Yellowstone River Otter

[JayS]

Here is Yellowstone Bob 3. This is another 6 hours. I'm trying really hard to stop drawing when I feel I'm getting sloppy.

[JayS]

There is a post missing. But this post will contain 2 images in one. Yesterday I drew for about four hours and completed about 2/3 of the rocks. Today was about 6 hours and layer 1 of the rocks is complete. I need to go back over the whole thing and refine edges and put in some shadows.

[JayS]

Well maybe the missing post showed up?

[Mike Sibley]

I need to go back over the whole thing and refine edges and put in some shadows.

Thanks! That was the first thing I noticed. Especially the two fingers of rock that lead to Bob - which currently involve outline, but then I realised that's the part you're working on.

I think there are still areas that need some shade. There's an overall feeling of all the small rocks being very similar in value. Yet, I feel certain some larger rocks would cast shadows on the smaller ones. Maybe that's not essential, but it would add variety and three-dimensional shaping.

Bob is looking splendidly wet and slick, which makes him look like the fastest thing on four legs... ever!

EDIT:
On second thoughts.... it's not, as I thought, that all the smaller rocks look very similar in value - it's because all the smaller rocks have very dark borders. I'll stop short of saying they're "outlined" but it has that effect. They really draw my attention to themselves - individually, rather than being a mass of secondary elements. I'm not sure if I'm explaining that well?

[JayS]

Hi Mike, It looks like I'll be spending some time with Blue Tack. I agree about the small rocks looking outlined. I'm glad you stopped short of calling them outlined because I was very conscious of not using lines. Yet the outlines (I said it) present a puzzle. The light is coming from the upper left and casting shadows on the rocks more to the left than the right. Or to say this differently the sun is mid-morning and in the southwest sky. So, the sun is casting a highlighting from the left and back. When I lighten the outlines, they make the rocks look a little out of focus to me. I used HB around the small rocks to give them their rounded shape. Perhaps I should have used a 2H? The thing is I should be working to create a collection of rocks rather than a bunch of individuals.

I agree with the larger rocks casing shadows on the smaller ones. The upper right has an example of that. There are 2 issues here that I'm working to overcome. First is when I photograph work in progress, I am using a Nikon 750 with a 50MM lens and a bounce flash. This arrangement gives me a high res image of around 30 megapixels. Photoshop gives me the ability to correct the White balance. The result is a pretty good image but it is not a perfect copy. The image I'm posting looks a little washed out and lacking some detail. I'm hoping a better lighting system will correct this.

As a side note, years ago my son Kyle was playing soccer (football) on a team with the Grandson of Hal Sheldon. Hal was somewhat famous in Colorado for painting 3 dimensional mountains from the nose of a B-17 aircraft piloted by his brother who was also a geologist. While in Hal's studio he commented, "Every rock is an individual." Looks like Hal's comment stuck. At the time Hal was in the B-17 he was under contract with the department of the Army to convert topo maps to more understandable 3-D images.

Thank you for your thoughts. As always, they are very helpful.

[JayS]

Yellowstone Bob 6. Some adjustments have been made to the rocks. 1. Blue Tack lightened the small rocks. 2. Used some powdered graphite to create shadows near big rocks. 3. Began on the river. The river beginning is some dark water in the shallows. Strange patterns. I decided to use this dark water to strengthen the directionality of the water to and around Yellowstone Bob.

Any thoughts?

[rideum51]

I love the way this is developing. the rocks you started really work with the drawing. Looking forward to its completion. Now that I took the time, lol, to look at this post from beginning to end I know you made the right decision to start over. The new composition is significantly better than the first. Again looking forward to finish

[JayS]

When you are drawing the rocks behind the otter, Jay, are you thinking:

This rock needs to be clearly separated from the next one, and I should add some tone in its bottom half to show that it's rounded.

Or

The light is shining from the left, so my shadows will fall here and here. But maybe I should darken them a little, so each rock is clearly separate from the next.

