Plein Air Painting Supplies Must Haves

Due to my MFA classes resuming this month I needed to make pieces of equipment that will make my life much easier when I paint in the field (Plein Air). 

Some artists, mainly beginners, purchase their equipment while others the equipment they need. I option to do the latter because it's cheaper if you have a few hours to do it. 

The first piece of equipment I made was a Sketch Easel originally perfected by  artist/illustrator James Gurney. I made some adjustments however in the future I will find another way to make it. I don't necessarily like how the wings fold as they do not fold perfectly flat. 

The second piece I made was a Painting Panel Holder from 1/2" x 2" Poplar.

The third piece is a wet painting carrier for 11''x15" panels out of Gorilla Tape, corrugated plastic and some 1"X2" stock. 

I haven't posted here for awhile but much of this blog will be updated on a regular basis. Well, my biggest news is that I graduated from Academy of Art University with a Master of Arts in Visual Development. People often wonder what Visual Development is. It goes by different names depending on the institution or the individual:

• Entertainment Design or Entertainment Arts
  
  
• Conceptual/Concept Design or Concept Art
  
  
• Illustration for Entertainment Design
  
  
• Visual Storytelling

I will be attending Academy of Art University to continue in the Master of Fine Arts in Visual Development in Spring 2021. I want the terminal degree that can open doors that an MA cannot. 

MFA is considered a terminal degree because there is no other higher degree in the visual arts. 

As an educator in higher education this can equate to higher pay, too. I will post my portfolio in future posts. 

Works In Progress

Here's some updates of some work I did previously that never felt like they were finished. They still have more refining to do. The Bride needs to be more atmospheric and fully developed background and wraps need different texture. 
The Titan Raptor needs to be painted but you can see the differences between the original and the updated version. The Warrior Angel simply needs refining and more atmospheric. He should appear as if he's flying through a cloud layer.

 

The Bride WIP, 2019

Titan Raptor WIP, 2019

Original, 2014

Warrior Angel WIP, 2019

Here's the final for my Fawn Sketch....mixed media of collage, acrylic, colored pencils and digital. I wanted to make sure I preserved as much of the original drawing as possible.

FAWN Sketch WIP

Originally this started as a demonstration on mixed media but now its morphing into something more substantial. I will update this work in progress as things continue to develop

ALL THINGS: Concept Painting V Thumbnail

Here's the final Thumbnail  and WIP for my next painting for the All Things concept painting. I'm still moving some stuff around because it has this weird face staring back at me.

Re-Paint: Robin Hood

Sometimes you have pieces that weren't complete thoughts or ones that just plain didn't work and all it takes is a few tweaks. Here's the beginning of some re-paints that just plain works much better than I originally conceived. This is part of a fantasy based Robin Hood I did some years back. I worked more atmospheric perspective and pushed the structure back in the distance to give a bigger sense of scale and creating more of a focal point to the Hero. Originally, there was a planet in the background that just didn't need to be there.

2016 Tear Sheet

Here's my updated Tear Sheet for 2016:

Storyboards

Here's a sample of storyboards of a feature film pitch I worked on as Production Designer. I also did production paintings for this too updated on previous posts.

Daily Warm-Ups

Here are my daily warm-ups for today. I always have to work some stuff out before I begin the creative stuff to work out the kinks. Mostly faces since I'm doing so much of that stuff lately.
The full figure on the left was the first one. One can tell I'm still working out my focus so the proportions aren't quite dialed in. Even the one to the right of it....her head is too small. That chick has a strangely long face and I should have caricatured her.

ALL THINGS: Soldier Concept

This is the concept design for the Alien Soldier in the film I'm working on. This guy is a bit smaller than the General in the film, too.

Robin Hood Pitch Bible

These are pitch boards for a futuristic Robin Hood concept I came up with....kind of a post-apocalyptic Robin Hood with a Blade Runner vibe. The drifter, Robin Hood, fights against the corporation that has oppressed the works from its terra-forming villages on neighboring planets. This story is original but highly influenced by some of the greatest films ever, Mad Max: Fury Road and Blade Runner.

Character Design

Here are some of my favorite characters I've designed in the past:

 

Creature Design

Here are some creature design I've done in the past...

Painting IV Revisions

This is the revision I did based on the original critique from the director. I like getting the response of, "WOW" after I send it off to him. This is not particularly my favorite version of this painting but its what he wanted and needed and that's what you need todo for the client. It's important to focus on the WOW Factor in production paintings.

Warship Invasion? I'm not sure what the title is besides Painting IV

Painting IV: In Progress

I'm finally done with this one. I've never done a space painting before and I'm happy the way it turned out so far. I'm sure I'll have some things I want to tweak later but for now its done and hopefully the director will approve. Whew!

This is the invasion that supposed to take place in Act 3 of the script.

So Stoked!

I just got off the phone with the producer for the ALL THINGS movie I'm working on. I'm nearing completion of the last production painting of the first round of work for them. So far the work has been difficult to schedule with my teaching gigs but I got through it. As we talked about the future work on ALL THINGS he offered me additional work on a new film...a western! So, beginning next week I will be doing storyboards for both films simultaneously which will keep me busy for a bit then begin more production paintings and set designs. These are small budget films but all that really matters is doing really good work and perfecting my craft, so I can provide for my family. That's all that should really matters, right? I'll continue to post my most current work. WooHoo!

Current Project: All Things

Currently I'm working on a small independent film called, ALL THINGS. I'm serving as Production Designer on the film....it's my screen credit but actually I'm the concept artist on the project. I have my hands in several aspects of the film: production paintings, set design, website assets, storyboards, etc. Previously I worked for the same producer on another small film in 2005 called, One Night With the King. Here are some of the designs I've completed for the project so far. The production paintings still have some tweaks here and there but they are close to the finish.

   The Alien General was such a cool design to work on. The director 

   was influenced by Super 8 in regards to the head however I felt something 

   a cross between a humanoid and that alien's face would work better for any

   type of expression they can yield from the CG animators.

Kristen Stewart was the inspiration for her physique and overall look per
the director's wishes.

  This is was the first version of this scene. Unfortunately, I had to repaint it for the
  director so its closer to what the director needed. 

 This is probably my favorite one out of the group. I had done this one twice
 as miscommunication on my part was the culprit for a repaint and massive
 revision. Below is the first version I completed.

This is my least favorite of the painting. I didn't have much time to do this
one and the perspective of the octagon shaped portals were a challenge.
The perspective isn't perfect but for the time I had to do this one it worked
out just fine.