Get some Respite while you can!

Got Respite?

Soon there will be no Respite at all!

Roadside Respite is selling out fast. The first 50 copies will be bagged, signed and numbered.
The collectible type of Mod you want. Many folks are scooping up two at a time. One to play, and one to collect!

Direct from the artist Frank Mentzer advises "Buy his work now while you can afford it, I have an eye for artists to watch."

Don't miss the chance to get your bony fingers on one of the first 50 copies off the press!

http://lmetcalf.com/shop/?post_type=product&p=153

Warm ups can be good too

What I do before I start

Sometimes before I sit down to the Cintiq (which is still a new thing to me) or a canvas, I will do some loose doodles to loosen up and warm up.
So the other day was no exception. I came home from a full day of work and sat down with my dinner salad to get into another few hours of illustration. I popped open a small image, roughly 1,000px x 800px and started scribbling around with various brushes in a set I had discovered.
At first black on white, then not liking that, I went with a Chiaroscuro technique of making everything Sienna and burnt umber.
I set the scribble aside and started working, but kept coming back to it. Right before my eyes there were things appearing that demanded splashes of light.
Well into the painting I realized that it was 1K x 800 at 72 dpi. tiny in size. So up blew the image and in went the detail, and here is the result.
Still a little impressionistic in nature, but I like the feel and energy. Wasn't sure what to do with it, but the Gnome will take it for future projects.
This note I leave to myself and others.... even on warm up start as if it will go to print. or "Res up" early in the process. Doing it later increased the work load on the drawing.
Lesson learned, now back to work!!

A return to Old School

 

At the  Request of Lesser Gnome (more on this story later)  and a few others,  I went back to paper, pencils, and pens. People like that old school D&D feel, and why not?
It has been fun and I have really enjoyed the trip. I think I will keep turning these over for a while now.
I will post more later, and more Lesser Gnome news as it comes up!

After these last posts, I will be waiting for the purchaser to post or publish the images first.

Supplies on sale

Today just a quick post to share my latest discovery for supplies. It's true that I get a lot of my supplies from Lowes or Home Depot. There are many things that just can't be had at home supply and hardware stores though. Particularly fine brushes, paint, pigment, and mediums.
I have recently discovered Mr. Art. Prices are pretty sweet, even for higher end Acrylics and oils.

The listed supplies on their website are far too extensive to cover. I have been perusing and drooling over much of their listed stock. I have seen a few things priced better, but most seem very fair. Even compared to the local craft store "deals". When it comes to pigment and paint, the artist gets what they pay for. More money, usually means more pigment. High pigment means purer color and better opacity, for less paint used. Essentially, buying cheaper paint is similar to buying expensive paint (takes more paint to cover). buying the quality saves a lot of time and frustration.

All this aside, the prices on paper, sketchbooks, canvas, and other supplies seem very nice on Mr. Art. I am working on putting together my own order as I work on getting the studio in order for warmer paint filled days.