SCRIBBLE SKETCH by Stephen Aitken: 2014

Dec

10

Painting on a neutral ground

To allow for proper discernment of darks and lights a neutral grey gesso underpainting is very valuable. I have taken to using a base of Titanium White, raw umber, yellow ochre and Ultramarine Blue mixed to a neutral grey as my starting point. As you can see from the image below, this allows me to better see the light and dark values of the painting. The values can be tweaked later so you don't have to hit them bang on at the first try. In fact, it is better to not lay in the highlights nor the darkest darks until the mid-darks and mid-lights have been painted in.

I am using a mixture of burnt sienna and Cadmium red to 'draw in' the basic value shapes with a small bristle brush. In the above, only the highlights have been added.

There is still a lot in this painting that is not yet 'right' but most of the large shapes have been filled in and the values roughed in. The colors still need to be tweaked and blending etc. There is still some underdrawing showing in the cloud shapes and the top edge of the mountains. Painting time to date - about 1.5 hours, not counting the time to prepare the canvas (stretching and gesso underpainting).

Posted 10th December 2014 by Stephen Aitken

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Dec

8

Shiva's Renunciation

“Cling to the One who clings to nothing;

And so clinging, cease to cling.”

― Thiruvalluvar, Kural

Shiva's Tyaag - 24" X 18", charcoal on paper, Fabriano 200 gsm

In the sky, when air moves it appears to become something else, but it is nothing but sky. Shiva, the Lord of meditation, has come to realize that movement within the One is nothing but the One. That is Shiva's renunciation. This charcoal drawing represents the release of individual consciousness from its confined state, back into the freedom of sky.

The value study is a prep drawing for a full color oil painting that is currently in progress. A few of the reference photos are pasted below.

Posted 8th December 2014 by Stephen Aitken

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Nov

20

Painting shapes and values

SHIVA'S CROWN

Oil on canvas 28"W X 20"H

This painting is a study in seeing shapes and color value in a complex subject. The stretched, gessoed canvas was painted with a neutral-toned oily wash. The paint was applied using a limited palette: Titanium white, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Cadmium Red, Yellow Ochre, Alizarin Crimson, Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue and Pthalo Green.

The drawing stage was completed with a 1/4" bristle brush using a mixture of burnt sienna and cadmium red, shown below.

You will notice a set of diagonal lines and a diamond pattern drawn on the canvas. This is a method that I learned from Brian Keeler to identify the static points of a painting to be used for the placement of active/dynamic subjects. I will leave it up to the jury to determine if this was an effective placement of pictorial elements or not.

Posted 20th November 2014 by Stephen Aitken

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Nov

9

Monochromatic Oils

Intimation - oils (20 X 16")

In week two of Rita Roberts' class 'Understanding Clouds" we have moved to mixing values and completing a monochromatic painting using oils. The limited palette is: Titanium White, Alizarin Crimson, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium Red, French Ultramarine Blue and Pthalo Green. All of the greys were mixed with this palette, i.e. no black paint was involved.

My reference photo is below:

The assignment also involved experimentation with a colored ground using oil washes. I used a mixture of yellow ochre, cadmium red and titanium white. The laying in of the dark value and mid-value looked like this (the underpainting is showing the places where the light value will be placed):

After applying the lightest value and then painting back into the wet paint using mid-light and mid-dark values, mixing colors directly on the palette and on the canvas I lifted some paint back off using a rag to expose the underpainting. This entire painting was completed in less than 2 hours.

Posted 9th November 2014 by Stephen Aitken

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Nov

4

Value Studies

An artist should never underestimate the importance of having a plan of action before starting a painting. The value study is just that, a plan of action that delineates the values of darks and lights in a painting using only monochrome graphite, charcoal or paint.

I am taking a course with ArtistsNetworkUniversity.com entitled "Understanding Clouds" taught by Rita Roberts, a wonderful artist living in the San Luis Valley, Colorado.

