Lee's sketchbook

[Lee W]

I figured with a the user name change, might as well start with a new SB as well. The first post is just to establish the thread icon :D

[Lee W]

Some old stuff from the old SB :)

[Lee W]

And finally .. a couple of new things, all soft pastel. The first 3 are 2.5 x 3.5 inches and the last is roughly 8 x 10 inches.

[pennington]

hey thanks for the kind words! you've got some beautiful work here. I really love sketch 956 he's so cute. great sense of color and form. keep posting.

[Dreamworker]

Very nice SB restart mate! Keep more new stuff
ciao :)

[Eric Cartman]

Really nice those portraits..keep it up!!!

[Lee W]

pennington: thanks :) good to be re-assured that my colors are getting better :)

Dreamworker: thanks :) will do.

Eric Cartman: thanks :) will do.

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Got some black art spectrum colourfix primer and like everything else, have to test it out once I got home :D now I think I should have gotten a middle tone instead of black :\ Anyhow, here is what I came out with ... one of these days, I'll learn to get the right colors and tones in my paintings :bashful:

[Lee W]

it's been a while since I did any pencil sketches. I've been playing around with soft pastel so much that my sketching gotten worse.

[Call0ps]

yeah! it was about time to change that nick :P didn't fit u anyway xD cant get enough of those pastels work, sooo nice! keep it up

[Lee W]

CallOps: thanks :)

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more playing around with soft pastel :) first one is around 4 x 6 inches on black colourfix primer and the second is on 2.5 x 3.5 inch wallis

[Fishspawn]

Heh, you almost lost me with the change of book :) Those pastels are looking sweet - watch the brightness on the eyes a little more though. Dig the girls with sunglasses~

[Lee W]

Fishspawn: I figured I might as well start a new sb since I changed my nickname :) and thanks, will do.

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playing around on black colourfix primer :)

[Lee W]

a quickie pastel sketch :)

[Lee W]

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[drd]

Hey Lee, from what I saw in your last book, your pastel portraits are getting better and better!
I personally can't stand the stuff, though.

[SEVANS]

Some cool stuff in here, there are a few edges etc that would benefit from being sharper though.

[joaKimArt]

Beautiful pastel images. Looks good man!

[alesoun]

Loving the seascape! A little grey where the water runs over the sand might help fix the water in the foreground to the shore,
That could almost be a beach near here! Except ours are COLD, and the wind blows horizontal!

[Lee W]

drd: thanks :) I didn't like pastel at first either ..but for some reason, I started liking it .. might be I'm now using paper tht is made for pastels.

Sevans: thanks :) yah a lot of my sketches needs to be refined more but I'm lazy :D

joaKimArt: thanks :)

alesoun: thanks :) I really didn't expect anything out of that piece, it was primarily to test out the black color primer I had just brought. Now why can't the ones I am serious about come out as good?

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just a couple of quick sketches ...

[Lee W]

Received my order of the 20 color landscape pan pastel set and had to try it out. And of course as with anything new, I did a portrait or rather I tried to with the landscape colors. This is approximately 4 x 6 inches primed with a mixture of gesso and marble dust. Oh, only used a mini applicator on this (mainly cause it got damaged from me fooling around with it earlier)

[Lee W]

sigh .. sometimes I wonder why I even bother posting ...

[Dreamworker]

Hello man! I found very interesting the last two works with pan pastels. In Italy I don't know where I can buy this strange type of colors ( pan pastels (http://www.panpastel.com/) ) but I hope to order these on the web. Can you tell my your opinion about pan pastels?

[joaKimArt]

Hey again Lee W! I have looked through your stuff again, and got to say I like them even more this time! Haha. Great feeling in them.

Lovely updates! Nice to see some work done with this pastel medium. My grandfather used to work much with it. Keep on posting.

[Lee W]

Dreamworker: thanks :) Pan pastels are still relatively new only released in August of this year if I remember correctly. Anyhow, personally, I like using these much more than the regualr stick form. I feel like I have more control. Having using a old charcoal holder to extend the length of the mini applicator, I can use it similar to a paint brush which feels more natural to me. These has less dust than the regular pastels and does wonder glazes. And the best part .. almost completely free of cleaning up :bounce: :bounce:

joaKimArt: thanks :) glad you like my stuff. Pastels are harder to use than I had thought, but starting to get a feel for them. I started using pastels because of limited space, don't have a lot of room to store wet canvases to dry, though I rather be oil painting :shrug:

[BludHund]

"Yesterday 12:56 AM
Lee W sigh .. sometimes I wonder why I even bother posting ..."