Or

If I was on the beach right now, what would I expect to see in this area? And then maybe: The rocks are very light, so they'd reflect light - and that reflected light will dilute their own shadows. In other words, they'll be more of a mass of light rocks, rather than being individually distinguishable.

When I was drawing the rocks, I began with the big ones that are darker than the others. I wanted to create a line that would complement the direction of the otter. The smaller rocks were nearly white and much smaller. I started filing in the empty places with these smaller rocks and was intentionally using slightly different shapes to fit available space What I missed was putting myself in the scene and letting my imagination carry the development of what I would see if I were there. My vantage point in seeing the otters in real time was on the top of the riverbank about 50 feet above the river and about 150 yards downstream. The area where the otters were was in the shadows making a contrasty river environment with light reflecting off the water. I let my memories of being there guide what I was doing rather than creating my ideal of the place. Does the artist have the job of improving on nature? If so my new vantage point should be answering the question of, What would I expect to see removing memories that don't work and developing an approach that is better?

This next post begins the water work. I feel that it is less than half way there. At the same time I'm digging deeper into the meaning of water.

Rideum51. Thanks for the encouragement.

[Mike Sibley]

Now, to me, the rocks are making sense. Possibly - if giving them more presence helps tell your story - you could increase the darkness of shadows cast by the big rocks. But the small rocks look real now - simply because, as they are almost white, they will naturally dilute their own shadows with the light they reflect.

The area where the otters were was in the shadows, making a contrasty river environment with light reflecting off the water. I let my memories of being there guide what I was doing rather than creating my ideal of the place. Does the artist have the job of improving on nature? If so, my new vantage point should be answering the question of, What would I expect to see removing memories that don't work and developing an approach that is better?

And that's what I believe you are now doing. Not recreating the scene you saw, but telling your story. You're telling us about your experience; how you admire the way the otters run (or whatever). Already, for example, you're telling me how deep the water is. I can see submerged rocks (maybe they're reflections, but I'm seeing rocks), and the foam/reflections on the surface tell me that surface is above the rocks. That I can see the rocks tells me the water is shallow. So the otter is running along the river bed and not leaping from rock to rock.

I printed out your earlier post, so I can read it again and again. It's what I'm aiming for with these videos. The next one is definitely settling into the realm of living within the world you're creating... but it's on hold.

I have a lengthy sequence to film along the farm track on which I live. I had all the moves and camera angles worked out and then... on the day of filming, I awoke to a thick covering of snow. OK, thick for the UK - 2 inches Now everything is soaking wet and some objects in my script have blown away I'll get back to it as soon as I possibly can.

[JayS]

Here is some progress on Yellowstone Bob. I added some new lighting using 2, 700 watt studio lights that are variable from 3500 K to 5600 K. The image was shot at f16 and 1/8 of a second. Should be sharp and well lit. I hope. It may take some playing before I get the lighting right.

There are some problems with the drawing. First, I found the slip sheet I used loaded with graphite and then deposited it on some white areas at the bottom of the drawing in the river where I didn't want it. Will lift with Blue Tack. I also need to work on the water in the shallows more. There are some mid tones that need to be improved.

I have also darkened the shadows around the big rocks. Bob also has some improved dark edges around his face and neck.

I'm liking the wedge shape of the water and riverbank. The wedge gives directionality to where Bob is running.

From this point forward changes to the drawing will tend to be little things that I think will make solid improvements.

Mike, a couple of additional thoughts about thinking like an artist...Communication theory holds that up to 90% of meaning is transmitted non-verbally. Art is non-verbal. Second, when we are exposed to a new idea our brain generates 100 million new neurons and about 1 billion new synapsis, The new ideas are stored in this new brain tissue. When those new ideas are used the neurons and synapsis store those ideas and with repetition they become more accessible making using them easier. This is why learning by doing creates muscle memory that is easily accessible in one's subconscious. Doing art is a very natural learning process. At the same time your lessons give solid advice on how to get the most from practicing art. This transforms the way artists see the world. Just a thought.