The first assignment in the course was to do a value study from a reference photo using charcoal or graphite, to train the eye into seeing grey-scale values. I used the reference photo above. The darkest value is the blue sky to the left and top left of the image. The lighting is quite complex in this scene but I have been fascinated by roaming dark clouds floating above and to the foreground of white sunlit clouds.

My charcoal study, completed on Arches 22" X 30" hot-pressed, watercolor paper is below.

I have simplified some of the detail found in the reference photo in the interest of the value study. I was somewhat restricted in my supplies as I only had one stick of dark vine charcoal, though I had several of the middle and light values. The Arches paper was not ideal. It did not have a strong enough tooth to easily hold the charcoal. I have endeavored to rectify these shortcomings by ordering a roll of Italian charcoal paper and charcoal for future studies.

I really enjoyed working full scale on the value study as I could get my whole arm and upper body involved in the process. The paper was taped onto a large plywood board and secured to my studio easel. I had to put 4 or 5 sheets of the 140lb Arches paper underneath the drawing surface to overcome the texture of the plywood board underneath.

Any ways you can be assured that there will be many more value studies to come. The next lesson in the course is using oil paints and mixing greys without using black paint. Stay posted!

Posted 4th November 2014 by Stephen Aitken

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Jul

12

Welcome to the Writing Process: An Author/Illustrator Blog Tour

A big thanks to John Nez who tagged me in this blog tour. John and I are both members of the Picture Book Artists Association and his posts are not only a wealth of knowledge but he also adds a flavor of wry, Woody Allenish wit to many of our threads. Thank you John!

1. What am I working on?
I recently coauthored a picture-book entitled Little Cloud's Quest (LCQ) with Sylvia Sikundar, a Canadian author and friend who lives on Salt Spring Island off the BC coast. LCQ was published in the spring of 2014 by Katha Books in New Delhi, India. Unusually, I did not illustrate this book (my studio schedule was full at the time), however, the reviews have been very encouraging. Perhaps even more importantly, the book has fueled a passion for clouds which I have cherished since my youth.

I maintain a studio in the Western Himalayas of India. My workspace has exploded into a series of oil paintings, large landscapes (2' X 3') dominated by clouds. The interplay of the mountains with the clouds that hover over them never fails to fascinate me. They suggest a seamless transition from form to formless, hint of an other-worldly existence and lift me from the mundane. I spent many childhood summers lying in fields on my back staring up at a floating stream of clouds.

The monsoons are slowly making their way up to the Himalayas from the Indian Ocean so I anticipate many more spectacular views of mountains fading into moisture-laden clouds. As I paint, I am brainstorming ideas for a sequel to the Little Cloud book.

Storyboarding is a major part of both my illustrating and writing process. I start with a rough draft of the story and make small thumbnail sketches in the margins using a Pilot Hi-Techpoint 05 (the perfect weight for ideas to manifest as line drawings) at the same time noting possible pagination for the text. Then I move to pencil sketches, scan them, and import them into InDesign. In the digital dummy stage I can see how the pages flow, where text can be edited down by using pictures and when the action needs a boost. The digital flow of InDesign is also useful later on to see color transitions between pages, how the two sides of double spreads work together, and generally for refining the relationship between the text and the visuals. It's a book in a box!

Here is the underpainting for the next cloud painting. I like the quality of this turp-filled underpainting and may just leave it as it is without proceeding to thicker layers of oil. I always work thin to thick.

2. How does my work differ from others of this genre?

As an author I try to maintain a global, cross-cultural perspective in my work. I am passionate about environmental issues, particularly with respect to conservation of living species (including Homo sapiens). Many of my fiction stories are nature-based and much of my non-fiction writing focuses on the environmental sciences, subjects such as climate change, biodiversity loss and other human-induced impacts on our planet. Over the past several years I have written two series of books on climate change for the educational market in the US. I wrote and illustrated Earth has a Fever for readers in grades 3 and 4, to highlight the impact that climate change is having on all of Earth's living inhabitants.

I also authored a five-book photo-illustrated series, Climate Crisis, for students in grades 6-12, addressing the influence of climate change on plant and insect life, marine species, terrestrial animals, on ecosystems as a whole and, as we are becoming very aware of, the potentially catastrophic impact on human beings. The series has received some excellent reviews.

Each person's carbon footprint and the impact that it has on planet Earth adds up to our ability or inability to survive on this little blue marvel that we are riding in space.

The international edition of The Mountain that Loved a Bird written by Alice McLerran and illustrated by yours truly was recently translated into Tibetan by the SnowLion Storytelling Initiative, an accomplishment that I am particularly proud of. The art highlights the wild environment of the Himalayas that surrounds my studio and I hope that young Tibetan readers will be able to relate to and enjoy this wonderful love story.

3. Why do I write what I do?

For many years I was the Managing Editor of Biodiversity Journal (2004-2014) which opened my eyes to the critical state of the environment on our planet. Respect for nature's living species has been lost by many in the quest for 'more' and 'bigger'. Research polls show that most parents in the US, and I suspect in most nations, learn of current environmental issues from books and literature that their children bring home from school. Young readers are the future of our space-ship called Earth so we have to nurture their natural love for living species, for nature and the equanimity of life in the wild. There is a lot of disinformation and biased viewpoints circulating in the media. Never has it been more important than now to present clear, accurate science to the public in a way that is visually appealing and engaging. Bad news and environmental disasters, almost daily occurrences, need to be spaced with stories of opportunity, possibility and the incredible beauty of nature.

4. How does my writing process work?

I try to write every day in my journal. If I am working on a manuscript, I try to keep my BIC (Butt-In-Chair) for at least 2 hours per day, strictly focused on writing, not answering emails or browsing Facebook pages (:>).
When I have a story idea, I try to create an outline first to see if the idea has the possibility of becoming a full story. Often they are just that, ideas, not stories and therefore not books. Sometimes an idea will later flourish into a book or be incorporated into another book. I have a lot of faith in the subconscious mind and its ability to work on ideas, adding the lessons of day-to-day life without me knowing about it. I think it is most important to write about your passions. For the writing to be strong you have to believe in your subject.

I like digital technology and although I will never be classified as a 'techie', I find the challenge of new technology inspiring and I try to incorporate it into my writing process as much as possible. My current process involves tracking story ideas, poems, reflections and musings through Evernote, and an associated software Penultimate which allows me to write and draw with a stylus on the iPad. Both these softwares sync between my iPhone, iPad and laptop. I have no excuses left to not write but of course at some point I have to pull all of the ideas together and synthesize all the parts in a comprehensible and sellable whole.

Thanks for visiting my blog and I hope you enjoyed this post. Leave a comment or a link if you get a chance. Stay tuned to this post and I will tag another author/illustrator who is willing to describe their writing process.

Posted 12th July 2014 by Stephen Aitken

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Jun

5

Transparent Oils

I am now working on the second painting in the series Himalayan Clouds. Oil paints, similar to watercolors, consist of paints that have different qualities; transparent, sedimentary and opaque/staining.
In this painting I am hoping to take advantage of some of the more transparent oils; cobalt blue, aureolin and viridian in combination with other colors such as French Ultramarine (sedimentary), Violet, Titanium White and Zinc White, to capture a beautiful sky transition from a light blue-green on the right across to a dark blue-violet sky on the left. The clouds also reflect the light source in the right hand sky transitioning to dark purple on the left hand side of the painting. Here is the thumbnail study, no more than an inch and a half across, rendered with Caran D'Ache aquarelle pencils.

The actual painting is 2 ft high by 3 ft wide and I started, as is my style, with very thin winsor and newton oil paints, using various sized ivory filbert brushes (from Rosemary & Co. in the UK) with a lot of turpentine in the mix. Here is some of the underpainting:

and slightly later on in the process adding in thicker paint.

Stay tuned to this blog for progress on the completion of this painting.

