Been practicing some looser style paintings after my favorite artists. This was an attempt to emulate some bristles brushes and processes in oil
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East Coast style
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Peanuts Tease
Sooo excited to finally share the fun things we're working on here at Blue Sky. I can't say too much but you can see the extreme attention we are paying to the work of Schulz in order to stay true to his line. It is deceivingly tricky!
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Salt Lake Slope
A new print I'll have at the Salt Lake City Comic Con.
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Upcoming stuff!
There's a lot of new things happening in the next few months. I'm humbled and excited to be helping Ryan Lang with his amazing CGMA class, "The Art of Color and Light. Ryan and I were roommates while interning at Disney in 2008. He is an incredible artist and great teacher. I'm looking forward to working with him again and hope I can pull my own weight! And...The super talented Tyson Murphy will be teaching too. Tyson and I went to BYU together!
http://2d.cgmasteracademy.com/art-of-color-and-light.html
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http://2d.cgmasteracademy.com/art-of-color-and-light.html
I'll also be exhibiting at the Salt Lake Comic Con April 17-19, 2014 at Tables H7 & H6.
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Making A Successful Portfolio
Thanks for all the great questions about putting a portfolio together recently. I decided it would be a better use of my time to write it all out since so many artists have the same questions.
These are the first five pages in a series of posts about how to layout a portfolio, including content, images, size, material and everything in between. Part 1 is for the artist still deciding what to do for a discipline. I've catered the last three pages to a visual development portfolio for animation but the principles can be applied to any artistic presentation (illustration, design, even interior design).
These are my opinions and I realize there are many ideas out there which are also fantastic. What I have written are simple truths and tips I've learned along the way. This doesn't represent a studio I work for or will work for. I hope it is helpful and can provide some perspective into a competitive portfolio and help you land your next job!
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The Sketchbook
Here's a poster I did for my friend Chris William's kickstarter, The Sketchbook. Check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1623839531/the-sketchbook-an-animated-short-film
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Secret Project
A little collaboration project we've been working on for February. We just can't seem to agree on the final product...
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witch
Teaching a new class at CGMA! Sign ups are open here: http://2dclassroom.cgmasteracademy.com/masterclass/reg and this is a witch for halloween. Can't wait for some dry ice root beer!
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The Art of Color and Light - Class Preview
Hey guys!
My new Color of Art and Light Class is opening soon! It’s packed with lots of goodies including demos, tips, and tricks for painting/designing. Here is a short preview of the first class and an overview of topics in the eight weeks we will be working together. If you are interested in Illustration, Games, Film or Animation, this class is designed to take your work to the next level. Class sign-ups can be found at http://2d.cgmasteracademy.com/
I look forward to working with you!
Ty
My new Color of Art and Light Class is opening soon! It’s packed with lots of goodies including demos, tips, and tricks for painting/designing. Here is a short preview of the first class and an overview of topics in the eight weeks we will be working together. If you are interested in Illustration, Games, Film or Animation, this class is designed to take your work to the next level. Class sign-ups can be found at http://2d.cgmasteracademy.com/
I look forward to working with you!
Ty
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Harry Anderson Study
Harry Anderson Study using the lasso tool and sponge brush
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CTN Animation Expo 2014
Hi everybody, I'll be at CTN Animation Expo at Table T-10. Come by and say hi. I'll have new prints and my book Musings and Wanderings.
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CTNx and a Demo
CTNx was an absolutely awesome three days! It was great to meet so many new people and catch up with familiar ones. Thanks for stopping by and saying hello. Here's a character demo from my CGMA class. Have a great Thanksgiving and if you are out here on the East Coast, stay safe!
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New Years Resolutions
I'm really excited that 2015 is here and just like you all, I made some resolutions. I think the more specific the better so here goes nothing...
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Some thoughts on Color
As I've been posting color studies on my FB page I've heard some re-occurring questions/comments regarding painting. I want to take a second and expand on those topics. I'm not a master painter but hopefully this can be as helpful to you as it has been to me.
Question #1-How do you keep the colors harmonized when you use so many?
I think one of the best books I've ever read is, Alla Prima by Richard Schmid. One particular section talked about placing colors side by side as you work, rather than blocking in all around the image and laying in randomly. Schmid highly recommends laying each stroke next to another stroke on the canvas so you can easily see color relationships. As you know, colors affect how we interpret those colors around them. You could have a completely desaturated grey and lay it down with a warm cadmium red and that grey will appear as cool as a spring cyan sky. Moving in a flow with your paint will save you time and increase accuracy. It's hard enough to paint a good image. Make it easy on yourself and lay colors side by side until you've blocked in the entire piece. There are so many benefits to doing this. One of them is seeing the big picture in terms of color harmony. If you can see the big picture, it's easy to solve the problem. If you can't see the big picture, then you're only seeing part of it, therefore, you can only solve part of the problem, if that. If you've blocked in correctly, you will immediately see where you lie. If it doesn't excite you, start over.
This leads into the next topic.
Question #2-How are you doing these studies so quickly? How long do you spend on them? Do you use a tablet, computer or traditional medium?
