Monthly Archive for May, 2009

Life Drawing / Sketch: A figure and a face.

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on May 28, 2009
in Interesting Links, Plain Paper, Portraits, Sketch, Sketch-Book and life drawing
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Kat Johnston: venturing into life-drawing this week, here's an 'actual' sketch... as in, one that isn't a cartoon.

How’s that for a literal title? And how’s this for a proper sketch!

I must admit that I don’t draw from actual figures all that often - I don’t really get too much of a chance to tell someone to pick a pose and sit in front of me naked for 20 minutes. The last time I did a proper ’sit down and draw from a person sitting there’ thing was years ago. Soooo, when I found out that there is a place in Brisbane (at the Metro, actually) which has weekly life-drawing sessions, I was more than ready to drag a friend along and give it a go.

I find it rather amusing that with a fully-naked figure sitting there in front of me, I’ve decided here and there to draw parts which really require no nakedness at all. Both last week and this week I have found myself focusing on just the face, or a hand at some point, rather than the whole. I know that I could probably get a friend to sit still for a while to let me draw their face, but I guess the glitch with that is that I’d then probably have to show them what I just drew. I’m sure that I don’t have to mention that drawing from a photo is just not the same.

Today’s picture is plucked from my sketch-book from last night’s session. The up-tilted face and the partial figure are two of my favourite drawings from the evening. The model was absolutely fantastic for figure studies with well-defined muscles, a wonderfully interesting body/face and an excellent selection of poses, including an incredible kung-fu ‘crane’ style one for a minute there!

So yes - if you’re in Brisbane and want to give it a go (and you should, even if you’ve never picked up a pen before), check out Drawn From Life. All you need to take is yourself and something to draw with - easy peasy!

Sketch/Announcement: Inspired by Jenny, but definately not Jenny.

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on May 27, 2009
in Announcements, Jenny, Plain Paper, Portraits and Sketch
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Kat Johnston Sketch: Inspired (somewhat) by my Jenny pictures. Look through the categories if you don't get what I mean!

A quick and early sketch today! I have to go in for my ultrasound later, and have various other annoying things to get done until then, so I thought I’d get this out of the way early if I could.

The picture today is somewhat inspired by Jenny. If you have no idea who or what Jenny is, check out the category links - there’s one called Jenny there. I love the original Jenny to bits, and to be honest, I’m not entirely sure if I could ever properly turn her into a ‘regular’ person. It just doesn’t really work like that.

On another note, I’d like to point out something incredible and fantastic! I’ve now been writing on this blog for over a year. I didn’t actually think about it until last night, but when I did… oh my! I had to race back to the computer to click on the archives for May 2008 to see when the exact date actually was. I actually have an odd sense of accomplishment over all this. There’s 270 posts (or will be, when this one is included), which means that I post approximately two days outta three, or there-abouts… that’s not too bad if you ask me!

For something started on little more than a whim, then continued on under the banner of ’study’, I think the site has gone incredibly well so far. Yes, there are still some things I need to do - finish updating the gallery, finally get around to sorting out the banner for good (the composition as it is currently isn’t perfectly ideal, but with a bit of work, could be much much better), and perhaps a few other things… but it is good. It has certainly been fulfilling its primary purpose: keeping me motivated to do what I know I love… sketching. If people see it, so much more the bonus.

So, celebrations all around, don’t you think? Milestone accomplished.

Sketch/Digital: Little Bird

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on May 26, 2009
in Digital, Plain Paper and Sketch
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Kat Johnston Sketch: Sketched, then digitally coloured in, it's a bird on a string!

It got to about 8pm when I thought ‘oh dear, I really do need to do a sketch for the site today, don’t I?’ So I started sketching, and came up with this. There’s actually a whole lot more room in the little square that I’m drawing inside of, but for something different, I thought I might add just a touch of colour in photoshop after I’d scanned it in. Better a small image for now then!

I actually really like it. It could be coloured in a whole lot better and all, but it was really done that was just because it was quick and easy to do - it’s more about the ‘feel’ of it than absolute accuracy and perfection. I might do the whole square this way, should I get around to actually finishing it at some point. If I do, I’ll certainly post a picture here for you to see it.

Anyhow, that’s about it today. Tomorrow I have to go off and get an ultrasound done on my knee (it’s being mean to me!) then possibly get a gigantic needle stuck into it. Cross your fingers that no gigantic needle is required, ok? I really don’t like them, and I have to walk home. I’d perfer not to have to do it hobbling, thank you very much!

Sketch: I need sleep… and wontons.

