Wednesday, November 12, 2014

deviant friends part 1




This painting is from a drawing I did for a proposed Wizard of Oz prequel. My main objective was to illustrate the drawing in a style similar to Arthur Rackham. It was a good learning experiment.

Inked with crow quill and brush, colored with watercolor. On stretched 2-ply Bristol paper, plate finish reverse side.

 ~ Colby Bluth



In the past week I've realized it's come to a choice between illustrating blog posts and spending some time working on a special project that's caught my interest. While I could, instead, post photographs of what I see outside, I'm no photographer and, besides that, what's outside is late autumn in Halifax with its overcast grey skies. It's been mostly raining here for weeks and the leaves, rather than blowing off the trees and bushes, are actually dripping off them.


You may recall I re-joined Deviant Art last summer and, oddly enough, within a week I'd been invited to be a moderator of one of their super groups (that's like a gallery with lots of members inside the larger website). While I was nervous about moderator responsibilities at first it's turned out to be easier than I'd expected and I've been introduced to some very talented artists whose work I might not have seen otherwise. Our group specializes in watercolors and the very talented Colby Bluth is one of our members. He kindly agreed when I asked to show you some of his work.


Colby is a professional artist who lives in Los Angeles:

Hello, and thanks for checking out my artwork. I’m an artist that’s been working in the fields of illustration and animation for over 15 years.

Some of the projects I’ve worked on include Fox’s Anastasia, Disney’s The Tigger Movie, and the Adam Sandler movie Bedtime Stories. I’ve also done flash animation and illustration for the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific since 2001.

Feel free to contact me for your project or to commission an art piece.



While Colby doesn't paint only in watercolors, it's those I tend to like the most, probably because of my own long-term interest in the medium and the fact he's also very accomplished at fantasy painting in a turn of the century style I've long admired. He's also been very generous in presenting his unfinished work so that we can see examples of his process.

Lastly, I was delighted (and a little envious) when I found some animated 2D cartoons made entirely by Colby Bluth in the old-fashioned Disney and Miazaki style. Here's a sample you may enjoy too:




You can see more of his work here and here.

I'll be back soon.

20 comments:

  1. Well done on moderating a super group. I bet you did it without Crow's help (such as it is).Thanks for the introduction to Colby Bluth. He's almost asa awesome as you are.

    Blessings and Bear hugs. Best regards to Crow.

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    1. Hi Rob. I think someone guessed I was well past the age of consent and so might prove reliable. They were probably right.

      I'm glad you like Colby's work.

      All the best from Crow and I :)

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  2. All the pictures were excellent; I particularly liked the hilltop tree and the stormy clouds. His work is outstanding.
    Mike

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    1. That one is also my particular favorite of this group, Mike. He's very good.

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  3. Such fabulous art... thanks for the intro. It took me over to DA and so many wonderful things to see. Much inspiration to draw from. Makes me think perhaps it would help me feel more motivated again. brb...

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    1. For me the the trick with dA is in not getting overwhelmed. I can only take an hour or so of the place - but that's also true with being online at all.

      I'd like it if we could meet there now and again, though :)
      xoxo

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  4. haha, gotta love computers... i'm wondering how the sales go on DA? although i can see the merits in having all that wonderful input and inspiration. i'm thinking of joining... thoughts? do you have to upload hi-res photos of your work?



    xoxoxox

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    1. There are some people up there who make private deals for sales and many who have links to their websites or Etsy et al, but for the most part it's more of a club and mutual admiration place.

      I do have hi-res pictures of most of my stuff but I also posted scans of photographs for a few of them - so, no, you don't have to.

      Joining is very easy if you feel like doing it for a while to see if you like spending time there.
      xoxo

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  5. At first I thought you had done the first piece on top and thought how your style had changed! Good job, moderator, and thanks for the intro to an interesting artist.

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    1. The reason I chose that one as the first was because I thought he did a great job emulating Rackham. You know the he's been one of my favorite 'Golden Age' artists for many years.

      I'm glad you liked seeing Colby's work, Marja-Leena.

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  6. All very fine and fascinating. Your first painting is different from your usual and extremely good in a different way from all your other extremely good ones.

    Colby's work is great, and I'd commission him to draw my little friend Aileen the Alien (that nobody believes in) if he could be persuaded to accept Adrig's fake credit card number (was was sadly refused when I presented it at the pole dancing classroom).

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    1. Oh... They are all by Colby eh? Hmmm.. I thought the top one was yours. Silly me. Good stuff.

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    2. While I'm delighted to read you mistook Colby's picture as one of mine I can see I'm going to have to be much more clear up front when I post work done by artists other than myself. Among the Deviant Art artists whose work I appreciate most are the watercolor illustrators as its particular style is one I've been working on for years. I like oil paintings but I'm allergic to solvents and I like some of the digital work too but have no idea how that's done.

      Perhaps Adrig might be more persuasive if he contacted Colby directly.

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  7. Hi Susan
    This painting from your drawing by Colby Bluth of a proposed Wizard of Oz prequel, has lovely rich colours and sets the scene perfectly for the story. I also liked all of the other images and pleased to hear your enjoying the activity as moderator. The animated 2D cartoons was equally talented and pleasing.
    Best wishes

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    1. Hi Lindsay,
      I'm delighted to know you enjoyed seeing Colby's work. He is very good.
      The moderator position suits me because the duties are minimal and I'm
      not required to be judgmental about beginner's work.
      Best wishes

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  8. Your art always tells a story: a different story to every viewer. Any one can send me on a mind fantasy with divergent paths. Thanks
    the Ol'Buzzard

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    1. Thanks, OB. Feeding imaginations seems to be more important now than ever before.

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  9. ha! life has not been fun.....and the weather sucks. Mostly, though, I am astounded at my own lack of imagination in seeking a solution .....I need to come here more often.

    b good

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    1. Sorry to hear life hasn't been fun. Sometimes it just isn't and we have to wait til it is again - and maybe have a beer while we're waiting.

      I should come here more often too.

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  10. This is wonderful stuff, Susan! So many posts for me to catch up on.

    Today I discovered that my blog The Pagan Sphinx is for sale by another domain. Very strange...and disturbing. I'll let you know what I find out, if anything.

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