July 29, 2014 Through Love's Eyes 1

Love ignores life's changes brought on by time and finds a bond between two souls.

Love is not a physical thing. The good looks and bedtime fun and games can't survive the test of time. Too much is placed on the physical attributes that masquerade as love. Love may begin that way but unless there is a willingness to go beyond and bond together in all things it will not survive. Give and Take, Laughter and Tears, Falling and Lifting up, Sacrifice and Gain are all a part of the bonding in love. It is a true bonding of two souls into one unified being. It is not unheard of to finish one another's sentences when this happens. Knowing one another to the Nth degree. 

 "My dear friends, let us love one another, since love is from God and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. Whoever fails to love does not know God, because God is love."

The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (1 Jn 4:7–8). New York: Doubleday.

I have been mostly absent this past week or so. My DW dropped a bombshell on me by asking me to do an image of her from her favorite photograph. Yes I did hesitate and think about it. I am honored that she would think enough of my talents, however rough they might be, to ask so I agreed. The photo she wanted me to do the image from is, in my opinion, HORRIBLE. She does not really want me to include it in my post, which is fine with me. That said a lot. Needless to say it took two tries to get it to work. She says she likes the first one too but I could tell that is not completely true. I came as close as I could. Any who, this is my draft drawing. 

Don't let this drawing fool you. It goes through quite a few changes before it is finished. The tough part of this was that there were NO HAIR FEATURES VISIBLE on the photograph. Not even my photo program would bring them out. I had to grab my magic lamp, rub hard and ask the genie what the heck do I do now? He just shrugged and said "You are on your own."

Cherokee even put his hands in the air and gave me that "leave me out of this one" look. Some friend. LOL. After a day and a half of searching the Internet for Hair style Ideas I came up with what you see on the left. I drew the rough outlines then added the details in pencil. I also added dimension to the ear ring and ear in pencil to be sure where the edges and details would be. Once that was done I followed up with a final penned in detail as you can see on the right hand side of the drawing. Whew! Now we finish the Left hand side in pen. Nice Huh?

 Next we start with coloring using Copics T6 for the Darkest spots in the hair. As we proceed it will seem as though the facial features are not correct but they are. Trust me.

Next we Fill in the hair color with T5, T4, V99, V25 and BV29. Black hair is actually very dark shades of many different colors. The sheen in bright light is often deep violet or purple. Yes, Jill had jet black hair when she was younger.

Now we use the 0 (zero) blender pen to lighten the areas that would shine in the light. It is not a cartoon shine I know but in the actual piece it is what makes it more realistic and not a cartoon.

Remember those tiny eyes that didn't seem to fit? Add some details, color (E39,T7, White uni-ball Signo) and correct ever so slightly, pen in the eyebrows, eyelashes, color the lips (R24, R22, RV21) and ear ring (atyou Spica 16 buttermilk, 19 Sand) and perfect so far.There are five more images to show since this was more complicated to color. These will be shown with minimal comment

The usual contour highlighting for deep shadow. (E01)

General color fill in contour prep. (E00)

Final skin smoothing and pre-shadow blending. (E0000)

At this point we begin shadowing with BV0000, RV00, RV0000 on the nose, cheeks, neck, chin and ears. The eyes also the eyes get a very slight shadowing with C3 to add dimension. The final image needed only small adjustments to finish it. But I've bored yo enough so here is the final image. Hope you like it.

The hair looked like someone took a large pair of shears and cut it off on the right side so I added some color E41 where the shoulders are in the photo. 

Part of the reason I agreed to do this image is because the end of August is our 51st wedding anniversary. It has been an extraordinary voyage to this point. What better way to say thank you an I Love you than this. (I know you are reading this dear and no I will not take this part out.)

I guess you have noticed that this post says "Through Love's Eyes 1) Now it's my turn. I have a favorite picture as well. It was taken on our 10th wedding anniversary just before we went to church to have our wedding blessed. It will be my next project. Thank You for stopping by and supporting me in a life long desire to do this kind of art. Until then, remember, LOVE THE DETAILS 

(Just an addendum: Jill and I met when she was 4 and I was 6. Didn't start actual dating until our teens so get your jaw off the floor. It was a long time and not one second is regretted.) 

July 21, 2014 Consecration

Inner consecration to God and not external things bring God's favor.

