Tonight I got to studying the way other Artists draw Gold ~ the way they do in the ads for Casino Apps. I started by looking at some examples on the Internet. As usual, the experience wasn't what I expected it to be. Here you can see my Study. And if you click the 2nd Link below it, you can see the Video of how it progressed:

• 20200508AisonsCaricaturesGoldLettering.jpg 124.6K
• 20200508AisonsCaricaturesGoldLetteringVideo.mp4 2M

20200508AlisonsCaricaturesGoldLetteringVideo.mp4

I decided to start by studying the way they colored their Lettering. I chose the one that looked the Goldest. I started copying it (I only wanted to use the Fresco app ~ even though, of course, the other Artists used much smoother supplies. I just only want to use Fresco.)

Aghk. Who would think that I would have trouble drawing the Letter G in the block form that I was seeing. I wanted to copy exactly at the start. To see just what the other Artist did.

That was fun. I got hold of myself, and finally approached it more as Shapes than as the lettering that I Always do.

Then I copied the Colors. I learned the sort of details and extra shapes that the other Artist put in to the basically shaded planes. I learned that even the Lightest Colored Plane had some very dark areas because of the Goldness. And I already knew impose Dark around the Lightshine areas. The Letter G was handled awkwardly. While I was studying. Then I had to look at it, and Make it happen. Turn this thing into a Professional Gold Letter.

Then I did the letter O. Much more quickly. I already knew what this Artist did from having studied the first letter. I was on my own more. Just applying what I learned.

I couldn't tell if it was looking as Gold as I wanted. Because I was too close to the break-down. Not sure, so I decided to study a Different style of Gold Lettering for the 3rd letter. The L. I wasn't expecting this style to look Golder, but I feel like it did. Go figure.

If I remember this stuff, I will probably maybe have more pizzazz in what i see when I'm looking at something that's really gold. More pizzazz in making it up in the more likely event that I would be expected to impose Goldness into an imaginary picture.

This time I tried to make a Caricature in my Studio as though I was at a Gig. So I would be ready to handle any Remote Gigs that I'm hoping to get. I was forcing myself to make a Portrait-Styled Caricature because that's what I've been working on lately.

As always, good thing I try stuff on my own before I take a job with it. At least 3 major things I learned from doing this.

1. Stick to Fake Portrait if that's the Style you've decided to do.
2. Just follow the plan if you want to handle things Party Style.
3. an ummmm...... I forgot the 3rd thing while I was writing the first two.

After the thick blotchy blob I made for the Sunglasses on last night's Caricature, I decided to focus on painting Eye-Glasses tonight. Going back to Basics. No Exaggeration. No Artist's interpretation. Just what do I see in the Reference Photo that I was using. More like Portrait Painting.

Lol ~ as usual, I'm being me. I spent most of my time painting everything But the glasses.

And that's okay. Glasses don't stand on their own. They're Part of everything that's around them.

In this case, the most important thing I learned is: If I want the top of the glasses to be tipped forward, that is Not indicated so much by the lenses as by the Frame. The top of the frame stands Away from the face. But the bottom of the frame sits right on the cheeks.

I might have wanted to also try something with a transparent overlay and highlights to show the 'glass', but I got tired. If I kept continuing my Artistic explorations, I'd probably Never be able to stop.

You can click on this link to see a Time-Lapse Video of tonight's Painting. It only take a minute or so:

• AlisonsCaricaturePortraitWhoopiGoldberg.mp4 2.9M

Oh my ~ Ever spend years pushing something aside, saying, oh, i could do that. If i wanted to. Well, tonight I checked it out. And yes, I could do it. But the experience wasn't what I expected.

Tonight I decided to draw completely differently than I usually do. The experience wasn't what I expected. I Enjoy going for the Exaggeration, and I feel constrained to make 'Face' aka Skin on Skull which always has nose between the eyes and mouth under that. I don't usually respect that. I figure you could just use a Camera if that's what you want. But there are Some Artists who can do it well. So there are times when I wish I could just swing into it if I'm drawing at an Event with another Artist who actually does the more realistic thing well enough that I actually do respect it.

Today I decided to tone down the exaggeration and stick to the real Face. And use a Scribbly style ~ more like the stuff from Yesteryear. Perhaps even channeling Daumier.

And that Face idea. I corraled myself to do that.

I thought the pencil at the Fresco app would be what i was looking for. But no. Didn't like it. Took a few more tries, and I settled on the Classic Comics Nib in Fresco. Jumped in. Scribbled around ~ oh. At first, I really wanted to trash the 'Face shape'. But I stuck with it, and I found that I could get into the Exaggerations while keeping within the constraints of Face.

And the experience, which started out feeling stifling, ended up feeling freeing. Because I DIDN'T HAVE TO HAVE THE ANSWERS AHEAD OF TIME. Scribbling around, I could just let them come out. And of course, using the IPad, I could try anything, and then just get rid of it if it wasn't a good idea.

Click on this listing to see a Time Lapse Video of my experience:

• AlisonsCaricatureScribbleArtistVideo.mp4 5.2M