My Lightpen lightens up my day as I do a very complicated Vector pattern

Today's a big day for me...Am on a deadline to recreate an original sketch I made for a website. Thanks to this favorite client of mine, working for him on this gives birth to a new chapter in my fine art works. Do check back on an extended update on this soon.

Meanwhile I am quickly making this post while I hurry through creating this pattern made up of millions of inanimate shapes on Adobe Illustrator, simply to shout-out to anyone out there working their days out with shapes inside of Adobe without a tablet.....It is your best treasured investment.

The lightpen is helping me make a crazy-complicated pattern digitally in half the time I have taken to create the whole layout.

source: pcmag.com

Considering I took considerable time to sketch it out on paper.... am so excited that I may take just half the time I had imagined it would take with my light pen to draw it out into the computer....in vector format all hires.

It's for an upcoming Website so it is too early to reveal any of the design. Will post an update once this amazing interactive site gets launched. I promise it is going to be a different kind of visual treat....Courtesy of my techy client....who constantly helps complement my designs with his brilliant technological magic to take the design to a whole new realm.

Be right back on this soon. 

Illustration Friday Theme: Surveillance

Happy Friday

It is my pleasure to post here my submission to Illustration Fridays weekly theme "Surveillance" put out there for the participation of the global community of illustrators.

Desert Surveillance

There was a funny twist to how I made this illustration. Will keep the discussion of the making-of-this for another session or for a how-to article as it is too wordy to include on this post.

This illustration was made into something that tells a story of surveillance by adding a few elements like a few frightened wide-eyed people inside the rusting-abandoned vehicle and a couple of other curious desert-lings (like a hare & a hedge-hog) by the vehicle, with the shadow of surveillance-aircrafts on the desert sands.

Thanks to IF....for while making this picture using pencils, watercolor & ink, I realize it has opened up a whole new avenue for an interesting story for me to build upon in the new future.

Really appreciate your visit.

So long until next time!

Soft Pastels - SWOT Analysis

Greetings folks!

Todays lunch-break I did not want to lose the opportunity to make this important post for all the pastel artists out there.

Ferrari Dino 246 GT/GTS

I am here to talk about Fine Soft Pastels. It's my take on them! Simply because I felt I need to share some important facts about working with them and what one may want to get sorted before setting out doing a piece with these materials.

Soft Pastels are such a pleasure to work with. And as usual I get fully immersed into the unique experience that it offers us. This week once again I am on a spree of creating some pieces using my Rembrandt's Soft Half Pastels. These are one of my most treasured possessions which I got all the way from Denver Colorado, way back in 1999. It was a valuable gift from a cousin when I was taken for a memorable evenings outing to a Denver Art store. Man that was an evening to cherish!!

I made the above piece yesterday on a Daler-Rowney, dark-shaded paper which I had purchased a long time ago pending the right time and the right subject to use. As it meant I had to use a new technique to draw using lighter colors and a lot of blending. I will be rolling out some more works in the coming days on Canson paper and cold-pressed Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colour Paper. Aah! I can't wait to get to work on those. When I do, I will talk about my experience with them.

Actually while I did this little automotive project I did indeed dabble with my charcoal sticks. And when the mono-colour got me a bit depressed, I jumped back here to do some more layering on my Winsor & Newton Fixative sprayed Ferrari sketch. By the way the fixative helped the brought yellows over the orcres to settle down a bit. Interesting to note that the layer of fixative on a freshly-made pastel especially on dark paper makes it look earthier, sobering down the bright highlights. So I think am okay to see that it maybe adding to the vintage look.

Another point is that I am not getting overly worried if my proportions are not measure-out at the first shot as I want to give it a hand-drawn look than a commercial mechanical drawing look.

So here it is....it is my pleasure to show you this freehand piece of the work accessible on http://remy-francis.fineartamerica.com/

One other important thing you may want to do before you even open your box of pastels.

