Showing posts with label Darwin Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Darwin Day. Show all posts
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Merry Darwin Day 2012!
Appropriately enough, I'm working on some scientific illustrations of beetles this Darwin Day. Can't show anyone yet.
Please enjoy these images of our man Charles from years' past, and make sure to read The Beagle Project's Blog post about Darwin's birthday aboard the H.M.S. Beagle.
The images below are from 2009, when I attempted to live blog progress from scratch of a new oil painting of a young Charles Darwin discovering a glyptodont skull in South America during the voyage of the Beagle. At the time (you can find all the blog entries in February 2009) I wasn't happy with how the piece was turning out, and the exercise got weird. Still glad I attempted it - it's good to experiment. If you look at the first sketch, you can see the ghostly sketch of the Beagle masts rising behind our young explorer.  |
| Quick sketch to get the shadows and composition down. |
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| Focused on the face first. Relatively happy with the pencils. |
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| Tinted in Photoshop, I actually like this sketched image better than the final. |
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| My work station. Love those Micron brushes. |
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| More or less (somewhat less) complete. |
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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
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Monday, 14 February 2011
Darwin Day contest winner!
Sorry, I'm a day late picking the winner. Too many good entries! I changed my mind 3 times.  |
| © Glendon Mellow 2008 oil on canvas paper |
"Preconceptions dropped away / As he stood atop Bartolome. / For Darwin, a glimpse of nature's plan: / Ascent of stairs, Descent of Man."
The winner: e_journeys / Elissa Malcohn!
Congratulations Elissa! Contact me by email or FB or Twitter, and send me your mailing address! I'll get that print in the mail for tomorrow.
For all of you who participated, thank you. Some of my other favourites were by Adrian, coturnix, soniah, Joseph and Arvind. I loved the imagery by everyone about standing on giant's shoulders (appropriate with the little stairs - never thought of it that way before) and the humour in so many entries. Tommy's Lady Gaga comment was great on Grammy night.
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Don't forget you can pick up Darwin Took Steps prints, framed prints, stickers, shirts, greeting cards and potcards in my online store. A portion of the profits goes to support The Beagle Project.
And don't miss this post by Karen James of The Beagle Project on Scientific American's Guest Blog.
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Print Shop
This contest is purely for entertainment purposes and fun. I won't be held liable for sciencey-artsy fun under any circumstances.
The winner's print will not originate from my online store: I will make it in my studio on museum-grade paper with standard inkjet ink.
This contest is purely for entertainment purposes and fun. I won't be held liable for sciencey-artsy fun under any circumstances.
The winner's print will not originate from my online store: I will make it in my studio on museum-grade paper with standard inkjet ink.
Sunday, 13 February 2011
Darwin Day contest entries!
 |
| © Glendon Mellow |
The contest was to provide a tweet-length (140 characters) commentary about my painting Darwin Took Steps - humour, poetry, insight all acceptable. Winner gets a signed print. It's science-history-surreal-portrait-art, it can be fun.
Here are all the entries. Brilliant stuff.
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Sorry, I didn't mean to stair. - Richard Carter, FCD.
