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Question for strutters who paint

edith headedith head 5,106 Posts
edited December 2008 in Strut Central
i took a pic of my tv while Dr. No was playing. Bond is in Jamaica and fights some henchmen who fall backwards onto boxes of Red Stripe with the 60s logob, 21b, 21img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3049/3079635662_0303dc135e_b.jpg"1b, 21b, 21I want to recreate it but i'm not too good at painting from an image. I know I can attempt to do it by grid but i'm not that confident because it's still freehand. is there a way to do it by transferring an outline directly onto the canvas like how tattoo artists do? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated

  Comments

  • ostost Montreal 1,375 Posts
    What about a stencil?
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Couldnt you create a transparency by printing this to clear paper or the canvas it$elf.b, 21b, 21Or doin it old school style w. a projector.b, 21b, 21Im sure theres a program that can capture the "line".b, 21b, 21Isolate then transfer.
  • lambertlambert 1,166 Posts
    /font1
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    h, 21
    b, 21
    b, 21Or doin it old school style w. a projector.
    b, 21
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21Easiest/Fastest method for sure.
  • barjesusbarjesus 872 Posts
    I'm sure there's a more modern technological way to do it, but the old school way might work...b, 21b, 21From wikipedia:b, 21A cartoon (from the Italian "cartone" and Dutch word "karton", meaning strong, heavy paper or pasteboard) is a full-size drawing made on sturdy paper as a study or modello for a painting, stained glass, or tapestry. Cartoons were typically used in the production of frescoes, ...blah blah blah. Such cartoons often have pinpricks along the outlines of the design; a bag of soot was then patted or "pounced" over the cartoon, held against the wall to leave black dots on the plaster ("pouncing"). /b1b, 21b, 21Or a projector can be useful.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    I never painted w/ a projector, but always wanted one cause my fam had a gang of slides.b, 21b, 21My process was - b, 21b, 21Drawing the picture over and over again until I was secure in my line/memory quality.b, 21b, 21Then I would draw onto the canvas(confindently) and work my way up from there. Oil is easy to manipulate so any departures from my original "line" could be "re-aligned".
  • edith headedith head 5,106 Posts
    i've never worked with oil, only acrylic. i thought about getting a tracer projector off of dickblick.com cause they're pretty cheap but then my friend said my hand would get in the way of the projection. still sounds more mistake-proof to me then grids though
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Im Grid-a-Phobic.b, 21b, 21My JR Highscool teacher tried to introduce the grid method to us. I acted a fool and got banned from Art class for 2 years.b, 21b, 21Shit is so fuskin souless...IMO.b, 21b, 21U basically want that image done up in paint. b, 21b, 21Acrylic sets to fast for me, but u can get closer to the OG colors of that image w/ plastic based paint, unless ur willing to put in the extra effort to work w/ oils to achieve that "sharpness".b, 21b, 21There's gotta be some sure-shot procedure to get that "base" u need to work w/.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Maybe a silkscreen of the outline...?
  • dollar_bindollar_bin I heartily endorse this product and/or event 2,326 Posts
    Grids can turn out wonky unless you're very skilled like Albrecht D??rer. Projection is pretty good but it can be frustrating until you get used to keeping out of the way with your shadow. I would start with a light outline from the projection or a printout???poking holes in an outline and dusting with charcoal to get the locations. The technique will vary depending on your strengths, I'm terrible at freehand copying but once I get the lines in I can do the shading pretty well. You might have to just try a few things to see what favors your strengths. I say, don't be afraid to fail, I know exceptionally gifted artists who do dozens of studies before the final version.b, 21b, 21Taking a page from Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, one suggestion is to turn the source upside down and copy the inverted image. Apparently that's what counterfeiters often do to produce perfect bills.
  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    /font1
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    h, 21
    b, 21I say, don't be afraid to fail, I know exceptionally gifted artists who do dozens of studies before the final version.
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    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21Exactly.
