Sunday, March 09, 2008

One Of Those Days....

Below is my impromptu ranking of some artistic media I've used. On top are those with which I have the most practice, can usually achieve the look I intend, and enjoy working. The farther down the list a medium falls, the more likely it is to make me waste many frustrating hours before throwing away the result.

#1. Ink and brush
#2. Watercolor
#3. Acrylic
#4. Pastels
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#10. Oils
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#34. Wacom tablet and computer
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#73. Dog poo and a wiggly twig
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#652. Gouache

Stupid gouache.
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6 comments:

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Funny list, Brian.
Pat yourself on the back for being good at brush and ink- something I've never been able to master.
I'm surprised the Wacom tablet ranked so low. How come? I love that thing.

Brian Fies said...

Namowal, thanks. I never claim to master anything. The more I learn, the less I realize I know.

My lack of affinity for the Wacom is probably just lack of practice and interest. I have one but use it mostly as an editing and layout tool, for which I love it. Much superior to scissors, cement and white-out. As far as actually drawing or painting with it, I've not yet figured out how to do things I already know how to do just fine by hand. I read long multi-step tutorials about thirty-layer techniques to achieve some effect like (for instance) a watercolor wash, and think, "wouldn't it just be faster and easier to do a watercolor wash?" I also value "happy accidents," those unintentional collisions of pigment and paper that somehow work better than you intend or imagine. I've never had a happy accident sitting at a keyboard.

ronnie said...

I don't suppose you'd have anything in "Dog poo and a wiggly twig" available in digital format, would you?

'Cause I'd pay to see some of that.

Oh, and possibly the gouache, too.

ronnie

Brian Fies said...

Ronnie, my dog poo compositions are outstanding--frankly, some of my best work. I wish I could share them but they make a mess of my scanner. Just picture a painting by Van Gogh, except browner.

The garbagemen picked up my gouache this morning.

Mike Lynch said...

Brian, where did you learn to handle the brush? Or are you self-taught?

Brian Fies said...

Mike, to the extent I can be said to have any brush skills at all, I'm mostly self-taught. I also had a very good art teacher in high school and took two or three studio courses in college including life drawing, the most worthwhile art class I ever had. I learned a lot from them, but as far as putting black ink on white paper goes, that's all me (with the help of every book about cartooning published in the past 35 years).