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Thursday, 12 February 2009

Darwin Day Liveblog 1

While doing the dishes last night I hit upon a composition I think works -er, not of Charles Darwin doing the dishes, but my mind wanders with the suds.

It's been a busy month so far of travel and illness, and I'm a little behind. Last year, I was ahead of the game with a drawing I was already quite pleased with, and photographed results every hour, and the painting took three. Drawing is the skeleton and muscle on which the skin of oil paint rests, and it takes time to grow. Painting on a time limit can help me work through the despair I often feel when a piece is in the ugly phases. Let's see what happens today. Forgive me, if today's exercise is not a triumph, but merely a stalemate.

Let's dive in.

Sketch one, above, inspired by suggestions made by Karen James. Perhaps this will become a full-fledged piece, but nautical vessels are not at the moment a strength I've tapped.

Thumbnail sketch, above.

Working out the pose using a super-heroic model for structure and shadow, above.

Early face and pose. Enter...the glyptodont!

Scanning and tweaking to post is taking a bit. I'll forge ahead and be back by 6 pm eastern standard!

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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
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8 comments:

  1. Up Welng12 February 2009 at 16:43:00 GMT-5

    can you give the young darwin a cape? i think he needs a cape!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Up Welng12 February 2009 at 16:47:00 GMT-5

    oh wait, "No capes!"

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glendon Mellow12 February 2009 at 16:52:00 GMT-5

    I must obey Ms. Mode, Rick.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Christopher Zenga12 February 2009 at 16:52:00 GMT-5

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Christopher Zenga12 February 2009 at 16:55:00 GMT-5

    Plow through G-Mel,
    I hope there is no Kryptonite in that rock face.

    Later Days,

    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  6. Irradiatus12 February 2009 at 17:11:00 GMT-5

    I can't wait to see how this turns out!

    Keep up the great work Glendon!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Karen James12 February 2009 at 19:07:00 GMT-5

    THis is really exciting - the creative process revealed!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Glendon Mellow12 February 2009 at 19:14:00 GMT-5

    Thanks Chris!

    Thanks Irradiatus!

    Thanks Karen! A bit more about the creative process involves listening to Green Day & M.I.A while sipping amaretto coffee.

    ReplyDelete

Posts over 14 days old have their comments held in moderation - I've been getting an unusual amount of spam for a guy who paints trilobites. I'll release it lickety-split though.