Working on the Joker acrylic painting

This is a big painting for me, 48x30", biggest I've ever done in fact - so it's all a bit experimental at the moment. I'm photographing the stages as I go so hopefully I can get some feedback on what worked, what didn't etc. I must say I am really enjoying it so far. Looooong way to go yet though.




EDIT: A bit more done:

Tiger Lillies

This is a commission I got from a couple of friends who are huge fans of this band. Their music is somewhat... different, that's for sure! Not my cup of tea but they were fun to paint. 20x30" acrylic on board.

Harry Lime

A quick half-hour sketch of a character I've wanted to do for ages. Possibly worth painting on canvas...?

Heath Ledger has died

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7203797.stm

It's always so shocking and sad when a young star loses their life with so much in front of them. What a depressing coincidence that I've been spending so much time painting him recently. Now I don't know if I want to do the big canvas painting I have prepped or not.

Updated Joker

Took that earlier sketch and worked on it to get an idea of what I could do with it in acrylics. I quite liked the idea of having him in full, bright light rather than in shadow so I used what looked like a white prison wall in a reference photo and added the dark colour at the bottom to help bring out the features more and suggest that 'darkness' in a different way.

Joker again

Another shot at Heath Ledger as the Joker. This one might end up being the basis of a painting I think.

The Joker

Another subject I have in mind for a big canvas painting is the Joker, as played by Heath Ledger in the upcoming film The Dark Knight. The trailer is amazing and I love the way the Joker appears to be handled. Anyway here's a sketch, I will probably do a few ideas for this subject as I can think of a lot of ways of painting him.

Kylie Redux

I looked back at that sketch from yesterday and thought - where's the caricature? and more importantly where's the character? So I used that as reference to have another go, aiming for a more lively picture with some exaggeration this time:


It's WAY better, don't you think? I may well have a go at that one with a real paintbrush. Funny how one day you can do something that you think is OK but is actually rubbish, then do something decent the next day. Hmph.

Happy New Year, and a new Kylie sketch

Had an idea for another Kylie pic after watching her on Jools Holland's Hootenanny program - this is a digital sketch but I might do an acrylic painting of this on canvas soon. A new year's resolution is to do much more traditional painting, I have a commission on the go at the moment which is acrylic on board and I have ideas for a load more big canvas pics. I've got a 48"x30" which looks like a great size to work at and I'm itching to get started on new stuff! Happy new Year :D