WTF does that mean?

Heh. Posting is okay. If it is part of a good critical relationship it is even good. Of course it should never get in the way of actually working on something, but it does give you a sense of perspective and measurement.

Anyhoo... I've been crazy busy as well as suffering from a short dry spell, sorry I didn't check in last week. It looks like your pastel practice is starting to accrue benefits, I'm seeing better and better layering.

All I have to say is keep up the tempo. Of course at some point I'd like to see a branching out on subject matter ...or at least some work from 'memory' (invention, I say).

[life on the sofa]

sigh .. sometimes I wonder why I even bother posting ...

you bother because you were secretly hoping that i would return to hassle you.


=]

but this time i dunno what to say..lst SB i could say do this ..do that..maybe this...now i .. i...well...i dno guess im just gna have to ass pat huh?

shiit good (y) thumbs up

[Sepulverture]

Hey Lee. Good to see your doing a broader variety of things. Last time I looked in your old sb it was a lot of the same and to be completely honest, cute girl portraits were getting really dull to look at. But whatever you enjoy of course.

Anyway, haven't posted in your book for a long time and wanted to drop by and say howdy. So.. Um.. Howdy!

[paperX]

dude! i was thinking omg lee hasn't updated in over a month!! that's gotta be like a record :O until i saw that u had started a new sb u sneaky person :P
great updates man...really like your pastel work such as this one (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=241214&stc=1&d=1195282660), keep at it man!

[Lee W]

BludHund: it means whatever you think it means :)

life on the sofa: thanks :)

Sepulverture: thanks :) there was a reason behind the fact that I do a lot of portraits of girls. Because I was starting back up and needed to re-learn line control, form, rendering, construction, etc., I figured I might as well re-learn all those drawing a subject that I would enjoy doing. Plus there are a lot of subjects I would rather not do with pencils. Not that I am venturing more into colors, the subjects are starting to vary, but most will still probably be portraits.

paperX: thanks :) it's been a while since my last update and most likely, I'm not going to update as much as I used to.

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All of these was done with pan pastels except for the mini landscape piece which was done with sennelier pastels and the last one obviously :)

[TheGnoll]

nice work as usual Lee!
the portraits look goodas usual and that last pencil sketch shows you've become a lot more confident with time, lines are very nice.
The pic you chose as your avatar is especially well done :)

keep sharing!

ciao

[paperX]

great update man! just wondering...how big are these pieces? a4 or?

[Dreamworker]

Wow I love the last update! This new type of pastels seems very funny to use!
Ciao

[Fishspawn]

Looking good.

[paperX]

dunno if u celebrate but, Merry Christmas lee! :)

[Lee W]

TheGnoll: thanks :)

paperX: thanks :) the landscape is 2.5 x 3.5 inches, the sketch of the girl kneeling and charcoal sketch are 9 x 12 inches, the rose is 7 x 9 inches, and the rest is 4.5 x 6 inches. yep, I celebrate christmas and thanks, merry christmas to you too :)

Dreamworker: thanks :) these pan pastels are great to work with, but I find it hard to get the darks dark enough, it's probably the way I am painting with them.

Fishspawn: thanks :)

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, everyone!!!

now for some new stuff ....

1. another rose .. 7 x 9 inches, pan pastel on black Mi Teintes
2-4. quick charcoal pencil sketches
5. landscape - 4 x 6 inches, art spectrum and sennelier soft pastels on wallis sanded paper
6. a quick 9 x 12 inch pastel sketch of one of my sister's dog, sennelier soft pastels on colourfix primer.

[BludHund]

Heya Lee. Sorry I haven't been around for so long. I really like the rose, I think it needs some shadows though, to make it come alive. The little dog study shows your pastel technique is getting quite solid too.

[Murido]

nice work man... i like what u r doing here ;)

[Lee W]

thanks BludHund and Murido :)

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just a pastel sketch dump ....

[Lee W]

more stuff ...

[Lee W]

.....

