Jungle Boy: Preview

Jungle Boy: Part 3

The third and final installment. To eliminate the hard edges between colours I do the following in Photoshop. Using the colour picker, I pick one of the two colours next to each other (or hold down Alt while in brush mode to toggle between brush and picker). Now the brush gives me a value in between the two colours which can be used to blend them together. The next part involves colour picking and blending like crazy until the transitions between colours are smoother but still looks "painted" (image 1). Some more detail gets added to the background (image 2) and I am done with the small version of this image. The image is scaled back up to its original dimensions. Some pixelation will occur but I am left with a good guide to start painting on at a higher resolution. Now the real work starts. I delete the line art layer and replace it with the clean line art from the original file. The next part is hard to describe but basically involves lots of colour picking, blending and smudging to make it a lot smoother and remove any pixelation. More detail is added and working in other colours for reflective lights and shadows. Working in Photoshop also allows me to play around with different filters and effects. The final version will be posted soon...

Jungle Boy: Part 2

Next I need to decide where the light will be coming from and what my basic pallete will be. On seperate layers, I start defining the areas for the dark, mid and light tones using a hard round brush (images 1 - 3). No mystery here, just use common sense or some reference photos to guide you. The lighting does not have to be 100% accurate. The "cartoon" style of this drawing is very forgiving and you can get away with a lot more than you would be able to normally. Our eyes are easily fooled... Adding another light source also help to make the forms seem more "rounded". The reason the tones are done on different layers is so that I can easily adjust the colours for each. Just "Lock Transparent Pixels" on each layer in Photoshop, choose a colour and use "Alt+Backspace" to fill the layer until colour tones emerge that work together. I also play around with the "Opacity" slider on each layer to harmonize the tones (image 4). On the last image you can see I have added some highlights and tested some pinks and greens which I may later use to add reflective light and shadows (image 5). After this all the layers for the character gets merged to a single layer. So now I am left with only three layers - the background, the jungle dude and the line art on top of him. This process may seem elaborate, but it helps me to solve problems early which later makes it easier to work on the final large scale version. NEXT INSTALLMENT: Blending the character and adding detail to the background.

Snow in Jo'burg?

Many parts of the Witwatersrand were blanketed in a layer of icy crystals when we woke up this morning. In Johannesburg it was our first real fall since September 10, 1981. Roads have been closed to motorists, some shops have been closed and airport traffic was delayed for hours. Very strange indeed! This may not seem significant, but it is a big deal to South Africans. Above you can see images of Johannesburg, the back of my car and our garden.

Jungle Boy: Part 1

The next project... a wild young man, before he was king. In an attempt to share my process, I will be taking you step by step through my digital coloring methodology. It is by no means cast in stone, in fact, it changes regularly. Each piece seems to demand its own approach. Maybe it will be useful to others, else it will at least be amusing...

	The pencil drawing comes first. This was done on A4 paper with a medium pencil and as you can see I still suck at drawing hands. The drawing gets traced with a black fineliner on a new sheet and scanned at 300dpi in greyscale. To get the line art pure black on white I adjust the values "Image, Adjustments, Levels..." in Photoshop, it also removes the paper texture. Next any unwanted marks are erased manually.
	Use the "Channels" tab and click on the "Load channel as selection" circle at the bottom. Create a new layer, invert the selection and fill it with 100% black. Deselect and go back to the original layer. Fill it with 100% white - you now should have a layer with clean line art and a seperate background layer. Change the file "Image, Mode, RGB or CMYK Color" and save it.
	Loverboys taught me not to work on a large scale early on. I get lost in the detail and take too long - but that could just be me! For this I resize the image and reduce it to a more manageable scale. On a seperate layer below the line art I create a base colour using a large round brush and trim it to match the outlines. I choose a basic palette for the background, and lay down a few rough brush strokes (brush set to 50% opacity). Save often!

MORE LATER...

