DweezelJazz Art Blog » Fun

Story Snippets

DweezelJazz — Thu, 13 May 2010 17:32:44 +0000

These last couple of months I’ve been learning quite a bit about what it takes to write a good story. I’d love to write swashbuckling, fun, suspenseful adventure stories. For a long time I’ve dreamed about writing, but haven’t had the courage to pursue it wholeheartedly. I’ve decided to give it a go.

Previously I thought writing a book must be a fairly straightforward endeavor. It isn’t. So I find myself in the midst of what has turned out to be a rather lengthy study of writing, dialogue, characters, what makes for a captivating story, and all sorts of stuff that I hadn’t even thought of before I started looking at this in more depth.

One thing that happens consistently once I’m a few chapters into a story, I notice that some of the characters know a whole lot of things that I don’t know much about. And if I want to continue writing, letting these guys do what they have in mind, I have to do some research. Consequently, I’m currently reading about loads of really interesting stuff. One of the things I’m learning about is Sumerian civilization. They developed over three to four thousand years ago many of the constructs and even inventions we have in our society today. It’s really amazing.

Between research for the story I’m writing and learning about how to write and develop stories, I’m also trying to practice writing on a regular basis so that I can improve and get some experience with different kinds of writing. I haven’t disciplined myself into a set routine or even given myself concrete goals yet. It’s kind of difficult to do that when you don’t have a clue what you’re getting yourself into. But I regularly write a spontaneous short piece in response to a ‘writing prompt’ (a suggestion given to start a writing topic) or a photo or just something out of thin air. I thought that occasionally it might be fun to share these on the blog. So every once in a while if you see this illustration shown at the top of the page, you’ll know that the post includes one of my little writing ditties.

I also plan to include one or two little illustrations to go along with the piece. I’d love to hear your thoughts about these posts and their content as they come along. Of course I love praise and you’re welcome to tell me if you like them, but also if you’d like to give me pointers for improvement that’d be super too.

I’m also in the middle of painting the next Gex Book painting. This time I started with a quick watercolor under-painting, to get the watercolor texture, and have scanned it into the computer so that I can work with it in Corel Painter. Creating digital paintings that look like watercolor is very demanding on computing power, and my computer doesn’t have enough RAM memory or processing speed, making watercolor digital painting painfully slow. So I’m experimenting with creating most of the painting in watercolor and adding a few touches in Corel afterwards to get the best of both worlds. I also have three more drawings ready for painting in egg tempera.

So that’s the news from DweezelJazz Art. Thank you for coming to read this blog, it means a great deal to me.

Cheers

‘Daisy Rock’ Egg Tempera Painting: Le Brevant, Chamonix France

DweezelJazz — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 14:35:23 +0000

Le Brevant is a place on the peaks across the valley from the l’Aiguille du Midi and Mont Blanc. Le Brevant is accessible by hiking up the mountain and doesn’t require any special equipment to manage it, but we prefer to hop on the cable cars to get up there!

The weather on the peaks can change quickly with clouds appearing rapidly, seemingly out of nowhere. This is a view from Le Brevant looking across the valley in the direction of Mont Blanc, but the clouds have moved in.

It’s among these craggy landscapes that I discovered some daisies growing. And that’s what inspired this 12″ x 15″ egg tempera painting ‘Daisy Rock’:

It’s amazing how plants and even trees can grow amongst the rocks in what seems like a fairly inhospitable environment.

It turns out that this area has lots of wildlife and plants and is part of a nature reserve ‘Aiguilles Rouges’. In the billboard below, the white area shows the nature reserve starting at Le Brevant which is down at the lowest point of the white area. To see this closer up click on the image to see the text more clearly.

(As usual, click on any of the images to see a larger version.)

The lake contrasts with the rocky arid area up at Le Brevant and shines like a jewel.

There are some very nice hiking paths along there too.

Looking round a little to the right of the lake you can see the rock shift gradually into greener slopes where it’s just that bit warmer lower down.

Looking even further, to the far right, there are spectacular jagged peaks, and this time the fog is rolling in and out giving the place an eerie feeling.

Closer inspection of the rocks shows them to be very interesting and the colors are beautiful.

