Karl Schmidt-Rottluff study

Another natural media exercise. This one involves examining other artists techniques and using them to apply different rendering possibilities that you can apply to your own work. Lessons learnt here, and with any art exercise, crossover into the digital domain; especially the principles of colour, general composition and overall aesthetic appearance. I really recommend giving it a try, especially if you are a designer who has never tried anything other than digital media.

The image above is an acrylic study of expressionist Karl Schmidt-Rottluff’s painting.

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Still life study - Stu Lawson 2008

I revisited the still life. Sitting on a PC can dull the skills, So it was time for some hands-on practice with real media again.

This painting was done in about 3 hours over a week. It was a test in completing a still life study within a limited time, whilst using a thinned down painting technique with acrylics.

I wasn’t completely happy with few things, but it turned out better than I expected after not having done a still life for a while.

'Making a statement?'- sketch

This was the initial sketch that ended up as a painting. It started out with a slightly different feel and was originally intended to be a digital illustration. I still really like the rough sketch, but I still might try and do a digital version.

'Making a statement?'- acrylic on canvas paper

The acrylic painting above started out as a concept sketch for a digital illustration (see the pencil sketch here), I then decided to experiment with acrylics using a dry brush technique.