# The (post your) Art Thread



## drak10687 (May 24, 2007)

I guess most people here a some kind of musicians, professional or armature, but maybe you guys have other hobbies as well... well, at least I do, though I am not really good at any one of them. I looked back a couple pages, and couldn't find a thread for people to post their artwork, so I thought I'd start one. 


I just finished this one. I don't really like it, especially the drapery (more evident from up close) turned out kinda crappy, I think, but I am proud that I finally finished it after it lying around in my basement for a couple of years.



Its drawn based on a picture, and colored using oil pastels and Taltine. Oil pastels are basically soft crayons which, I guess, are oil based, so I applied them like you would crayons, and then went over with a brush dipped in Taltine, which makes the pastels more like paint and lets you play with 'em likewise.

So I'm interested in seeing what kind of art you guys might have created, especially if its music related, though thats not a requirement. Can be in any format/medium as well: drawing, painting, sculpting, photoshop, 3Ds Max (or any 3d program), whatever else you consider art.

So, post 'em up!

P.S. criticism is more than welcome


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

Great picture! The draping cloth is very well done! Very 3 dimensional.


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## RIFF WRATH (Jan 22, 2007)

Huh, another wanna-be fishin' for compliments...........
very well done.
cheers
RIFF


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

I think you did a nice job on that guitar Drak. It's kind of funny but I've been thinking of posting a thread like this for awhile now. I do digital art myself using a 3D program called Poser (which is up to version 7 now) and it's used for figure creation, men, women, children, animals, etc. I also use a 3D program called Bryce (current version is 6) which is used primarily for landscapes, terrains, bodies of water, etc. I've been using both programs since 1998 so I know them inside and out. I've started using a new online gallery where you can post photos, 3D renders and even videos if you want. Here's a link to a 3D render I did back in 2004: http://kens.monkeygallery.com/ It's the only picture there now. This is one of my rare "serious" 3D renders. I tend to do a lot of comical pictures and animations. The picture on that site was done in Poser BTW.


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## drak10687 (May 24, 2007)

Nice render. Thats intresting, do you use the programs for something professionally, or just for fun? And do you make your own textures? I dabble in a bit of photoshop and 3Ds max, but its mostly been for my dad's projects or for modding games (characters and buildings), I've never rendered anything just for the redner itself.

BTW, did you use any bump/normal mapping for the textures in that one?


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

I`ve been at it since I was 15...more years than I want to mention...so I have literally hundreds of pieces...but don`t worry, I won`t post pics of em all. Just some of the more recent stuff, some from last month some from the last few years. At this time I use mostly watercolor, Prismacolor artist quality pencils and graphite pencil, the oils have been put away `til I can get back home and set of properly for them.
So...here we go...you should take a couple of steps back from the screen to view them better.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

some color stuff...mixed media, watercolor and prismacolor done on 300 gram watercolor paper...I use a lot of water so I need the heavy paper. Inspired by deep space nebulae pics I`ve seen.


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## drak10687 (May 24, 2007)

Wow... I'm not really into abstract-ish art -yet (probably because I haven't really tried to do any myself; still on still life and such, since from what I understand it helps you develop your drawing and composition) but I really like the watercolor - nebula stuff. I've also always had an admiration for watercolor work, since IMHO it seems like the hardest paint type to properly manipulate to get what you want, but once you do it has a very pleasing "look".

BTW, are those done on about standard printing sized paper, or something bigger?