When I do a study, I'm either outside on location or inside looking at a photo. I use a tablet with a painting app, a laptop with photoshop 4, or oil paints (Windsor & Newton, Lefranc, Rembrandt). When I am outside it's usually during my lunch break. I know I've got 45 minutes to knock something out so I work quickly to block in the values and make the temperatures work. In 5-10 minutes, I know if the painting is working. If its not working, I recheck my values. If the values are working, I recheck my color relationships. If color relationships are working, I ask a co-worker nearby what they think. If I'm alone, well, I might go climb a tree or something. Usually, I can solve the issue in one of those first two questions (assuming I laid down a strong design; I never start painting unless my design is solid).
When I'm working inside from a photo, I apply the exact same principles. I find a reference that inspires me. I bring it up on the monitor to the side of my canvas. From there, I shrink both images down and lay in colors quickly. The advantage to working on a computer is being able to shrink the image down small. I can go twice as fast because my strokes cover more. There are disadvantages or temptations to a computer. Color dropping is like a dangerous drug; it gives you a temporary boost but when it's all over you're left lower than you started (you're probably wondering what a Mormon boy knows about drugs...not a whole lot. This analogy is over) I committed myself during college to never color drop. This was the best decision I made because I was forced to make decisions. As I've began to understand color more, I've seen opportunities to exaggerate and manipulate it. This is the funnest part of painting!
Question #3-What is the most important thing in painting color?
In my opinion, the most important things in painting color are VALUE, LOCAL COLOR, and RELATIONSHIPS.
VALUE-This is the grayscale version of your painting. If your value is off, everything is off. When I paint, I spend the most time perfecting the value in the thumbnail. Once thats good, it's quite enjoyable. You can see the end from the beginning and experiment with colors.
LOCAL COLOR-This is the color of your subject with no light affecting it. Once you lock this down, it's fairly simple rendering out the rest. If you dont understand the local color, the result will muddy your image and weaken the overall punch.
COLOR RELATIONSHIPS-This is how a color looks next to another color. It is either warmer or cooler. A painting is all about laying warms and cools next to one another. There is no universal rule to what is warm and cool. One thing that helped me a great deal was learning how to make a warm and cool for each color.
I hope this is useful in some way. Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting my work. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the encouragement and friendships from this small world we work in.
Ty
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Some thoughts on Color Part II
Thank you for the feedback on my last post and your thoughts/comments on other platforms. It is great talking to you and I've based this post solely on comments I've received. As always, I hope this might be helpful as you solve your own artistic obstacles.
Question #1-How do you create a warm and cool for each color?
Creating a warm and a cool for each color first and foremost is directly affected by my painting's color scheme. Everything is relative to THIS particular piece I'm working on. The decisions I make here may or may not work for another. This emphasizes the importance of the block in even more.
This is the foundation for any good painting. It is literally the underpainting and much of it will still show through in the final product.
The block in from this lilly pad painting is labeled (3); it shows my local color. Local color can be described as the hue under neutral light. For the water, I had to choose a reflected color showing sky and the underside of a tree. I know water is clear but I'm just painting what I see not what I know. The lilly pads are a cooler green RELATIVE to the warmer blue and brown of the water. I keep this in mind moving forward.
From here, I can start dropping things into light and shadow, painting strokes right over my block in. (Remember, the block in will be your starting point for each color now. Anywhere you want to take the painting needs to start from your block in colors; it will likewise create cohesiveness in your piece)
To drop something into shadow I start with my local color. I lower the value and increase the saturation. To cool it down, I take my hue toward a cooler color slightly. This will give me a nice subtle shift. You can see this in action with the lower right lilly pads in shadow(3)-(4). When something needs to be hit with light, I simply raise the value (from my local color) but don't touch the saturation or hue. Then I lay down a stroke over my original block in. You can see this with the lilly pads in light (4). There is no universal rule to creating warm and cool but when you've done it, you'll feel the vibration in your eyes.
I've enlarged (4) so you can see the color bars on A, B, & C. These are local colors. D & E, show local color with color in light.
Question #2-What is your workflow like in one of these studies?
There are so many great artists out there and different approaches to accomplishing the same thing. Personally, I pull up a new canvas and select US Paper. I choose 8 x 10 in. (300 dpi/CMYK in case I ever want to print) and change the canvas color to a neutral grey. Depending on my subject, I crop the canvas to support my composition.
With a bristle brush at full opacity and pen pressure enabled (default PS4 12 pixel brush), I lay in some quick lines and loosely layout the design for my composition. Because these are color studies, I spend very little time worrying about a perfect design. I work on one layer to keep things moving along and encourage my confidence.
Initially, I'm looking to get some big, medium, and small shapes incorporated into the composition. My co-worker Jason Sadler has created some nice thoughts on this here. Sometimes, if my subject is simple enough, I will immediately block in color without any line work. Once again, the purpose of the study is color and not so much design so I'll proportion most of my time for the painting.
