I’m getting a double dose of life drawing this week with the return of Dr. Sketchy’s this past Sunday (Yeah! Sketches soon) and with the next Covert Characters tomorrow!
This weekend I got to cross “See Dita Perform” off my life to-do list! Strip Strip Hooray returned to Melbourne for 2 encore shows after the first sold out within hours and I wasn’t going to miss my chance!
All of the performers were incredible and EVERYTHING sparkled! Dita’s iconic performances are iconic for good reason. She is impossibly graceful and precise yet genuinely seemed to enjoy herself. Did I mention that everything was sparkly – breathtakingly, dazzlingly sparkly.
The opening act was her Martini Glass routine and the crowd was instantly mesmerised. When she splashed it looked like diamonds falling in slow motion. This small (14x19cm) painting is my attempt to capture that.
Watercolor & Gouache
And in fitting with Fallout’s salvaged aesthetic I recycled a 20x30cm tin sign, weathering and sanding off its original paint.
I wanted to capture the Petty Girl glowing tan and sweet smile of vintage pin ups. I imagine that an image like this would be like a recruitment poster for the Brotherhood faction.
She is entirely painted using Vallejo acrylic paint including the Brotherhood logo and text that I airbrushed stencil on before beginning the figure. The finished painting is protected and sealed with UV cut Matte clear spray varnish.
I will have her on display and for sale at Supanova this weekend (April 16 & 17th) at the Melbourne Showgrounds, Ascot Vale.
Art Deco – Poison Ivy to finish off my Art Deco DC set. I had the idea for an art deco rose bud shawl for months and I finally was able to realise it for Ivy’s dress.
All 3 prints will for sale along with one more new design I will reveal later this week.
Her hat is based on a genuine 1920’s McCall’s sewing pattern with slight modifications.
I will be selling Art Deco Catwoman and Harley Quinn prints at events this year.
Inspired by the work of George Petty and WWII nose art, I’m experimenting with painting directly on to metal. The painting is on a new-made-to-look-old tin sign that I sanded and distressed myself.
Those of you with a keen eye and a knowledge of popular video games might be able to guess what she is promoting.
I will have the finished painting for sale at Supanova Melbourne next month.
Lara Croft – Art Nouveau style poster based on the Inktober sketch I did last year. I will have this for sale as prints at my upcoming conventions.
Happy Women’s Day! Everyday!
I also involved in a fantastic online course for Art Business – which is turning out to be just the help I need and filled with a wonderful group of artist.
One fairly important priority for 2016 for me is to do more traditional work. Digital has so many positives but I truly love working in pencil, ink and watercolor. I convinced myself that digital was fast, easier (as in no set up/clean up, my computer and tablet are always right there waiting), less stressful (unlimited undos). But in actual fact tradition is more natural to me (its what I’ve done from the very beginning), therefore its faster and less stressful then working on a computer! And not having undo makes the work better – if I really mess up I start again from scratch and the piece is always better for having done it twice.
So with that in mind I bought some new paper and started drawing in ink again the quiet time over Christmas/New Years. Slightly missing white Christmases inspired this pin up girl.
The page with and without text.
My concept (black & white only) was translated into a sculpt by Lee Jae Chi of Zealot Miniatures. The finished product is made of resin and stands roughly 32mm high. Only 100 were produced and sadly with the master sculpt damaged by the casting no others will be made.
I decided to quickly add some color to my original concept to work out how I would go about painting her as a miniature. I would also like to make her a custom base like the one in the concept. I hope to have time to paint her soon and I really look forward to seeing how other people interpret the design!
Official miniature painting by Leigh Carpenter inspired by my color concept.