Thanks for sharing.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

I spent years developing my drawing, it`s the medium I have the most control over, I know exactly what it can and can`t do...watercolor is more experimental, less controlable and for the nebulae paintings but thats what I like about it, sometimes I just let the paper do the work. I do other types of watercolors...landscapes for example... that I control more, or less...but watercolor is slightly on the edge of both disaster and possibility...I do it to relax.
These here are quite big, about 18 x 24 but sometimes I buy whole sheets of watercolor paper and cut them in half or thirds...depends. I also have a roll of it and can cut off any size I like.
The ones pictured here are a mixture of watercolor and coloring pencils, they work very well together once the paper is dry, sometimes I go back in with tiny brushes too... and sometimes I let a piece sit until I figure out the next move or if a piece is finished...I once read all art is knowing when to stop...a lesson I`ve learned the hard way.
Everything we do should develop composition, abstract may appear to be paint flung at a canvas sometimes but a good painter has a plan, or develops the plan as they go along...thats why it`s good to step back and taking classes is great because other students can point weaknesses or strengths out that a painter may be too close to see. But no matter how much planning goes into a piece, one thing I learned while selling mine on the street in Montreal one summer is that the average person buys a piece because it goes with the sofa or carpet...caring or knowing nothing about how much work the painter put into it. So I paint and draw to please myself...if others like it thats OK...if they don`t thats OK.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

just wanted to add...spent years developing my drawing and I ain`t done yet, like music it`s a life long learing experience and continues to evolve.

Paul... glad you like em...I`m always open to suggestions...heres a few more from the series...there are many others...


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Pete that is really impressive. You have a lot of talent. I've always been amazed by people that can draw like that. I've tried in the past to draw but I think my 6 year old draws better than I do! I find consolation in the fact that when I put my mind to it I can fix almost anything. And I'm really good at watching movies.


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Nah, I do this just for fun. I've had people e-mail me privately saying that I should do something professionaly but I think if I were to start doing that, then the fun would go out of it, but having said that, I have thought of maybe selling a few things that I've already done. I also do animations and I've received a lot of feedback about that over the years. I have made my own textures but the "Timepiece" set you see there was a free download made by somebody else. As far as the textures are concerned they were included in the download as well but I've played around with bump mapping for a few things over the years. I post regularly to three different newsgroups, alt.binaries.3d.poser (which is totally unmoderated and you're free to post whatever you want as long as some element of the Poser program is involved. e.g. human or animal model.), alt.binaries.3d.bryce and alt.binaries.3d.carrara. I use my real name (the one you saw on the corner of the render) in those groups.




drak10687 said:


> Nice render. Thats intresting, do you use the programs for something professionally, or just for fun? And do you make your own textures? I dabble in a bit of photoshop and 3Ds max, but its mostly been for my dad's projects or for modding games (characters and buildings), I've never rendered anything just for the redner itself.
> 
> BTW, did you use any bump/normal mapping for the textures in that one?


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

Stratin2traynor said:


> Pete that is really impressive. You have a lot of talent. I've always been amazed by people that can draw like that. I've tried in the past to draw but I think my 6 year old draws better than I do! I find consolation in the fact that when I put my mind to it I can fix almost anything. And I'm really good at watching movies.


thank you. I`ve always felt anybody can learn how to draw, just takes time and practice...like any other skill...guitar for example. a good teacher can do wonders, and a classroom atmosphere is great for learning too...there is no right or wrong way to draw because everybody sees things differently. My watercolor teacher was Chinese and his influence in the use of positive and negative space...like many Chinese and Japanese painters...is still with me. These days I let a lot of the paper show, gives an amount of lightness to pieces, `course depends on what I`m doinf but the nebulae paintings are a good example of not filling every inch of the paper with color...keeps the viewers eye concentrated on the points I want them to concentrate on while moving the eye around a piece but not off it. 
When I visit my father in laws on Saturdays and my brother in laws 3 daughters are there, I give them paper and pencils or pens and just sit back and watch em go...the youngest is 2 and I have taken some of the things she`s drawn and brought them home and reworked them, she has a certain freedom that I`ve lost...she doesn`t know the so called rules so anything goes, and it`s really interesting to see what a 2 year old brain visualizes. I gave her paper thats bigger than she is so she sits on it and has at it.
Picasso said it took him a life time to learn how to paint like a child.


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## drak10687 (May 24, 2007)

sneakypete said:


> thank you. I`ve always felt anybody can learn how to draw, just takes time and practice...like any other skill...





