This was painted with my trusty palette knife (no brushes) so that I could experiment with texture (you can see it in more detail below).
Shoot it, Sketch it: The iris patch
landscape
In the style of… Nancy Ekholm Burkert
Today’s In the style of… drawing was an excuse to test my Derwent tinted charcoal pencils. Some of the colours are VERY similar (especially the darker tints) but they do have lovely names: Driftwood, Glowing Embers, Ocean Deep, Sunset Pink). I wonder how they’d respond to water…
Nancy Ekholm Burkert
Images from http://myvintagebookcollectioninblogform.blogspot.co.nz
Roald Dahl’s classic story James and the Giant Peach has been illustrated a number of times. The original illustrations (and possibly my favourites) were by Nancy Ekholm Burkert in 1961.
In the style of… appears occasionally instead of my regular Shoot it, Sketch it posts. Using my own photographs as a starting point, I’m drawing inspiration from some of the world’s greatest illustrators. It’s not about slavishly copying someone else’s art; it’s an experiment in seeing things differently.
This is home
I originally created this landscape as a digital illustration (it’s the background of this poster). The scene is based on a number of different photographs and even though it is not an actual location, it is typical of the scenery here in Mid Canterbury ― the snow-covered Southern Alps, the colourful Canterbury Plains ― except that I omitted the rivers… and the houses… and the sheep…
Shoot it, Sketch it: Reflection
While organising last week’s In the style of… post, I stumbled upon this crop of the Akaroa Harbour photograph ― and now it’s the subject of today’s painting.
I do like happy accidents : )
In the style of… Louis Rhead
I had something specific in mind when I started painting the Akaroa Harbour beachfront photo… and this painting isn’t it. Initially I was going to create a highly stylised image using simple shapes and patterns and fairly flat colours ― but sometimes I just can’t help myself… the temptation to layer colours and add texture is just too great. With Louis Rhead’s turn-of-the-century posters in mind (see below), I exaggerated the shape of the trees and the curve of the shoreline. He has also influenced the overall composition, my choice of colours and the romantic styling of the women in the foreground (although mine look more medieval than Art Nouveau).
I may have another go at painting this scene for next week’s Shoot it, Sketch it…
Louis Rhead
English-born artist Louis Rhead (1857-1926) made a career out of poster design and book illustration in the USA. I love the Art Nouveau influence in these posters dated 1896-1900. The sweeping curves and stylised trees are beautiful. The colours are fantastic too.
In the style of… appears occasionally instead of my regular Shoot it, Sketch it posts. Using my own photographs as a starting point, I’m drawing inspiration from some of the world’s greatest illustrators. It’s not about slavishly copying someone else’s art; it’s an experiment in seeing things differently.
In the style of… A. B. Frost
Welcome to my first ever In the style of… which will be appearing occasionally instead of the regular Shoot it, Sketch it posts on Mondays. I plan to draw inspiration from some of the world’s greatest illustrators. It’s really Shoot it, Sketch it with a twist ― I’ll still be using my photographs as a starting point but I’ll be drawing/painting them with a particular style in mind. It’s not about slavishly copying someone else’s art; it’s an experiment in seeing things differently. My hope is that it will take my own art in different directions.
Drawing this week’s photograph was a bit of a challenge. The rocks and stones were straightforward enough (believe it or not) but it took several attempts before I was happy with the driftwood. And if you’re wondering who A. B. Frost is…
A. B. Frost
Images from http://www.gutenberg.org
American artist Arthur Burdett Frost (1851–1928) is famous for illustrating Mark Twain’s Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn characters as well as Joel Chandler Harris’ Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit stories but it’s these two illustrations from A Tangled Tale that inspired this week’s sketch. Frost’s compositions and linework are simply brilliant.
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 