#drawing Archives - Veronica Huacuja

How About Turning Our Art Interests To Other Fields?

Hi there! I'm Veronica Huacuja, an artist and an online art teacher. I have some good practical tips for your art process.

WOULD IT BE INTERESTING TO APPROACH DIFFERENT TOPICS IN OUR ART? I carried out this new approach to my work, and what I discovered is intriguing, mysterious, absorbing. The artwork I'm presenting results from one of those cases where art and sickness (a medical condition) gather. This is its data sheet:

Title: The Deaf Man 7
Artist: Veronica Huacuja
Medium: Acrylic on paper and digital painting
Size: 10,000 x 10,000 px, 300 dpi
Year: 2021
Collection: Human Body

SICKNESS IN ART. As I've said in some other posts, I’m an artist interested in abnormality, deformity and its effects on human life. The persons that lose one of their five senses or were born missing one of them call my interest. I explore and investigate their lives. This initial information helps me to develop my work. I created this piece with deep respect and empathy for these people.

So, following these criteria, deafness is a fearsome sickness that isolates the people that suffer it because it affects their spoken language comprehension and communication with others. Hearing loss disables a person to understand speech, reality, which cause on them–in some countries and environments–, social isolation, loneliness and stigma. (1)

"In a medical context, deafness is defined as a degree of hearing difference such that a person is unable to understand speech, even in the presence of amplification.[...] In profound deafness, even the highest intensity sounds produced by an audiometer (an instrument used to measure hearing by producing pure tone sounds through a range of frequencies) may not be detected. In total deafness, no sounds at all, regardless of amplification or method of production, can be heard." (1)

The initial challenge in this work, as a figurative artist, was to express the latter. That is to embody in a character this drama.

LET’S DEDUCE A SIGNIFICANT MEANING FROM THE ABOVE. Definitely, blending information from different fields stimulates our imagination and creativity, which reflects in the original results we might accomplish.

IMAGES OF THE TECHNICAL PROCESS OF THE ARTWORK. I’m adding some images that describe the creative process using traditional and digital techniques. You'll find them at https://www.patreon.com/posts/47080432

Visit any time:

I offer Art & Mindfulness for Business Groups. A Virtual Program for Creativity and Well-being at https://veronica.mx/artprogram

Visit any time:

My Body of Art

My Art Shop

Other Art Blogs

Art Blogs at Fine Art America

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Email: art@veronica.mx

Thank you for visiting.

1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deafness

3 Ways To Know A Great Painter While Drawing The Human Body

Hello, my name is Veronica Huacuja. I am a plastic artist and online art teacher. I've created this content for a group class and I hope you enjoy it.

PREVIOUS COMMENT. As artists or art practitioners, we must use all the resources we have at our disposal. Following these criteria, this time we explored the work of the painter Lucian Freud (1922-2011, Germany), one of the most important portraitists of the 20th century–and Sigmund Freud's grandson, the founder of psychoanalysis–. We focused on one of Lucien Freud's portraits of Leigh Bowery (1961-1994), an Australian artist.

THE EXERCISE. I developed a plasticine model based on one of Freud’s portraits of Bowery, “Nude with Leg Up (Leigh Bowery)”. In this way, we had endless poses of the model, to which I applied different lights. We worked with the ones we found the most interesting, and drew them with crayon on paper.

I'm adding some sketches that I made in the session, and an image of the plasticine model.

This is a sketch based on Lucien Freud's portrait “Nude with Leg Up (Leigh Bowery)”. — Sketch 10Sketch 11

Plasticine model I made for the session.

OUR ART GOALS.
- We had to achieve the gesture of the human figure, considering the volume delineated by the lights applied to the plasticine figure. Gesture, as we may know, is a “movement” of the body that expresses a feeling, a sensation.

- We experienced the powerful use of a black, thick crayon on paper.

- For those who didn’t know the painter’s work, got to know it, and also we got to know some facts about Freud’s biography, such as the relationship established with his model. When I introduce a new artist to my students, I always refer to the man (in a comprehensive sense, referring to men or women) and his work. I believe that’s the most complete way of approaching an artist and his work.

THE DYNAMIC OF THE SESSION. Everyone, including me as a teacher, made the exercise. As we did so, I gave guidance, according to the needs of the participants. And, meanwhile, we worked, I displayed and commented on my progress on the screen.

To know the plasticine model and some other sketches of the work, please visit https://www.patreon.com/posts/67831359

MATERIAL.
· A thick black crayon.

· Sketch paper. Size and type: 29.7 x 42 cm, 95 g / m2 (it’s a thin paper).

EXERCISE DURATION.
2 sessions of 60 mins.