[life on the sofa]

very nice as always. dont log onto CA much anymore but when i do i always drop by here, good to see your still going strong and with a new username :O

the bib on that last child is a bit too high on the far side as it wraps round his neck. :)

[lefran]

hiya lee, ive not stopped by for a while! your figure work is looking nice as usual, your natural forms are looking a lot more organic, theres some lovely portraits in here :)

[Lee W]

life on the sofa: thanks :) actually, I think the bib on the right where it goes around the neck is too low :D anyways, it's already framed and don't want the possibility of ruining it taking it out.

lefran: thanks :) glad to know I'm improving

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just a bunch of sketches .. nothing I can call finished and some are downright fugly :(

[paperX]

im really liking the pastel work Lee! i think theres 3 areas i suggest you push further...1 is to have more variety in your portrait studies, i know the ladies are beautiful but do more guys from time to time :P second, more refinement :) and lastly...some more pieces from imagination please! :D

[Cyanid]

very cute girls! The portraits read well, maybe they need to be a bit sharper in some places. I like the one with the hat the most.

[Lee W]

paperX: thanks :) will try to do more of what you suggesting :)

Cyanid: thanks :)

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1. soft pastel on 6 x 8 Wallis Sanded Paper
2. a quick pastel sketch of Anthony Hopkiins, lost the resemblance :(
3. playing around with a piece of 2.5 x 3.5 inch Fabriano Tiziano pastel paper with Rembrandt soft pastel.

[Dreamworker]

Great update! I look at your Blogs and I found the Pan pastel Journey very interesting! I hope to see this great tools in Italy soon, I want to buy some colors for paint something.
Ciao

[Mr-Joe]

Hey Lee: amOgaxV3DQU

I saw your thread title and thought of this....

Nice pastel stuff.... all these things your posting are you taking photos of them or scanning them? any chance you can post them a little bigger like 800x600-ish?

[Lee W]

Dreamworker: thanks :) the pan pastels are quite interesting and fun to work with.

Mr-Joe: thanks :) I resize most of them to 500 pixels max length or height because I post them in various places and don't want to make different sizes for each of them. The ones that is under 500 pixels when scanned, I don't resize. Most of the stuff is scanned unless the size is larger than 9 x 12 inches, then I use a camera.

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more stuff :) the last two are quick rough sketches

[Call0ps]

hey, long time no visit ;_; shame on me! those pastels are getting better,EVEN MORE! love specially those portraits, but dont get to stick to them, maybe more full bodies work? anyway great work and keep it up

[Lee W]

Callops: thanks :) I rarely, if ever, use anything larger than 9 x 12 inches and trying to put in a full figure is just too difficult with pastel ..well unless I use pastel pencils but I only have a limited number of those :shrug:

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an update to the rough sketch above ... going to take my time with this one and try to get it right :D

[Dreamworker]

The last work in progress is become very good!
I buy one block of vellum sheet, but I don't understand how to use it properly. The pastels tend to smudge and is hard to create some details, I thrown one sheet ( very expensive experiment :( ). Do you know this vellum paper ?

[Lee W]

Dreamworker: thanks :) vellum I think is better for graphite than for pastels, it's too smooth. Not sure what brands of pastel papers are available in Italy but here is some that I like using, these are relatively inexpensive:

Canson Mi Teintes
Canson Charcoal paper
Fabriano Tiziano
Strathmore Artagain paper
Strathmore Charcoal paper

You can also make a mixture of gesso and pumice to prime your own supports, but this requires heavy paper, I usually use illustration board or mat boards.

Art Spectrum and Golden have pastel primers that is used as above.

There is also sanded paper and there is quite a few selection.

this is a good site to check out, they pretty much have everything pastel related: http://www.dakotapastels.com
you can see what can be used and see if it is available there.

[Dreamworker]

Hi Lee,
thanks a lot for your patience. Good to know the really use of vellum. I have some sheet of Fabriano Tiziano, Do You prime these ? Now I have a set of 45 Rembrandt soft pastels and I wish to paint somthing well.
I did'nt know that is good to use even for the pastels the primer, I have always used the virgin paper, thanks for the tip!
P.S. I answer again in your thread because it might be useful for other users :D

[Lee W]

Dreamworker: you're welcomed :) the fabriano tiziano doesn't need to be primed, it has enough texture to hold the pastel. My last update is being done on that paper, whether I finish or not is another issue :D

these papers I mentioned doesn't need to be primed:

Canson Mi Teintes
Canson Charcoal paper
Fabriano Tiziano
Strathmore Artagain paper
Strathmore Charcoal paper

the supports used that would probably want to prime is basically the same supports that you would consider using for oil painting (canvas, boards, panels, etc).