If you are allergic to dust... these pastels create a smokey fine dust. What I missed out was wearing either a mask or gearing myself with an anti-histamine before creating this Pastel drawing. So it kept me busy taking breaks for some bouts of uncontrollable sneezing. :o). Anyway, as all chalks and pastels are non-toxic and mine showed that it is certified with a Health label from the Arts & Crafts Materials Institute conforming to ASMD-4236 I did not worry a lot.

The ingredients of my Rembrant extra fine soft pastels are well-know-infact world renowned for their pure pigments. And doesn't otherwise pose any health hazard aside from some physical allergic discomfort.

For those who don't want to go through any of this they can just do some clean business on an Adobe software like what I created here....after my daring trip to the Ferrari world last weekend. All I needed to do is work with the mouse and graphic tablet.

A drawing made with no sweat, no mess, and no violent bouts ;o) are easier but then one is left with a commercial-looking piece with missing characters of natural pencil strokes....and blend of colors. I somehow think a traditional drawing looks vibrant and alive than a digital piece.

A Ferrari Vintage Model (Original color - Emerald Green)

The message of this post is that I give "three-cheers" to another therapeutic experience which my precious pastels have given me. And encourage all you artists and artists-in-the-making to indulge in using these to enhance your masterpieces. That's right! I say masterpiece! I am rather pleased to use my Rembrant's pastels for its high degree of lightfastness and unique warmth, first-class strength and velvety softness. In their own words, this softness is achieved in part by kaolin (a clear china clay). So why not take the opportunity and create one yourself! To make you feel a true creator of a masterpiece!!

Thanks for taking part in my discussion. Welcome to visit again.

Children-themed fine art

Children in Children's Art make great subjects for a therapeutic moment in sketching....where we get to use pastel shades and use subtle blending technique. In a few strokes we could bring out the cuteness and spontaneous innocence in the characters.

This sketch is a repost of one of my favorites, I made for a greeting card. In later years I made it in vector graphics (using Adobe Illustrator & Microsoft mouse) which gave a whole new look.

It was a treat to do the piece and make it come to life especially the blond curls. I hope to create some more children's-themed works in the coming weeks. Will post it on here as I roll out each piece.

Digital Paint on Paper sketch - Posted on IllustrationFriday.com

Do click through a couple of more children's' themed illustrations:

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Children/9237195

Children's Art - Testing my new Genius Graphic Tablet as opposed to my Wacom

Hello there here I am again peeping in after a long break.
with a sketch I made for my first participation in Illustration Friday's this weeks theme "Sweet".

Come July and I hopefully can schedule a regular hour everyday to share my part of the art world here.

I have a lot of writings I would like to share here as soon as possible but I wish I had a couple of more hands to assist in just maintaining my blogs. I keep writing on my sketchpads with a hope of regular transfer to my posts here but work-life is getting too crowded that my sketchbooks are running out of pages... all filled in and waiting to make that leap into the digital world soon. And I keep telling it, day in a day out...."I promise I'll make it happen!" The passion reflects if typed in by ourselves!

While I promise I will be back more often ... let me leave this note with this Children's Art "A Windy Day in Candy-Land" sketch I enjoyed making using a new Graphic Tablet which I recently purchased as a stand-by to my Wacom tablet. Looks like it pretty much does the job I want to.

Having started drawing digitally much before the light-pen age during the mid-80s, subconsciously I usually take to the mouse to sketch within my photoshop or Illustrator. And have to make a special effort to pick up the light-pen (as behind my head there's this voice that asks me technology has made it so simple for artists so the least I should do to challenge myself is to draw using the mouse and get the same effect.

Anyway I must admit though, that once am with the light-pen, the enjoyment of drawing is a whole other world with accessibility to much more easy pick of the tools which technology has to offer to make life easier where boundaries could be limited only to one's imagination. For instance to use certain custom-brushes inside of photoshop, it makes better sense to use a light-pen like I have done for this sketch....and the pressure sensitivity too does volumes to enhance our experience. Just my take!!  Sure... everyone would have their own custom preference! (in order for you to perhaps to look at the brush-strokes more closely I have placed the drawing once again:

Thank you for visiting my space. I will be back in a wink!