Deviations

Drawfellas has opened a gallery on DeviantArt. So if you want to see all the artworks so far in one place, just go to the gallery for DrawFellas. There are so many very talented people on this art community, but you have to become a member to see the "Mature" stuff.

Loverboys Revisited

The digital version of an earlier pencil drawing. This one took forever... needs a bit more work. Trying to teach myself how to get a "painted" look but I am still not happy with the skin tones and the contrast. There is still a lot to learn... The background is a photo I took in Zanzibar on holiday a while ago.

The Art of Darren Engleman

ARTIST’S STATEMENT
My art makes a definite statement about my life, in that my approach to painting is a reflection of the way I view the world - full of beautiful and strange surprises and hidden connections. Art is about seeing things that are difficult to explain and examining what I value or find beautiful, or even just what I notice in something - what captures my attention.

I am fascinated by the abstractions I find everywhere I look, and so my paintings are filled with geometric patterns of vibrant color and texture. I am drawn to interpreting the human figure in sometimes controversial compositions, as well as flowers, clouds and landscapes.

Visit his website for other great Male Art and more information. Copy and images used with permission.

Vintage Beefcake

Lately, pictures of pretty boys are a dime a dozen.

Don't get me wrong - I am all for photographing virile male specimens. Sometimes these modern photographs make the guys just seem a little too polished and merits little artistic appreciation. Their physiques seem to lack the burly quality and virility of the masculine ideal.

Maybe I am a little old fashioned but few images beat the raw and unpolished quality of Beefcake shots from days gone by.

Many of the models were as rough in reality as they looked, and attributed their physiques to hard work as boxers, athletes or construction workers. Most of them are excellent inspiration for art - great composition, good contrast and classical or provocative themes.

Sure times and the concept of masculinity change, but please bring back the rugged men!

Lover Boys

Just something I'm working on... Promise to upload the coloured version soon. This drawing is very small and the paper was too coarse so it was quite difficult to get a lot of detail. Next time I will use different paper and start drawing on a larger scale. But hey, this is how we learn - from our mistakes. Pencil drawing on A4 paper.

Romance Illustration

I have been very bad. It has been a while since my last drawing. Here is an illustration I finally completed for a gay-romance story by Andrej Koymasky.

"Sure. All you want, my love."
"They washed off, then Alain emptied the tub and with the shower nozzle, rinsed off their bodies. Then he got out of the tub, took Jacques under his arm and lifted him from the bath. Taking the towel, Alain started to dry Jacques and himself. Then he took his lover in his arms and brought him to the bed."

You can read more of his stories here.

Lanky Guys

Check out The Perfect Touch for some great erotic artwork by Dhani.

So much talent...

Look what arrived in my mailbox courtesy of the illustration I made for the Rugby Days contest.

Stripped is a great anthology of gay comics, illustrations and paintings. More than 50 talented artists represented across 352 full-color pages.

The Art of Philip Swarbrick

Philip Swarbrick writes...

"I was born in South Africa in 1956. My first interest in painting the male nude was when I saw The Agony and the Ecstacy featuring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo. During my pre-teens I frolicked on Rocket Hut Beach a half mile from where I lived. The beach was inhabited by mainly male sunbathers who sprawled out in the sanctuary of the sand dunes. As I reached my early teens, the male form I admired and featured in my drawings fused with my progressively emerging (and apparent) homosexuality. My drawings disturbed my family and peers so my venture into this sort of art was abruptly curtailed.

As I grew older, my daytime and nocturnal activities on Rocket Hut Beach increased despite draconian laws forbidding homosexual contact. I was conscripted into the South Africa Police and I teamed up with like-minded officers. We regularly raided the numerous cruising areas around Durban, 'apprehending' those 'soliciting with intent'. As I became more politically aware, enforcing apartheid became impossible and I left the country.

