Painting Dinasours

BACK IN TIME WITH DINASOURS	REFERENCE	MATERIALS	DRAWING	PAINTING

WELCOME

One of the great and fun aspects of being an artist today is getting to do the research before working on a project, especially when the topic of subject is of personal interest to me. Dinosaurs can be a kids fantasy or an adult’s dream but to me the facts reveal themselves to be they were a reality once. I wanted to do a painting of these magnificent creatures, I felt you might want to join me on my crusade through the mystery surrounding them and the way I approached them.

INSPERATION

Its stretching and working those creative muscles before that long run that really makes a difference, so before I start any work I head over to the Royal Ontario Museum, and I can tell you with all honesty being in front of these huge creatures is like being a kid again. it’s the real thing and there right in front of me proving they had once lived long ago as masters of the times they were in. Standing under the gigantic TREX for the first time really puts things into perspective for me I was lunch to this guy, looking at them all Triceratops and stegosaurus and all others had me convinced that if dinosaurs were around today they would be the ones running the show and not us. Fate is questioned and destiny answers back to me, by the time I leave the Museum my creative juices are replenished and I have a new found respect for lizards.

REFERENCE

I use reference material when painting so usually I go through my books and photographs that I have and pull them of my shelf, anything I don’t have or may want to explore further I go to my local library or the internet. Movies are important to because books and pictures are really static in there viewing so I pull out Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park trilogy and really get a sense of how they moved and there behavior. After that 3 dement ional reference is gathered, I have on hand small statues of the Trex and the Triceratops I had purchased earlier at the Museum when visiting. If thats not enough I go right into my 3D modelling program where I have Dinosaours set up with various textures and lighting, the technology is here so why not take advantage of it plus it makes reseaching topics easy.

MATERIALS

One of the most intimidating details about dinosaurs next to there teeth is there enormous size so it felt only right that they should be painted on a much larger canvas 48 x 100. The paints of choice for this project will be acrylics and I’m thinking about using an air brush for the sky and clouds.

DRAWING

Starting with contour drawing I lay out the composition of how the painting will be done, I pencil in the Trex and the others with minor detail. The way I see it there’s no point in adding so much pencil detail if I’m going to be painting over the pencils other wise I’m wasting labor and time. There are photographs right in front of me when painting and with some imagination I fill in the gaps to what I think should be placed on top of the pencils with the paint not the reverse.

PAINTING

I’m painting with acrylics, it’s a great medium because it’s strength is in its ability to adapt giving me the freedom to paint how ever I please from dark to light or light to dark. I’ve found oil paints and water colors have to be painted on surfaces specifically manufactured for them, with acrylics I can paint on walls, wood, canvas, paper just about anything and its water resistant and tuff. The paints strength is in its adaptability providing maximum results . I paint in stages letting the painting on the canvas breath and myself absorb what has been accomplished on that day, with every stage I come back with a clear head so I can see what the painting needs or doesn’t need with new eyes. Passion fueled with inspiration is what gets the painting completed.

Time

From time to time people will ask me how long it took to paint this. And the answer is I don’t know? I never look at the clock when I’m painting just never occurred to me really. I mean after a while I have to look at my watch because I might have to be somewhere in that moment but I don’t stamp how much time I put into my work because I really enjoy doing it, I do know once I’m painting and in the zone time fly's for me because there isn’t any awareness to the outside world and I get lost in the brush stokes. The only time it gets to be a pain in the butt is when I have to jump from web design work into painting or vice versa, working on a project for hours and then to stop that focus and rearrange my brains wiring to start all over with new concepts and other tools proves to be tiring mentally and then it starts to feel like work.