Upon the heads of giants we will see yet further than we ever could on their shoulders. What new vistas will entice us from there. - Steampunk Professor
Lady GaGa claims “Origin of Species” inspired her latest outfit. “I think he took step classes.” she said, waving ‘The Tree’ at her fans. - Tommy
Oh good, the Pope declared Science as a work of God and that includes Evolution as well! #makingstrides -Thomas Stacey-Holmes
The biologist's stairway to heaven. - Morgan Jackson
Far-thinking fellow
Darwin placed atop the tree
Branch diversity
-nhigh
"I think.." that the tree of life branches out from a common root, climbing past Paley. - Mike Haubrich, FCD
Darwin took steps, many years ago, to unravel nature's ways. Now The Beagle continues to spark young minds to explore the land, the seas. - Eric Heupel
His idea paved the way, but some found themselves unwilling to ascend.his notional staircase. Those who did: awestruck, beyond description. - Adrian J. Ebsary
Preconceptions dropped away / As he stood atop Bartolome. / For Darwin, a glimpse of nature's plan: / Ascent of stairs, Descent of Man. - e_journeys
Although #Darwin Took Steps, Many Further Steps Have Been Made Since in Evolutionary Biology - The Dispersal of Darwin
Biology as a stairway still being built, as the tree of life still keeps growing. - soniahs
Progress is made by standing on the shoulders of giants; some giants provide more than their shoulders, expanding our minds with new ideas! - Morgan Jackson
"If I have seen further, it is by standing on the stairs coming out of the heads of giants." -Arvind
Looking at the variety of head shapes, it seems incredible that all of these Darwins evolved from a common ancestor. - Joseph Hewitt
the stairway to evolution - Kyle Gillespie
Darwin got his idea for "Descent of Man" one day when someone walked down the stairs and slid down his forehead. - coturnix
Crap! Uh, Darwin's cool, had a good head of stairs! On his shoulders! - ScottE
There's a guy who’s sure trilobites really fly
And he's building a stairway to heaven.
When he gets there, he's humble even though he likes scumble
With a word he built it on Darwin's head.
-Creech
"The Theory of Evolution isn't just a step up from Special Creation. It's the whole flight." Lou FCD
"I think... I may have to see a doctor." - Mo Hassan
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See? Gonna be tough.
Winner announced soon!
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Friday, 11 February 2011
Darwin Day contest!
Several weeks ago, I began working on a new painting for Darwin Day. However, with other deadlines looming and and still being awestruck by the existence of my newborn son, the new Darwin painting isn't near finished. But let this day not go unmarked at The Flying Trilobite! Time for a contest.  |
| © Glendon Mellow 2008. |
Write something about my Darwin Took Steps image in 140 characters or less (the same size as a Twitter tweet). It could be a fictional quote, a line of poetry, something to do with The Beagle or evolution by natural selection. Will you focus on the stairs? The beard? The tree of life? A comical way he got a staircase on his head? A knock-knock joke? I'll leave it fairly open-ended. Amuse me.
Contest closes at 12:01 am eastern standard time February 13th 2011 and I'll post the winner on the blog that Sunday. Multiple entries allowed, but they cannot be a series. A whole thought in one 140 character entry.
Entries should be submitted as a comment on this post on my blog, not on my Facebook or Twitter or other rss feed related places.
The winner will receive a signed Darwin Took Steps print in snail mail. Remember, you can also order this print in a variety of ways from my online store, and a portion of the profit goes to The Beagle Project.
Merry Darwin Day!
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite © to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Print Shop
This contest is purely for entertainment purposes and fun. I won't be held liable for sciencey-artsy fun under any circumstances.
The winner's print will not originate from my online store: I will make it in my studio on museum-grade paper with standard inkjet ink.
This contest is purely for entertainment purposes and fun. I won't be held liable for sciencey-artsy fun under any circumstances.
The winner's print will not originate from my online store: I will make it in my studio on museum-grade paper with standard inkjet ink.
Wednesday, 26 January 2011
Darwin Day is coming!
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| Darwin Took Steps © Glendon Mellow 2008. Oil on canvas paper. |
Darwin Day is coming up on February 12th!
If there's any painting I've done that's iconic of my work, it's this one. Darwin Took Steps has appeared on books, magazines and around the intertubes. It's available as prints, greeting cards, postcards, t-shirts and even stickers in my online shop. Great time to order, and half the profit goes to The Beagle Project.
The image also appears in two of my calendar collections (one version in pencil). Not too late to order those either. You can pick what month the calendar starts.
If there's any painting I've done that's iconic of my work, it's this one. Darwin Took Steps has appeared on books, magazines and around the intertubes. It's available as prints, greeting cards, postcards, t-shirts and even stickers in my online shop. Great time to order, and half the profit goes to The Beagle Project.
The image also appears in two of my calendar collections (one version in pencil). Not too late to order those either. You can pick what month the calendar starts.