Paul said:


> I sooooo disagree with that.


mmm, I agree with sneakypete. Myself, I've always had a sort of natural ability to draw what I see in front of me, maybe because I've always been drawing things from when I was very young... but I never really put very much effort into improving, until I had a certain art teacher in my first year of highschool.

This was when I lived in the States, in Mississippi, and from what I heard, the art program in my highschool was rated #2 in the country... unfortunately I moved the next year. They separated the students who were naturally talented, or put a lot of effort into drawing, from those who just took it as an easy option, and had a whole separate building and teacher for them. I was one of the "lucky" ones. Our teacher didn't spend a lot of time with us, often he wasn't even there, but when he was, he taught us a lot, and pointed out where we could improve. I only complete 1.5 drawings in one semester, but I think I learned more than in all of my years taking art options in elementary and other highschools combined.

However, I also learned, that the two most accomplished students, who were there for all 4 years (grade 9-12), were two brothers, who, when they started the course, could draw no better than stick figures. But unlike people (like me) who could already draw pretty good, they gave it their all... and it payed off.

So, all that to say, that in art, and in pretty much any discipline (besides maybe sports, where you usually have to start out really young to reach the top) those who succeed aren't necessarily those who have the most talent, or any at all.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

interesting...one of my university painting professors would be in class at the start , he`d set up what he wanted the class to be about...still life or model etc etc...then he`d leave the room, dropping in every once in a while, walk around, then leave again without saying much. He spoke when it was time for grading at the end of the term...most of what was said about what we were doing came from other students in the class.
I was watching Picasso in an old French movie recently...think it was just called Picasso...anyway, he was sitting and drawing on paper while we watched from the other side through the camera...fascinating to watch how his work evolved...just when i thought he`d finished, he`d start altering what he`d already done and the pieces often ended up completely different than they were 15 minutes earlier. At one point he`s talking and saying...this is going badly...very very badly...in French of course but the point is, even he didn`t know where he was going at times...he just let things happen. 
Not sure I agree with your friend Paul...sometimes things happen in the midst of a piece...good or bad...which lead to changes . If we`re talking about the great masters of centuries ago, when they were commissioned for a work they had to make the patron happy or not get paid...so they had to know what the finished product would be before starting but even then, with so many apprentices working on any given work, the master himself may have been surprised more than a time or two...`course with oil, you can always go back over it and they`ve x-rays Rembrandts and seen that he had totally changed paintings...they can see things that got painted over, so a painter has an idea of the roadmap before he applies paint to canvas but things don`t always turn out the way we see them in our heads so changes are made...or you start over, not always possible with customers waiting on a piece in the old days.
My nebulae paintings...I generally have no idea whats going to happen...I understand how colors work or don`t work together, I understand how the paper will affect my strokes, how much water to put down before I use color, when to let a part dry a little before adding to it or how quickly to apply paint before a part dries...etc etc etc...things that can only come with experience, no amount of reading is going to help with certain aspects of painting.
Drawing is a different matter and thats why I said anybody can learn to draw...but so many people give up too quickly...and teachers that tell a student they have no talent should be shot...how arrogant to feel they can say that to anybody. Fortunately I had a good art teacher in high school too and the seeds were sown then, for my 15th birthday my parents asked me what I wanted and I said oils...and so the journey began and it hasn`t ended yet. 
First thing I drew...which I still have...is the deer that used to appear in the TV guide...Winky I think it was named...it was an ad for an art correspondance school and I drew it and sent it in... the copy I drew is what I have...I remember sitting at the dinner table one evening when the phone rang...my dad answered it and the conversation eventually turned to money....$800.oo dollars?!! he screamed...then he slammed the phone down. they never called back but he said it was the school from the ad. I now understand how he saw it as a possible scam but at the time I didn`t...but my father scared me a great deal at the time so I didn`t say anything however I did get the oils for my birthday shortly after so I guess he could see I was interested in art though my parents were never really supportive, they always said I`d never make a living. Still, that didn`t stop me from going down that path, though not professionally regardless of the fact that I`ve sold pieces before. Before I came to Japan I had a yard sale at my sister`s place to raise funds for the trip and one guy stopped his car when he saw some paintings...he said he was just starting a business and needed art work for his offices and he bought them all...which was very cool. Wonder if he still has em.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

yikes thats was long...sorry. :rockon2:


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

sneakypete...Your work is very nice indeed. Do you have any guitar or music related themes? I ask because several years ago I purchased a smaller watercolour from an online acquaintance for my lesson studio, and I may be willing to do it again.

I had a sister who had your kind of ability, a rare and precious thing. I'm envious.

Peace, Mooh.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

thank you.
I`ve not yet attempted putting a guitar into a piece, but thats not to say I never will.
we can debate Picasso `til the cows come home, he certainly sparked discussion that rages even today and was no stranger to controversy in the art world, he turned things upside down but we`ll have to disagree on whether he knew precisely where he was going on a canvas all the time. Took me a long time to really appreciate his work, but I do now they say every time he got a new woman in his life he developed a new style.


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

I have been into drawing (not wrenching) cars all my life, so here are a small assortment of the ones I have scanned into my computer at the moment:


























The last one is an image I had screened onto a run of t-shirts as an experimental foray into the world of selling car shirts. I still have a few left (the experiment didn`t turn out as profitably as I had hoped. LOL!)








-Mikey


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Spikezone...Maybe guitar t-shirts would sell around here? I like to wear them. 

Peace, Mooh.


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## djem (Sep 14, 2006)

Spikezone,

Like your stuff. Reminds me a little of R. Crumb.


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## Starbuck (Jun 15, 2007)

Paul said:


> As long as we're on a "nature of art" tangent.


I realize that like in all things taste in Art is relative, but would someone for Gord's sake explain Jackson Pollack to me? :smile:


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

Starbuck50 said:


> I realize that like in all things taste in Art is relative, but would someone for Gord's sake explain Jackson Pollack to me? :smile:


Pollack certainly paid his dues as an artist...he struggled for years. But he`s a good example of not always knowing precisely where he was going on the canvas...the style he bacame famous for was discovered completely by accident, but like a good scientist he noticed the accident and ran with the ball. When I was selling on the street in Montreal, I was talking to another painter and told him I thought his work was really good...he said..." I`d rather be lucky than good "...Pollack I guess was lucky...I mean the art world is extremely fickle...a great painter can struggle for his entire life...Van Gogh...Rembrandt died pennyless if you can believe that......and never get recognized while others with less talent can become very wealthy...insert any number of names here. Without a doubt Pollack was an artist, he painted regardless of what people said...to me that is what a real artist is.
I like the cars...we should call you Fouse eh.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

Starbuck50 said:


> I realize that like in all things taste in Art is relative, but would someone for Gord's sake explain Jackson Pollack to me? :smile:


Pollack certainly paid his dues as an artist...he struggled for years. But he`s a good example of not always knowing precisely where he was going on the canvas...the style he bacame famous for was discovered completely by accident, but like a good scientist he noticed the accident and ran with the ball. When I was selling on the street in Montreal, I was talking to another painter and told him I thought his work was really good...he said..." I`d rather be lucky than good "...Pollack I guess was lucky...I mean the art world is extremely fickle...a great painter can struggle for his entire life...Van Gogh...Rembrandt died pennyless if you can believe that......and never get recognized while others with less talent can become very wealthy...insert any number of names here. Without a doubt Pollack was an artist, he painted regardless of what people said...to me that is what a real artist is.
I like the cars...we should call you Fouse eh. Got a thing for red rims?


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## Guest (Mar 9, 2008)

Here's a few of my pieces.
I work with chisels. well..used to.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

few more...first one I think I have finally finished...maybe...










these go back a ways, step back from the screen to view better...