In truth we are all sinners. Doing good works will not give advantage to you if you have not made yourself right with God. Spiritual circumcision is needed. Genuine change of heart and a cutting away of the habits and ways of this world are needed. In a way you must remove "self" from your way of life. The only "self" you need be aware of is the one that ensures your place in heaven. No one can do this for you. It is your choice(s) that ensure your place. It is the singular place where knowing yourself is a good thing. 

On its own, the physical sign of circumcision is no guarantee of finding favour in the sight of God. It was intended to be the outward sign of inward consecration and should be accompanied by repentance, faith and obedience. Paul stresses that circumcision confers no special privileges upon individuals; it is faith in God, rather than any outward sign, that ensures that believers stand in a right relationship to God.

Manser, M. H. (2009). Dictionary of Bible Themes: The Accessible and Comprehensive Tool for Topical Studies. London: Martin Manser.

OK everyone. This image was a real challenge both to draw and to color. When you do a face or image, how it is shaded determines what the face will look like. A shift in light and shadow completely changes facial features. The main direction of light in this case is frontal right to produce some shadowing. Here we go. (Notice the light reflection in the eyes)
For reference here is the original drawing.

I will present the images to give a sense of what was done and the color menu at the end. 

Initial shadowing. I did the eyes less eye shadowing and the eyebrows before hand. It allows me to get a sense of what the face will look like.

The lips are also colored in and 

Deepening the shadows.

 Full facial coloring. Eye shadow is added at this point to bring the eyes into play. Some color adjustments can be made as you proceed but keep in mind that with Copics, the more you color over another color you are filling the pores of the paper. You will reach a point where the ink will no longer be absorbed and will result in glossing. In short the colors will begin to shine. Not good and impossible to correct.

Partial hair shading.

After coloring I use a Micron 005 pen to give texture to the hair and to allow me to know what direction to use the marker strokes for hair flow. The image is now complete except for hair highlighting. I do this with the blender pen and filling in with a lighter shade of the hair color.

There you have it. Not as perfect as I would like but I am very pleased with it. I would like to try several more to explore different poses. You can tell me what you think and make suggestions if you wish. I may break the posts into two sessions to allow me to do a bit more step by step with out boring you to death.

Menu:
Eyes - Micron 005 black pen, Copic E34 - R00 - T8 - BV20
Lips - Copics R83 - RV10 - RV11 - E93
Skin - Copics E000 - E11 - E30 - E51 - RV000 - E50
Hair - Micron 005 Black Pen - E47 - E44 - E43 - E30 

Thank you for joining me today. Hope you liked what you see and comment. It is a journey I enjoy sharing with you. Remember to alway LOVE THE DETAILS.

July 17,2014 Preparation

Preparation is more than knowledge, it is a living process.

I know many who gather up all of the knowledge they can and grow more learned every day. The problem is that most of it is nothing more than words written on a page. Something to impress those around them. When you read the word is it to have knowledge or as a guide to living. Has any consideration been given to what living as a child of God means. A friend and Christian sister, Jacqueline at Jacqueline's Craft Nest posted something about this. I think it is worth a look. (Be sure to check her creations as well. They are gorgeous.)

The goodness of the Lord renews the strength of the discouraged so that their spirits might soar like an eagle.

Smith, J. E. (1996). The wisdom literature and Psalms (Ps 103:3–5). Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co.


Here is another tease image. Many have asked if I could post the mock up or rough image I actually use to do the images. Well, the image is not colored yet but the image I drew to get an idea of what I want to make it look like (mock-up) is completed. It is the image I will color and I may also try a pencil drawing of the same image. I have not decided if I will do that with this image or not. At any rate here is the mock-up. 

(The image has been water marked for obvious but unfortunate reasons.) Much of the image will be erased as I color but it is preserved on my computer and will be transfered to a disk for safe keeping. The finished image will be posted in a few days. Remember to always LOVE THE DETAILS.

July 9, 2014 Perfection

Perfection is only a perceived possibility.

How does that make you feel? Perfection is perceived in the mind of each individual and not an agreed upon thing by all. It is the imperfections that make all things perfect. It is what makes us all different and perfect in our own way.


 PERFECTION. The biblical idea of perfection is of a state of ideal wholeness or completion, in which any disabilities, shortcomings or defects that may have existed before have been eliminated or left behind.