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Friday, 12 February 2010
Darwin Day re-post: Making "Darwin Took Steps"
This post originally appeared on Tuesday 12th February 2008. Don't forget a portion of the sales from Darwin Took Steps prints, cards & shirts goes in support of The Beagle Project, one of the most inspiring educational endeavours conceived.
Merry Darwin Day everyone!
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For Darwin Day 2008, I decided to work on a surreal portrait of Charles Darwin, which is to be published today at the online literary 'zine, The Eloquent Atheist. There should be some writing accompanying it from one of the Darwin Day organisers, Dick Renfro. (Edit! Here's the link!) I always enjoy seeing another artist's process in creating a work, and I have found some scientists who read this blog are also interested in seeing the greasy nuts & bolts that go into a painting.
I am not a biologist, but I am something of a biology/palaeontology groupie. Darwin's work is so important not only for explaining a process of evolution by natural selection, but also for how it exploded the traditional chain of mythologies humans lived with as explanations for so long. The modern Bright movement and sites like The Eloquent Atheist seek to show how a life without religion and the supernatural can be intellectually and emotionally fulfilling.
In my continuous struggle to improve my own madartskillz I am also trying to create works reminiscent of Symbolist and Surrealist masterpieces replete with symbols drawn from our modern scientific worldview. Why use Odin to symbolise wisdom when you can paint Darwin?
Making of Darwin Took Steps
1. Thumbnail sketches
These were just thumbnails, showing an elderly Darwin pondering what to write next. The one near the top right has a "tangled bank" of branches floating above his head. From the start I knew I wanted to depict Darwin in his later years, as it is a more generally recognised image. I discarded both of these ideas in favour of the staircase idea.
2. Beginning the drawing.
For the drawing, I drew upon a reference from National Geographic's November 2004 issue. (Cover title: "Was Darwin Wrong?". The answer inside, almost a page tall: "NO.")
One of the goals for this painting was to see how quickly I could do it, and still be proud at the end. In this instance I gave up drawing freehand and used a projector to create the sketch above, which is something I rarely do. That took 20 minutes. Refining a drawing that size without the projector can take another 2 to 3 hours. Materials: 2mm pencil on vellum-finish bristol paper. (Must perform life drawing for three hours in penance for using the projector...)
3. Staircase and a false start.
The staircase is an older idea of mine I used on a piece called Disease. It was developed as a cd cover and never published. I like the image though, and thought it would be appropriate. The column in the background is supposed to suggest the path leading unexpectedly to D.N.A, beyond Darwin's scope. I checked the drawing in a mirror a lot, to see if there were any gross abnormalities that stood out. Noticed a staircase coming out of his head. During this phase, I was listening to Jakalope in my studio, which is actually a freakishly large closet off our living room.
4. Completed drawing.
This is the drawing as complete as I decided to make it for painting. I used a .3mm mechanical pencil, HB lead on vellum-finish bristol. Love that Strathmore. In total, the drawing itself took about 3.5 hours. I jettisoned the d.n.a. column idea, and left the staircase leading up and away, the edifice not yet finished. I had fun with the little 'chi' lines in the beard. After tweaking the contrast in Photoshop, I printed the drawing out onto a couple of sheets of canvas paper from my laser printer to paint on.
5. Prepping for 'speed-painting'.
I decided to work in our living room, claiming the coffee table as my territory. I use Turpenoid Natural rather than other solvents. It smells of pine and is not full of nasty toxic hydrocarbons like most odourless solvents. The pliers are to get my oil tubes open. (Seriously, are all tubes made by people who've never had to open them more than twice? The caps are all different by brand, but they all get stuck.) I wanted this piece to have an older, sepia-feel to it, so linseed oil rather than a paler poppy or walnut was just fine. I am armed with Bavarian Dutch Chocolate coffee in my Jack Skellington mug.
My palette consisted of Naples Yellow (which I am addicted to), Quinacradone Orange, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Monochrome Tint Warm, Burnt Sienna (which I hate), Raw Umber, Payne's Grey, Zinc+Titanium White and Lamp Black. A lot of people swear you shouldn't use white or black (and you should mix your own from blue and brown), and I say, stop living in the Impressionist Era! It's so over! Lamp black is warm and deep, like pvc goth-gear in a tube.
