Friday, May 11, 2007

True Wind


Above is the newest thing I’ve done. It’s here because I thought it was time to post something fresh off of the easel. I did this for the Microvisions Show that Irene Gallo (art director at Tor Books) and Dan Dos Santos is putting together for the Society of Illustrators’ auction to benefit student scholarships. The show runs from June 4th to June 22nd at the Society of Illustrators Gallery 3. There will be an eBay link coming. Irene is certain to have a list of the artists participating in this on her blog.

This painting is a tiny 5X7" oil on gessoed pressboard. It’s the smallest I’ve ever done and it gave me a neck ache in the process of painting it. I was honored when asked to be part of this and I continue to be so. My neck, however, has changed and is much better now.

In my previous post I put up a little sketch of what I thought I'd paint but I changed my mind so I did some sketches. See below.

I liked the basic idea of this but the gesture wasn't quite right (above).


Here I think that I've improved the gesture. She feels like she's balancing now as she leans forward to help propel the airship on its way.


I started this painting somewhat late in the day, around 6 pm. This represents a little over an hour of work before the dinner bell rang. There is no drawing underneath this. I like to work directly in paint.

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22 Comments:

Blogger Jennifer McChristian said...

Tom,

Hope the Society of Illustrators auction is a huge success!
By the way, 'True Wind' is a beautiful and sensuous painting. The clouds are luminescent and the flesh tones in the figure are opulent.
.....and of course, you drawing ability is quite impressive!

2:09 PM  
Blogger cindy said...

that is really beautiful...again, i adore the clouds! but the figure is amazing also.

dude, what happened to your hair?! you are looking like reed from 'the fantastic four' a bit there! ;D

8:00 PM  
Blogger BoneDaddy said...

Both the subject and the paint job turned out beautiful. Sensual is probably the best word to use, despite the innocence in her actions.

9:56 PM  
Blogger Marianne said...

Tom,

This is exquisite! Beautifully sensual without hitting the viewer over the head with eroticism. Nice colours and soft tones. Lovely whimsical concept as usual.

Stunning. And only 5x7"! I am impressed and humbled.

Hugs
Marianne

10:06 AM  
Blogger Bob Eggleton (Zillabob) said...

Lovely! It's 100% Kidd!

12:27 PM  
Blogger Tom Scholes said...

Such a great gesture, you can really feel it. I don't feel it quite as much in the blimp, not sure what you could do. Further out perhaps, or curled back "windclouds", not sure.

About Google SketchUp, doing the tutorials and watching the demo movies available takes only about 30 minutes - but it's all you really need to know :) Can't wait to see what you can do with it!

2:36 PM  
Blogger tlchang said...

Fun to see the 'in process' versions of this. :-) I can't quite imagine working directly (but then again - watercolor doesn't really lend itself to that so much I suppose).

Like the 'new look' of your icon too. :-)

4:06 PM  
Blogger Stefan Nuetzel said...

I am also enchanted by this painting. The subject matter is so nice and you have executed it so well. Great to see the preliminary sketches and the first stage. Cheers..Nue!

6:07 PM  
Blogger Paul Tuller said...

the colours on this are so warm and nice!! Great painting, I like to see all the sketches too =)

11:28 PM  
Blogger william wray said...

For a tiny painting is packs a punch. Charming, fun and as always: well done.

12:28 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

this is really nice especially considering how small it is. :)

4:21 AM  
Blogger Mary Sheehan Winn said...

Tom you have illustrated the idea of a small painting that reads as HUGE.
I can't believe this is the 5x7 that gave you a neck ache! Bravo. Hope the Illustrator's Auction is a great success.
Your drawing rocks.

4:48 PM  
Blogger Mary Sheehan Winn said...

Tom, I also appreciate your visit and comments about my latest painting.
About the shadow. I, too, wonder how to explain that. It's really there, as The cottage is so tiny that the houses around it dwarf it. This is early AM and the shadow comes from the house that's next to it.
I had some electrical wires coming off the roof (very lightly indicated) to explain the shadow, but I took 'em out.
Any further thoughts here?

4:53 PM  
Blogger Tom Kidd said...

Thanks for the thoughts on my little painting. I hope to post the updated version soon. Yes, I listened to advice from a few people and I think the small painting's a tiny bit better now.

A special thanks to Bob, Marianne and Stefan for stopping by. I need to add Stefan to my links among a few other people. There are some incredible artists out there blogging. It's very kind of them when they write to me.

I've had quite a weekend. The weather was great so I finally went out and did a couple of plein airs. Behind my house is a brook and I climbed down an embankment to paint it babbling. Babbling is something I have in common with brooks. While I painted all kinds of wildlife came to visit me. I had a great time.

On the way back I saw a red-tailed hawk just sitting on the ground. It watched me like a hawk (please excuse me for that one) while I took dozens of pictures of it. I called various places to see if anybody could come and check on the bird but none were open so I kept checking on it myself. Eventually it took flight. I took pictures of it again in a tree. It's very scary standing within a few feet of a wild animal like that. Pretty exciting for me. This is why I need a photo blog too.

11:05 PM  
Blogger Ron Morrison said...

Fun to see the process, the behind the scene, scene.

12:35 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Ahh great little piece. I'll definitely need to make the trip to the Society of Illustrators to see this in person. Should be a good show. Perhaps if they have an opening and I can crawl out of my hole we'll get to shake hands and meet like they did in the olde tyme days.

1:09 AM  
Blogger Stefan Nuetzel said...

Hey Tom, I am looking forward to see your plein air paintings. Like Richard Schmid said, it is all about seeing and I am pretty shure you did a very good job.

I will link you, too. Thanks and cheers...Nue

3:08 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

V COOL painting, great to see your work in progress too!!

3:54 PM  
Blogger Cara said...

WOW! I love this! The subject matter is such a breath taker - really - I look forward to visiting often.

5:21 PM  
Blogger Dominic Bugatto said...

Lovely stuff. Nice to see the sketches too.

9:46 PM  
Blogger trowbridge chronicles said...

It was fascinating reading the evolution of your beautiful painting. I would probably never go right into paint like you do. I seem to need something to work from. You sure have a knack for painting billowy clouds.

2:01 AM  
Blogger Alexei Martins said...

OMFG!!!AMAZING painting!!!

Cheers!

5:14 PM  

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