Beer Label Update

First, I made some small changes to the drawing. I wanted to better repeat the design of the tapers coming off the letters below behind the pint glass. Once I was happy with the drawing, a wash of liquin and yellow ochre goes on.

Then the burnt sienna underpainting. Even though this will be a largely blue painting, I still start with the burnt sienna to layer warmth into the painting. It also makes it easy to see guidelines as the layers of colors build.
Here is the first layer of the blue/gray background.
Next up will be the first layer of paint for the pint glass and blue in the lettering.

Beer Label

Arcadia Ales asked me earlier in the year to paint the label for what would be their 13th Anniversary Ale.

Cool.

It was decided that they wanted to use the advertisement art from the, "Food City Brewing Co." that was in Battle Creek in the 1930-40's. They tweaked it a bit and decided to go with, "Cereal City" and make that the name of the beer itself.

Being that my rendition will be an oil painting, there is a real challenge in getting this manually drafted onto a gesso'd panel. I have to re-design it for the word, "cereal" instead of, "food", amongst other changes that will lend itself to be a good painting.

This has been so much fun me, I can't tell you how much. I love drafting and to be able to use it as a base to fit my style of painting is just a great blend of craft. Here's the lettering thus far:

I wanted to make the beer glass more of a focal point of the painting. Playing around with the guidelines from the drafting, I came up with a furthering of the art deco design to create a place for a larger pint glass. I did not want to lose the color scheme from the original, so by eliminating the pilsner glass in its original position, I expanded on the original drawing of the two-row barley into a larger symmetrical version (more art deco) that will maintain the original shape of the glass and color scheme. The drawing is basically done, now.

Next up is the beginning of the under painting. A layer of liquin and yellow ochre, followed by the burnt sienna underpainting. I will take and post more photos when I get a bit further along.

Iceman Cometh Poster

Here is the first of what will, hopefully, be a yearly piece for me. I had a lot of fun doing this painting and then the reaction of some of the racers was very rewarding. I was surprised at the prevailing indifference to the poster, but to those who did want it were so appreciative that I'll definitely keep doing them.

Next year there will a very limited edition printed...

A Finished Painting

It takes months to do a painting, your commitment has to be like a rock to keep after it.  When you are happy with the outcome, it's pretty satisfying.  All that deliberation over the design is finally realized.  

On to the next one.

Arcadia Ales gets new Tap Markers!

I met the owner of Arcadia Ales at a local restaurant in the end of 2008.  Through casual conversation, the request for my input as to why his tap markers were breaking (I had on my Plastics Engineer hat at that time) turned into a conversation of how we could bring that manufacturing home from China to here in the states, let alone Michigan, let alone Kalamazoo.  3-4 months later the first set of markers were installed at Arcadia Ales this weekend.  What a great opportunity for both companies.  

This is the beginning of a long, solid relationship.  There are many more projects already loaded in the hopper between the two of us.  Check out Arcadia Ales, this beer is amazing!  

Glazing

The color is added slowly.  It takes a long time to build up all the layers, but it definitely adds a depth and detail that can't be achieved otherwise.  The pic above is two or three layers of glazed color.  I glaze with straight liquin as the medium, usually.  
You can see some differences in this pic from the previous.  This is about two additional layers worth.  Each layer takes about 48 hours to dry.  Like I said, it takes a long time.  A great glazing trick is to wipe the entire panel with a very thin layer of cold pressed linseed oil prior to painting.

More color to come...

Under Painting

The under painting is a mixture of burnt sienna with a fair amount of 50/50 liquin and linseed oil.  The paint is brushed over the entire panel then removed from the lighter areas.  This is not a great photo, but sometimes this stage alone could pass for a finished painting, and I'm telling ya', the wiping away process is key- far more important than you might imagine.

A new painting

I haven't painted in about a year.  Sad, yes.  So I have started a new one and I figured that I would photo the process.  I have no idea if this painting will be any good or not, but that will lend a little excitement to the whole thing.  

I have had the idea for this, "Three Bikes" painting for a few months now.  I'd been wanting to do some bicycle art for a while.  When I realized the color combo of my main three bikes, I started to hatch the concept you see photo'd above.  I took about 100 pics over two days to chose this one single photo as the basis for the painting.  

I have taken to painting solely on plywood.  I put three coats of gesso on a panel then sand it.  Except this time... I tried something new by using a roller to apply the gesso instead of a brush.  The surface is more uniform, smooth, and has a lot of tooth.  I like it a lot, so far.  I do the drawing using a Stabilo pencil, as it is the only pencil that won't smear under the first coat of Liquin and Yellow Ochre:
The yellow ochre creates a warm base-tone for the painting and the liquin seals it all to start.  

This technique is my version of, "fat over lean" with some of the Old Masters techniques.  It works for me.  Oil paint, liquin, and cold-pressed linseed is all I use.  Well, with brushes of course.  

A Curve

In the 2004 spring/summer issue of Men's Health's, "Best Life", writer Jim Gorant wrote an article about Pre-war Chris Craft boats.  The opening paragraph of his article has been committed to my memory since the first time I read it:

"In modern design, the sublime often manifests itself in the exaggeration of a curve.  Dig, if you will, the bend of an Eames chair, the fins of a '59 Cadillac, and J. Lo's best asset."

I love rules, or, at a minimum, default starting points.  The above comment is a great starting point.  I recently came across this video of the also above mentioned Eames chair, from the Draplin Design Co. weblog.  Spend some time there.