Don't Care (2016)
Hello everyone! This is a painting finished in 2016 called " Don't Care". I made this with ballpoint pen, watercolors, markers, fineliner and acrylics and worked on it for maybe a year with breaks in between.
Maybe you have seen it before on Deviantart (will talk about that later) or on a photo from an exhibition but I didn't find the time and energy (until now) to post it here on Steemit and write about the process.
The idea came from a doodle sketch which was lying around for probably years. I really liked the expression and gesture the doodle had and it came back to me multiple times from the pile of sketches (big pile of cheap printer paper I use to draw nonsense). It really had a "I don't give a shit I go my way, bye" expression.
Doodle on paper
Watercolors and Ballpoint pen
At the that time I was into doing ballpoint drawings and coloring them with watercolors and sort of my transition to colored works (next to acrylics). Finding my own workflow and tools that fit my style. Which I still keep doing and is more digital at the moment.
Here is an example of an artwork I did earlier:
Here is a link to that post: https://steemit.com/@sanderjansenart/awake
I really like doing detailed backgrounds with all kinds of characters although it takes a lot of time. But I liked how I could color them later and let things pop out by using a different color.
Background
So I started drawing the background with really small details. I started with fun but after a while (maybe months) it felt I would never finish it because it took forever and even after drawing for a day it didn't look like it had any progress. Well it did but I didn't see it. So I had to do other stuff to keep myself sane and the progress went even slower. Luckily I made progress shots at that time to show it on social media so I could give myself some peace not rushing it. And now I can use those shots to show you the progress a little bit :).
The next photo I left the ballpoint pen in it so you can see the exact size a bit more. I made it on A4 and used the brand "Canson".
I will show some more progress shots while I was working on the background. There is a lot of time between the shots. Even the desk changes and probably changed a couple work spaces as well....
I had a small desk to work on when I started...
Finished linework
In the picture below I'm really close to finishing the linework. I couldn't find a version of the finished linework before I colored it. But when we have time machines I promise to go back in time and scan it before coloring it.
Because I draw right handed the background kind of turned into some wave. I disliked it first but after a while I thought it would give it a cool effect and movement.
Coloring
When I was ready with the linework I could start doing the coloring. But damn that was scary....I could ruin it in a second, something I worked on for so long.....So I kept delaying it and eventually thought well it would be waste never finishing it so could ruin it anyway. I already thought about using red and blue so I started with that. It's a combination I used a lot and kind of my comfort.
You can see that in the meanwhile my desk changed into a glass desk...:D
I didn't use watercolor paper so it got a bit bubbly (is that a word?) but the paper was not so thin so it could manage the torture by water.
After I colored everything with watercolors I have to make new decisions. I wanted to add more different colors and I wanted to make the creature pop out. I decided to use markers for the tiny purple and pink tentacles and yellow eyes. Later I used darker purple on the tentacles because I wanted to put it more to the back of the artwork.
Acrylics
My experience with watercolors is that it isn't made for equal or homogeneous backgrounds. And I know acrylics could do that and also makes a thick layer to make it even pop out more from the background. So I colored the yellow creature with acrylics and made the eyes black with a fineliner (micron pen). I also used fineliner to make the outlines of the yellow creature thicker so it would popout even more.
Finished artwork and the title
So after a year I finished it and was really excited about the artwork. Decided to call it "Don't Care" which was also song from the band "Obituary" but never mentioned that when I posted it online. If you listen to Death Metal you will probably know the song. That band and so many more were an inspiration when I was playing in a band myself (Verderf - Zombie Death Metal 2001 - 2009)....But I was listening a lot to the album "World Demise" and older ones when drawing the lines. And that title fits the artwork and the expression.
Don't Care by Obituary
Finished Artwork and Daily Deviation
Anyway my artwork got a Daily Deviation on Deviantart (September 2017) which was my second one. I was really happy with that (yeah still no DD's on my pencils works) and felt like it was worth it all. Here is the link to work on Deviant Art https://www.deviantart.com/sanderjansen/art/Don-t-Care-622636252 I posted it on July 19, 2016.
Here is a link to an older post about my first DD: https://steemit.com/drawing/@sanderjansenart/socialization
Prints
I never sell the original but the prints are as amazing as well.
If you are interested in buying high quality prints you can order them from my website: www.sanderjansen.net.
Also selling other prints and some cool looking shirts.
Well that was about it, really hope you like this post? Took me a while to find all the photos and to write. Sorry for any mistakes as English isn't my main language and I'm very chaotic in writing or reading ;) But I tried my best :D
Unbelievable how talented you are. Those details you have there, so nice! And it doesn't even look like a drawing with markers etc, when I look at the end result it really feels like you added the yellow creature digitally lol.. I am so happy for you you got the curie vote here..
Great post! Great art! Great artist!
