I’ve read The Penguin Book of Crime Stories, Volume 2, Peter Robinson ed. Easy book to get through – reading story after story is like munching potato chips. I’ve now got the idea that a crime story is about conflict, but taken to the level that most of us rarely aspire to. We can hate […]
Author Archive
June 15, 2015
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Peggy and Stan
By Jack Ruttan in heads, sketches, watercolor, watercolour, womenDid a picture of Stan, who is Peggy’s hairy friend on the “Mad Men” TV show, when I realised I had space on the paper, and should probably do Peggy too. She was much harder to draw, and I spent most of the morning on that. Oh well. I like this paper.
June 9, 2015
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Something New
By Jack Ruttan in ballpoint pen, color, sketches, watercolor, watercolourIn a bit of a mood. So, these people are appropriate. I still love drawing with the ballpoint pen, no matter how unarchival it may be.
June 5, 2015
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Small Paintings
By Jack Ruttan in color, sketches, watercolourI first thought of titling this post “Fairly Insane Paintings,” but am trying to be kinder to myself. These all measured seven and half-inches wide, and I think I’m going to do a lot more of them, but on better paper. They were fun to paint. I don’t know what possessed me to put a […]
June 5, 2015
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Wedgewood Image
By Jack Ruttan in color, storyboards, watercolor, watercolourI’m very pleased with this image from a current project for filmmaker Jonathan Balacz, WEDGEWOOD. Even though it just appears as an image on a screen inside an image. The two figures are on separate layers, and I hope will be animated to chase each other through the scene, like Punch and Judy puppets.
June 3, 2015
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How not to Watercolour
By Jack Ruttan in color, heads, sketches, watercolor, watercolourDoing studies of faces today. Also watching Youtube videos detailing all the mistakes I’ve been making doing watercolour. It’s nice to know, but I still have fun doing things my way. Learned stuff, though, which is always good. [Link here!]
June 2, 2015
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Buddies
By Jack Ruttan in color, digital, paintingsThis digital painting seems nicer with the “saturation” turned down. I’m still not happy with my digital work, as it doesn’t seem to come as easy, or look as natural, as the watercolour. Still, it’s an interesting challenge, and things always improve as you work on them. To make nice lines with the stylus, I […]
June 2, 2015
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Characters
By Jack Ruttan in color, heads, sketches, watercolor, watercolourPainting characters the other day, while watching season one of “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” which is an often excellent cartoon series in terms of storytelling and characterisation. [Excerpt from Avatar: The Last Airbender] These faces aren’t from that series, but the line about the power plant was.
May 30, 2015
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Landscape
By Jack Ruttan in color, paintings, watercolor, watercolourHere’s another landscape. My family has a lot of landscape painters in it. Don’t know if I’m really keeping up the tradition, but it’s fun to smear paint around sometimes.
May 27, 2015
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Two Paintings of Montreal
By Jack Ruttan in montreal, paintings, watercolor, watercolourI need to take better notes, because it would be nice to know exactly where these places are. One is Ave Laval, I think. The one below is a converted firehall on rue Notre Dame West. Or, I could be way off.
May 23, 2015
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Some Paintings
By Jack Ruttan in color, montreal, paintings, parks, sketches, watercolor, watercolourDoing a lot of paintings at the moment. Up there is the control building for the revolving bridge that no longer works. It’s from a 2012 photo, and the graffiti is old, and the bike path doesn’t even go by it at the moment. These two pictures are painted on terrible paper. Sort of like […]
May 22, 2015
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These Faces in a Crowd
By Jack Ruttan in brush pen, color, heads, paintings, sketches, watercolor, watercolourPetals on a wet, black bough. Seriously, yesterday I went to the Sartec mixer. That’s the Quebec union or group or whatever for French-speaking screenwriters. Got a couple of wires crossed. The meeting was taking place in the reserved salon, three stories up, and I was waiting downstairs in the bar. Met a nice couple […]
May 20, 2015
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Dollarama Book
By Jack Ruttan in color, Coloured Pencils, men, paintings, pencil, sketches, watercolor, watercolourMany watercolour types have to spend a lot on sketchbooks, with the proper paper and all. I found these black spiral-bound books at Dollarama, and they’re pretty good for watercolour. I worry about the paper, since it probably isn’t acid-free. Also, it tends to break free from the perforations along the side rather easily. But […]
May 19, 2015
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Swamps Designed by Accident
By Jack Ruttan in paintings, sketches, watercolor, watercolourPainted pictures of “swamps” today, using various random methods. Got paint in my eye. That stung a bit. Above is “wax resist,” which means drawing on the blank paper with a white china marker. I really can’t tell where it goes beforehand. This is China Marker, also my dragging the tail of the brush on […]