My first digital painting…with a mouse?
| Here’s the idea… Being a high school teacher, my students were looking for a symbol for a mascot. Our students are called Titans. For some reason, the animal that was chosen was a polar bear. So, how to incorporate these two items together? So, I searched for a bear and found one. So I drew it. |
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| Then, came the painting part. And yes, I used a mouse to do it. Now, you have to understand. I don’t have a drawing tablet so…. |
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And finally, it turned out that all this effort was in vein. It wasn’t considered by my students… Oh, hum… but it gave me a first time feeling at digital painting. |
Here is Clint Eastwood…as promised
 Sometimes comes inspiration. And when it ends up the way you want it, ohhhh, what a feeling!!! Now, to be honest, I did a little Photoshop trick at the end, for the digital finish. I used the smudge tool on the poncho and, also, because of my short coming in the actual framing of the drawing, I had to digitally extend the left edge of the hat and the right side of the rounded edge. But that’s it. I found the drawing process here to have been very interesting. I loved how I sculpted the face, a shade of white at a time and a shade of black up to my liking. The credit for this technique goes to the half tone bristol board. It didn’t deteriorate in my back and forth erase and repair strokes. It held up really well. And for a second attempt at using white pastel, I can guaranty future drawings with this medium. So, what was I trying to achieve? Well, using different photographs, I was trying to capture the look of an older “man with no name” out of the movie “The good, the bad and the ugly”. How would this person look at this age? Well, there you go. I hope you like it. |
Hey! I’m having fun here!
Are you gettin’ it? Do you recognize him now? Please tell me that you do. I’m having so much fun discovering what I have in mind. Please understand that what I’m doing is a “montage” of different references that will give me an end result that I hope, will end up the way I want it. I hope you like it. |
The juggle of this piece with my family life
‘Oh! how the lighting is poor’. And yes, I could’ve done a better job on this photograph. But as this process goes along, you have to understand how I’m completely involved in this drawing.
Yes, I did spend time, a lot of it, with my family during this weekend. Today, being a holiday in my area (called a family day… a new holiday in most of Canada to promote family life), I took my wife and 2 kids downhill skiing to Mont-Tremblant. A great ski mountain that got a bad wrap in last years unfortunate fatal accident of Natasha Richardson (the wife of actor Liam Neeson). But after having skied there 30 years ago, to return there today was a shock and a great surprise. The village around the hill really brought a new understanding as to what money can do to improve life and economy. It was… breath taking in it’s beauty!
As for the drawing, to be honest with you, what you see is mostly Sunday’s work. Now, can you guess who this is? Come on! it’s easy. This actor is much older than probably you and me but, he’s still in his prime as a movie director and an actor. Do you understand what I meant when I said ‘he can take you down to pieces’ with his look? If you do know who I’m drawing, I hope you agree with me that he’s one of a kind. But in this drawing, or in this setup, I’m trying to bring to life one of his previous roles as a cowboy, trying to imagine how he would’ve looked at his current age.
But on a technical note, I find it interesting to take a picture at this point. For some reason, it helps me look at it with different eyes. Digitally, it looks odd. You see things that need improving such as the left side of his mouth (I feel that his lip is too fat). Also, on a certain note of frustration, what really gets to me when I start a drawing is to have a big enough surface to fit the whole peace. And again, in this case, I managed to screw it up by having the drawing too big on yet, a bigger surface….. Oh well…… Go figure!
The dawn of my next piece
Ah yes, there’s something coming to life. This is my next piece. As many other artists are doing on their own websites, I would like to share my own process in the making.
I am starting to draw a man, a person larger than life. With his look, he can take you down to pieces but with his good nature, he has brought many to great work. This is a person I highly respect.
Who, are you asking? For the moment, it’s up to you to figure out. As for me, it’s going to take a while to draw but, stay tuned or … linked to my blog. I will keep you up to date.
This work is being drawn on a 20”x16” half tone Bristol board. I’m using HB, 5B and 8B pencils with square size white pastels. This is my 2nd attempt using these drawing tools.
A Canadian Prime minister to remember
 Here is a man, in my life, that I respected. He had a lot of physical oddities going against him but as a model to our society, he never slowed down because of them. Theses oddities were both physical and verbal. Doing his portrait or caricature was not that much of a challenge if you wanted to be mean: He has a crooked mouth and an extra long forehead. Some might have compared him to a sort of “Frankenstein” figure with a way to talk that was neither perfect french or english but none the less, he had no problems getting his message across to others. But with all of this, I didn’t want to turn this first attempt into a joke or a mockery of the man. I think he worked too hard for too long to be portrayed as a freak of nature. No, I had to tackle his face, his caricature with my own touch trying to steer clear away from drawing a … joke. But as I drew him, I believe I got to appreciate him more. I saw worry in his face, like a child in a fight not sure if he’d win. I saw a small town kid willing to rumble while being unsure of himself. But most important, I could see, in his eyes, a good man, a good sole. Someone that made a difference in Canada (good for some or bad for others). |
A winner in his early days.
 In 1993, after the lucky come from behind, overtime wins of the Montreal Canadians to give them their 24th Stanley cup, I was inspired to produce this piece. This is a representation of Patrick Roy, during his first season as a Montreal Canadian. When, at the time, he had no distinguishing helmet to call his own. I was never a big fan of this goal tender after the 1995 debacle with his coach that sent him ti the Colorado Avalanche but, at this point, he deserved a node from me as an OK goal tender. |
My favourite Hockey Player of all times!
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During the month of October 1988, trying to impress my future wife with my passion for drawing, I decided to draw my favourite hockey player: Ken Dryden. On a 40”x30” Bainbridge board, I embarked on a 2 week, off and on job of drawing this larger than life person. Why, do you ask, is this guy so high in my esteem? Well, this is a man that played hockey for 9 years. After his first season as a player, he decided to leave his sport and finish his studies as a lawyer and then comes back with his team and helps them win 5 Stanley cups. He then leaves hockey, starts his career as a lawyer, writes a couple of books, decides to be in politics understanding that his reputation as a hockey player would follow him. But truly, what followed him was greatness with no controversy and a spot in the hockey hall of fame (including a retired #29 jersey). Now if that isn’t impressive to some, well, it’s impressive to me. Now, will this be my last drawing of him? Definitely not! I am sure I will take up a new challenge and wow myself into something else. |
A wolf, way back when…
 This is a vintage work of mine. I drew this in 1985 and liked it so much, I kept it for a long time. The image was based on a post card that I received. I was so amazed by this animal and the complexity of the fur that I took it as a challenge. |
A new technique in the works
 As I am trying to grow in my approach to my drawings, I tried this one on a grayish paper with a normal HB pencil and a white drawing pencil. This was my first attempt at this interesting sketching technique. |