The block in is a crucial part of the painting. If I don't see an immediate read, I've got to modify colors or value until it works; it's usually value. Like I mentioned earlier, if it's not working here then it won't work bigger. It only gets more complicated and frustrating if I enlarge to begin detailing. I could paint it till an asteroid hits my mailbox (which surprisingly may be soon) and I'd still be working things out. Once the block in excites me, I begin working out light design. I ask myself where the light is coming from. I ask what temperature the light is. I think about properties of light on the surfaces within my canvas. I lay in bold strokes to experiment. At this stage I usually see some happy accidents but there are lots of sad ones too. The canvas is still thumbnail size.
The painting is now at a place where it needs to be enlarged. Depending on its purpose, I expand it and work on rendering my shapes. I'm thinking about surfaces again. I'm looking to keep it simple. I wait till the end to add highlights and my darkest darks.
When I think its done, I walk away from my computer/tablet/easel and get something to eat. I don't want to be hungry while I paint and the food is stimulating for the mind. When I come back and see it anew, I find it really easy to spot problems. I take a couple minutes and fix them or pat myself on the back. There is nothing more gratifying than nailing my block in and later the detailing.
These studies I've been posting usually last between 30-50 min. depending on my snack break. Peanut butter and jelly is highly recommended (crunchy...not smooth)!
Question #3-Can you expand on “color relationships” and “designing light”?
All that a color relationship means is that one of your colors is cooler than the other. So, it also means one color is warmer. My painting will feel flat and washed out if I can't get my relationships working. When I started designing light in this painting (4), I started with the center of attention, the flower. I chose the local color to be a warm white. When I “designed” or chose the color next to it, I made it cooler. My lilly pads and the water (two colors touching the flower) are RELATIVELY cooler than the white. And the pattern continues. As I work my way out to the rest of the subject matter, I look for a way to put a cool and a warm side by side. I am designing the color relationships to work against one another in light. I am designing the color relationships to work with each other in the shadows.
Joaquín Sorollais a master of designing color relationships. Often, I've pulled up his paintings to analyze how he treated shadows and lights. This has been to my utmost benefit and inspired me to try new things.
I hope you find this helpful. I learned a lot writing my thoughts down as I tried to explain what I'm thinking. Also, thank you so much for sharing these things virally with your friends. I've met so many great new artists since the last post!
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"Room 313 at Sunset"
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Memories of the West
Here are some quick studies I've been posting to my Facebook page each day. These paintings are anywhere between 30-80 minutes. A large part of my childhood was spent in New Mexico and Utah. They are two places I absolutely love. I wanted to catch some of those good old memories that sparked my imagination from the places my parents took my brother, sisters and I. I guess what I'm trying to say is that these places and ideas are special to me.
Red Labyrinth
Padre Bay, Lake Powell
Red Rockin Cowboy
Riding Cowboy
La Entrada-The Entrance
Train Thief
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Design, Color and "Value" an Idea
Before going into this, I just wanted to say thanks again for your incredible support over the past few months. You guys rock! Ty Carter Art on Facebook is up to 1,200 fans! You guys have been so generous with my work and I can't tell you enough, thank you so much!
I've been asked this question a few times this past week: What is your process for doing these daily studies? I don't necessarily have a step by step process for each piece but there are things I'm thinking about. There is order and hierarchy to the painting. Everything is centered around an idea before I draw anything. This is why I say, "Value" an idea. You need to meditate on it and absorb yourself in it. You really can't go about making an effective image if you don't know what it's about. It would be like having a Mormon make a cup of coffee...it would take forever and nobody would want it. Why? Mormon's don't drink coffee! They make casseroles and jello! You can't create something you haven't experienced in some way. Choose ideas that you can relate to. Then use Design, Color and Value to get that feeling you want. Find that emotion you felt during your own life experiences and latch onto everything about it. If you can feel it, so will your audience.
I tried my best to jot down what is going on in my head when I do a study (apart from my stomach telling me to go eat something). I didn't go into a lot of detail but you get the idea. Remember, this is just my thought process. I'm sure you could find many ways to approach it. Find what works best for you and then master that method.
I hope this helps you on your own artistic journey.
TC
Do you have a question you think I might be able to help with? Leave me a comment! I create these tutorials based off of your feedback for the sole purpose of helping YOU.
If this is helpful to you, share it with your friends online. Thanks for supporting Ty Carter Art!
"365 returned letters and still no word. She'd stand at the window for hours just imagining he returned."
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MoCCAFest 2013!
Hey Guys!
If you are in the New York Area, come by the MoCCAFest tomorrow! I'll have all my prints for sale as well as some other surprises! I'll be at the table signing prints and looking at work, from 11AM -12 PM, 2-4 PM, 6-7 PM. My buddy Dan Seddon will be running the table while I'm away. Hope to see you at the Fest!!
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If you are in the New York Area, come by the MoCCAFest tomorrow! I'll have all my prints for sale as well as some other surprises! I'll be at the table signing prints and looking at work, from 11AM -12 PM, 2-4 PM, 6-7 PM. My buddy Dan Seddon will be running the table while I'm away. Hope to see you at the Fest!!
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Some Graphic Design
Here's a stab at a little graphic design for a campout this week. I've got a lot to learn but enjoyed the challenge. I based the style on some vintage images I found in a google search. Thanks for the inspiration mystery emberstock artist .
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