Note that pastels behaves differently between different supports whether it is paper or a primed support.

[Fishspawn]

Hey lee, huge improvement since the last time i dropped by. Your colors are getting much more exciting. Keep up the great work!

[Lee W]

Fishspawn: thanks :) soft pastel is teaching me lots about color and color theories.

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Another update to the WIP that started from a rough sketch :) not sure if I am going to leave this the way it is or not, but definitely needs a little bit more refinement.

[Lee W]

I think it is finally finished :) if anyone see anything that I need to fix .. let me know :)

[Dreamworker]

Tasty! :D

[Jakers]

Ive very glad to have found your new book!

I was looking in my subscriptions and found your old one, at the end of my list haha. Your just mastering the crafts your working on, I don't have much to say that can help. I wonder if you can apply what you have done so far and expand your subject matter further? Maybe this is just what you love to do though :) See you

[Lee W]

Dreamworker: thanks :)

Jakers: thanks :) I have done other subjects, I don't know why but for some reason, I just love keep going back to doing portraits ...

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just a pastel sketch ... art spectrum pastels on Ingres paper

[Giorge]

very nice , few people chose pastels as their way of expressing art , from what i know pastels are very sensitive to light ... keep your art in a dark place :P

[Lee W]

flamable: thanks :) but more people use pastels than you imagine and while its true pastels are sensitive to light, that is also true with other traditional mediums. Even photographs are sensitive to light and will fade with long exposure to light.

Pastels aren't the only medium I use, but is the main one at the moment for various reasons. I, actually prefer using oils, but I don't have the space and with pastels, I don't have to worry about harmful solvents, setting up,cleaning up, and waiting for the painting to dry, I just need to wash my hands.

[Lee W]

Figure sketch with Rembrandt soft pastel on Ingres paper

[Dreamworker]

Interesting soft pastel studies! I like in particular the girl portrait.
Keep it up!

[Lee W]

Dreamworker: thanks :)

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some more sketches ....

[Fishspawn]

Really love the one at the top of this page! Keep it up.

[Lee W]

thanks Fishspawn :)

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[Lee W]

more stuff ...

[pennington]

you're so productive! the values and colors are all really good. only thing I would suggest is make sure the initial drawing is perfect before going into the colors too much. like the back of her head (http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=313789&stc=1&d=1204240445) is cut off . though that could be because of a lack of margin. keep posting. would love to see your oils.

[Lee W]

thanks Pennington :)

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a couple more ... one being an update of a previous sketch.

[Fishspawn]

Really like those landscapes. portraits keep improving too, keep it up!

[Lee W]

thanks Fishspawn :)

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not much done the last couple of days

[Lee W]

a couple of minis and an unfinished sketch

[Lee W]

another landscape attempt :)

[teena_mom]

cnn't wait to see more :)

Esraa

[Lee W]

thanks Esraa :)

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A bunch of sketches ...

[Lee W]

more stuff :)

[lefran]

hey lee, not stopped by here for a while, loads of improvement- your portraits are looking softer and softer with each post and capturing some nice expressions like in this one http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=318106&stc=1&d=1204693446
Fran

[Lee W]

thanks Fran :)

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a couple of things ..

[Lee W]

just one sketch ...

[Dreamworker]

I lose some good updates! From my last visit my fav is this landscape (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=320712&stc=1&d=1205008492)
Ciao

[Lee W]

thanks Dreamworker :)

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some sketches

[Lee W]

more sketches ...

[life on the sofa]

hmmmmmmmmm not bad . :P

lighting on the woman on the bottom right's face is bit hard =)

[Niva.]

Excellent studies, I can't help but be impressed with the medium you're using and the fact these are not digital. Sometimes the faces are a bit off but I really really like this entire thread. Great job Lee!

[Lee W]

thanks life on a sofa and n1va :)

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just a couple of sketches ...

[Lee W]

more sketches ...

[Lee W]

Some more stuff :)

[bakatron]

gah. you make the rest of us look lazy.

[life on the sofa]

going strong my freinnndddd, keep it up :)

always a pleasure.

[Lee W]

thanks bakatron and Life on a sofa :)

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more stuff ...

[Lee W]

A small oil painting, 5 x 7.5, and a couple of sketches

[life on the sofa]

very nice :)

i like the colours in #92.

keep posting :D

[Lee W]

thanks life on the sofa :)

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some pastel and some oils ...

