Sketches and Studies by Craig Houghton - [11/16]

**Spade** · August 5th, 2006, 12:36 AM

grats on the new page

good to some new updates, you art is very beutiful. your style strikes me as very... traditional (want to find a better word), the colours on the last snail peice are great! keep it up

**entdroid** · August 5th, 2006, 11:19 AM

Love the snail!

the BG is a bit disturbing though, I think it competes a bit too much with that little fella there.
Keep posting!
entdroid

**Craig Houghton** · August 5th, 2006, 11:51 PM

Spade - Many thanks. I appreciate the comments.

entroid - Glad you like it. BG comment does seem to be the case. If it were stained with watercolor instead of ink I'd probably have lifted it a bit. I might still do so in Painter.

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this is small, 4x6 ink & watercolor

quickie demo - there's nothing special going on here, but it's been a while since I did a wip step-through. Forgive the lighting/camera. It wasn't bright enough for decent pics, and I didn't try to make it so.

1. simple pencils (lightly with an HB) & koh-i-noor drawing ink applied to stem using crow quill pen
2. diluted black and colored ink -- waterproof lines
3. masking fluid on the toadstool 'dots' and stem -- blowdry till absolutely dry
4. background washes blocked in - blowdry between colors to get a hard edge
5. additional washes and then then remove the masking fluid -- continue painting, reserving light areas & blowdrying to keep colors/edges distinct
6. further develop darks and throw some colors around -- this pic is intended to show how three red drops that accidently fell on the paper were removed by adding masking fluid, letting it dry, and ripping it off quickly. this was rough handmade paper, and usually that sort of thing shouldn't work. normally I would just wet the spot briefly, absorb with a pointed paper towel quickly, blowdry, and repeat.
7. no pics. I continued adding washes and blowdrying, looked at it in a mirror, asked my gf for her opinion, signed it, scanned it in, adjusted the colors & fixed around the edges in Painter so I wouldn't have to crop too much on the sides.

Thanks for looking!
Craig

**entdroid** · August 6th, 2006, 11:45 PM

I really like this update. The image is very nice (very fairy-tale like), and I love seeing your process. It amazes me how methodic you are, I don't think I could ever do that. Thumbs up!

entdroid

**faux pas** · August 10th, 2006, 07:32 PM

That snail is great. Cool to see your proccess also!

**J.Peckham** · August 10th, 2006, 07:47 PM

brilliant! you have a very classic illistrative style. real impressive.

**Craig Houghton** · August 12th, 2006, 09:37 PM

entroid - Many thanks. I'm glad you like. I think it's much easier than you might think to go step by step.

faux - Thanks for comment!

J peckham - gracias!

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Cyanocitta cristata

animals from here and there thrown together

Thanks for looking!
Craig

**Craig Houghton** · August 13th, 2006, 07:53 PM

If anyone hasn't tried it yet, the conceptart.org sketcher (in-browser OC style collaborative drawing/chat) is up and running: CA Sketcher (and my initial attempt)

-Craig

**isair** · August 13th, 2006, 08:05 PM

It looks so easy when you draw or paint the protraits and birds. The strokes are very relaxed. And your watercolor is simply amazing.

**Goodbye..fromthevoid** · August 13th, 2006, 08:08 PM

I only looked at the last page but it is impressive work. The bird was especially nice.

**entdroid** · August 13th, 2006, 08:21 PM

I love the horse on the last image, it has such a loose, expressive feel to it (and the furry guys below it too!). I'd really like to see more stuff like that from you.
The bird looks good too

Keep them coming!

entdroid

**Quinster** · August 18th, 2006, 11:35 PM

I forgot how much I enjoy your watercolors. Nice pictures you got here, except some of your girl's eyes look like dolls eyes.

Like there. I dunno, I've seen that alot and it bothers me.

Keep up the good work! Once again, I really like your watercolors.

**elisa** · August 19th, 2006, 04:13 AM

awesome updates, I really love the snail and the mushroom. You can really handle the watercolor! Keep posting, please!

**Listing** · August 25th, 2006, 01:35 AM

Nice work. Great how you're building sensitivity to so many different subjects. Keep being Craig Houghton.

**faux pas** · August 25th, 2006, 01:51 AM

Oh crud, how'd I miss this update?

Sweet bird and cool assorted animals.

As always the facial features on your characters are drawn really excellently. Post more!

**blanquish** · August 29th, 2006, 02:49 AM

hey there, I'm the newest member of the ssg so add my sb to the sig.
I must say, those watercolours are simply beautiful!
Fine art is certainly for you, and you have quite an interesting style.
I cant crit work so beautiful, except maybe try experimenting with as many mediums as your hands can take!!