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## drak10687 (May 24, 2007)

Ok, just finished my Painting assignment with about an hour left to spare to get some sleep. It's a black and white, acrylic "study" of Georges de La Tour's Jesus and St. Joseph in the Carpenter's Shop (at least I think thats what its called):



Its not an axact 1:1 copy since I freehanded it and I'm too tired to work on it any further, but I think it turned out OK.


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## sneakypete (Feb 2, 2006)

looks like a very good job from way over here. I`d like to see it up close but I think you should get an A. :wave:


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## kous (Apr 12, 2007)

Modern-Magritte on canvas. Clearcoat makes it grainy.


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## drak10687 (May 24, 2007)

Cool. What medium is it done with though... and whats clearcoat (I guess its some sort of protection like you can spray onto charcoal drawings)?


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## kous (Apr 12, 2007)

Acrylic.

Clearcoat was to protect the surface. And its suppose to leave a nice shine.
Personally, I didn't like it. It took out the 'rawness' of the painting.


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2008)

I'd like to share some of the bike's
my buddy's been building recently.


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## drak10687 (May 24, 2007)

Ok, my first feeble attempt at an "original" composition... well, technically its based on a combination of three or four photos of the 'net:



...hopefully it does the man some justice


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## Red Foreman (Apr 3, 2008)

Here's a pencil sketch of my son










A landscape










Wildlife


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

WOW!! There is some really cool art happening here!!

I would throw quotes at you here LOL but I've not had my morning coffee yet! I have read some good perspectives here. Art is all in the eyes of the beholden. It is also, I find, much the same as writing a story. When I write, it's the story that tells me where its going not the other way around. Characters, like art, tell their tales, and I am only an interpreter for them.

One person though, left me feeling a little sad. My dad was of that "you wont get rich doing that!" generation too. I try not to be that with my son. I think my son has a great sense of performance and music and if my son is going to be a busker then so be it, I am going to do what I can do to get him being the best busker he can be! He may never be rich but if he can be happy he will be a wealthy man!

Anyways, I have some art to share. Resized these for posting here. I've a couple online galleries if there is interest I will link them in my post sig later 

So here we go. Math as art 





































~Peace~
Keeps


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## drak10687 (May 24, 2007)

cool, what'd you use to make these?


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## Guest (May 4, 2008)

keeperofthegood said:


> So here we go. Math as art


Fractals is my guess.
Nicely done.


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## keeperofthegood (Apr 30, 2008)

Thank you.

The short answer is APOPHYSIS.

I used Apophysis, a fractal flame generator. A fractal being an infinitively repeated image, a fractal flame being a limited (ie: not usually infinitively repeated) image offshoot of a fractal.


The long answer is:

These are created with a combination of things. The primary program is called Apophysis and is free-ware from http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=201476http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=127736 it has a feature to import what are called 'variations' as plug-ins which are also of course free-ware http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=201476

The original (though deprecated) Apophysis is still available too http://www.apophysis.org/ , it is an exe installer, good for simply setting up your folders and what-not, even though all you need is the exe file from above it is still a good idea to install that original first.

I also use photoshop, IrfanView, PIXIA, paint.NET and a few other editing programs for still images. Animations are a whole 'nother kettle of fish.

With all the images I posted, I created or interpreted most of the math used and built my own plug-ins for Apophysis. I have a few available on a joint film account http://gossamer-light.deviantart.com/ where you can also watch this type of art in motion  (oh and yes, to see the gallery you need to click on the word gallery >.< so many people I find on their first visit there miss that >.< Including my wife!)

As to where I get the math, or the ideas... well, my mind works non-linear as it is (hehe guys don't laugh but I forget what I am doing past the fourth string on the guitar >.<) So, I read a lot of math sites not from the "I read math" perspective but the "whoa thats too cool, how'd they do that!" and then I try to do it too  Sometimes its a flop, most times its a flop LOL but sometimes I find an interesting relation that presents itself with really interesting results. 

For me its the art more than the math.


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