Author: koalie

Art: “Stand firm!” (step by step)

I’m really enjoying myself doing these poster art piece with acrylic paint markers!

This is my interpretation of “Stand firm!”, a World War II propaganda poster during the UK war effort, 1939-1946, by Thomas Purvis.

Masking tape applied to the artbook and pencil sketch of a lion

Masking tape and pencil sketch.

Orange-brown acrylic paint applied to the drawing. Next to the artbook are my mechanical pencil and the four acrylic paint markers I will use: orange, red, black and white.

I will need four colours: orange-brown, black and red, and white.

Black added to the line for the mane and the shadows.

The lion is taking shape.

Red background added.

Red background done. I wished the tip were larger because with 1-millimeter, it took a lot of back and forth and the strokes are very visible on the paper.

White highlights added to the face of the lion and several areas of its body. The tail is now painted black.

Now that the lion is finished, I added highlights.

Black rectangle painted at the bottom.

Black rectangle at the bottom.

Block lettering done to write "stand firm!" in white in the black rectangle.

I used a different white acrylic paint marker after all.

Finished work in the open artbook on a white table, dated and signed
Finished work in the open artbook on a white table, dated and signed

Art: Venezia (step by step)

The subject is an advertisement poster for Venice that I found in the 2010 calendar I got in Venice in 2009, and which I kept because the illustrations are pretty.

Canson artbook, 10,2 x 15,2 cm (4 x 6 in), 96 g/m2 (65 lb). It took me 3 hours, although it felt much quicker.

The paper is almost too thin for this medium (the paper warped), and a bit too small for this level of detail. I’m using a set of 30 acrylic paint markers from Artistro that have a fine tip that is 1 millimeter wide. At this scale, one millimeter is pretty thick. I find that thinner lines can be achieved in swift strokes, but that is at the cost of precision (in my case).

Masking tape, pencil sketch of the front of gondolas, mooring posts and basic shapes for buildings, next to the reference image at the top of a tall narrow calendar.

Pencil sketch that will be covered by the acrylic paint.

Sky, city line, silhouette of gondola and water painted in shades of yellow, orange and gold. There is an envelope on the back of which I try out the colours.

I do not have the exact same colours as the reference image. I’m trying out the pens I have on the back of an envelope.

I found colours that I think will work well together.

More gold, a lot of black, some brown, red and orange for the big gondolas and the mooring posts.

Close-up of the main drawing nearly done now that the gondolas and mooring posts are coloured.

Photo showing the work in progress with now a large vivid blue rectangle at the bottom, the calendar at the right, and 12 acrylic paint markers I used.

Almost done! All I need to add is “Venezia” in block letters at the bottom, and remove the masking tape.

Finished work in the open artbook on a white table
Finished work in the open artbook on a white table

Art: Fairey Fulmar taking off

Now that I’ve started doing pieces of Art Deco, I naturally and happily venture into propaganda poster art!

This is a Fairey Fulmar taking off from an armored flight deck (apparently a feature of British carriers) during World War II.

My kid liked it, so I put it in large frame and it now hangs on his wall.

Mixing blue and white gouache paint in a ceramic pan with a toothpick

Mixing blue and white. This is going to be the main colour.

Mixing black and white gouache paint in a ceramic pan

Mixing black and white. Grey is going to be the colour of the visual components.

Overview of the finished 21x15 cm painting on a cutting mat next to the ceramic pans of the mixes I used: grey, white and blue.

I painted this on the back of a cereal cardboard box (21×15 cm).

I love how it turned out!

The finished 21x15 cm painting, signed and dated, glued to a back sheet and put in a large frame with a white mounting card.
The finished 21×15 cm painting, signed and dated, glued to a back sheet and put in a large frame with a white mounting card.

Art: Fujiwara, 38th station of the Tōkaidō, v2 (step by step)

I did a second version of the my painting last week of Fujiwara, 38th station of the Kyoka edition of 53 stations of the Tōkaidō, by Hiroshige.

I later sent it to Isabelle.

Pencil sketch on a white sheet taped to a black cutting board. The outline is of a person on a horse and trees at the sides on a high spot, and a sprawling village at the foot of the high spot.

Rough pencil sketch.

Grey and white gouache paint applied. The ceramic cup I used to mix the paint is visible on the mat.

Grey and white gouache.

The brown ink brushpen I used to colour the horse and outline of the trees.

Brown ink from a Kuretake ink brushpen.

Small areas on the drawing are now coloured in yellow for the crates on the hors and the straw capes a couple people are wearing, and a couple of blue small patches.

The center of the painting features a few spots of yellow and blue.

All I need to add now are white spots for the falling snow and black outlines.

Finished version with black outlines, date and signature. The painting is framed in white wood.
Finished version of the gouache painting of a person on a horse and trees at the sides on a high spot, and a sprawling village at the foot of the high spot. The painting is dated and signed. I put a white mounting card and framed it in white wood.