I set the timer to stop me every hour. My aim was to finish the painting in 3 hours.
6. Results after 1 hour.
Usually I start with the eyes. I worked out the face, mainly with a cad-yellow underlayer. Monochrome tint and white for highlights. I was listening to Darude, The Chemical Brothers, and a Nine Inch Nails remix album. The faster the beats, the fresher my brush strokes. This is deep in the Ugly Phase , where I just hate how it looks. No time to fret; hour two!
7. Results after 2 hours.
Started using a phylogenetic tree in the background, painting with quinacradone orange underneath, and iridescent gold oil paint on top. Renaissance masters usually painted a red basecoat under gold leafing to add luster. I am using some micron brushes my wife put in my stocking at Christmas. They are really tiny synthetic brushes, and the filbert is now my bf4evr. Some artists say oils must be painted with rough hog's bristle brushes, and then I just yell, stop living in the Impressionist Era! Old masters used soft brushes for detail, and so do I.
It's not done. I need to move toward hour 3.
8. Results after 3 hours, colour corrected.
The final piece, colour-corrected in Photoshop.
I fretted about how dark it looked on some monitors, and after submitting the image to editor Michael W. Jones at The Eloquent Atheist, emailed a second colour-corrected version, seen above.
Complete! ( edit: Here is the full-colour-corrected image and how it appears in my online reproduction store, a portion of the profits going in support of The Beagle Project.)
Assigning a number to any amount of steps would be arbitrary, but I chose 5 for a reason. Four for the support of evolution by natural selection (Darwin drew upon examples of 1. biogeography, 2. morphology, 3. embryology, and 4. palaeontology), and the fifth step for natural selection itself, or the elevation of reason over dogma, as the viewer likes. The steps of learning never end.
Please check this out on The Eloquent Atheist today, and leave comments! Constructive feedback is always welcome. I will edit this post later today to provide the link once it is up. Merry Darwin Day!
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery *** Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ***
Merry Darwin Day everyone!
- - - - - - - -
For Darwin Day 2008, I decided to work on a surreal portrait of Charles Darwin, which is to be published today at the online literary 'zine, The Eloquent Atheist. There should be some writing accompanying it from one of the Darwin Day organisers, Dick Renfro. (Edit! Here's the link!) I always enjoy seeing another artist's process in creating a work, and I have found some scientists who read this blog are also interested in seeing the greasy nuts & bolts that go into a painting.
I am not a biologist, but I am something of a biology/palaeontology groupie. Darwin's work is so important not only for explaining a process of evolution by natural selection, but also for how it exploded the traditional chain of mythologies humans lived with as explanations for so long. The modern Bright movement and sites like The Eloquent Atheist seek to show how a life without religion and the supernatural can be intellectually and emotionally fulfilling.
In my continuous struggle to improve my own madartskillz I am also trying to create works reminiscent of Symbolist and Surrealist masterpieces replete with symbols drawn from our modern scientific worldview. Why use Odin to symbolise wisdom when you can paint Darwin?
Making of Darwin Took Steps
1. Thumbnail sketches
These were just thumbnails, showing an elderly Darwin pondering what to write next. The one near the top right has a "tangled bank" of branches floating above his head. From the start I knew I wanted to depict Darwin in his later years, as it is a more generally recognised image. I discarded both of these ideas in favour of the staircase idea.
2. Beginning the drawing.
For the drawing, I drew upon a reference from National Geographic's November 2004 issue. (Cover title: "Was Darwin Wrong?". The answer inside, almost a page tall: "NO.")
One of the goals for this painting was to see how quickly I could do it, and still be proud at the end. In this instance I gave up drawing freehand and used a projector to create the sketch above, which is something I rarely do. That took 20 minutes. Refining a drawing that size without the projector can take another 2 to 3 hours. Materials: 2mm pencil on vellum-finish bristol paper. (Must perform life drawing for three hours in penance for using the projector...)
