Screenplay Process: Part Four

The last post about the process for three Screenplay paintings, this shows the final inked piece--pre-watercolor.

 

I ran across this tintype early on, and used it and others for resource.

Most often, after the thumbnail sketches for any artwork, I collect a lot of resources. I use Pinterest in order to keep them organized. If you are interested, the link to my Screenplay resource folder is here:

Sarmo's Pinterest Board

 

Here's a sheet of thumbnail sketches for Projectionist. The sketches always seem to begin sort of motionless.

 

Originally envisioned as a young man reading a newspaper, the projectionist morphed into a kid. I thought the idea of a person smoking in a projection room with flammable celluloid would be humorous, but on second thought, not really.

 

So the human character became a kid reading a monster movie magazine. Frankenstein's monster plays a part in all the pieces.

After inking the outlines with a small brush, I use a very light 2H pencil as a shading guide, and begin layering the ink lines.

 

There are many layers of cross-hatched ink lines in a piece like this.

This section threw me a bit because of the glowing light from the magazine. I wanted the effect but hadn't a clue how to achieve it until I got to this point.

The pieces, like many of my works, are pretty much drawings with watercolor washes laid in afterwards. The hardest part of this stage was getting the washes to blend around the glow. I used Quinacridone Gold and Burnt Sienna for the washes.

This was also a section in which I knew I wanted the monster's face in the light beam but hadn't an idea how to accomplish it. Somehow it all worked out.

The rat was a compositional device. The projector, the projectionist, and the monster created three subjects at the top. The pic needed balance, so the rat came to the rescue.

Well that's about it. If you are in Denver for the Screenplay reception on October 30th or the month of November, head over to Helikon Gallery and Studios to see all three finished pieces. They will be there, along with Screenplay interpretations by 30 other fantastic and inspirational artists. Each of us got to create three, 12" x 12" artworks for the theme, and it is going to be a great show!

Thanks for following my progress here--I appreciate it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frankenstein Returns!

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

The Creature (detail). Mixed media.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has fascinated me since I was lucky enough to be forced to read it in high school. 

As a kid, I loved the 1930s movie. The fear Karloff's face inspired remains a vivid memory.

I didn't know of Thomas Edison's movie--the first film version--until adulthood. You can see the
whole thing here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcLxsOJK9bs

Mary Shelley's description of the creature has been ignored, attempted, and also revised by movie-makers and artists, but it is definitely evocative: His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid 
contrast with his watery eyes, that seemed almost of the same colour as the 
dun-white sockets in which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight black lips.

I've ignored it for my versions as well. Following is the progression of the newest painting, done as a poster design soon to be released. Hope you enjoy it!

Lots of sketches preceded the final face. Here are a few.

After a search for a border I found this copyright free design in a Dover book.

I modified it greatly as you will see.

Here's the initial pencil prelim (on watercolor paper) of the lower part of the border...

...and here's the big guy, with his initial pair of boots, later changed to somewhat goofy slipper-shoes.

Inked with both pen and brush, it's ready for watercolor.

After an initial wash of raw umber, my colors were added in layers. Striving for a monochromatic look, my palette was mostly limited to ultramarine, burnt sienna, and raw umber. 

The bits of green came from raw sienna mixed with ultramarine, but I brightened his eyes at the end by adding lemon yellow and cerulean to the initial green mixture. (Shot with a camera phone, these look more saturated than the actual piece.)

For another rendition of the creature, you might enjoy http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/2014/04/pen-and-ink-plus-franken-creature.html

As always, questions and comments are welcome.  Thanks for the visit!

Pen and Ink (Plus a Franken-Creature Sequence)

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

Frank-in-Progress.

I'm smitten with pen and ink. Always have been. Nothing gets me to the state of 

total creative awareness like the zen act of making repetitive lines with pen and ink. 

Time stops, the outside world disappears, and I don't care that my studio is in chaos.

Really, most times the studio is pretty neat, 

but working towards a show deadline has me more 

concerned with production than clutter. Plus, it's not fair that in some 

past posts, the studio has appeared mostly organized.  

This messed up work-space brings me to the real point of this post: Pen and ink!

On the drawing table is this book:

This version, published in 1930, was found it in a used book store a few months ago, and it is stunning! My go-to volume when I want to explore and revitalize my pen-work. I've owned the newer edition of it (titled Rendering in Pen and Ink) since art school, but this old fellow trumps that one with more illustrations and thorough discussion.

Sorry about the phone pics, but I wasn't about to cram this onto my scanner.

Here are the end papers. Yes, admittedly, I am an old-book nerd. 

As a kid, fascinated with line, I studied Tenniel's illustrations for the Alice books, Dore's illustrations--especially those from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and the works of John Leech. Like Franklin Booth, I mistakenly thought those engravings were pen and ink drawings. Unlike Franklin Booth's beautiful renderings, my resulting works are far from elegant and controlled. Random and spontaneous they are, and quickly drawn...

 ...like this detail shows.

Still, revisiting Arthur Guptill's book put me in the mood to explore, so the following 

Frankenstein's Creature-sequence shows a bit more self-control. Not that I like it any better, it's just different.

The extent of my thumbnail output for this one.

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

An in-progress detail.

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

Same detail with a warm acrylic wash and some highlight-lifting...

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

...and some strengthened highlights with white gouache.

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

Finally, a bit of acrylic ink for color.

Granted, the ink-line application is only slightly less random and unruly than usual, but it was a blast to do, 

and I learned a lot.

Thanks--as always-- for reading!