All exams are marked!!

This is going to be the most useless post in history, but oh my goodness, was this tough going. 72 exams marked. Each of them taking one hour on average. And that’s only counting the ones I got the week before last and that I’ve finally worked off! My poor kids have probably forgotten what [...]

@темы: Uncategorized

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Farewell, sweet earth and northern sky

‘Farewell sweet earth and northern sky, for ever blest, since here did lie, and here with lissom limbs did run, beneath the moon, beneath the sun, L

@темы: sketch, tolkien, art, drawing, pastel, silmarillion, pastel paper, beren, luthien, sketchbook

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Exam marking vs. Diablo III or: The Two Greater Evils

May is upon me. May means exams, conferences, and graduation exams in such short succession that I seem to blink on April 30th and suddenly open my eyes again on June 1st. Without really knowing where the time in between went. Unless you count some telltale dark rings under the eyes. This year, may is [...]

@темы: Uncategorized

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Ancalagon – painting

I’m pretty happy with how Ancalagon turned out here. Here’s how I did him: For his look, I browsed the web for good closeups of… lizards. There’s an awful lot of great lizards out there – horned lizard, dragon lizard, and armadillo lizard were just a few I looked at in order to make the [...]

@темы: walkthrough, tolkien, dragon, art, painting, silmarillion, how-to, watercolour

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New Tolkien art on the workbench

Yes! Jenny is about to acknowledge that the Silmarillion has more than Noldor! One long overdue pic of Beren and L

@темы: sketch, tolkien, dragon, ancalagon, art, silmarillion, beren, luthien

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There will be blood – painting

Run, little Orcses, run. I’m proud to announce that I have found the paper/paint combo that I will stick with to the end of days. Doc Martin’s liquid watercolours – no surprises there – and Canson Montval. The Canson students’ paper is good, but tends to cake up under too many layers of paint, and [...]

@темы: walkthrough, tolkien, art, painting, silmarillion, how-to, maedhros, watercolour

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There will be BLOOD. (sketch)

Maedhros told me, in that very subtle and persuasive way of his, that he wanted a powerful painting. Not fluffy. No get well swords. No kick ass ivy. And by all means no barbed chains. He was okay with stump, though. demanded it, in fact. I imagine that this is after he has just been [...]

@темы: sketch, tolkien, art, silmarillion, maedhros

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Most of me (plus detail shots)

Pencil lineart and Dr Martin’s liquid watercolours on Canson paper Detail shots:

@темы: tolkien, art, painting, silmarillion, maglor, maedhros, watercolour

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My Green Problem turns into my Green Period

So, after years of sparking puns aimed at me for avoiding the colour green in my paintings, I’m endeavouring to tackle that fear of mine. The funny thing is: This seems to be a common thing among artists. James Gurney calls it “The Green Problem“. This year, I’ve set out to overcome some of my [...]

@темы: tolkien, art, painting, silmarillion, maglor, maedhros, watercolour

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Strength

For A.

@темы: coffee, art, painting

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Watercolour Workshop 2012 in Aachen

Hey all, I’ve decided to hold another watercolour workshop this year, as several people have already asked. *cracks knuckles* WHEN: August 11th/12th; one weekend (Saturday and Sunday); eight hours on both days (10-18.00 WHERE: Youth Hostel Aachen, Germany. WHAT: You’ll learn the basics of how watercolour works, along with an assortment of colour theory, special [...]

@темы: art, painting, workshop, watercolour

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Sketches from the edge

A few absolutely incredibly taxing days. Class trip with one hundred twenty-six twelve-year-olds. Three days of sitting a bag of fleas, as we say in German. Some very touching experiences, some rather disheartening ones, and having to be “on” for seventy-six hours on end. Drawing was a lifeline to sanity.

@темы: Uncategorized

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New Silmarillion picture ideas

I can’t seem to stop. O_o Maglor and Maedhros after the latter’s rescue. And one that I’ve been wanting to (re)do for years – the Prophecy of the North. “Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Valar will fence Valinor against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation [...]

@темы: sketch, tolkien, art, drawing, silmarillion, F, finarfin, maglor, maedhros, fingon, fingolfin

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New projects

Aside from becoming enraptured in Silmarillion fanfic (help!!), I’m on to several more art-related projects. First off, a comic drawn for German comic anthology JAZAM! I thought it up together with my good friend Oli, and he had quite a job in getting me back to the drawing table on a regular basis. I have [...]

@темы: sketch, art, comic

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Happy Easter to everyone!

Poor bloke. Hung up on precipices… now hung up in peach trees. He’ll get back at me some day.

@темы: personal

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Spark – a Silmarillion fanfic

I’ve done it. Written my first Silmarillion fanfic in seventeen years. O_o Maedhros upon Thangorodrim. Warning: Disturbing themes. Injury, torture, madness. This probably won’t be easy to understand unless you’ve read the Silmarillion. Disclaimer: I don’t own the character, though I promise to return him in good condition. As far as text-faithfulness is concerned. Maedhros [...]

@темы: tolkien, silmarillion, maedhros, writing, fanfiction

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Maedhros in Angband – finished

Sorry, no progress shots for this one. I painted it in a sort of delirium. I used to do this all the time when I was younger – sitting down with a bottle of coke and my paints, and emerging four to eight hours later with a finished painting that I couldn’t remember even thinking [...]

@темы: tolkien, art, painting, silmarillion, maedhros, angband, watercolour

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Maedhros in Angband – lineart

Poor love. Yes, I feel bad already. I went back and forth with the chain fettering him to the wall; in the end, I left it there – I don’t think they’d trust him to stay put without it, and the chain makes it clear he still has hands (and arms) back there somewhere. O_o [...]

@темы: tolkien, art, drawing, silmarillion, maedhros, angband

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Ossiriand – painting

I finally found the time to paint “Ossiriand”. The result surprised me, quite frankly. I chose Dr Martin’s Liquid Watercolours and Canson paper to work on, as I wanted to pic bright – turns out that the result was almost too bright. Hence, I turned down the saturation a little in the final painting; that’s [...]

@темы: walkthrough, tolkien, horse, art, painting, silmarillion, how-to, maedhros, tutorial, watercolour

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Maedhros in Angband – sketch

Not sure if I’ll actually try that sort of lighting, or if I’m brave enough to stick with that sick colour scheme, but I suppose I should. *coughs* I’m really sorry, Maedhros. You should have known this was coming after wheedling that “happy pic” out of me… Drawn with reference involving the self-timer on my [...]

@темы: sketch, tolkien, art, silmarillion, maedhros, angband