During this period I neglected the homosexual content of my work and concentratedon anti-apartheid themes. My first one-man exhibition was entitled Witness to Apartheid and Post Modern Blues. This was held in London at the Balhamgallery in 1987. The exhibition nearly sold out and received favourable comments from The Voice and Time Out. Thereafter I had a painting shortlisted for the BP National Portrait Award.

I went on to work as an illustrator for the AD Comics Group and eventually became an art lecturer and Head of Art History at New College Swindon. My peers in Malmesbury where I had an 18th century cottage criticised me for neglecting my painting talent in favour of education and security (which consumed all my attention and energy). It was after a furious outburst by Peter Harris MBE that I determined to change my ways. Now eighty, he demanded that I 'stop farting about' and concentrate on painting - for better or worse. Somehow many years had passed when I had avoided painting the male nude. Inwardly I was seething with anger that I had been so diverted from my original quest and passion. Through his publisher, I met Michael Leonard. I greatly admired his male art. His positive but realistic encouragement spurred me on. I took voluntary redundancy so that I could concentrate my energies on painting rather than teaching. I swapped my house and lectureship for a bedsit and a street-sweeping job. An important factor is this was a quote from Michael Leonard: 'I would like to be remembered for a few memorable paintings'.

My raison d'etre is now to make up for almost 30 years of neglecting my craft. I am now a student of my own craft. While I was a lecturer in Art History I was a diligent student of the subject, but it was divorced from life. Now life is at the centre of my current study. My intention is to draw eroticism from the experience of the urban environment. The thrust of 20th century art concentrated on the female form. My aim is now to redress the balance. As with the ancient Greeks and Renaissance artists, we should celebrate our masculinity. I want the opportunity to create alluring, challenging and evocative imagery using the male form as a medium of carnal and intellectual expression. In an historical context, I believe the acceptance of homosexuality is a good measure of democratic tolerance over religious and cultural zeal. Rather that hide my flame under a bushell, my intention is to set the whole damn thing ablaze - after all I have waited almost 30 years to do so. This exhibition is not a result of calculated design but I hope a coming together of like minds enhancing our growing community..."

Copy and images used with permission from Adonis Art of London.

Hooray!

Success at last! After nearly a month of not being able to post any new images, I finally cracked and switched to the new Blogger. Seems like it may have solved the all the issues. For a long time I have been hesitant to switch over - heard too many horror stories from fellow Bloggers. Maybe I just resist change... Anyway lets hope there won't be any more problems! So far so good...

At last!

This is my first post for 2007. I have been having some technical issues with the blog - not sure how to resolve it... None of the images are being uploaded, the template can't be modified and the older posts cannot be edited. So lets hope it gets better...

Jockstrapped

This was my entry for the Rugby Days contest. South Africa does not have much of a jockstrap culture, not like America where according to Jockalot - the jockstrap was a rite of passage growing up. Luckily things are changing and jockstraps are slowly becoming available here.

Human Anatomy Lessons

Found a great resource that teaches you how to draw the human figure. The Structure of Man Blog has video lessons on all aspects of human anatomy. All the lessons are also available on DVD. I have only watched a few but it looks pretty good...

Artus Interruptus

One of the projects I was working on before the original file got corrupted. The four images are all that is left and shows how far it progressed. Guess I may get back on the horse and finish it one day but it will mean starting all over again. Damn!

The art of Felix d'Eon

Based in San Francisco, Felix's work is collected the world over, by individuals who marvel at his technical abilities, appreciate his mastery of the male form, enjoy his classical narrative scenarios, and enjoy the pleasures afforded by his beautiful models. Felix d'Eon was born in Guadalajara, Mexico to a Mexican mother and a French father. He attended the Academy of Art University, a school that emphasizes classical technique, and he graduated with honors. He put himself through school and worked for some years afterwards as an artist’s model, but has recently found some measure of success as an artist, and has decided to devote himself full time to his craft. Be sure to visit his website at www.felixdeon.com and support this contemporary master of classical art.