All sorts of things live among them. I took a photo of a medium-sized black spider hiding in between the rocks, but I thought these daisies peaking out were a lot less creepy.

The fog started to dissipate and the mountains on the Mont Blanc side of the valley popped into view.

When it’s clear the view is fantastic. You can see more of these views in the previous DweezelJazz Art blog post Egg Tempera Painting of l’Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix Mountains.

There’s a pleasant, though somewhat steep, walk down the mountain from Le Brevant – the ski route in winter. Trees and grass replace bare rocks and the scenes are more gentle than those in the rugged beauty of Le Brevant peak, but even here flowers nestle among the rocks. Beauty and life thrive even in the most awkward of places, perhaps making it all the more precious.

“Gex Door” Egg Tempera Painting

DweezelJazz — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 16:23:09 +0000

There are beautiful little alcoves and doorways all round Gex, a hillside town in the Pays de Gex, Ain, France. Walking around the streets higher up in Gex I caught sight of this doorway. It struck me as a simple entrance, without pretense, and yet it has a nobility about it that makes you wonder if it’s the way in to some great hall or building of historical importance. I don’t know whose home it is, or if the building has specific history to it, although being part of the old town of Gex is significant enough.

The painting is 12″ x 16″ (30 x 41 cm) and is done with egg tempera. This painting will also be a part of the ‘Gex Book’. I love the town of Gex and creating this book is my way of paying a small homage to that special place. I think the best thing in life is to share beauty, and so I hope you enjoy it too.

Rue du Commerce, Gex, France: A Watercolor Painting

DweezelJazz — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:27:56 +0000

Here’s the latest watercolor painting for the Gex book:

As you look at this painting, imagine turning round to your left and a few paces back down this same street, then you would see the view of the Gex Town fountain, which is in a small square to the left of this street. You can see the painting of the Gex Town Fountain in the previous DweezelJazz blog post.

Digital Painting of Gex Town Fountain, France, Using Corel Painter 11

DweezelJazz — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:51:39 +0000

Yesterday I finished another painting for the Gex book. Walking uphill on one of the main streets in Gex, there are wall-to-wall two to three story buildings hugging the sidewalk on either side of the street. So it’s quite unexpected when, on the left, a small square opens up, and it’s possible to see the Jura mountains in the distance and in the square there’s a fountain with running water.

I finally succumbed and tried Corel Painter 11, and this scene is painted with Corel Painter watercolor brushes. It is really a very nice way to paint digitally. I don’t find it easier than painting with normal paint brushes and pots of paint. In fact for the style I’ve used in painting the Gex fountain, I find it’s much more time-consuming to paint digitally than with watercolor on paper.

This is the photo used as reference:

Gex Town Fountain

The ability to experiment without worrying about the cost of materials or if the painting will be ruined, allows much more room to let it flow and try different things. I tend to spend more time going after colors and light that I want to see in the painting.

It’s very nice not to have washing or clearing up afterward. This makes it much easier to start painting even if there is only a short interval of time available for painting. I’m much more inclined to turn on the computer during those times than I am to dig out all the paints and brushes for a painting session.

When painting digitally, I paint pretty much how I would on paper, building up from washes to more detail. I saved backups when I finished an area, so it doesn’t demonstrate much gradual buildup within any given area, but below is a sequence showing the progression in terms of which sections I tackled in what order (click on image to enlarge).

I highly recommend Corel Painter 11 for anyone wanting to paint digitally. It’s potential seems limitless, and it’s very interesting to experiment to see what can be done with it.

Do you like digital artwork, or do you prefer traditionally created artwork? Which do you prefer to see? Which do you prefer to create? Why? I’d love to know your thoughts.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

DweezelJazz — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:49:01 +0000

Here we are at the end of another year. This year has gone very quickly!

It has been a year filled with many challenges and also beautiful things.

As nature sheds its leaves, resting and in preparation for a new beginning next year,

I hope that this coming year will be even better, and that we can each, in our own way, make the world a better place.

Thanking all of you who take the time to read this blog and wishing you a very good holiday season and new year.

Snowy Peaks Jura Mountains, France

best wishes,
Nat Wildish, aka DweezelJazz