The Human Canvas - A Koi Discovery

So...

I do a lot of koi.

And that was the reason for this one.

We wanted something I could do confidently, 

and (fairly) quickly.

She said she wasn't a Butterfly kinda gal.

And wasn't in the mood for a dragon.

The idea was to have 

something her co-workers MIGHT think 

she would ACTUALLY get... 

If she t'were to tat.

As confident as I am with koi though, 

after adding the whiskers, I thought the face 

was a little short.

And since there was already a black border, 

it made the extension a bit dark.

But then I realized the darkness created a bit of depth. Almost a "bottle-nose," like on a dolphin.

As simple as this discovery seems, 

it's really something that can be employed 

with future canvas sessions - only on purpose.

Meantime - happy with this one, 

and with this discovery of creating shade, 

and depth,  I don't feel like this one is 

"simply another koi."

Thank you J.

You KNOW that anytime I'm in Boston, 

I gonna hope to do this again, 

right?

The Human Canvas - "Hey! Is That a South African?"

Kaelie.

She was a canvas about a week earlier.

Now - at the cd release for Eva and the vagabonds...

Here we are again.

There were a few other bands on before Eva,

And the woman who was at the mic had an accent 

which was familiar.

Kaelie said, "Hey! Is that a South African?"

(Most people would've thought it was 

someone from England)

The reason this is pertinent is that with that question, 

I knew who was going to get my next 

Bird of Paradise attempt.

The only other one I ever tried,
I'm quite happy with, but I feel like
I should've extended the stems, and maybe
added a second "bird."

Link to it HERE. 

The Bird of Paradise has its roots in South Africa. So does Kaelie.

 

But that'll be somewhere down the line. 

Like - Spring.  When the birds are blooming again.

Meantime, something more sublime.

Can you see it yet?
A picture or two earlier I think
it looks a bit like a transformer.
A transformer with a mushroom on its face,
that is.

 

Hi.

 

The beauty of these Sublime Suns

is that while there are some basic guidelines...

 

It's fairly free form with colors and design.

 

And with that last touch of black,

with the use of a REALLY cool "brush-pen"

(which was new to me, and loaned by another David)...

 

 

Done.

Just in time to catch Eva and the Vagabonds.

After a wonderful show (it ALWAYS is), I walked

Kaelie and Debbra to their car, looking for

backdrops along the way.

 

A brick wall painted white...

 

 

After some pedestrians had gone by,

a grey wall on the outside of a building...

 

 

 

And finally, some grating inside the parking structure.

Glad I did this.

 

And that was it!

And Deb's personal favorite so far!

Thank you Debbra - and thank you AGAIN Kaelie.

I'll be looking forward to the next. Lotta idea sketches done. We just have to see them realized on canvas.

The Human Canvas - Ye Olde Kaelie

This first shot shown, 

Was actually one of the last ones taken.

I had gone to Ye Olde Lamplighter in San Bernardino 

to see a bit of original music a friend Debbra, had told me about. I had drawn on Debbra and her daughter Kaelie 

about 10 months prior, and as I have an extremely 

paired down bunch of Sharpies with the 

camera I cart around to musical events... 

Well, I was hoping one of them 

might show up ready to be a canvas once again.

Ah! Kaelie! Thank you!

Going to some familiar territory with a koi, but taking 

a bit of a different approach.

Looser on the detail, 

with an attempt at a ripple of sorts.

Hi.

Okay, back to the drawing for some black. 

Up close - the black is a bit much. But stand back 

just a bit, and it seemed to be doing it.

Here's the one shot 

of anything musical going on that night. Fred. 

The reason I was even there.

But with the drawing complete, 

it was time to take Kaelie around the restaurant 

for some photography.

It was a good knight for photography. 

HAHAhahahahahaha........

Um. Ahem.

Okay. The knight was near a mirror, 

and I'm not sure if these next two shots were 

what I was going for EXACTLY... 

but I like 'em.

After that it was simply 

a matter of placing Kaelie in front of 

various backdrops, showing the piece from 

a few steps back.

Oops. Hang on.

After that it was simply 

a matter of placing Kaelie in front of 

various backdrops, showing the piece from 

a few steps back.

Playing with lighting...

I think this - was Ye Olde Lamplight.

...And angles...

...Ah! Here we go.

This last shot - not the drawing at all. 

Got away from it once again. I thought we were done. 

But when we walked back inside... 

THAT PINK WALL!

These last two, 

quite staged, with just a touch of processing.

Thank you Debbra, for telling me about the night. 

Thanks to Fred - for the music. 

And thanks to Kaelie - a wonderful canvas 

to work with.  Having just finished this one, 

I'm already planning the next.