A freehand AB test piece..

[blinddog 99]

Sorry for the crappy photos, I gotta set up a better light for taking pics after dark. A new camera would be nice too!

Anyway, this is Skeleton Sam, a Grateful Dead relic that will eventually grace the front fender of my Harley. This was strictly a freehand structure sketch exercise, (thus the shaky lines) airbrush over a chalk sketch, to get the "feel" of how I want to pose him, etc. Many trial and error tests, it is a bit of a mess, but walking through the graphic is the only way I can get a feel for what the final will need. For example, I realize how crappy I am at skeletal hands, must practice those, need a better running shoe reference, sunglasses look awful,etc. Color will help but I need to work on tightening it all down.

Anyway, it won't go any further on this one, I will do a couple more like this, getting color and detail zeroed in, till I feel it's ready for the bike! Cheers, hope you like him, critiques and suggestions welcomed! He is 11 inches high, so the skull is about the size of a quarter. All I can say is, my Micron C+ rocks! Couldn't have got this kind of detail without it and this is just a rough in.....

[blinddog 99]

Thanky D, but I need to say, just wait, it will get better! What I really wanted to share was the fun of "sketching" an idea with the AB, I have never really done that before.

[Whit]

Looks Great Scott,,, Great !!!

[josie]

lOOKS GOOD BLIND....KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

[moose]

Scott looks good for a sketch:wink2: What surface and paint are you using? I tried to do some shading on the moose pic and ruint it... Oh well time to try the 3/4 view...

Tim

[blinddog 99]

Hi Tim, this is HOK White (reduced) Urethane on a metal panel. Its kinda what I am most used to and since the bike work will be done that way, its logical to stick with it through the tests. Shading is a bear, keep at it, it will come, I see improvement on each piece you show!

[blinddog 99]

Denise, interesting question. In fact, I like doing both, and its no coincedence that I finished the gears, then did this piece. The mask type work, especially the detailed stuff is interesting. There is a lot one can do to pull the eye here and there, and the potential to really make some innovative designs is there, but it is very structured. The whole piece is masks, and only the gears and flames have any shading.

The workup sketch of Sam is exciting, as you begin to carve structure out of a thin chalk line, the shadows and depth come into play immediately, and one has to be more careful to not "over do it" on certain areas, where the masks are much more forgiving. It is tougher to paint freehand, without a doubt.

Funny thing is, I spent about 5 hours total on the gears, tedious spraying. Sam took about 45 minutes, LOL. I started in knowing it was a throw away, and felt very little pressure to "get it right" the first time. I will try to learn to take all my painting that way, as it flows better and results are quicker and usually more accurate...(it certainly turned out better than I expected for a quickie, so I know it can look really good when I go to work on the final)