Steven Powers (SMP): 2014

In Transition

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/in-transition-steven-powers-smp.html

Here is a leftover from Halloween.  This was done on toned Strathmore in charcoal. This started months ago in my sketchbook and I had fun scultping this character.  Not someone I would want to meet in the dark.

-Steve


The Mummy

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-mummy-aka-uncle-ned-steven-powers-smp.html
Happy Halloween!

In the spirit of Halloween (with no pun intended) I created Uncle Ned rising from the grave, in charcoal on toned Strathmore.

Portfolio Sketchbook

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9lXbmlg2HI

In this video I display a portfolio that I use to store my loose sheets in.  I use it as a sketch book more than it's original design.  These portfolio books come in various sizes and can be found on Amazon or in any major arts and crafts stores.

-Steve

XnView - Image Editor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Y3ypXkcCGc&list=UUMAsDGOFt8FuZ_Q6l4ft3hg

This is a free open-source image editor that I have used for a long time.  It works on all the major platforms (Windows, Linux and Mac) and is very light weight consuming very little resources.  XnView will not replace Painter or Photoshop but can be used for quick editing, batch editing and converting along with many other features.

XnView can be download from http://www.xnview.com/en/

In this short tutorial I cover how I use XnView, which is mainly to browse and organize my images and copy / cut thumbnails from full page scans allowing me to keep what I like.

-Steve

Caveman

https://steven-powers.pixels.com/featured/caveman-steven-powers-smp.html

Another one from my travel sketchbook.  he started out as a doodle and morphed into a rough design sketch. As my normal workflow lately; I started this with my Pentel Mechanical pencil and then added value with Charcoal at a later date.

Cleaning a Sketch with Corel Painter

http://youtu.be/VY66Tm_GclY

I thought it would be beneficial to show how I clean up sketches before posting to my Blog.  Here I used my Caveman sketch [from my 5x7 sketchbook] as an example in Corel Painter. One can also use Photoshop or a free painting suites such as Krita to accomplish the same.

-Steve

LINK: https://youtu.be/VY66Tm_GclY

Sketchbooks...Which ones I use and why.

http://youtu.be/NAzjFgyTZA4

Just my thoughts on sketchbooks and which ones I like and use for travel / ideas, design and finials.  I believe sketching is fundamental to art. It is a good practice to sketch everyday even if it is just doodles.  I design better and my imagination flows easier when I draw regularly.  With practice one becomes better.

-Steve

LINK: https://youtu.be/NAzjFgyTZA4

Working with Vine Charcoal ...Value Sketching

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSZdFenNlC8&feature=youtu.be

Here I demonstrate how I use vine charcoal to do a value sketch which helps me to visualize a new character. It is a great approach to opening up one's imagination.

 I had to do a voice-over since the original audio contained too much noise.

-Steve

LINK: https://youtu.be/gSZdFenNlC8

Pastel Over Pencil

 https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV0mBPqYmXE98udnc7YMbYpgVzEro7IJYxdhoIQjPKJX6GbyoU1Ve5ov-oRA0W_UFkjkE9DFL8NLwsDn6ADwxSNTntmmrp89YytINYIqPOOthHb8itljx4qAa5O92eiaiuFgaC9Ndg-GfM/s1600/composite+23.jpg


 James Gurney the author of "Dinotopia" covered Eugene Burnand's portraits that he did of World War 1 Legionnaires. His original post can be found HERE. The portraits were drawn in carbon and then colored in pastel and that combination and the realism that Eugene captured is brilliant.

MyPaint 1.1 for Windows



Just want to let you know that I am still alive and well.  I have been working on other projects and haven't made time to post anything ...only responding to questions on YouTube.

I have been meaning to post a video on how to use MyPaint 1.1 on Windows, but in that time people have been creating builds that will do the same, with less steps.