4/23 Blog #4: Who'da Thought?

Hi everyone! Welcome back to my blog. In this blog post, I will be talking about my painting this week and how my previous opinions on certain topics have changed. I'm super excited to talk about this album because it's one that I was recommended by a friend! Let's dive in.

This week's episode of "The Joy of Painting" wasn't as informative as the previous two. I did get to see 4 baby squirrels, and it was pretty darn adorable. The main thing I learned was to just have a soft touch when painting. A heavy stroke could potentially ruin your painting. Maybe not ruin, but make things very difficult for you. Just gotta float like a butterfly, I guess. Anyways, here is the masterpiece called "Winter in Pastel": 

What a beauty! Those mountain ridges were created by his soft touch, and a heavy touch would make it look, well not like mountains.

After watching greatness unfold (yes, I mean Bob Ross), I painted the album "Fine Line", by Harry Styles. I've never really been a fan of Harry Styles. I liked maybe one song before listening to this album recommended to me by Amelia Heppe. When I told her my project topic, she told me to paint this album. I was slightly hesitant because I didn't really know too much about Harry Styles, except for the fact that he was in One Direction and is supposedly very good-looking. Anyways, I listened to this album with fairly low expectations. I was expecting just a regular pop album, but I was wrong. I actually really liked this album. Who'da thought right? It's got summer songs, sad songs, story songs, and more. The music and production are great, and Harry Styles is a pretty darn talented singer. There are 12 songs in the album, and I only disliked 2 of them. My personal favorites are probably "Falling", "Adore You", and "To Be So Lonely". Here is what the album looks like:

Looks easy enough right? That's what I was thinking until I began painting. I started with a fruit bowl as my circle. I traced the fruit bowl, and it was the perfect size (thanks Mom). I then painted the outside of the circle black. Next, I painted the fingers. It took a couple tries to get them looking good. Then I painted the middle blue. Easy part done. Check it:

Don't mind the halfway done/messed up hand and legs and poor blending😬😬. Now came the hard part. Without tracing Harry Styles with pencil first, I made some happy accidents. It took my forever to get his legs and body looking like the actual album. The fishbowl effect and his weird posture didn't make it any easier, too. I started with the pants, then moved up to his shirt, and finally did his hair and face. After lots of time, I got the shape done, and then it was easy from there. I can say that I'm now a pro at color mixing, and the shading was easier than I expected. I kinda just painted gray lines in the areas where there were creases. I took some Bob Ross advice and kinda just put them where I wanted to. I wasn't so focused on the exact placement of the shadowed parts.

I used the Will Kemp Art School website to help me out with the shadows, and I'll put the link at the end of the blog. There are 3 parts to his light and shading lesson, but I think the first one is sufficient enough if you're looking for basics on the topic. I learned something that seems pretty self-explanatory, but it was still good to read and see it. We really just need to know where light is coming from. In this case, it's coming from in front and to the left of Harry Styles. This tells us that the shadows are going to be on the right side because the light would hit him and create the shadow behind. On his left leg, we know that there really won't be any shadows on his right side (where there are no shadows). The right leg is more complicated, but it's the same concept. 

Now, let's talk about the face. I was thinking about painting his facial features, but I thought about my time, and I just didn't have enough to do that. Eventually, I would have to learn how to draw faces, but I will dedicate a whole week to practicing and executing portrait painting. Well, here is my final product:

This album also provided a very good transition into what I will be doing next week: photorealism, or painting photographs. "Fine Line" was a mix of photorealism and painterly. Photorealism is definitely going to be a huge challenge, but I'm up for it.

In all honesty, I think I did a pretty good job on this album. This one was much harder than both "H.E.R." and "Doo-wops and Hooligans", yet it turned out all right. Maybe I am improving...idk. Guess you'll just have to come back next week and see if my photorealistic paintings really look photorealistic.

Well, that's all I got for today. Remember, I'm open to some recommendations (heck, this album was a recommendation) either to paint or to just listen to. I'll try to get it done, but I do have a sort of schedule in my mind, so I may not be able to do it. To finish, I really recommend "Fine Line". I never really thought that I would like this album as much as I do, but here we are. I've listened to it nonstop this whole week😅😅.

I'll see you all next blog post, and I'll catch you later!

Links:

https://willkempartschool.com/a-beginners-guide-to-shadow-light-part-1-drawing/

https://willkempartschool.com/how-to-shade-a-drawing-light-shadow-part-2/

https://willkempartschool.com/how-to-acrylic-paint-light-and-shade-part-3/

https://www.thoughtco.com/art-styles-explained-realism-to-abstract-2578625

[commented on Pelin, Matt, Alex]