[acapulco]

Nice stuff you got here! Like it all! Fine brushwork

[RobRey]

The Etiquette of Drawing in Public...

I usually get my drawing practice while visiting my local coffee shop. I am often asked if I have frequent encounters with angry drawing subjects demanding to know why I'm staring at them, but the truth is I've never had anyone get upset. I've only been met with curiosity and enthusiasm. The secret is... don't act like a creep! This sounds simple, and in practice it is, but it takes some thought to understand it from your subjects perspective.



Number one, don't hide and don't hide your drawing. It may seem counter intuitive when you don't want your subject to be aware that they are being drawn (since this can make them assume a less natural and more self-conscious pose) but acting secretive equals acting creepy. Be open, be friendly. You don't have to tell your subject that your drawing them, but if they happen to come over or walk by, don't cover up your drawing . Show it to them if you like or just make it easy to see so they know what you're doing.

Number two, don't be distracting. This is the most common mistake artists make when drawing in public. They put their sketchbook flat on the cafe table and continuously bob their head up and down between subject and sketch. Movement in our periphery vision catches our attention, especially when it's followed by a face looking at us. So just as the left side of the animated image in your periphery vision (below) is distracting you from reading this, the artist distracts their subject with constant movement and draws the subject's attention to the fact that they are being stared at. Solution: find some way to situate you drawing surface and the subject in or near the same field of vision so that the only thing you have to move is your eyes. This is different from being secretive. It's a matter of common courtesy to avoid being distracting.


Don't be distracting to your subject!

Even using this method, I am sometimes "caught." I glace back up from my sketch to have my gaze met head on by the subject before the drawing is finished. Not wanting to disturb them from their pose, I change the direction of my glances to something else nearby for three or four glances. This is usually enough to make them think I'm actually drawing something else. When they go back to what they were doing I continue my drawing. Then when I'm done, I leave it out on the table for them to see if they decide to come investigate with a walk-by; sometimes we have a conversation.





Thanks acapulco, daniorrr, JoseVega, and beaulamb for the nice comments!

[RobRey]

Ali, Oil, 11 x 14 inches

[Kapsikom]

Dude those Etiquette tips are a life saver! Love your portrait paintings, you have a fluid way of creating a personality in those faces

[RobRey]

Roark, Oil, 11 x 14 inches

You may remember my last painting of Roark in a knit cap and long hair that I posted back in March. Well, he shaved his head and he hardly looks like the same person.


Thanks Kapsikom!

[Serg]

Nice work man!

[RobRey]

Tasha, Oil, 11 x 14 inches


Thanks Serg!

[Twinsen]

Hi. Thanks a lot for those public sketching advices!

I also love your color harmonies!

I don't have any real crits, except maybe that you can dare to experiment more from time to time. Change things up a bit. Most of the paintings in this thread appears to have some of a "fixed" outcome. But you may already be doing a lot of experimenting for all I know, just not posting such stuff.
There is nothing wrong with having a reliable way of working, it is usually totally necessary when working as a commercial artist with strict deadlines. But in your spare time it can actually be fun to produce something that is so out of the comfort zone that it has the potential to be the worst painting ever. It is usually the worst paintings we do that we learn the most from.

[RobRey]

Trevor, Oil, 11 x 14 inches


Thanks Twinsen. I hear you on the experimentation. I've been focusing on practicing the details of portraits, and it's been great, but I do need to find get out an do some new things.

[RobRey]

Wind Farm, Oil, 18 x 24 inches

This is the first of what I hope to turn into a series of paintings based on energy sources. I hope this piece contributes, in some small way, to enthusiasm for clean energy and other dialogue about solutions to big problems. Prints available.

I encourage anyone supportive of clean energy to visit the Department of Energy's Green Power Network to find out if there is a supplier of clean energy in your area. Many people don't even realize that they can easily sign up to purchase their electricity from clean sources for a near negligible increase in price.

[RobRey]

I've created a video so you can watch the process of creating my last painting! In the video I quickly flip through the rough, preliminary planning stages and then you can watch me paint the whole piece in stop-motion. This is the first video I've ever made and isn't really meant to be an instructional video, but hopefully it's fun to watch the process. It compresses many weeks of planning and about ten days of painting time into three and a half minutes. I usually work section to section because it allows me to work "wet into wet" as much as possible without the paint drying.

I recommend selecting HD quality and watching it full screen to see the details of what's going on.



Here's the link if it doesn't embed properly: http://youtu.be/-9AcDJBF0Ik?hd=1

[RobRey]

Jessica, Oil, 11 x 14 inches


In just two weeks I'll be exhibiting at Illuxcon in PA. I hope to see you there!

[RobRey]

A Fairy and Her Steed, Oil, 18 x 24 inches

Detail:

[Mashach]

Lovely update Rob and thanks for that vid!

[RobRey]

Fantasy Portrait, Oil, 16 x 20 inches

Judging by Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles for the annual Illustration West has been completed and I'm delighted to receive a Sliver Award for my painting Wind Farm! Congratulations to everyone who was accepted. See the award winners here.