LET’S MAKE A REFLECTION FROM THE ABOVE. Getting to know the oeuvre and life of the artists of all times expands our artistic and personal experiences. So, the comprehensive study of these artists is something we must continually do.

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Some more info and images of the work: https://www.patreon.com/posts/67831359

My ART SHOP: https://veronica-huacuja.pixels.com

My BODY OF ART: https://veronica.mx

I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques: https://veronica.mx/online_painting_course

Other POSTS AND VIDEOS: https://patreon.com/veronicahuacuja

Thank you for reading.

Using Chiaoscuro In A Painting

Let’s learn new techniques from the masters of painting and include them in our art flow.

Welcome to another Art Blog. My name is Veronica Huacuja. I'm a plastic artist, and an online art teacher for individuals and groups. I have some good tips for your painting process. Hope you find them useful.

SOME CONCEPTS TO START. Chiaroscuro is an Italian word that refers to the lighting and shadows in painting. Who used this interesting technique were the great painters of all times, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Velázquez, among others.

This technique emphasizes light and dark, making out stand the most important figures in an artwork. “It was originally used while drawing on colored paper though it is now used in paintings and even cinema. It is very commonly seen in religious art, especially with the light emanating from the holy figure being painted. This process is used because it naturally draws the eye toward the focus point which the artist intends in a very natural way.” (1)

CHIAROSCURO AND TENEBRISM. I’d like to approach an interesting difference between these both techniques. Tenebrism comes from the Italian word “tenebroso”, which means dark. In this technique, shadow undergoes to black, there’s no intermediation between light and shadow. One of the great exponents of tenebrism is the Italian painter, Caravaggio (1571-1603, Milan, Duchy of Milan, Spanish Empire). On the contrary, chiaroscuro uses light and shadow to create depth behind the figures.

SOME COMMENTS REGARDING THE WORK I'M PRESENTING. As an artist, I’m concerned with abnormality and its effects on human life. To create this work, I read and watched testimonials of persons that have had the experience of an epiphany, which as we may know, is “an experience of a sudden and striking realization” (2), that can be mystical, religious, philosophical, etc.

In the work, I tried to embody this strange human experience using the chiaroscuro technique to add drama and three dimensionality to the piece. The data sheet of the work is:

In the work, I tried to embody the strange human experience which is an epiphany. The last by using the chiaroscuro technique, which adds drama and three dimensionality to the piece. — Epiphany 5

Title: Epiphany 5
Artist: Veronica Huacuja
Medium: Digital Art
Size: 9,448 x 8,740 px, 300 dpi
Year: 2020
Collection: Portraits

LET’S DEDUCE A SIGNIFICANT MEANING FROM THE ABOVE. We can study the body of art of the great masters of painting, learn their techniques and use them in our work, in whatever genre we manage. Also, we can keep in mind that our production, as artists, mostly come as if from dreams, where our experiences overlap in a delicate, ephemeral relationship.

1 https://artsandculture.google.com/usergallery/the-use-of-chiaroscuro/1AJCCI6Py2rgLA

2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(feeling)

Reuse Your Canvas And Achieve Good Results

You’re welcome to another Art Blog. My name is Veronica Huacuja. I'm a plastic artist and an online art teacher for groups and individuals. I have some good practical tips for your art process. Hope you find them helpful.

A GOOD RECOMMENDATION REGARDING OUR ART MATERIAL. Don’t throw away the artwork you consider at the moment unsatisfactory. Don't throw away the paper or canvas on which the results were not what you expected. This is because there’s still a good use for it. Let’s keep these materials and use them for a better achievement…, but this new use must be a strategic one.

One interesting thing we can do in our next work is to leave some elements of the original painting. This means, not cover with paint the whole original failed artwork, but to integrate it into the new one. This will improve the expression on our second try.

To exemplify the above, I add the data sheet of the work I’m presenting:

Title: Woman 10
Artist: Veronica Huacuja
Medium: Acrylic on paper
Size: 61 x 48.3 x 0.1 cm
Year: 2022
Collection: Women

Visit any time my patron's feed where you'll find images that describe the process of "Woman 10" using a failed painting on paper I made some time ago: https://www.patreon.com/posts/61243765

A SECONDARY TOPIC. I’d like to talk about the relevant use of physical models in our artwork. If, on the contrary, we use a photograph as an initial resource, we’d be working on another artist's interpretation, in this case, the photographer (copying the gesture or other elements he already solved). And I add something relevant, we’d be working on a two dimensionality (height and width), not on a three dimensionality (height, width and depth). So, the recommendation is to use a physical model and to make our own interpretation out of it. Ask your friends or relatives to pose for you. It'll be worthwhile.