3. Staircase and a false start.
The staircase is an older idea of mine I used on a piece called Disease. It was developed as a cd cover and never published. I like the image though, and thought it would be appropriate. The column in the background is supposed to suggest the path leading unexpectedly to D.N.A, beyond Darwin's scope. I checked the drawing in a mirror a lot, to see if there were any gross abnormalities that stood out. Noticed a staircase coming out of his head. During this phase, I was listening to Jakalope in my studio, which is actually a freakishly large closet off our living room.
4. Completed drawing.
This is the drawing as complete as I decided to make it for painting. I used a .3mm mechanical pencil, HB lead on vellum-finish bristol. Love that Strathmore. In total, the drawing itself took about 3.5 hours. I jettisoned the d.n.a. column idea, and left the staircase leading up and away, the edifice not yet finished. I had fun with the little 'chi' lines in the beard. After tweaking the contrast in Photoshop, I printed the drawing out onto a couple of sheets of canvas paper from my laser printer to paint on.
5. Prepping for 'speed-painting'.
I decided to work in our living room, claiming the coffee table as my territory. I use Turpenoid Natural rather than other solvents. It smells of pine and is not full of nasty toxic hydrocarbons like most odourless solvents. The pliers are to get my oil tubes open. (Seriously, are all tubes made by people who've never had to open them more than twice? The caps are all different by brand, but they all get stuck.) I wanted this piece to have an older, sepia-feel to it, so linseed oil rather than a paler poppy or walnut was just fine. I am armed with Bavarian Dutch Chocolate coffee in my Jack Skellington mug.
My palette consisted of Naples Yellow (which I am addicted to), Quinacradone Orange, Cadmium Yellow Medium, Monochrome Tint Warm, Burnt Sienna (which I hate), Raw Umber, Payne's Grey, Zinc+Titanium White and Lamp Black. A lot of people swear you shouldn't use white or black (and you should mix your own from blue and brown), and I say, stop living in the Impressionist Era! It's so over! Lamp black is warm and deep, like pvc goth-gear in a tube.
I set the timer to stop me every hour. My aim was to finish the painting in 3 hours.
6. Results after 1 hour.
Usually I start with the eyes. I worked out the face, mainly with a cad-yellow underlayer. Monochrome tint and white for highlights. I was listening to Darude, The Chemical Brothers, and a Nine Inch Nails remix album. The faster the beats, the fresher my brush strokes. This is deep in the Ugly Phase , where I just hate how it looks. No time to fret; hour two!
7. Results after 2 hours.
Started using a phylogenetic tree in the background, painting with quinacradone orange underneath, and iridescent gold oil paint on top. Renaissance masters usually painted a red basecoat under gold leafing to add luster. I am using some micron brushes my wife put in my stocking at Christmas. They are really tiny synthetic brushes, and the filbert is now my bf4evr. Some artists say oils must be painted with rough hog's bristle brushes, and then I just yell, stop living in the Impressionist Era! Old masters used soft brushes for detail, and so do I.
It's not done. I need to move toward hour 3.
8. Results after 3 hours, colour corrected.
The final piece, colour-corrected in Photoshop.
I fretted about how dark it looked on some monitors, and after submitting the image to editor Michael W. Jones at The Eloquent Atheist, emailed a second colour-corrected version, seen above.
Complete! ( edit: Here is the full-colour-corrected image and how it appears in my online reproduction store, a portion of the profits going in support of The Beagle Project.)
Assigning a number to any amount of steps would be arbitrary, but I chose 5 for a reason. Four for the support of evolution by natural selection (Darwin drew upon examples of 1. biogeography, 2. morphology, 3. embryology, and 4. palaeontology), and the fifth step for natural selection itself, or the elevation of reason over dogma, as the viewer likes. The steps of learning never end.
Please check this out on The Eloquent Atheist today, and leave comments! Constructive feedback is always welcome. I will edit this post later today to provide the link once it is up. Merry Darwin Day!
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery *** Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ***
Monday, 7 December 2009
Art Monday: Darwin Display
From -nieh-'s Flickr photostream. A mighty tip of a ten-gallon hat to Michael Barton of Dispersal of Darwin for sending me the link. I believe this must be the Casa de las Ciencias display I mentioned recently.