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on May 25, 2009
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Kat Johnston Sketch: I need sleep... I do.

Just another quick post today. I need sleep - I really, really do. But first, I think I am going to make wontons. I like wontons. They are tasty, and delicious, and in a warm broth they happen to be one of the most delightfully comforting foods.

For lack of better post content today, I’m going to tell you what is going to be in them. I’ve got some premium beef mince, and to that I’ll be adding garlic, ginger, finely chopped chives, finely chopped shallots, a little splash of soy, and perhaps a little flour if it is needed. I’ll then be dolloping that onto wonton wrappers and sealing them up all perfectly.

Some I will have for lunch, and then the rest I will serve up for dinner in a nice warm beef broth, I think, with some wombok and perhaps some noodles… we’ll see how the mood strikes, shall we? In the meantime though… that nap is looking mighty good.

Sketch: The dreamer dreams another dream…

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on May 24, 2009
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Kat Johnston Sketch: A solitary dreamer, she dreams of distant things.

Ah, a solitary dreamer in a world of wakened reality - it is a wonder there is room for dreaming still, when the starkness of the ‘real world’ threatens to consume each and every one of those wandering, winsome imaginings.

Just another sketch from one of my little sketch books today - nothing major, brilliant or life-changing. And I don’t even know what to write about! It’s the weekend,  and yesterday we were pestered again by home-owners who don’t seem to understand that you are required to give notice before knocking on people’s doors on a Saturday morning to enter the properties of your tenants.

Now if that happened once, it’s easy enough to forgive… the hubby and I are not unreasonable people. Throw in builders coming over twice with no notice, once at 7:30 in the morn (on a Monday!) to do construction on the place, and I start getting a little grumpy. Time to give the real-estate agent a call again.

Anyhow, all that aside, there really isn’t too much to type about today. So I think I’ll leave it here! Have a good rest of the weekend, ya’ll.

Sketch / Digital: My Ballerina with a touch of colour.

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on May 22, 2009
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Kat Johnston Sketch: A touch of colour on one of my previous sketches... because I can't scan anything in today!

So right now the printer/scanner/copier isn’t yet set up in our ‘new’ computer room, while the rumpus dries out. I honestly think that the flooding downstairs has somewhat killed both my husband’s and my desire to have things down in that room now - at least within reach of possible flooding… again. That, and it smells like mildew. Eww!

So instead of a ‘new’ sketch today, you’re getting one of my older ones with a touch of colour! This was started a little while back, and since I have it handy, it can go up for today’s sketchy offering. I’d go a little further on it, but surprise surprise… the wacom hasn’t made it upstairs again either! Ah well. Things should get back to normal soon, I guess.

Happy weekend, guys! Aren’t you glad it has arrived?

Sketch / Photo: Flooding in Brisbane prevents my posting yesterday.

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on May 21, 2009
in Cartoon, Plain Paper, Portraits, Sketch and Sketch-Book
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Kat Johnston Sketch: Yes... this is what I planned to post yesterday. That didn't freakin happen though...

Yesterday I planned on posting an image, this sketch I had created moments before scanning it in. However, no sooner than I had uploaded it to Flickr and was preparing to write my post today, that the incredible occurred. My rumpus room flooded.

It has been steadily raining here over the past few days, and of course, we had to get flooded. The room went from dry to having a third of it covered in water in about two minutes flat. Now here’s the thing - this didn’t have to happen. There was no reason for this to happen - it was preventable! Our lounge had been flooded before, and there was ample opportunities for the owners of this place to fix the problem - in fact, I think they even filed an insurance claim over it. Did they fix the seal that allowed our rented property to flood though? No. They decided in their infinite wisdom that it ‘wouldn’t happen again’. It was very obviously a problem with dodgy construction, but they decided that rather than caring about the well-being of their tenants, they’d just let it slide and get the carpets cleaned.

I’ve been absolutely fuming over this, mainly because it was only by sheer luck that I was downstairs at the time this occurred to whisk all of our electronics equipment up from their places before they were drowned. It doesn’t do anything to help that the owners violated the residential tenancies act and had builders over to our place twice without any notice whatsoever either, twice in two weeks. Once this week, at 7:30 in the morning!

I’m telling you, if we didn’t need a place to live right now, I would be shooting daggers at people and glaring very very angrily. There might just be the use of flame-throwers too. I am not currently a happy camper.

Anyhow, hardly anything we can do about it now… so here’s a photo! Welcome to our new indoor swimming pool, courtesy of fools who would rather get annoyed tenants and carpet cleaned after the fact rather than fix the problem in the first place.

