The blog of David Michael Wright - Freelance Illustrator

Hello, and welcome to my humble blog!

If you too like the drag of Graphite on Paper, can appreciate the flick of a well executed Brushstroke, and like I favour subjects of the Dark and the Monstrous, the Weird and the Wonderful, the Abominable, Diabolical, Fantastic, Dramatic, Adventurous, Ghastly, Nightmarish and Phantasmagorical!

…Or like myself, seek to devour all sources of the Technical, Practical, Methodical and Inspirational!

Then perhaps this blog is for you.

It is (I hope) to become a progressive ongoing account of my endeavours as a Freelance Illustrator specialising in mainly the Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and Horror art genres. As is always the case (except perhaps on Sundays) I will do my very best and veritably strain heart and nerve and sinew to write a faithful accounting of all my latest Discoveries, Resources, Technical Explorations and Inspirations, in addition of course to featuring regular posts of my current Creative Exploits and Works in Progress.

Enjoy!


Monday 13 February 2012

Organising my Paints - and Stuff!

Continuing along with my 2012 'organising everything' resolution/'big efficiency drive' :) I decided to give my paint collection a bit of a going over last weekend...

I thought it would be a smart idea to pick out the paints I use the most - separate them from all the others and put them in a tray at hand. In addition to this I then painted all the tops of my paint white and then again with each of their individual respective colours. I then gave all the tops a quick coat of clear varnish to stop me rubbing the paint off over time as I keep popping the lids to use them. My reasoning behind this was that I would now be able to easily see at a glance what the actual colour will look like used raw when it is dry (on a White ground), making (I hope) selecting the right colour a modicum easier.



I tend to mostly use Liquitex soft body or W&N Acrylic Paints in combination with Daler FW Acrylic Inks these days. I find using the ink to enhance and support the thicker acrylics makes for more versatility as it is possible to increase the fluidity of a thicker colour without desaturating it (which can be handy at times), and I also find very tight detailing easier to manage with slightly thicker acrylic when there is a little ink mixed with the paint too (it makes the paint cover and flow REALLY well when applying tiny strokes!).

In addition to organising my Liquitex paint set in the manner described above, I also made myself a full 'At a glance' Colour Sheet of all my FW Inks too.



Hopefully making these small changes in this area will help me to choose, and use, the paint I have at hand a little more effectively.


"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young."
- Henry Ford (American Industrialist, 1863 – 1947)

Friday 10 February 2012

New Painting - At the Alter of Fhatt-Malokh Demonhe of Shin Shin Garr!

My latest effort...



Title - At the Alter of Fhatt-Malokh Demonhe of Shin Shin Garr
Client - Portfolio Work
Medium - Acrylic on Illustration Board

P.S - Website just updated! - www.davidmichaelwright.com


"The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can."
- Robert Cushing