Hey you lot, so today’s video is a little bit all over the place, I have to apologise.
The actual video quality will improve in a little bit, I had some issues with lighting
and focus and camera setup.
It was just one of those days.
Oh and then I ended up pretty much starting from scratch anyway, but we’ll cross that
bridge when we get to it.
So what you’re seeing now is a little thumbnail kind of sketch.
Basically today we’re looking at drawing and painting a scene, so backgrounds and characters,
the kind of practice that would be useful if you’re going to illustrate a graphic
novel or work on story-boards, or you just want to create more…
standalone paintings and things with more depth and more story to them.
So I’d definitely recommend trying this out.
I actually use film screenshots as a reference.
You get to know a lot about perspective and architecture and also just effective composition
and framing for a scene.
Um the film I was looking at is Inferno, it’s one of the Da Vinci Code series, um I actually
haven’t seen the film but I’m reading the book at the moment.
And I’ll leave a few links below of places I go to find good screen caps, some with some
really good cinematography.
But yeah, I really liked the little sketch but I wanted to challenge myself a bit more
by incorporating paint and colour into the second, larger scene.
There was a really nice cool hue to the shot that I wanted to get across.
But the issue I ran into was that…
I was going for quite a simple, minimal paint style, that I’m just not good at.
And in my attempts to make it loose and keep it basic, you know just suggest the existence
of things rather than spelling everything out in detail, it just kind of ending up looking,
I don’t know, quite childish.
So I’m looking forward to putting a bit more time and practice into painting in that
style effectively but for the time being, I wasn’t happy at this point, my filming
setup situation had been really clumsy and difficult to set up, and I was so tired and
a bit disappointed, and I dunno, I kind of make rash decisions when I’m feeling like
that, so I ended up just taking scissors to the page and cutting out the bit that I liked.
In hindsight, I might not have done that, I might have found another way around it,
or maybe just kept working on the failed attempt to se if I could salvage it.
But yeah, in this instance, I had just had enough.
I’m quite run down at the moment and that tends to make me a little bit emotional so…
anyway, after all that I actually had a break.
I think I went to watch tv and then I painted another page in my sketchbook which I guess
will be tomorrow’s video if I can edit it quickly enough.
But yeah then I came back, set up my lights so hopefully the picture isn’t so grainy
anymore.
And tried again.
Okay so for round two, again, I still wanted it quite loose and simple.
I did a bit more sort of building up of the painting.
Adding layers as I went.
Which I do think helped.
Another thing that helped is I actually spent maybe half an hour 45 minutes just watching
people paint.
Watched a realtime video of a guy painting a seaside scene in watercolour, I think his
name was Will…
Will something.
Tim!
Tim Wilmot.
Close enough.
I’ll write it down in the description anyway but yeah, not only was it just really calming
to have a cup of tea and watch him paint, I sort of reminded myself of some painting
techniques and learned a couple of things that inspired me to get back to my painting
and maybe try and implement the new things I’d learned in some way.
And this piece didn’t turn out anywhere near where I had hoped it would but it’s
kind of driven me to put more practice into this, I mean its not something I..
I don’t think I’ve ever really painted a scene like this before.
So yeah it’s something to work on and I’m also just happy with myself for getting back
on with it after giving up.
Umm so I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the sketchbook I’m using for this
series, I always have the tools I used in each specific video listed in the video description,
but yeah this is just a regular moleskin sketchbook.
I’ve been really surprised with it actually because the last moleskin sketchbook I had,
which was the same design as this one, same name and everything, was nowhere near this
good.
I think they must have done some improvements on their paper quality, it’s a lot better
for paint and things.
I had a tiny bit of like bobbling under the water for this painting but I did use an awful
lot of water so I really can’t complain.
But yeah, if that’s something you were wondering, now you know.
Really haven’t got much else to talk about today, I feel like I’ve covered everything.
At the end, I stuck on the original little sketch, that turned out to be my favourite
part of the whole thing.
But I guess what I’d like you to take away from this is a.
it’s okay to not be satisfied with your work, you just have to take it as a prompt
to improve on something.
and b.
never underestimate the power of taking a step back, having a rest and coming back with
a clearer mind.
I’m still quite tense, quite anxious, little bit aggy, that’s just how I’m feeling
at the moment, in life, in general, but I’m gonna be patient with myself, keep trying
but also know when to give myself a break.
Alright thank you all for watching, I hope you enjoyed todays video, more for the idea
of it than the actual piece.
Oh and if you can think of any films with some great, paintable scenes, leave them below
for us all to check out and practice.
Alright, all the best guys, bye!