Kat Johnston: Flooding in Brisbane... why'd it have to be us?

Sketch: It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring.

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on May 19, 2009
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Kat Johnston - wavy hair... what an inspired name, huh?

It’s been raining today - a lovely light mist of grey, shrouding the world in a cool, damp glow. Mmmm… very nice - when you’re happily rugged up inside, anyhow. Then again, I have been known to go outside to dance in the rain, just because it is raining!

I can’t do that today though. It seems that my knee is acting up for some reason or another, although against the urging of my wonderful radiographer friend, I’m leaving it a couple more days before heading to the docs… It doesn’t really hurt - just seems a bit ‘off’, if ya get what I mean. Damn knees. Damn knees and their damn aching.

My apologies for not having today’s image up a few days ago - I know I’ve skipped too many days recently. It’s so cyclical though - you don’t post one day, for one reason or another, then the next day you go ‘but I feel guilty about not posting yesterday, ohhhh, I don’t want to do today’, and then it gets to that special three day mark where you go ‘yeep, I’ve left it so long… I almost feel guilty going back, especially when I haven’t got something to show that will make up for not posting in the past few days’ and so on and so forth until you finally come to the forgone conclusion that you’re overthinking, and should just post a damn picture.

Thus, you’re getting just another silly picture. Phew! Yay! Have a great day, everyone… I’m going to listen to some music and smile and enjoy the rest of my evening.

Painting: Some more of my bunny in progress.

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on May 13, 2009
in Bunnies, Canvas and painting
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Kat Johnston Painting in Progress: Bunny bunny, cute as can be...

A little further along, I’m continuing with the progress shots of the other day. I’ve been doing a bit more work on my bunny here and there, and thought I’d better put up a couple more pictures! In this particular one, the bunny has become a bit more refined and I’ve done some rough sketching of the viney curly things for the background. When I do this, I do it in water-colour pencils, so that I can easily remove and rearrange the marks as I need to. I find this, for me, to be a better way of doing it than lead pencil, or pastel, which seem to be a bit harder to remove completely, especially from darker surfaces. Water-colour pencils in a light shade provide enough of a mark without any view to permanency that might occur with other mediums. A simple smudge of the finger or a tiny bit of water and a smudge, and the marks disappear. Perfect for sketching straight onto a canvas… and we all know how I like to sketch!

Kat Johnston Painting in Progress: cute cute bunnies, just as cute as can be.

And now a little further along again - I’ve used a fine brush to describe the curling vine-like growths behind the bunny here with a darkish shade. The painting is not yet done - the curling viney thingies are far too precise around the edges - very sharp. I’m thinking that I need some purple, some orange, some vibrancy… I still need to lift out pieces here and there, and, well, I dunno! I’m still working it out. In other words, stay tuned! There is more to come.

Update/Sketch: Bite me. Oh, and I’ve done some flickr updating too.

Published
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on May 12, 2009
in Announcements, Bunnies, Cartoon, Humerous, Plain Paper, Sketch and Update
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Kat Johnston: There are some bunnies that are cute and cuddly - others just say 'bite me'.

Phew… done… at least for now. I’ve been working studiously away today, trying to get a good amount of the sketches here up onto my Flickr account so that it doesn’t go un-used. As a visual artist, it seems silly not to take advantage of Flickr for all that it’s worth. Although I haven’t gone through and tagged them all or sorted out proper descriptions, at least I’ve now got a good amount of pictures up with links back to the site.

I’ve also installed a new little filtery thingie, to hopefully stop so much spam getting through to be caught by Akismet. I hate to think of legitimate comments getting caught by the spam filter, so I do also go through them by hand just to make sure. With upwards of 100 comments within 24 hours getting into the spam queue though, it’s getting a mite ridiculous. Here’s to hoping that this reduces it by a little. If not, it’s time to move onto the next attempt at a solution.

Some of you may have noticed that the gallery has been taken down from here for a while - the tab is still up, but there is nothing in it in the way of, uhhh, pictures! Never fear - I’ve been looking into new gallery systems to improve upon the one I had up. The one I had up had no option for nested galleries and seemed to error when pictures were not utilizing a specific sizing system. Therefore, it was doubtless time for a change. When it is back up and running (hopefully soon), I will let you know!

Thanks for sticking around and seeing what I’ve got going on here, guys. Please never hesitate to let me know about any improvements you would like to see happen with the site, either in the comments of a post or by utilizing the contact form.