Aww thank you so much @anouk.nox! yeah the yellow with acrylics really worked but was scary to try out because you can't undo that ;)
Really glad all the effort got rewarded this time :)
This is amazing, Sander * ___ * All that details <3 the faces of the mass in blues and reds are so expressive in their horde-ness, almost moving as one giant whirlwind, the mass, the mass !!! i can feel the force and the currents of everyone moving together, all that pressure of conforming and of being harmonious with everyone else ....!!!
and then ! the single character in the middle ! with that pose !!! AND WITH THAT FACE ! you definitely nailed the title so well <3 this yellow guy flew in the face of the mass' movements, all of the entirety of him, screaming: "DONT CARE!"
XD
Amazing! I love it!
it is very expressive and very well made <3 Gorgeous work, Sander <3
Wow what a great comment again @veryspider I love it :)
Thank you so much!
Look at all those details! Good job finishing it, Sander. What a dedication.
And good for that yellow creature not to care and follow the mass along. I should learn from them :).
-upvoted-
Thank you so much @scrawly! Yeah we all should learn from them :D
What an amazing work! The level of detail in the background is insanely good! Excellent job! 😃
Thank you very much! :D
I love this pice of art...so much going on in this 👌
Thank you very much @bronkong! :D
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Beautiful work, I like your little background details, I also have had problem with watercolor and prefer Acrylic due to intense color and beautiful homogenous layer.
Thank you very much @stef1! Yeah acrylics are great I like working with them as they dry up fast too so you can work faster than with oils :) But I hope to work with oil paint too in the future.
Damn i love your Art really!!
Thank you so much for the big compliment @theonlywalker! :D
This post has received a 6.77 % upvote from @boomerang.
Thank you!
Omg, just amazing <3
the details, the time used, the technique, just really, really cool :D
and the color and expression of the yellow friend really contrast with the background, like: "mep, i don't really care" xD, great work my friend
Thank you so much @edanya for the kind words! :D
Hi sanderjansenart,
Visit curiesteem.com or join the Curie Discord community to learn more.
Wow thank you so much for the upvote and support @curie! Made my day!
This shows how much an artist you are! It IS great ...
And congratz on your curie!
Aww thank you @hetty-rowan! I'm really happy I got selected :)
Of course you are happy! Who does not want to be recognized and get this appreciation on their posts?
You deserve it!
wow wow wow..i can look at it forever and still it wouldn't be enough..you are extremely talented my friend.. the details, colors, motion, everything is just perfect! you are so blessed! perefection!!!!
Thank you very much for the compliments @itravelarts! The background took forever so I'm glad I didn't ruin it when coloring it :D
Hey you're back with great motivation and also a lot of people who appreciate all the work you put into your art! Congratulation :) These pieces are awesome. I imagine you develop a special connection to your pictures while painting all these details. Something between love and hate...I would definitely go insane trying it. I also love the first one, it has a great impact
Thank you very much! I completely forgot to reply :o
Wooow! I had not seen this one! I am so glad to read this because it's a bit like ... me! I mean, I use that same "bic" ballpen combined with watercolour, altough acryl only for some small touch up.
Anyway that image is great, I love the movement in it and its textures.
Is the original work still warped? If yes, you can get it back flat by lightly watering its back then puting the image (painted side under) on a flat and clean board or glass. Then cover the wet back with kitchen paper and add another clean board on top, then many weights. After 24 hours, it's perfect.
Glad you saw this one eventually! I thought you used fineliner like micron but probably missed that while checking your progess. I really like the dedication you have on your comics.
Well I framed it afterwards so it looks flat again but not sure if I take it out. That's some really great info @haedre I can try that on new projects. I got good watercolor paper (thick paper which is stuck on all sides) but not always know if I end up coloring my inks. But I have a small project I want to do same as this one but on the wrong paper again. :)
Did you ever try using ecoline?
I use the watercolor paper that is sticked on its sides too. It works so long as there isn't too much water and till it isn't a too big format. The main risk being the water stucking in depressions, making unwanted stains.
Framing the warped artworks can work but most of the times you end up seeing it as it slightly detaches or doesn't adheres evenly. Very bad for sales :D
No, never tried ecoline.
Looking at your awesome artworks I really should start working with it again. Somehow watercolors is still a battle for me because I want to control it. Yeah I had some works started on normal paper and the surface got destroyed pretty fast by the water.
A friend of mine uses ecoline to color his inks. Here is his gallery https://www.deviantart.com/abstract-idiot/gallery/ never tried it myself.
Hey forgot to answer that indeed I today use more the thinliners than the "BIC" but I did mainly used it for decades :D
Sure that's the risk with watercolour to destroy it but at the same time I find more ways to correct when using colors than only ink.
Ah I see. Yeah the thinliners are great for controlling the lines. I like sketching and shading with BIC but sometimes they makes stains. Do you know the art of Ben Tolman, he creates insane massive detailed works with microns. I'm a huge fan of his work it's just inhuman the effort he put into it.
Absolutely amazing! :)
Thank you @zanetaviz!
You are welcome, @sanderjansenart! ;)
Great post! I like seeing these kinds of process blogs. Very good job on the "in progress" pictures, they give a good sense on what you went through from idea to finished piece.