Art by Erika Taguchi-Newton

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Reindeer & Elf Painting

I have an obsession with kitchy plastic reindeers. I have a collection of them that I display during Christmas. So this year, I wanted to share my obsession and paint one for my card. Because of the short time frame I had to complete this, I first decided to do this in Gouache. Gouache is an unforgiving medium to me, blending is extremely difficult. To minimize the guesswork of color selection, I did a digital color study.

WIP - Reindeer & Elf
WIP - Reindeer & Elf - Value Test
WIP Reindeer & Elf - Color Test

But when I was ready to do the final piece, I just didn't feel Gouache-y. (Honestly, I made a mess and got fed up.) So I decided to experiment with acrylics and try a different technique all together.

First I put a layer of the background color on Claybord, and penciled the drawing. After, I sprayed the fixative, which fixed the pencils beautifully on the sage background.
WIP 1 - Reindeer & Elf

Then I applied thin coats of color, while having the pencils come through slightly.
WIP 2 - Reindeer & Elf

I started working on the details, punching up the highlights and shadows.
WIP 3 - Reindeer & Elf

Final:
Final - Reindeer & Elf

Closeup:
Final - Reindeer & Elf (Closeup)

Here's the comparison of digital printout and the actual painting:
Reindeer & Elf - Trad. & digital comparison

What lessons did I learn... I learned a different technique that I like to explore further. And that I have to practice more with Gouache (Hey, it's been over 10 years since I used it. Give a girl a break!).

My reindeer collection:
Vintage Reindeer Collection

Friday, December 4, 2009

Ophelia - Watercolor

Ophelia - Final

WIP - OpheliaWIP - Ophelia

Monday, November 23, 2009

Art Show at Howley's

UPDATE 12.10.09: A little write-up and photos!

I've been invited by a very good friend, Amanda (Stitch Rock, House of Sweets, With Sugar On Top, and so much more), to December's art show at Howley's Restaurant in West Palm Beach. Opening night is Dec 8th and the show will run until Jan 7th. Thanks, Amanda, for such a great opportunity!

Monday, November 2, 2009

Married! and on the wall

We did it! The wedding and the honeymoon trip was amazing. Waking up yesterday morning in my own bed felt like I was dreaming about Oz and now I'm back in boring Kansas (Florida). Hope to share some photos soon.

In the mean time, here are photos from the Bear & Bird Halloween art show:

Me on the Wall


This photo © Bear and Bird (more photos)

As you can see they had quite a turnout for submissions. Mine's 2nd row from the bottom, 10th from the right... yes, that little orange and black speck LOL.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Must sketch! 10.12.09

Well, I think I'll be taking a break from this sketching exercise until after the wedding. I'll be back on it beginning of November.


I made the top portion way too big... Her head is huge! Need to really work on that.

Reference by amethystdreams1987:

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Must sketch! 10.9.09

Wow! This sketch was all about hair! Very awesome challenge.



Reference by nedina89:

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Must sketch! 10.5.09

It took a couple of days to finally post this. Wedding countdown is on! I'll be sketching on my own for next few days as my sketching buddies got too busy with personal stuff. But they will be back.

This reference was fun. Kinda Harry Potter, kinda Moaning Myrtle. I ended up turning my sketch into a more cartoon-y style, couldn't help myself.



Reference by rammkitty-stock:

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Halloween local artist exhibit

I did it! My painting is submitted. Now I'm going to go hide under my blankie. I hope they'll have enough room for all the artwork. I'm #90! If you are in the area (South Florida), check out the show. It starts Oct 17th.


Poster is © Bear & Bird

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Pumpkin Carver - Oils

Pumpkin Carver - Final
Oils - 8x10

I've been working on this painting for about week and half. I'm entering it in a local artist Halloween show at Bear and Bird Boutique in Fort Lauderdale, and need to drop it off tomorrow. I think this is my first piece ever that is going to hang in a public place (other than art school). VERY NERVOUS! To hasten the drying, my friend suggested DampRid. I put a bag of DampRid in a plastic container with the painting after every sitting. It definitely dried faster.

Here's my step-by-step:


Initial sketch
Pumpkin Carver - initial sketch

Final sketch
Pumpkin Carver - final sketch

First sitting
Pumpkin Carver - WIP

Second sitting
Pumpkin Carver - WIP 2

Third sitting
Pumpkin Carver - WIP 3

Final sitting
Pumpkin Carver - WIP 4


Reference

Must sketch! 10.2.09

Today's photo reference was a doosie - a full figure with a horse.

Mine:


Took me awhile to get the proportions right. Kept telling myself to work out the composition first, don't worry about detail. I think I got it close, though I think the horse should be a bit taller.

Lina's


Reference by angiestock:

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Must sketch! 9.28.09

Another 3/4 portrait for this day's sketch.

Mine:

The eye pupil ended up being a little off. Looks like she's looking at 2 different things.

Lina's:


Dean's:


Reference from deviant-caroline:

Monday, September 28, 2009

Must sketch! 9.25.09

This post was suppose to be Friday, but things have been hectic. It's only a few weeks away from the wedding. Plus I'm trying to get a painting done for a Halloween show. So, yes, hectic... Friday's reference was a simple portrait. Since we've been doing bunch of full figure poses, thought it would be a nice change.

Mine:


Lina's:


Dean's:


Photo reference by skyleaf-stock:

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Must sketch! 9.23.09

Yesterday was a bit of an odd day for everyone so the sketches might be coming in slowly. Or not... No worries, that's ok. This is suppose to be fun! I couldn't resist choosing yesterday's reference, I'm a sucker for warrior women poses. We need more Xenas, Red Sonjas, Sorshas! (Yes, I own couple of swords and a bow). This pose has a crazy fore-shortening going on with the thigh/knee - awesome challenge.

Mine:

Don't know what happened but I ended up turning it into a cartoon style. I guess animation, my first love, was on my mind yesterday.

Hopefully more sketches to come...

Reference is from senshistock:


UPDATE 9.25.09:
Lina's:


UPDATE 10.2.09:
Dean's:

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Must sketch! 9.21.09

I like to apologize to the contributing artists for the reference photo I selected. It is very blurry, but I think it's such an awesome pose it was worth the eye strain.

Me:


Lina's:


Dean's:


Reference is from sitara-leotastock:

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Must sketch! 9.18.09

Another artist buddy joined in on today's Must Sketch project! It's so cool to see the differences in our styles and how we look at the subject. Reviewing these differences is making me really analyze my sketching technique.

Mine:

I think I made her bangs a little too puffy.

Lina's:


Dean's:


Today's reference is from octoberjoy:


(I started Must sketch! project so I would force myself to sketch for no other reason than to just sketch... maybe I should have called it "Just sketch! project". If you are reading these posts, critiques are always welcome.)