By doing the latter, we improve the coordination of our sight, brain activity and physical capacities (the hand skills). This training will help us achieve rhythm, dynamism, and gesture in our work.

MATERIAL
- An unsatisfactory work on paper or canvas.
- Acrylics paintings.
- 3 brushes. The size of the paper or canvas determines the size of the brushes we have to use on the work. When we paint on a small surface, the brushes must be small and vice versa. For this work, I used rectangular brushes less than an inch thick.
- Water.

LET’S MAKE A MEANINGFUL REFLECTION FROM THE ABOVE. As with everything in life, our art materials are resources that are limited, so let's use them creatively... and by doing so experimenting and finding new expressions in our work.

MY SOCIAL MEDIA

Visit any time:

My Body of Art

My Art Shop

Other Art Blogs

Art Blogs at Fine Art America

Art Posts and Videos at Patreon

Instagram: veronicahuacuja

TikTok: veronicafineart

Youtube: Veronica Fine Art

Email: art@veronica.mx

Thank you for visiting.

Clay Sculpting Our Painting Models

Welcome to another Art Post. My name is Veronica Huacuja. I’m a plastic artist and an online art teacher. I have some good tips for your painting process. Hope you find them helpful.

PREVIOUS COMMENTS. Have you ever had the experience of not having access to a physical model to practice your drawing skills with? Well, this is an easy need to be solved. I do the latter by sculpting clay models, pose them and draw them on paper. But to do so, I need at least two photos of a character to work with: a frontal and profile view. I usually find these two photos in official mug shots where law enforcement photographs the offenders. A good thing is that these images are in the public domain. This is one of these cases.

MY INITIAL SOURCES. Having the latter in mind, I searched on the Internet, and I found the two mug shots I required, and a very interesting story: the true chronicle of Bob Addison (1913-unknown, U.S.), inmate No. 35074, from the Virginia Penitentiary archives. So, I made up the clay bust and sketched the following artwork:

Title: Inmate #35074

Artist: Veronica Huacuja

Medium: Ink on paper

Size: 10.1 x 20.3 x 0.1 cm

Year: 2022

Collection: The Relentless

BOB ADDISON’S TURBULENT STORY. This man began his criminal career at a very young age: 19 years old. In 1932, he “was convicted in Tazewell County of assault with a knife and sentenced to four years in the Virginia Penitentiary. He served 2 1/2 years and was released.” (1)

After, he got into trouble again. This time in Russell County, where he, too, badly cut a man with a knife, and prior to his trial, he escaped, never to be found until thirty years after. In between, he used another identity, Elbert Roy Clark, got married, and had six children.

This time, when caught–now being an elderly man–, he did not serve his time because “after an outpouring of letters recommending clemency, including one from the Governor of West Virginia, Virginia Governor, Mills E. Godwin, Jr. pardoned Addison on 27 January 1967.” (1)

MAKING THE ARTWORK. There are several advantages by making up our models with clay:

- We exert our artistic skills by perceiving and representing the volume of the figure (wide, tall, and depth). This doesn’t happen when we practice with a 2D model, such as using a photograph or a screen shot from a video. Our brain, sight and hands work altogether when we use a real-life model.

- We can pose the model in different positions: foreshortening, profile, frontal view, bird's-eye view, low angle view, etc., and add diverse sources of light to it. Doing the latter we can practice the chiaroscuro, high contrast, among other light treatments.

- We can make up a silicone mold out of the plasticine bust and begin our sculptor's trade!

TECHNICAL PROCEDURES. I used the frontal view and a profile image to make up the plasticine cast. It’d have been great if I could have found both sides of the character’s head (left and right). (2) This is because our facial features aren’t symmetrical, as we may know. Anyway, I managed to make up the clay model avoiding symmetries. Then, I developed several sketches in ink. In this article, I included the one that I think reflects the once fierce personality of Bob Addison.

LET’S MAKE A MEANINGFUL REFLECTION FROM THE ABOVE. As artists, we can use of our creativity to solve whatever needs we might have to accomplish our work.

1 https://uncommonwealth.virginiamemory.com/blog/2011/10/24/mug-shot-monday-bob-addison-no-35074/

2 Alfonse Bertillon (1853-1914, France) was a police officer and biometrics researcher who created and applied an anthropological technique to law enforcement. He invented an ID system based on physical measurements and the use of mug shots to classify the offenders. Some of these mug shots had 3 views: frontal, and both sides of the head.

Should We Include Social Issues To Our Artwork?

You’re welcome to another Art Blog.

I’m Veronica Huacuja, a plastic artist, and an online art teacher. I have some good and practical tips for your painting process. Hope you find them helpful.

REGARDING THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG. Should we include into our art social problems we watch and read about in our everyday lives? I think it’d be a natural thing to do for some artists, but I’d like to add that this inclusion has to be subordinated to art itself, not to any other topic or field. If our work is a piece of art, it has to be free of any usage (e.g. political topics, trends, etc.).

So, that been said, I made up a collection I entitled The Relentless, where I picture historical characters that suffer social malfunctions and disorders that drive them to commit crime. The tragedy of their lives and their cross paths in the lives of others are elements that impulse me to create this collection.

In this series, I dedicate my work to the victims of the perpetrators I work on, and to the multidisciplinary law enforcement team that pursues these offenders.

This is the data sheet of the work I’m presenting:Title: Robert Stroud, The Birdman of Alcatraz

Artist: Veronica Huacuja

Medium: Digital Art

Size: 6,614 x 10,422 px, 300 dpi

Year: 2021

Collection: The Relentless

As we may know, Robert Franklin Stroud (1890-1963, U.S.) was a convicted criminal with significant contrasts in his lifetime. These contradictions prompted me to create his portrait, in which I tried to capture the tumultuous events of his tragic life.

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. One more thing that triggered in me the creation of this work is that I’ve visited the public museum of Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary during my lifetime on several occasions. I’ve read about the everyday routines that the inmates had to perform, the established relationships among them (their hierarchies, their groups), the roles of the guards, etc. I’ve seen the small cells in which these dangerous men lived for years.

SOME OTHER THOUGHTS. Regarding the aforementioned, I’d like to talk about the differences that some European prisons have compared to other countries, where the inmates have better conditions for redemption. This last, if it’s the case. I believe, besides a matter of finances, overpopulation, etc. the concept of man is different in diverse countries, and in different historical periods. Some countries use their resources to reintegrate the offenders into society–when they’re sure these men won’t relapse–, and others to punish them. I believe Alcatraz was one of the latter prisons where most inmates were meant to be broken. This statement has to be seen as a historical phenomenon.

LET’S MAKE A MEANINGFUL REFLECTION FROM THE ABOVE. I believe the answer to the question of this blog’s title is, for some artists, a categorical yes. Do you agree?

Visit any time:

My ART SHOP: https://veronica-huacuja.pixels.com

My BODY OF ART: https://veronica.mx

I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques: https://veronica.mx/online_painting_course

Other POSTS AND VIDEOS: https://patreon.com/veronicahuacuja

Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed the post.

How To Make Up A Big Sketch On Paper

Welcome to another Art Post. My name is Veronica Huacuja. I'm a plastic artist and an online art teacher for groups and individuals. I have some good tips for your art process. Hope you find them useful.

LET’S TALK ABOUT… How to make up a big sketch on paper.

To exemplify the above, I add the following work.

This is its data sheet:

Title: Female Body, Study 1

Artist: Veronica Huacuja

Medium: Oil & crayon on paper

Size: 90 x 60 x 0.1 cm

Year: 2003

Collection: Human Body

A PREVIOUS COMMENT. I made this piece in an art workshop with a physical model. All the participants in the cited workshop agreed to work this pose for just 10 minutes.

Being that said, I had to hurry to “understand” the volume of the body, define the composition (on the paper), the painting tools and the palette.

After sketching it, it took me around an hour to complete the work.

MATERIAL.

- Thick black crayon

- Oil paintings

- Turpentine

- Paper: Bond 90 gm / m2

TECHNICAL PROCEDURES. I sketched the figure with the black crayon using heavy and light strokes. Then, I spread light coats of oil painting using brushes, my the fingers and turpentine. This last material helped to dissolve the crayon and the painting without deforming the paper. It's a joy to work on these materials. One thing that I keep in mind is that, during the process, I have to control the dark color of the crayon, else it might contaminate the rest of the work.

Painting with the fingers is a different way to approach the work after colouring the big surfaces with brushes. It is a very "physical" technique, as we may know, that somehow I compare it with sculpting.

TIP-ON-THE-FLY. If you use this technique, wear gloves to protect your hands. I wear cloth and latex gloves, one on top of the other. This prevents the sweat in the hands and avoids any fungus that can damage the nails.

LET'S MAKE A MEANINGFUL REFLECTION FROM THE ABOVE. Experimenting with different techniques in our artwork is something I find essential. It expands our possibilities for creating new series, collections, etc.

Visit any time:

My ART SHOP: https://veronica-huacuja.pixels.com

My BODY OF ART: https://veronica.mx

I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques: https://veronica.mx/online_painting_course

Other POSTS AND VIDEOS: https://patreon.com/veronicahuacuja

Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed the work.