**fooxoo** · August 29th, 2006, 05:58 AM

http://www.leversandpulleys.com/uploads/jay2.jpg - wooooo

the watercolours and nature stuff is wonderful! Keep doing that

**Craig Houghton** · September 4th, 2006, 01:51 AM

isair - Many thanks. I'm definitely more at ease with the birds.

goodbye - Thanks for stopping in.

entroid - I'm glad I posted the horse. I wasn't going to bother until I realized that I didn't have much to post at the time.

quinster - that's some of the best advice I've ever had - you're exactly right. Thanks man.

elisa - Thank you. I appreciate it.

Listing - I'll do my best to keep on keepin' on.

faux - Thanks faux.

blanquish - Welcome to the SSG and to my thread.

fooxoo - Many thanks. I certainly enjoy em'

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I've been away, but I'm back. For now, here's a small update.

just this

and thumb/drawing

THanks for looking!
Craig

**blanquish** · September 4th, 2006, 03:26 AM

that last piece

!
I like the contrast from her arms to the tree!

great stuff

**sabe2003** · September 4th, 2006, 03:30 AM

yup, that last watercolour piece.

**Shylone_Breath** · September 4th, 2006, 07:54 AM

:o , sorry i ve missed all your recent updates..you are successful in traditionnal medium, above all in watercolor , it's very inspiring thx for sharing your stuff. Is your last update from references ?
Your drawing and studies of nature , animal think me about the naturalism drawing

. hope we can see more inspiring stuff!

**entdroid** · September 4th, 2006, 10:57 AM

I'm glad you're back!
It's great to see another of your updates, I love it, the texture of the branches is awsome.
Small crits:
- the shadows of the leaves on her body are too black, they should be of some skintone-like darker color (more saturated) and maybe with less defined edges.
- the feet look a bit weird. Can't really put my finger on what's wrong with them though.
That's it, it's a great job nonetheless.

Keep posting!
entdroid

**draw** · September 4th, 2006, 06:23 PM

Love that heaps Craig.

Minor crits are that the girl would have trouble lying in that position because gravity would cause the bark of the tree to create frictional forces on her stomach and her face would not look so beautiful and relaxed (tending to slide down the tree). It also feels a little washed out colour wise.

Keep Rolling

**Craig Houghton** · September 5th, 2006, 02:07 AM

blanq - Gracias

sabe - ditto.

shylone - I'm glad you like em' I do have a thing for nature, but figures have exactly the same appeal to me -- I suppose they strike me as just as natural as the rest of the flora and fauna. I had ref for the figure and a portion of the lower tree limb.

ent - Many thanks. I always look forward to your crit. You're right on both accounts. I might try playing around with the shadows.

draw - Thanks. I intended for her to be resting on a large limb, and not on too much of an angle. I'm hoping it doesn't look like she's sliding down.

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My brother just got back today from hiking the 'knife's edge." It's a trail in Maine that narrows to as thin as 2 feet wide, but it does that along a mountain ridge with no support on the sides and a constant up and down egress along jagged rocks. This goes on for hours apparently. His pics provided the ref for the piece below.

"derwent drawing" pencils (seem like fat extra-soft colored pencils to me), watercolor underdrawing, and painter touch-up

2.5x3 inches scrap paper aceo drawing w/ some watersoluble marker

Thanks for looking!
Craig

**camilografix** · September 5th, 2006, 09:21 AM

great paintings I really like the girl on the tree.

**entdroid** · September 5th, 2006, 03:18 PM

I reaaaally like that landscape!!!

I love how the mountains seem to fade out, and the details on the rocks are fantastic. Minor crit: the landscape itself and its reflections seem a bit too similar color-wise, maybe the top could have slightly brighter colors? Just a suggestion

And I'm really happy about your latest female faces! I'm glad you're moving a bit from your comfort zone on these.
Keep 'em coming, is always great to see your updates!
Cheers,
entdroid

**faux pas** · September 5th, 2006, 03:29 PM

That landscape is indeed purdy, the girl too

good to see you updating again!

**Craig Houghton** · September 6th, 2006, 08:32 AM

Camil - glad you like

ent - thx. I wanted to try to keep the reflected area forward, so to speak, so I was hesitant to make it lighter than the trees themselves, but your suggestion of color is a great solution. I'll try that.

faux - I aim to please. Thanks.

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from last night - trying to keep the posts daily - so, just this

note: re-uploaded pic - previous ver was blurry over-adjusted here.

Thanks for looking,
Craig

**entdroid** · September 6th, 2006, 10:51 PM

I like it a lot Craig, her expression and body lenguage are great. The hands look a bit overworked though, they don't have that loose, even ethereal feel everything else has.
Looking forward to your next post

entdroid

**blanquish** · September 8th, 2006, 07:40 PM

I like the environment, and how its detailed in the foreground, and less in the background.
On the last girl, i think the shading subtracts from the lines.
YOu would probably be better to render the whole thing, or leave the lines in, great pose nevertheless