Posted 5th June 2014 by Stephen Aitken

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Jun

3

Himalayan Cloud Series

As I recently posted on my Facebook page I bought a multi-angled studio easel from Himalayan Fine Art in Mumbai. This wonderful addition to my studio has allowed me to start working in oils on larger canvases. The easel will accommodate up to 7 foot canvases.
The best part of this acquisition is that I have now started on a series of 2X3 foot canvases of Himalayan cloud scenes. I bought some semi-prepped linen canvas and stretcher bars and have stretched my own canvases and coated them with 2-3 layers of acrylic gesso.
The progress of the first painting is depicted in the following photos:

Oh yah, and here is the multi-angle easel.

Posted 3rd June 2014 by Stephen Aitken

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May

5

Visiting Artist - Maria Isabel Salazar de Lince
I was privileged today to receive a visit to my studio from Colombian artist, Maria Isabel Salazar de Lince, from Bogota. Maria is an abstract painter who has an upcoming show in Miami, with 20 works of her large 8' x 6' abstracts. She gave me a demonstration of her painting style and in just under 2 hours left me with a completed painting which I will cherish. Here is the unfoldment of the painting, Waves of Bliss, in photos that I took, followed by an image of the completed work.
The art was done on a stretched 2'X3' linen canvas which I prepared with an acrylic gesso ground. The paints are Winsor and Newton oils. Maria works directly on the canvas with a cup of turpentine beside her palette using various sized filbert and flat brushes. She likes them to be large so she cannot lapse into too much detail too early in the painting process - something which I can learn from. The painting was started while standing outside of my studio looking south down the Kullu valley. As the light faded we moved into my studio and finally under the studio lights for the final touches. The first image is the scene that she was looking at. Reta is holding the canvas and brushes for Maria.

"WAVES OF BLISS"

I learned a number of things from watching Maria paint.
- Painting should be a joyous process. Maria loves to paint and it shows.
- Oils can be wet and mobile, not unlike watercolors, handled with very light brush strokes. (Look at how Maria is holding her brush in the image above)
- A painting can be completed in a single 2-hour work session. This can serve to give it continuity.
- Oils work best when applied from thin to thick. Acrylics can be used for underpainting.
- Palette knifes are good for finishing touches.
- Texture is effective when applied at the end of a painting, serving to pull areas forward.
Check out Maria's website linked to her name above. Be patient as the site is built with Flash (so will not work on mobile devices or tablets) but the wait is well worth it.

Thank you Maria!
Posted 5th May 2014 by Stephen Aitken

Labels: abstract canvas fine art landscapes oil painting

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Feb

22

New from Korea

Last spring (2013) I was contacted by a Korean publisher, Chungjae Education based in Seoul. They asked me if I was interested in writing 20 short stories (10 fiction and 10 non-fiction) for an English language reader for Grade 2 students. After a few back-and-forth fee negotiations (very cordial) I was given 10 themes and a list of keywords that needed to be included in the stories. Some basic sentence structures and word patterns also were to be included. The themes were part of the curriculum for grade 2 students. Despite some rather awkward communications over basic questions that I had, I was able to get a basic understanding of what the publisher wanted. A fellow writer in the US was helpful to consult with as she was working on books 1 and 3 in the 3-book series.
Anyways, the books arrived in the mail yesterday and I must say that I was surprised at the great quality of the production, superior to that of many books I have published inNorth America. Here are the front and the back soft covers.

The books also include a CD and a workbook which the publisher developed from the stories that I wrote. My friend and partner Reta helped to edit the stories. She is a former primary school teacher and had the Grade 3 voice down very well. We had a lot of fun working on the themed stories for each section.

I would do another one of these assignments in a heartbeat. The next time I might just illustrate it as well.

Posted 22nd February 2014 by Stephen Aitken

Labels: author/illustrators children's books educational english reader fiction grade 2 level Korea non-fiction

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SCRIBBLE SKETCH by Stephen Aitken

Fine art processes in a variety of media. Musings on the art of writing and illustrating for fiction, non-fiction and books for children - tips, anecdotes and sketches.

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