[Ash888]

You have beautiful work here, I love your use of color.

[SDS71]

I just wanted to pop in and say I like your work. I've been watching it over the last few days, and I see a wonderful use of color, as well as quite a realistic and well-proportioned figure.

I especially like the second picture in your most recent post. The bust of the woman with the black hair just somehow catches my eye every time I look at your post.

Nicely done. :)

[Lee W]

Ash: thanks :)

SDS; thanks :)

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couple of quick oil studies

[Flesheater]

thanks bakatron and Life on a sofa :)

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more stuff ...

This girl has some serious ass!

[Lee W]

Flesheater: huh???

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oil sketch on canvas paper, 9 x 12

[Lee W]

A small oil sketch, 8.5 x 11

[Lee W]

First still life in oils :) and it turned out to be a couple of lemons, 5 x 7

[Fishspawn]

You keep on rocking! Last couple of oils are really nice~ and your portraiture is a lot better too. Keep going strong.

[Pascallo]

Great new work. The chalk (?) stuff seems a little rough here and there. the oils are looking pretty decent so far, like the still lifes! keep it going!

[Steven1991]

wow , awesome oil paintings. i really like the fruit and the one's with the bikini.

[Niva.]

Lee, I am always impressed with your work and medium of choice. I think you've pretty much perfected this style and I really want to see you try something different either with subjects or technique/medium.

Anyways, it's supposed to be fun for you so keep it up so long as it brings joy to YOU because that's all that really matters at the end of the day :)

[vagabont]

super

[Silvenon]

WOW! Now THAT'S awesome! I really love all you're paintings, they are flawless! :)

[Murido]

Scetch01249.jpg is soooo nice!! i can feel what shes thinking :p long time ive been here, but u r making a lot of progress imo. Have u ever tried digital painting? very curious how u manage that... :p u rock, i ll keep an eye on u ;)

[Lee W]

some oils :) most of them are 5 x 7

[Fishspawn]

Starting to look less like photos and more like life. :) Good job and keep it up

[BludHund]

Now that's what I'm talking about!

props for the quantity as well as the quality.

I can't believe how much you've learned about color in what seems like such a short time. Really feels like you caught the personality of the subjects too...a delicate touch on the details without sacrificing the immediacy and vitality of the more general strokes.

Ready to go bigger yet? I want to see some more!

[Cam Sykes]

Great variety of subjects, and mediums. And the dedication is impressive, keep it up! I notice a few issues with some of the works but they don't really bother me because the time you're putting in will correct the flaws in future.

[Lee W]

a couple more ala prima oil sketches on board :) 1st one is 5 x 7 and the second one is 6 x 8

[Cepro]

lot's of work. defenately getting somewhere. keep it up.

[Lee W]

More stuff ....

[Lee W]

oil on board, 4 x 6 .. approximately one hour

[Lee W]

oil on board, 6 x 8
titanium white, yellow ochre, venetian red and french ultramarine (was supposed to be payne's gray, but grabbed the french ultramarine by accident).

[Lee W]

couple of 4 x 6 quickies ...

[Lee W]

some more stuff :)

[Lee W]

A bunch of crap :)

[BludHund]

I like th rendering and skin tones on these two:

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=490327&stc=1&d=1223861929

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=490333&stc=1&d=1223861988

Might want to work on making sure than you're building up layers smoothly, still seeing a bit of the canvas/paper tooth, giving things a rough feel...but that my just be my subjective opinion...

[Silvenon]

I really can't stop looking at your drawings/paintings, there are pretty to stare at :))

Just one tiny thing.... the ribs on this (http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=490328&stc=1&d=1223861943) one look pretty weird, but everything else is really pretty

[Lee W]

thanks bludhund and silvenon :)

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sketch dump :)

[Lee W]

Some stuff :) last one is still a work in progress ..

[purb36]

awesome. last one is seriously lovely. can't wait to see what you do on it.

btw...i'm FINALLY in boston. the boston group's meeting tomorrow night at au bon pain in harvard square at 7pm, feel free to join. lemme know when you're free to go sketch sometime, or even just meet up to hang. take care man. :)

[L0rin]

beatifull pastels and oils, tried them both at some point and know the skill it must take to achieve what you have. keep at it :)

[SMILEFACE]

wow its been a long time and yall new sb is RRROOOCCCKKKKKKK'N

[Mag-Neo]

...Lovely portraits & figures. Keep posting... :yayca: