January 30, 2016 0

Cheesy Paper

By Jack Ruttan in sketches

Sometimes it’s fun to do something completely against the rules, and find out how it works. In this case I found out that trying to stretch ordinary typing paper doesn’t work. Kind of fun to paint on with gouache, however.

January 18, 2016 0

Mr. Boggedy in the Front Room

By Jack Ruttan in cats, paintings, sketches, watercolor, watercolour

Frustration today with Canada Post website, with which the latest technology and biggest brains in the nation (I’m sure), won’t let me figure out how much it will cost to send a painting to the USA.

But at least while rummaging through old envelopes I found a cool picture of Mr. Boggedy in my front room; now my “office,” the way it looked before getting repainted.

I signed and dated this picture, but the date is hard to read. Zooming in on the high-definition version of the scan, I now think it says 2002.

January 12, 2016 0

Hard Cheese for Mister Boggedy

By Jack Ruttan in black and white, cats, pencil, sketches

It’s been a pretty hard morning to be a gentle, senior cat. First, he tries to walk by the old girl cat. He is hissed at and then swatted for his trouble. He then goes out into the hallway, where he is sniffed and then thwacked by the small cat.

Happily it’s all quiet now, but I imagine Mr. B. felt put upon.

January 5, 2016 0

Condolence Flowers for the family of Mme. Primeau

By Jack Ruttan in sketches

Someone I’ve known since 1991. She was born in 1916, passed away this Jan 2nd.

December 21, 2015 0

Nora Small Cat

By Jack Ruttan in cats, color, Nora the cat, watercolor, watercolour

Different kinds of paper lead to different results. This was a watercolour “block” which was slightly softer and “fluffier” than the paper I’ve been using.

November 25, 2015 0

“Traditional” Media

By Jack Ruttan in ballpoint pen, black and white, color, heads, paintings, Portraits, sketches, watercolor, watercolour, women

I’ve been so deep into digital, that I began to wonder whether I could still do useful things with paper.

Below is a drawing a made during a phone coversation (they’re often long, at least with my friend). Black ballpoint pen in my sketchbook. Above is a made-up woman painted on a sample of my Mom’s old watercolour paper. It’s nice, but surprisingly thin. Still, I’m back into stretching things.

Trying to accomplish a lot of “real” paintings for Christmas.

November 16, 2015 0

People and Backgrounds

By Jack Ruttan in color, digital, men, paintings

I’m pretty thrilled over the control I have of the stylus. Working on backgrounds and lighting now, as well as the people.

November 6, 2015 0

Further Digital People

By Jack Ruttan in color, digital, sketches

Digital is like pen and ink, in that it’s hard to know when to let go of something. There’s always one other little improvement to make.

Happily, I seem to have tamed my stylus, which was giving me all sorts of headaches, like a pencil nib that keeps breaking off, or a pen that blobs, only here the system costs hundreds of dollars.

Still not really “there” yet, and I’m deleting my earlier experiments. But I enjoy the new medium, when it responds, and I can figure out the infinite complexities of layers, masks, brushes, and all these other peculiarities.