Thursday, June 19, 2014

A fly in the ointment


Years ago, I thought that I would do some Mucha inspired art with the help of a few mask designs by Judith Rauchfuss.

See her designs here:


My favorite group of painters are the Pre-Raphaelites, but Alphonse Mucha is someone who I admired a lot.

The incorporation of the elaborate designs and text for his posters was masterful!  I still have some very large art books of his work.

I never actually got a chance to paint these, as they were right at the point where I switched over to miniature painting 100% of the time.  Early on, I had thought that I might try to turn these into miniature designs.

Once I realized how difficult casting was, that idea went by the wayside.


Once all the miniature painting (and all that went with it) took over, these fell further and further into the background.  I have completely forgotten about them for at least 5 years!


I ran across them yesterday looking for scrap mat board, if you can believe it.

Looking at them now, I still think it would be neat to turn them into sculpts!  Perhaps 54mm or 72mm.


Who knows... maybe someone who knows far more than me about sculpting and casting will take on that project.  I know a few sculptors at Reaper that might do some fun things with these characters!


As it is, I am going to try painting these in the coming weeks.  I hope you don't mind me putting the WIP's on here.  As I have said many times, my approach to miniatures is exactly the same as my 2D art.

You will recognize the techniques and the basic principles right away! :-)


Perhaps I might have a few of these completed for Convergence!  Yes, I am going there with Cathy, and the goal is to have art in the art show.  Believe it!  And they would be all new as well.

Wow! 


15 comments:

  1. Very beautiful works of art ... I especially like the last one (the dragonfly lady?) which is absolutely stunning. I am in awe of your drawing skills.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the kind words! They were lots of fun!

      Delete
  2. Oh my gosh, James, these are beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! They will be fun to paint in 2D... but it would be neat to see Werner or Patrick sculpt them...

      Delete
  3. Lovely work. My 7yr old daughter also gives them a big thumbs up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kid approved! Makes life easier for parents :-)

      Delete
  4. I love these. Art deco style to boot (one of my favorites). Very impressive, and shows exactly why your miniatures come out so beautifully. My teachers always said, it all starts with drawing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! It's the reason why I show pictures of 2D paintings to the shaded basecoat students. It's all about building a framework for all the rest of the techniques to wrap themselves around :-)

      Delete
  5. Those are really nice! Definietly do post the WIPs. I'm curious to see how the 2D and 3D compare.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can get a bit of a preview of the 2D painting in progress if you check out some of the 2D painting posts. There is a section on 2D art... you can also search for that. :-)

      Delete
  6. Really spectacular drawings. Just beautiful. Cannot wait to see than painted.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I would love to see what you will do with those. they are gorgeous :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I keep changing my mind on which one I might want to tackle first ;-)

      Delete
    2. You know, they would make great tattoos as well! Especially the last one.

      Delete
    3. Definitely would be an interesting design! Color choice would be very omportant...

      Delete