Sweet. I like the Darwin-Moth painting. Anyone know who painted that one? I'm proud to have Darwin Took Steps in such good company.
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow
under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery *** Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ***
2010 Calendar Available now!
Monday, 6 April 2009
Art Monday: unfinished business
Running out of ideas is never something I worry about. The feeling of having no time is something that has started to obsess me lately. Balancing home, freelancing, blog and day-job feels wobbly. I'm happy and I'm scared of losing ground.
A few pieces of unfinished artwork, below. I hope to complete or start each of these anew.
Why do I worry about getting each of these ideas down before a day comes when I am no longer? How many echoes of that statement reverberate hollowly through forgotten history?
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ###
A few pieces of unfinished artwork, below. I hope to complete or start each of these anew.
Why do I worry about getting each of these ideas down before a day comes when I am no longer? How many echoes of that statement reverberate hollowly through forgotten history?
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ###
Monday, 23 February 2009
Art Monday: inspiration interruption
Inspiration can strike at unlikely times. Usually, once I feel bogged down and frustrated while waiting for the oil layers to become tacky and the details to swim up and wow my eye, I am struck by competing compositions that fight my attention.
This time I'm going with it. Yeah, sure I have a sketchbook-load of ideas waiting to jump out this year, but I need to explore this Darwin and South American mammal fossil thing for a bit. My wife was great, just said go for it. Sure I spent ten hours drawing, painting and liveblogging; but I'm going where the Muse leads me.
So here's is where I left Charles since Darwin Day, discovering our friend the glyptodon.
It's not complete, and I'm still working on it. Remind me to fix the wrist. And the sky remains a mystery for now.
But I'm not about to abandon two of the other ideas that have been rattling around in my brain, waiting for release through my micro-paintbrushes.
Here's the beginning of one. I was hoping to sketch megatherium, but it turns out the Royal Ontario Museum doesn't have one on display. So, after a hasty 20 minutes between work ending and the R.O.M. closing, I sketched the distinguished skull on the left, an eremotherium.
You may notice I was looking up at it. On the right is the glyptodon again, a new drawing.
There will be more to this image, including Charles. To picture him, think of this quote: "He should be quite well-protected. If he survived the freezing process, that is."
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ##
# 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
This time I'm going with it. Yeah, sure I have a sketchbook-load of ideas waiting to jump out this year, but I need to explore this Darwin and South American mammal fossil thing for a bit. My wife was great, just said go for it. Sure I spent ten hours drawing, painting and liveblogging; but I'm going where the Muse leads me.
So here's is where I left Charles since Darwin Day, discovering our friend the glyptodon.
It's not complete, and I'm still working on it. Remind me to fix the wrist. And the sky remains a mystery for now.
But I'm not about to abandon two of the other ideas that have been rattling around in my brain, waiting for release through my micro-paintbrushes.
Here's the beginning of one. I was hoping to sketch megatherium, but it turns out the Royal Ontario Museum doesn't have one on display. So, after a hasty 20 minutes between work ending and the R.O.M. closing, I sketched the distinguished skull on the left, an eremotherium.
You may notice I was looking up at it. On the right is the glyptodon again, a new drawing.There will be more to this image, including Charles. To picture him, think of this quote: "He should be quite well-protected. If he survived the freezing process, that is."
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ##
# 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
Labels:
Artwork Mondays,
Darwin,
Darwin Day,
eremotherium,
fossil,
glyptodon,
liveblog,
megatherium,
oil paint,
R.O.M.,
sketch
Friday, 13 February 2009
Merry Darwin Evening!
Liveblogging a new painting has taught me some things:
-It is possible to tire from the taste of amaretto-flavoured coffee (!)
-Don't start until you have a kick-ass drawing already complete, scans & paintable prints ready
-Stop reading other Darwin Day posts when trying to paint
-Twitter is all aboot being an amazing tool
-There is no such thing as a small enough brush for an 8.5x11" painting
-As prodigious and exemplary as his work was, even Mr. Darwin must have slept sometimes.
