Friday, August 2, 2013

Seattle & Vancouver 1 - July 2013

The Relief was built in 1929 as a 50' halibut boat.
More than 75 years later, it was saved from the boneyard by Sandbar Restaurant on Granville Island, Vancouver. They mounted the vessel in front of a concrete footing of the Granville Street Bridge to improve the view for diners. 17x24, ink and watercolor.
My story is that I was very tired and did not want to draw all the details in the bridge, so I rushed it with the inkwork so that was that. In the end, the bridge and the ink background is what I like most... 17x24, ink and watercolor.
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El Relief fue construido en 1929 para la pesca del rodaballo.
Mas de 75 años mas tarde, fue salvado del cementerio por el Sandbar Restaurant en Granville Island, Vancouver. Montaron el pesquero frente a una de las bases de hormigon del Granville Street Bridge para mejorar la visual de los clientes.  17x24, tinta y acuarela.
Mi historia es que estaba cansado y no queria dibujar todos los detalles del puente, asi que apure la tinta y ya estaba. Al final, el puente con su fondo de tinta gris es lo que me gusta mas... 17x24, tinta y acuarela.

Victoria, BC Johnson St Bridge. This is what one sees on the right of the bridge crossing into downtown. The afternoon light was amazing, and the sun came down very late, around 9 PM, so it was as hanging there forever.
The light was the golden hue that in photography is called "the magic hour". An almost horizontal light that makes anything look as 'gleaming', powdered with magic dust by Tinker Bell.
I've read Stanley Kubrick drove crazy his cast & crew in "Full metal jacket" having them idle through the whole day and only shooting a couple afternoon hours on that light.
I wish I could have captured  it, but it's not my sketching style.
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Victoria, BC Puente en Johnson St. Esto es lo que uno ve cruzando hacia Downtown. La luz de la tarde era increible, y el sol se ponia muy tarde, alrededor de las 9 PM, asi que estaba colgado eternamente en el cielo.
La luz era de ese tono dorado que en fotografia llaman "la hora magica". Una luz casi horizontal que hace que todo parezca brillar, bañado en "polvo magico" por Campanita.
Lei que Stanley Kubrick volvio loco a su equipo en "Full metal jacket" exigiendole esperar inactivo a lo largo del dia, para filmar solo un par de horas a la tarde en esa luz.
Ojala hubiera podido capturarla, pero no es mi estilo de dibujo.
BC Place is a multi-purpose stadium located at the north side of False Creek, in Vancouver.
One sizzling hot summer morning I was looking for an interesting view and sat in this spot where the really important issue was not the angle, but that I was sitting under the narrow shadow of a big advertising sign.
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BC Place es un estadio multiproposito al norte de False Creek, Vancouver.
Una mañana ardiente de verano estaba buscando alguna vista interesante y me sente en este lugar en donde lo realmente importante no era el angulo, sino que estaba sentado bajo la sombra estrecha de un gran cartel.

My friend Steve treated me to a couple days camping near Vancouver.  The very first day he instructed me how to use 'bear (pepper) spray' on a bear. It has a safety clip, the bear has to be between 4 and 5 meters and you have to spray on the wind direction, otherwise it works on you. It came with a bear & tourist funny story that made me chill.
The first day I chose a place to draw apart from the camp, but planned my escape route as to plunge in the water if  bears came to peek. The second day I decided the good place to draw without half my mind checking for bears was the camp itself, really close to Steve.
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Mi amigo Steve me llevo a acampar cerca de Vancouver. El primer dia me enseño como usar spray de pimienta para osos si hay un oso cerca. Tiene un seguro, el oso debe estar entre 4 y 5 metros y hay que apuntar en la direccion del viento o funciona al reves, en uno mismo. Me conto ademas una historia muy divertida de oso & turista que me dejo helado.
El primer dia elegi un lugar para dibujar lejos del campamento, y planee mi ruta de escape para tirarme al agua -cerca- si un oso venia a curiosear. El segundo dia decidi que el lugar para dibujar sin tener media atencion buscando osos era el campamento mismo, bien cerca de Steve.

Ballard is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Seattle. My first days there I was ill, so much of what I did was around the neighborhood, since after some time I needed to back to rest.
The houses are beautiful. Those wooden homes are so strange to us -in Argentina it's all brick and mortar- that I wanted to draw them all.
So, one morning I drew one. The next morning another. When the third day I wanted to go out and draw the yet another, I looked at drawings #1 and #2 (thanks, St Exupery) and realized that -in my sketches- they looked as made by the same guy at the same time, though in reality they were absolutely different. So I gave up and wen to draw something else.
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Ballard es uno de los barrios mas antiguos de Seattle. Mis primeros dias ahi estuve enfermo, asi que la mayoria de lo que hice fue alrededor del barrio, dado que de a ratos necesitaba volver y descansar.
Las casas son muy atractivas. Estas construcciones de madera son tan extrañas para nosotros -en Argentina es todo cal y ladrillos- que las queria dibujar a todas.
Asi que una mañana dibuje una y la mañana siguiente otra. Cuando al tercer dia quise salir a dibujar una mas, mire mis dibujos #1 y #2 (gracias, St Exupery) y descubri que las casas parecian hechas por la misma persona al mismo tiempo, a pesar de que en realidad eran totalmente diferentes. Asi que abandone el intento y me fui a dibujar otra cosa.
I'm posting something on the way: I'd never done a photo of a sketch, everything I posted and have here is scanned.
On the other hand, I advised friends on how to do a photo of a sketch if you have no scanner, so I had to give it a try.
Long lens (not "wide"), immobilize camera against a chair, or whatever is firm, shoot in the shadow and have the drawing plane perpendicular to the lens.
After that, retouch with levels, selecting some areas with a big feathering, and levels over and over, refining the contrast. It works.
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Estoy de viaje y quiero postear esto, ya que nunca habia subido un dibujo fotografiado -solo habia subido imagenes de scanner- Asi que hice la prueba y funciona muy bien.
Hay que poner la camara en tele (no Wide), asegurarla apretandola contra algo fijo (una silla, un poste, lo que sea), poner el dibujo en la sombra perfectamente perpendicular al eje del lente y ya esta. Y despues ajustar con niveles en Photoshop, Pixlr o cualquier editor de imagenes

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