Tom Sarmo: The Cranky Bird Studio: tree art

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

An Illustration Sequence

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

For Rent (detail)

Mixed media (pen and ink, brush and ink, white acrylic gouache, acrylic inks; on brown paper).

This was a sketch done for a workshop demonstration a few years ago at Foothills Art Center. I'd brought it to a convention a few weeks ago, and a curious fellow asked about my thought process and sequence. Here is a step-by-step of the thought and work behind this picture:

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1. Gesture.

This was done on a scrap of paper--even before I had the complete idea for the finished piece. I was just trying to get a lively stance for the tree. At this point I knew I wanted a bowing Ent-like tree in the picture, but not much else. I like to let details emerge as I work.

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2. Choosing forms

This is what's inside my head. After the gesture, I try to visualize the forms that will make up the picture. The idea for the bird arrived after the gestures. ( Again, I don't actually draw this onto the paper; here just trying to show my thought-process.)

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3. Thinking about connection of forms

More progress inside my head as I piece the thing together. Sometimes I will actually draw this part--lightly--onto the gesture, especially if I'm unsure of the forms.

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4. Pen and ink.

I draw it out with light pencil--I like H leads--then I often use a fine brush to outline the piece. Next, I begin cross-hatching the values with the crow quill pen.

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5. White highlights.

When most of the values are established, the highlights are added with white acrylic gouache. In this case I wanted the light to come from the egg.

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6. Colored acrylic inks.

I thin them down a bit with water so they don't ruin the highlights. After the color dries, I go back in with pen and ink to deepen the dark areas if needed.

Feel free to email me if any of this needs clarification. I definitely don't mean to leave out info or be purposely unclear or ambiguous.

Coming up:

I'm doing a watercolor workshop in May--great for children's illustrators or anyone who wants to learn new watercolor techniques! Check it out here:

Sarmo Watercolor Workshop

And thanks for reading!

Monday, March 14, 2016

Scribbling in a Scribble-Book

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

The word "scribble" has always killed me--it just sounds funny. When I was a kid and only wanted to unthinkingly make marks on a page, the adult comments ranged from the condemnatory "You're just scribbling" to "Quit wasting paper with your scribbling."

But I didn't quit; remember how amazing it felt to zone out while the pencil or pen or crayon glided across the page and left multi-circles or wads of illegible marks?

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I'm still a fan. And even though I seldom make illegible marks--on purpose at least--I love the sensation of scribbling out sketches without really thinking.

I'd realized that I'm not always in the mood to think while sketching, but I'm too antsy to sit around with my family--just talking or watching TV--without drawing. So I grabbed this little, lined notebook and a pen, just for the purpose of mindlessly scribble-drawing.

The only rule for myself: Use ballpoint pen only.

It's been an interesting experiment. Here's what I've discovered:

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1. My scribbles got better (well, at least more like my other sketchbook drawings) even without trying. Here's the first page, looking suspiciously similar to the drawings I did way back in middle school.

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2. As I messed with it more, my scribbles looked a bit less mindless, but they still were.

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3. I started reaching for the scribble-book more often than the sketchbook. Probably because I was enjoying the lack of pressure to make "good" sketches.