Is Our Art Production Autobiographical?

You’re welcome to another Art Blog. My name is Veronica Huacuja, a plastic artist and an online art teacher for groups and individuals. I have some good tips for your art process. Hope you find them helpful.

LET’S TALK ABOUT… Our art interests and understanding that almost everything we create has to do with our own life, our environment.

A PREVIOUS COMMENT. One of my passions, besides producing art, is reading literature (novel, poetry, essays, etc.). I do this activity because it provides me with new experiences, ideas and topics to produce my artwork, besides enriching my life.

So, whenever we choose an art topic to develop, we must agree that almost everything we create has to do with our biography. That is, the choices we make to produce any artwork is determined by our life history (beliefs, experiences, memories, education, culture, etc.).

To exemplify the above, I add the following work. This is its data sheet:

Title: Study of a Portrait 28
Artist: Veronica Huacuja
Medium: Ink on paper
Size: 32 x 24 x 0.1 cm
Year: 2005
Collection: Portraits

MY EXPERIENCE MAKING UP THIS ARTWORK. Taking the previous reflection into consideration, I made research on the photographer, Edward Weston (1886-1958, U.S.), and I found one of his beautiful artworks which displays a woman reciting a poem. The name of the woman is Tina Modotti (1896-1942, Italy)–a photographer, too–, who was photographed by Weston, her lover at the time. The title’s photograph is “Tina Reciting”.

Weston took this photo in Mexico in the 1920s, which is a period of great artistic creativity that is known as the Mexican Renaissance.

LET’S DEDUCE A SIGNIFICANT MEANING FROM THE ABOVE. Maybe that’s the mysterious way our brain works when we decide to paint whatever topic we’re interested in. So, the answer to the above question in the title is affirmative: Yes, we produce art that is part of our lives. Do you agree?

Visit any time:

My ART SHOP: https://veronica-huacuja.pixels.com

My BODY OF ART: https://veronica.mx

I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques: https://veronica.mx/online_painting_course

Other POSTS AND VIDEOS: https://patreon.com/veronicahuacuja

Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed the work.

Can Art and True Crime Blend Together?

Welcome to another Art Post. My name is Veronica Huacuja. I’m a plastic artist and an online art teacher. I have some good tips for your painting process. Hope you find them helpful.

PREVIOUS COMMENT. Let's talk about the initial resources we use or we can use to make up a painting. I believe, as artists or art practitioners, we must use all the resources we have at our disposal.

BUT BEFORE, LET'S IDENTIFY OUR ART INTERESTS... AND THE LOYALTY WE OWE TO THEM. As artists, we must know the topics that interest us. That is to have them clear. One good question we can do to ourselves to know them is: "What I'm looking for through my artwork?". And I add something very important after identifying our interests: let’s keep loyal to them, no matter what.

SHARING MY EXPERIENCE. My art interests are diverse, such as sickness, pathological behaviour, forensics, among others. Because of the different subjects I'm interested in, I've classified my work into collections. This helps me understand it in a better way. It also helps the re-creator to understand it, to invite or produce in him a state of mind that assists him in penetrating the work's creation circle.

So, attending to pathological behaviour, this time I based this artwork on mug shots from a true crime public documentary, which is the frontal and profile view of an anonymous offender.

SOME THOUGHTS AND THE ART PROCESS. What provoked in me to make up this work was the forceful presence of the character, his strange demeanor, deformity, and details of his scabrous life. So, I created his bust–made of clay, cement and plaster–posed it, and sketched it in a physical environment. Last, in a physical environment, I finished the work. To see some photos of this procedure, head over to https://www.patreon.com/posts/70118019

OTHER INITIAL SOURCES OF THE WORK. In our art process, sometimes reality overlaps, just like in dreams. I read “Whoever Fights Monsters” from Robert K. Ressler (1937-2012, U.S.), an ex Special FBI agent and author, where he describes the mighty personalities of some of the violent offenders that he interviewed during his long term-service. He coined, among with others, the term “serial killer”, as we may know.

I add one more thing: my work isn’t an apology for crime, it’s my interpretation of a social phenomenon.

This is the data sheet of the work I'm presenting:

Title: Study of an Unknown Inmate 8

Artist: Veronica Huacuja

Medium: Oil, crayon on paper

Size: 48.3 x 61 x 0.1 cm

Year: 2021

Collection: The Relentless

Visit any time:

My ART SHOP

My BODY OF WORK

I offer an ONLINE PAINTING PROGRAM in traditional or digital techniques.

Thank you for visiting.