Letters From Readers: Inner Glow
10/7/2024 | Jim Henson, Disney, and a draw-over of a reader’s artwork.
This week I respond to Iris, Bob, Patrick, Mark, Linda, and Kathy, including a draw-over of some of Kathy’s artwork, where she asks how to paint a glow effect.
Iris S., from my Gouache Landscapes workshop writes:
The group photo came out great! Attached is a painting my grandmother had by Zara Ellwood in gouache.
Iris, it was great meeting you, and Historic Yellow Springs was such a beautiful countryside setting in which to paint! I see that Zara Ellwood must have been quite a prolific painter in 1930s Greenwich Village, New York. Many examples of her work can be found online, although I’d never heard of her until now. As you know, gouache is fragile; it’s great that this has survived intact for probably almost a hundred years! ZK
Patrick McGinley commented on Gouache Painting: It’s a Piece of Cake!
Funny you should mention Caran d'Ache water soluble crayons; I've got a small set and was going to experiment a little more with them. I've still not given gouache my full time and effort, but I'm looking forward to that time. I think we'll be friends.
Hey P, the soluble crayons are pretty intense; they go on quite thick and become almost fluorescent under a little bit of water. I haven’t gotten the hang of them yet. Looking forward to your sketches with gouache or Caran d’Ache. ZK
Bob Blowsky commented on Traditional, Hand-Drawn, 2D Animated Effects.
Your animation shows a good understanding of the laws of physics (the real laws, not the “cartoon laws”). This makes them appear realistic. I’ve made just one 15-second animation—a raptor getting a snack from a defective vending machine. Did it with the Rough Animator app. How does Procreate Dreams compare?
Hi Bob, thank you! I’ve used Flip A Clip and Procreate Dreams but not Rough Animator. I’d say you can do some very polished things in Procreate Dreams, but the interface is kept very clean and some features are pretty well hidden. Procreate has great resources to get started on their website; they also do frequent Q and A on their Instagram story. And I have a video to help you here.
Bob Blowsky commented on Jim Henson, Born 88 Years Ago Today.
I remember seeing The Muppet Movie with my niece. Jim was phenomenally creative. And the detail in your portrait returned his memory to me. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing, Bob! I had decided my life’s goal was to work with Jim Henson and the Muppets—just weeks before he passed away. The portrait was a way of “bringing him back to life” for me, I think. ZK
Linda Kellc commented on Painting in the Style of Sleeping Beauty.
So interesting to learn about the man, Eyvind Earle, who painted the backgrounds of many famous Disney movies and to learn how he went about it. It’s inspiring, and now I want to find out more about his other artwork.
Hi Linda, there are a couple of new books about him, but they are hard to find and rather expensive. The Complete Graphics of Eyvind Earle focuses in on his silkscreen printed landscapes, poetry, and writing. I’d love to have a copy of Awaking Beauty: The Art of Eyvind Earle (companion catalog to the 2017 exhibition of the same name), but you currently can’t find it for less than $50 plus another $30 for shipping from the Walt Disney Family Museum. ZK
Mark Thomas commented on How to Paint a Glowing Candle.
This is such a cool effect to add to a painting. Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome, Mark. Reduction of chroma and the resulting contrast with higher chroma color is an important principle for creating light illusions in painting, whether it be a glowing candle, neon, or sunlight shining on a mountainside! ZK
Bob Blowsky commented on your post Art, Improvisation, and Banana Bread.
This must be scrumptious! Too bad I'm pre-diabetic.
Hi Bob, definitely follow doctor’s orders, but I’m pretty sensitive to sugar, too. The recipe I included in the post is more rich and hearty/grainy than sweet, compared to other versions of banana bread I’ve eaten or made. ZK
Zoungy, I tried painting a jack-o-lantern in gouache the other day. I really tried to get the eyes, nose, and mouth to glow. It's difficult! I'll have to play around with the glow on others. I got a friend interested in watercolor. When my arm heals up maybe we will take a class. I'm getting your emails—I don't want to download the Substack app. Is that an important thing to do?
Hi Kathy, that’s cool that you got another friend interested in art! Would love for her and you to join a class or workshop. Good luck with the healing arm.
As for Substack, that’s the platform that makes the formatting and delivery and reading and billing of Artist’s Cheat Sheet possible. The app is one of several ways to read (the others being the email version, and the web browser version). You don’t need the app, but it has some features that some people enjoy, like a small, centralized place to view all your subscriptions.
As for the jack-o-lantern, it looks good! If you want to get a stronger glow effect, use pure colors (clean yellows and oranges) nearest the light source. Make sure your brush, palette, and water are clean, and that you’re not introducing dulling colors like blues and browns by accident. DO use dull, dark colors (just as you did) everywhere else. I redrew the right half of your image (below) to show you what I mean. I added a weaker, secondary source of cool light as well. Keep in mind that gouache dries lower contrast than other paints; higher quality gouache less so. ZK