This is the continuation of revamping old content that is still relevant and viable and bringing it up-to-date with current technologies - the digital images originally used to create this presentation are ten years old, which is quite ancient given the measure by which technology evolves every eighteen months (or less), still I believe these images can still serve the purpose intended...
This online presentation was originally created in 1999 - the method by which the art was created has not changed, just the content and subject matter, but the principle is the same - take from it what you will...
1. ) The shirt is stretched over a precut, 1/2” piece of plywood, held in place with spring clamps, and is masked off leaving only the back exposed...
2. ) The exposed area of the shirt is then sprayed with a mix comprised of Water, Golden Airbrush Medium and Golden GAC 900, which I allow to air-dry before heat-setting.
3. ) Using an old linen pillowcase clipped to the top of the board I have the shirt stretched over, I use a small iron to heat-set; ironing also helps to flatten out the nap of the shirt, helping to eliminate the potential for the evidence of over spray.
4. ) Using the Artograph Super AG-100, I sketch a basic outline in white chalk, based on my small scale line drawing. Taking strips of masking tape, I rip them down the middle to create an irregular edge, and frame out the area of the shirt I want to isolate for the painting. I then paint in the basic shape of the Tiger and foreground area with White. After allowing this to air-dry, I heat set this White area as before (see Step 3) and when complete, I use the projector again to add the key lines, this time using a Raw Umber Conté Crayon.
5. ) Using Krylon Repositionable Adhesive Spray and some wax paper, I cover the whole area with a 'homemade' frisket.
6. ) Using a stencil knife, I isolated the three definite areas of the picture; background, subject and foreground.
7. ) At this point I remove the background section at the top (setting it aside for later), leaving the other two areas covered.
8. ) The background is to be an undefined wash of colors meant to set off the Tiger by contrast. For this effect I use Turquoise (Phthalo) and Burnt Sienna (separately) mixed on a 1:1 ratio with Golden Airbrush Medium. To add a little depth to certain areas, I add a small amount of Dioxazine Purple and a 'tinting' Black mix made with a 20:1 ratio of AB Medium to Carbon Black paint. I want the colors to be a bit washed out as not to have the same intensity as the subject - this lends itself well to creating the illusion of depth.
9. ) Having completed the background, I remove the piece covering the subject area, and replace the piece that I saved from Step 7 that originally covered the background area.
10. ) Using Titanium White, I hit all the areas that represent the greatest concentrations of white fur.
11. ) As the intent here is towards a more graphic oriented rendition, I define all the darkest areas on the Tiger's body with Carbon Black; stripes, back of the ears, around the eyes, etc.
12. ) Using a 20:1 mix of AB Medium to Carbon Black, I use this 'tinting' mix to further extend the black areas and shade where appropriate.
13. ) To further extend the under painting of the darkest values of the Tiger, I have switched to Raw Umber, and stroke in the darkest areas of fur in the paw in the foreground, around the nose, and the areas around the eyes.
14. ) Here I lighten the value of the Raw Umber with a bit of Titan Buff, and continue to stroke in more defined areas of the fur texture in and around the ears, in the ruff of the mane, and further extend the detail in the shoulder and paw in the foreground.
15. ) At this point I switch to Paynes Gray to add further shadow depth around the eyes, as well as all other areas that would be perceived with depth (in the ear, those parts of the paw that would be furthest away, where the body goes behind the rock in the foreground, etc.)
16. ) Using a base of 10 drops Titanium White, I start with one drop of Burnt Sienna, and begin working in the area of the nose - as I continue I add a couple more drops of Red Oxide, then a couple drops Raw Umber, then one drop Dioxazine Purple and finally one drop Carbon Black until I have completely defined the nose with each successive color variation.
17. ) Having completed the ‘under-painting’ of the shadow values, I start with the overall fur color - using a mixture of 20 drops Titan Buff, 2 drops Hansa Yellow Medium, I cover all the fur areas that will end up the ‘tawny orange’ that we associate with Tigers. This mix is also used to begin to define the eyes.
18. ) As I continue, I use a deeper value of the previous mixture, comprised of 20 drops Titan Buff, 2 drops Yellow Oxide and a drop Raw Umber - this is added only in the areas that are recessed; those areas which are perceptually further from the viewer, to create the illusion of depth and dimension - notice as these colors are layered over the darker under painting that the image begins to indeed look more like a Tiger. As before, this color is used to help define the depth of the eyes as well as adding a bit of highlight to the nose.
19. ) To add further color intensity to the fur and begin to refine some of the fur texture, I use a mixture of 10 drops Raw Sienna, a couple drops Burnt Sienna and a drop of Raw Umber.
20. ) Using a base of 10 drops Raw Sienna, I add 2 drops Yellow Oxide and a few drops of Red Oxide, and 10 drops more of AB Medium to give a bit of transparency to the mix - with this mix I add more color intensity to certain areas of the fur, more depth to the eyes, and also a little more refinement to the nose.
21. ) Using 8 drops Titanium White, and 2 drops Paynes Gray and a drop of Ultramarine Blue, I refine the white fur areas. Then I use Titan Buff and last Titanium White - with each successive layer of color, the illusion of individual stands of hair is reinforced; first with the Blue/Gray mix being that background areas, Titan Buff ‘mid-ground’ and Titanium White as the foreground and obvious single strands.
22. ) Using a combination of Carbon Black and Dioxazine Purple (1:1) for a really ‘deep’ Black, I go back and redefine the stripes, eyes, and areas around the nose and mouth that may have been ‘obscured’ by the previous colors - in certain areas of the stripes I do not “redefine” totally, leaving parts intentionally “obscured” to promote the illusion of dimension.
23. ) Removing the wax paper that was covering the background colors, I use a bit of Titanium White and Dairylide Yellow to blend the two contrasting areas by adding some highlights that blend back right up to this ‘edge.'
24. ) Using Titanium White again, I add the last whiskers around the ears and muzzle.
25. ) Using a brush and some Titanium White and a little Ultramarine Blue mixed with the White, I add the highlights to the eyes (mostly the Blue/White mix here) and the little tiny drops of moisture in the corner of the eyes and on the nose with just the White.
26. ) Removing the wax paper covering the foreground and replacing part of the paper used to cover the Tiger originally, I begin to define this area as rock. Using a 20:1 mix of AB Medium with Carbon Black. Using a broken French curve, I roll it in my hand and keep moving it about randomly as I spray the black mixture over it; the result from this process are areas of sharp contrasts the will serve as dimension for defining this rock. (I like random patterns)
27. ) To continue the under painting portion of the rock, using a butcher's pan (a flat, ceramic coated, metal pan) I squirt some colors into the pan (Green Gold, Violet Oxide, Carbon Black, Yellow Oxide, Titanium White, Raw Umber) and using a sea sponge I just 'have at it', mixing colors randomly and applying them for texture using the ‘random edges’ created with the French Curve, as key lines for placement - the colors of Green Gold, Yellow Oxide and Raw Umber help to create the illusion of lichens and mosses that grow on rocks and stone.
28. ) Using Paynes Gray with a drop of Carbon Black, and a bit more AB Medium to add a bit of transparency, I begin to define the deepest recesses of this rock... I move ‘outward’ from the recessed areas by adding a bit of Titanium White to this mix. To create the highlights of this rock I use Titanium White mixed with a drop of Paynes Gray not to have a really stark White.
29. ) For detail in this rock and to reinforce the moss/lichen effect, I start with a mix of mostly Titanium White, a couple drops Hansa Yellow Medium, and a drop Yellow Oxide, and go through and pick out and highlight corresponding areas of the moss/lichen effect created with the sea sponge. I further detail these areas by adding a drop more of Yellow Oxide and a couple drops Raw Umber to the previous mix. To further define any remaining intent of detail and shadow, I use a 20:1 mix of AB Medium and Carbon Black.
30. ) Time to finish... I remove the tape used to ‘frame out’ the area - because of the edge effect created by the masking, the work can tend to look a bit ‘orphaned’ or unfinished sometimes, so using a graphic style approach, I frame it out with strong bold lines that appeal to my sense of something I think will draw the eye in, and then add the signature on the rock.
31. ) Again using GOLDEN GAC 900, (a heat-setting medium) I spray this on as a 'top binder.'
I allow this to air-dry, and then heat-set with a heat gun for a few minutes. Golden Fluid Acrylics blended with Golden Airbrush Medium do NOT require heat-setting for launderability, while equaling the performance of fabric paints that do. The "top binder" is basically insurance, and heat-setting will speed the curing time required and may increase launderability.
32. ) Its never really done till you take ALL the tape off...
Conclusion:
The first piece done for the original version of this "How-To" was gifted to a friend. A second version was donated to Shambala, to be given as a gift by Tippi Hedren, to actress Loni Anderson at a Shambala fund raising event as a token of appreciation for Ms. Anderson's involvement on behalf of Shambala. A third version was created and I hand delivered that piece to Christin Burford for her to use for fund raising purposes. Obviously one image can go a long ways towards helping to raise awareness...