Perhaps I should have simply tinted the drawing in Photoshop and called it a night?
I will soldier on over the weekend, and post a follow-up for Art Monday at the latest. Thanks to everyone for support today and all the entertaining and informative things I never knew about our Charlie.
This ain't done.
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop #
## 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
-It is possible to tire from the taste of amaretto-flavoured coffee (!)
-Don't start until you have a kick-ass drawing already complete, scans & paintable prints ready
-Stop reading other Darwin Day posts when trying to paint
-Twitter is all aboot being an amazing tool
-There is no such thing as a small enough brush for an 8.5x11" painting
-As prodigious and exemplary as his work was, even Mr. Darwin must have slept sometimes.
Perhaps I should have simply tinted the drawing in Photoshop and called it a night?
I will soldier on over the weekend, and post a follow-up for Art Monday at the latest. Thanks to everyone for support today and all the entertaining and informative things I never knew about our Charlie.
This ain't done.
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop #
## 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
Thursday, 12 February 2009
Darwin Day Liveblog 5: deep in the ugly
At this phase, I feel like I can't stand the painting. If I wasn't clocking myself, I'd probably move on to a different piece. Charles is feeling it too: he's aged 20 years since the pencil sketch somehow. 
Starting to work on the fossil skull. Maybe flipping on my iPod will help me pull it outta this nosedive by Liveblog 6.
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- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop #
## 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
Starting to work on the fossil skull. Maybe flipping on my iPod will help me pull it outta this nosedive by Liveblog 6.
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- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop #
## 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
Darwin Day Liveblog 4: holy yellow batman
The Ugly Phase indeed.
- - -
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ##
# 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
Darwin Day Liveblog 3: set-up
The painting is underway. I think I'm loving the Gold Ochre Transparent Hue on this one. And plenty of Naples Yellow, naturally.
This is the super-heroic Art S. Buck model in the pose, to try and get the lighting down from an indirect, overhead source in my studio, below.
Here's my set-up, this time on the dining room table.
Should be moving along faster now.
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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ##
# 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
This is the super-heroic Art S. Buck model in the pose, to try and get the lighting down from an indirect, overhead source in my studio, below.
Here's my set-up, this time on the dining room table.
Should be moving along faster now.- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ##
# 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
Darwin Day Liveblog 2
The more refined sketch.
Mr. Darwin's hand extended off the page, so I taped another sheet and kept drawing; it's been cut-off by my scanner.
This should be enough detail to print onto canvas-paper and the painting will begin. The glyptodon doesn't have the scute-y plate on it's head, but I think it works.
I'm aiming for a limited palette, deep shadow, high lighting and a sense of movement. In many ways, a counterpoint to last year's painting of busy contemplation. There should be some more surprises in the final composition that I don't need to to add to the drawing.
I hope everyone is enjoying a nice Darwin Day feast of rhea and armadillo!
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ##
# 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
Mr. Darwin's hand extended off the page, so I taped another sheet and kept drawing; it's been cut-off by my scanner.
This should be enough detail to print onto canvas-paper and the painting will begin. The glyptodon doesn't have the scute-y plate on it's head, but I think it works.
I'm aiming for a limited palette, deep shadow, high lighting and a sense of movement. In many ways, a counterpoint to last year's painting of busy contemplation. There should be some more surprises in the final composition that I don't need to to add to the drawing.
I hope everyone is enjoying a nice Darwin Day feast of rhea and armadillo!
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ##
# 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
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!
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ### 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
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!
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ### 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Tomorrow: liveblogging a portrait
Tomorrow, February 12th is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, and the 150th anniversary of The Origin of Species first publication.I'm far from the only artist to wish to depict the man whose insight gave the world so much. Make sure you see Chris Zenga's irreverent Darwin-zombie-teddy-bear at The Day After, and Carl Buell's astounding new portrait (as well as a previous beauty here!) I expect we'll be seeing some work from Bond at ReEntry as well.
So in between travel and illness, I've been working on some sketches of a younger portrait of Darwin, and I plan to live-blog the results every hour. I should get started around 1500h e.s.t., and I'll update this post with an edit for an exact time of the initial layers of paint. The first layers are usually dishearteningly ugly.
'Might be getting linseed oil on the scanner again...
Oh, a peek? Okay.
But this isn't what it will look like.
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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ### 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
Monday, 2 February 2009
Art Monday: young Charles v.1
Darwin Day is fast-approaching, and this year I'd like to focus on a portrait of the younger Charles Darwin. It's one of two ideas I have to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Darwin, and the 150th anniversary of The Origin of Species.
While waiting for a flight to North Carolina, I used George Raymond's famous watercolour of an early-thirties Charles as a reference.
This portrait was done after Charles returned from his 5-year voyage on The Beagle, and is usually taken as being representative of how Charles would have appeared in his Beagle days.
I'd like to capture some of that spirit of robust energy in the younger man on the voyage. The type of man who could ride horses around South America, dig up megatherium fossils, brave the rocky Galapagos and hot sun, and see the world with fresh eyes.
I began with this sketch while sitting in the airport.
Hmm. A little too jowly, or wide-faced? Muttonchops not muttony enough? I plan to do longer, wind-ruffled hair and a confident smile. I'd also like to give him a bit more hair than the Raymond piece. A lot can happen to a man in five years. My sketch seems to be a long way off of this fine portrait. What do you think on the right track?
Karen James of The Beagle Project suggested I try to live-blog the painting on Darwin Day. I may attempt that. But the two competing ideas I have may end up being one piece and so I need to prep early. That means sketching and working up to a final drawing.
We'll see. And megatherium may make an appearance this year. *wink*
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ### 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
While waiting for a flight to North Carolina, I used George Raymond's famous watercolour of an early-thirties Charles as a reference.
This portrait was done after Charles returned from his 5-year voyage on The Beagle, and is usually taken as being representative of how Charles would have appeared in his Beagle days.I'd like to capture some of that spirit of robust energy in the younger man on the voyage. The type of man who could ride horses around South America, dig up megatherium fossils, brave the rocky Galapagos and hot sun, and see the world with fresh eyes.
I began with this sketch while sitting in the airport.
Hmm. A little too jowly, or wide-faced? Muttonchops not muttony enough? I plan to do longer, wind-ruffled hair and a confident smile. I'd also like to give him a bit more hair than the Raymond piece. A lot can happen to a man in five years. My sketch seems to be a long way off of this fine portrait. What do you think on the right track?
Karen James of The Beagle Project suggested I try to live-blog the painting on Darwin Day. I may attempt that. But the two competing ideas I have may end up being one piece and so I need to prep early. That means sketching and working up to a final drawing.
We'll see. And megatherium may make an appearance this year. *wink*
- - - - - - - -
Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ### 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
Saturday, 31 January 2009
Secular Nation podcast now up!
Now you can listen to David Driscoll of Secular Nation magazine interview me about Darwin Took Steps, education, ScienceOnline'09, Toronto and being a young freethinker here. (- -really? young? thanks David!)As an artist, I'm pretty pleased with the reception this painting has received so far. It seems to resonate with some pretty diverse folks. Not bad for something I speed-painted in three hours! (I think the drawing took about four.) I have plans for a younger Darwin piece for Darwin Day this year as part of the Blog For Darwin. Staircase not included.
It continues with a reading by David and editor-in-chief Tom Melchiorre of an interview with Dr. Massimi Pigliucci concerning Charles Darwin and Darwin Day.
Darwin Took Steps is available as cards, prints, canvas repros and sweatshop-free t-shirts in a variety of colours & styles. 
Half the proceeds from the sales of my Darwin Took Steps swag goes toward the Beagle Project. Tangled Up In Blue Guy Mike has written to Al Gore to bring the noble ship some attention. Artist Diana Sudyka of Tiny Aviary has contributed some crackingly good prints for the cause. Many others are working on much more.
Let's get that boat in the water!
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Original artwork on The Flying Trilobite Copyright to Glendon Mellow under Creative Commons Licence.
Flying Trilobite Gallery ### Flying Trilobite Reproduction Shop ### 2009 Calendar available for a limited time
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