Packer, J. I. (1996). Perfection. In (D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, & D. J. Wiseman, Eds.)New Bible dictionary. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

With that said I must tell you Cherokee will comment from time to time in my blog posts. For those of you who wonder about him, No he is not real, He is a fermentation of my imagination cause by too much caffeine which in turn causes a runaway imaginary coma. This results in a lapse of attention to detail and a blank stare which some of you might interpret as sleeping with your eyes open. Sudden movements cause awakening and not recognizing my surroundings. The left side of my brain shook hands with the right side of my brain and said we have to fix this. They worked together and created Cherokee.

In short he is imaginary and a ficklement of my imagination. 

"Forgot to mention not well." You just did it for me. Thank you Cherokee. "Welcome."

There will only be comments as needed for the images. I did not include the drawing alone since it was done over. It has changed a bit. Hah! Fooled Ya. All coloring is done with Copic markers. Here is the first image:

 (I colored the eyes because I was experiencing some bleed from the new marker. (E79))

 

As we progress you will notice that I am coloring from dark colors to light instead of the other way around. I find that by doing this I can blend and fade the darker colors more evenly and easily.

 

 Be careful to use the darker color (R01) only in the area that would be Shaded darkest. When the next shade (R00) is used, Color over the first and extend it to the next area that would be lighter than the first. Use this technique on all colors for skin tones.

The next color (R000) also is colored over existing colors and extends the shading process. Be sure to color over the eyebrows but not the lips or the whites of the eyes.

The final skin shading (R0000) will be to color all skin areas. Notice that all sharp lines are eliminated and the dark shading has been softened.

Next the lips are colored in (R83 & 85) and some eye liner (T8 & E17) added.

Color the eyebrows (T5) and add detail with Multiliner 0.05 pen. Lighten with (0) blender pen.

Add hair color (T4, 5, 7, 8) and detail with Multiliner pen. Add some eye shading (BV000, BV0000 - BV34 - C0, C1)

Finish coloring the hair with the gray markers and adding details with the pen.

Touch up where needed and it is finished.....or is it? "Looks like lady on insurance commercial." Hmmm. A little. DW wife says too much hair. "Maybe she have big head!" I can't change the hair. Copic does not erase that completely. It will show. "Start over? Not be in room with Irish if work on this one again. Maybe not just mumble next time." Wait a minute! This is my artwork. I can do what I want with it. "Delete and forget?" Nope! Used my photo editing program and Here is the final result.

If you managed to stay with us (ME) to this point, thank you. Hope you  liked the abbreviated tutorial. Not all steps are covered but the main ones are. If you know of anyone that got bored and gave up, I apologize. Complaints are handled by Cherokee. He is a ficklement of my imagination so you can guess what happens to the complaint. Remember, if it doesn't work out, laugh about it, but always LOVE THE DETAILS.
Whew! Glad that is done. Stop typing. "OK! Just Publish"

July 8, 2014 Patience

The reward of patience is not in the here and now but in what is to be.



All things worth having are worth waiting for. A road is not paved with out first preparing a foundation for it. Life is no different. Whether we notice or even see our lives before us progressing matters little if patience is not a practiced exercise. Anything gained without patience will not be worth anything if not prepared properly. Life is especially so. Our artwork is one of those special areas that requires patience to learn and there is always a time of preparedness before creation begins. Many of you have expressed the thought that maybe you should have more patience when doing certain projects. In reality it often takes many tries to get a creative project right even when you have great skill and experience. "On the other hand the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control; no law can touch such things as these."

The New Jerusalem Bible. (1985). (Ga 5:22–23). New York: Doubleday.

This will be a very short teaser post. I am not commenting right now but will return when my project is finished. I have long wanted to do an image from scratch. I have tried before but always failed miserably. The cave painting mentioned in the last post would be a good example of the kind of results attained. I have already decided on a drawing and still have to work through a few problems. but it is getting there. I am including the drawing in this post but nothing else. The hair is missing since it is the toughest part to do and I have not settled on and style as of yet. 

A side profile would definitely be easier to do but would not have the same effect in my opinion. I am currently on my third attempt.The first, first stage, attempt is shown here.

Not enough of a tease? OK here is the final sample. After all I don't want to totally give away what she might look like. This is the third stage of coloring. It will give a very slight hint as to what she will look like.

 Well, as promised, a very short post. Remember, always Love the Details. I will post again when the project is finished.