium
25 mins

This is the coffee table right behind me. It is not happy. OMG what is that? Hahaha. Should have taken more time, but I'm no where near comfortable zooming in for more passes just yet.

Chosen Few
Alpha Channel Slave
Join date: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 7,496
07-28-2009 22:13
Cool thread, Abu. Can't wait to see what everyone does. I'll add a painting of my own tomorrow. It's about 1 a.m. here, and I won't be awake long enough to spend 60 minutes on anything right now. (Does 60 minutes really qualify as "speed", though? I would have gone more with something like 60 seconds, but your thread, your rules. :))

In the mean time, I'll second your comment on what a useful exercise speed painting (or speed drawing) can be. My favorite art teacher from college used to have us do 10-second figure drawings for a good hour or so, as often as possible. The model would strike a pose, and we'd all have just a few seconds to draw her/him before the next pose would come. The first 10 minutes or so always yielded pretty bad drawings, but once people got their rhythms down, some really good stuff would come out of it. By the end of the session, I always felt like I could draw literally anyone or anything in no time flat, and have it be great.

Another great one was the old "don't look at the paper, and don't lift the pencil" exercise. Just keep your eye on the model, and let your hand movements follow your pupil movements. Again, the first few attempts would always suck, but after a few tries, the coordination would kick in, and really good looking art would emerge.

It's amazing what we can do when we force ourselves to work outside our preconceptions of what we "need" in order to proceed.




I disagree with your assessment of your table painting, by the way. I think it's quite "happy". If you were going for realism, then yeah, it's not there, but if you look at it as a stylized piece, it works well. I like it.
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Abu Nasu
Code Monkey
Join date: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 476
07-29-2009 00:13
You know, I wasn't really sure about the time limit. I'm rather comfortable with 30 minutes, but it seems like a lot of folks are going 60 now-a-days. I figured err on the side of time so as not to intimidate. I'll shorten it to 30 in the next one. But definitely feel free to take less time for this one as you want.

I definitely remember doing the "no look, no lift" exercise. My one teacher didn't tell us about this until after a few rounds because he was testing for those of us that figured it out on our own. Dasterdly he was.

I'll do another 1 or 2 for this one in the next few days.

Thanks for the comment on the assessment. When I'm hard on myself when painting, I'm usually just goofing. However, I feel like I've taken more than a few steps back. But that's fine because comfort, confidence, and improvement is what this is about. And I'm more than willing to do this in full view.

Bring it on, yo.
Abu Nasu
Code Monkey
Join date: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 476
07-29-2009 16:57
PS CS2 ~25 mins

Scaredy Cat's favorite chair. Too bad if you sit in it you will fall right back because I placed the wheels all wrong. I was fumbling with the colour palette when doing the shadows and eventually just let the blues and purples fly. I was almost to the point of yelling. Too funny. Even played with Smudge for a bit.

The specular highlights I can do no problem with a mouse, but wow trying to them with a tablet. Smooth gradients and yummy detail? What's that?

Namssor Daguerre
Imitates life
Join date: 18 Feb 2004
Posts: 1,423
07-31-2009 09:20
It's not really furniture, but I couldn't help notice the simlarities in the way the light played off of the two devices. I present my vintage Western Electric model E-1 phone next to my palm. I spent 20 mins in PS using the brush tool (two sizes), smudge tool (textured), gradient tool, all at various opacities.

Chosen Few
Alpha Channel Slave
Join date: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 7,496
07-31-2009 13:10
Nam, you have a Pre! :) I got mine on launch day. It's the only device I ever camped out for. I love it. I hope you're enjoying yours.

I like your painting very much. Nice composition, good use of light, great stylization.

Anyway, sorry, Abu, that I still haven't yet contributed a painting of my own. Among other things, I'm currently doing both graphics and sound for a TV show pilot (which like most pilots, will probably go nowhere after it's done, but you never know). It's been keeping me busy enough that I haven't felt like doing anything personal on the computer in between. I'll whip something up soon, though. :)
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Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.
Abu Nasu
Code Monkey
Join date: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 476
07-31-2009 14:02
No fair. Nam's got skills. Way to go. Woo! I really do like the cropping and comp.

No worries, Chosen. Playtime as you can.
Namssor Daguerre
Imitates life
Join date: 18 Feb 2004
Posts: 1,423
07-31-2009 14:29
From: Chosen Few
Nam, you have a Pre! :) I got mine on launch day. It's the only device I ever camped out for. I love it. I hope you're enjoying yours.
It goes with me everywhere!! I especially like the fact that palm supports the "Homebrew" community. I have mine in developer mode. I just need to wrap my head around Mojo (when the time permits).

From: Chosen Few
I like your painting very much. Nice composition, good use of light, great stylization.
Thanks! It's been way too long since i've slowed down to speed up, if you know what I mean.

From: Abu Nasu
No fair. Nam's got skills...
It's not like riding a bike. At least it isn't for me. I have to keep doing it or I lose the edge. This type of loose style is not what I usually gravitate towards. It was refreshing to let go and not be my own worst critic, or have to worry about starting over after 10's of hours because of a single mistake. It's full of "happy accidents".
Chosen Few
Alpha Channel Slave
Join date: 16 Jan 2004
Posts: 7,496
07-31-2009 16:00
From: Namssor Daguerre
It goes with me everywhere!! I especially like the fact that palm supports the "Homebrew" community. I have mine in developer mode. I just need to wrap my head around Mojo (when the time permits).


I don't want to derail the thread to keep talking about the Pre, but I agree completely. I love the homebrew community. 2 months in, and already there are over 100 homebrew apps available, compared to the official 32. Imagine what it will be like a year from now.

One tip, though. Don't keep it in developer mode all the time. It's a security risk. Dev mode opens up some ports that should normally be kept closed. Put it in dev mode just when you need root access, and then put it back.

Not sure if you've seen fileCoaster yet, but it's a must-have. Once you install it, you'll be able to download and install homebrew apps without rooting, and without having to involve your PC. It does everything right on the Pre, a tremendous time saver.

I'm ABBlockhead on the PreCentral forums, if you want to chat over there.


From: Namssor Daguerre
Thanks! It's been way too long since i've slowed down to speed up, if you know what I mean.


I know exactly what you mean. I don't do exercises like this as often as I should either. I agree with you that it's not like riding a bike. Artistic skill is not something you just learn once, and you're done. It does need to be maintained.

It's a lot like playing an instrument. It's all about practice, practice, practice. No matter how well you know the ins and outs intellectually, if you don't practice it physically, your skill level diminishes. The more you do it, the better you do at it. That's why this thread has me excited. :)
_____________________
.

Land now available for rent in Indigo. Low rates. Quiet, low-lag mainland sim with good neighbors. IM me in-world if you're interested.