Chapter 8 Header
KimLuster on March 27, 2014
For this chapter header, I didn't so much make a parody of a classic painting, but rather was inspired by it. The painting, Christina's World, has always fascinated me. I remember seeing it as a child and wondering what she's thinking, out there alone. Later on I learned that the subject is actually a girl that had polio and couldn't walk at all, but the initial feeling of someone who chose to be out there… thinking… never really left me.
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Of course, Kimber Lee isn't doing a whole lotta musing in her field. Foreshadowing…?
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Thanks for reading everyone
skyangel at 5:45PM, Dec. 22, 2014
Haha That's cool, as I used this very pic myself. It's a wonderfully haunting and yet optimistic painting I always feel. Love your version of it btw. XD
KimLuster at 5:32PM, March 30, 2014
@Peipei: Thanks - the wide open midwest provides lots of landscape inspiration ;)
Peipei at 4:45PM, March 30, 2014
Very lovely chapter cover. I like the grand landscapes you include in this comic. :)
KimLuster at 6:16PM, March 29, 2014
@FC: I got that - and it was good advice. For a webcomic, I use watercolor primarily because of the 'setup and cleanup' factor. It's just easier to do that than with other mediums. But by no means am I a 'purist'. If there are easier ways to make 'light over dark' work I'm all for it. I've thought about using some white gouache or even white acrylic, watered down to get desired transparency, to get light over dark, but I dunno... maybe once I get a better grasp on the medium in general. I guess the best time saver is to learn to do it all digitally right ;)
fallopiancrusader at 4:27PM, March 29, 2014
Just on a technical note, my comment was assuming the use of "transparent" technique, which doesn't utilize opaque pigments, and the only white is the white of the paper. I paint with dyes, so that is the only technique I use. If using traditional pigments, painting light over dark is definitely a vast time- saver.
KimLuster at 9:17PM, March 28, 2014
@Banes: Thanks a bunch!
Banes at 7:53PM, March 28, 2014
Lovely stuff once again. Can't wait to see what's in store for Kim in the next chapter!
KimLuster at 2:46PM, March 28, 2014
@bravo1102: Interesting about you meeting Wyeth's granddaughter. Wow I never even knew about this 'drybrush' technique, but I googled it and, sho nuff, it's real, and you can go light over dark with watercolor paint; just requires patience and learning a new skill. Whodathunkit!!! I might just give that a try... 'Course, doing just a webcomic (not selling webcomics short by any means) I don't think I'll go for the detail Wyeth did :)
bravo1102 at 2:08PM, March 28, 2014
Nah, do what Wyeth did and paint light over on dark. Was dragged to Chadd's Ford by the wife and spent a day at the museum and farmhouse. Met his granddaughter and loved his use of dry-brushing and explained it to a would-be emulator of Wyeth's technique who couldn't grasp how he did it. I do tons of dry-brushing as a model-builder and it's a great way to build up light over dark layer upon layer. Firm control of the medium would be necessary to do it in watercolor but Wyeth achieved it at least once. I'm the guy who stands and stares at a work for hours in a museum with my nose on the glass de- and re-constructing every brush stroke.
KimLuster at 9:53AM, March 28, 2014
Thanks Plymayer!
plymayer at 9:45AM, March 28, 2014
Well done.
KimLuster at 8:12AM, March 28, 2014
@FC: So a bunch of negative space grass blades... yeesh!! :D
fallopiancrusader at 7:23AM, March 28, 2014
In Wyeth's painting, the blades of grass are lighter than the ground visible between the blades. In watercolor, you would have to think of painting the gaps between the blades of grass instead of the grass itself. At least, that's worked for me in the past. Yup, keeping at it is definitely the best teacher!
KimLuster at 7:01AM, March 28, 2014
@FC: Thanks! I appreciate it truly! I still can't figure out how to make grass in watercolor look good though, especially large fields... I've read lots of tips, looked at lots of renderings, tried lots of things (painting lots of grass blades, painting minimal grass blades, in between...), used different brushes (like fan brushes)... Long as I keep at it, one day it'll just click I guess :)
fallopiancrusader at 6:55AM, March 28, 2014
Well, Andrew Wyeth is certainly a worthwhile artist to emulate! Your painting is beautiful. The sky and the hands are particularly well done.