  • karlophonekarlophone 1,697 Posts
    how big is the canvas? if its not too big, you could grid it out by taking that pic, putting it in photoshop, chopping it up into equal size squares, blowing each square up to life size, and printing them out. (ideally each square would fit on a 8.5x11" piece of paper.) then you could just tape them up right on the canvas and then do the cartoon pinhole thing/tracing, or just work side by side with the square taped up next to its corresponding actual canvas sector. b, 21b, 21and i agree the projection idea would have the issue of you getting in the way of it while working. still might be good for basic outlines, you just stay out of the way of the image as much as you can, use an extra long pencil, etc..b, 21b, 21i use oils but agree that acrylics are much better for fast fixes etc due to short drying time.
  • chungtechchungtech 290 Posts
    /font1
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    h, 21
    b, 21i've never worked with oil, only acrylic. i thought about getting a tracer projector off of dickblick.com cause they're pretty cheap but then my friend said my hand would get in the way of the projection. still sounds more mistake-proof to me then grids though
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21Projecting an image + tracing is fun because it's a large and physical task (or can be). There's a fair share of shoving your body to one side, pushing your hands over to trace a line, only to have to move over in another direction and shove in another direction to draw a line in another direction.b, 21b, 21If the canvas or surface you are planning to transfer the image to is fairly transparent, you can experiment with projecting the image backwards onto your surface and trace the BACKSIDE of it w/image corrected without having to worry about your body/pencil/whatever covering up part of the image and having to move around so much. You can do this light table style w/a glass top...
  • Controller_7Controller_7 4,052 Posts
    a,b, 21 if the canvas isn't too large you can do it crazy style. Go to Kinkos, make a large copy of it. Spend a day rubbing pencil all over the back of the paper. then put the image on top of the canvas and trace over the image. The pencil on the back will transfer to the canvas. That's going to be a lot of pencil, but if it's a small canvas it wouldn't be bad.b, 21b, 21I've got one of the cheapy projectors, but haven't really used it yet.b, 21b, 21I wouldn't be afraid to grid. It's not that hard. I've done it with fairly good results a few times. I did it fairly large scale too. Like from 12 inches to 4 feet. b, 21b, 21If you really want it to look realistic and you are sticking to simple methods, here is my suggestion. Print the image to the exact size of your canvas. Glue that paper onto something thicker, like one of those $1 posterboard/presentation boards you can buy in multiple colors at the market/church safeway. Then take an exacto and cut certain parts out, just thin lines. Trace the lines onto your canvas, enough for you to rough out the entire frame of the photo. You could cut the man out completely and then lay it in place and trace him. As you go, you can cut parts out and make more details. I think that would work pretty well. The nice thing about using reinforced stencils is that you can reuse them.
  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,890 Posts
    Get the image from the TV on a PC.b, 21Flip it horizontally.b, 21Print it out (the size of the canvas if poss).b, 21Get some tracing paper/greaseproof paper.b, 21Put this over the printout (you may need to tape sheets together to cover it).b, 21Trace (in high B pencil) onto the tracing paper the outline you want. You can wig-flip some creativeness into the lines you pick.b, 21Put the drawn-on tracing paper onto the canvas, flipped pencil-side down.b, 21Trace back hard over the pencil lines on the other side of the tracing paper.b, 21This transfers the lead onto the canvas.b, 21Fill it in wi' paint.b, 21b, 21Or as Gordon Ramsay would say:b, 21b, 21Image. Flip. Print. Trace. Flip. Trace. Paint. Commit adultery.b, 21b, 21DONE.
  • OptimusLimeOptimusLime 227 Posts
    Get picture from TV.b, 21Put picture in Illustrator.b, 21Click "Live Paint".b, 21Watch in amazement as it traces your picture for you.b, 21Print it out at any size you want to (it's now a vector).b, 21Trace it/paint over it/put it on a tshirt.b, 21Have a nice cup of tea.
  • jamesjames chicago 1,863 Posts
    Get an inverted (backwards) photocopy, isolate the part you want at the size you want, saturate the photocopy paper with oil of wintergreen (or mineral spirits, if you get down like that), place it face-down on your canvas, and burnish the back of it with a metal spoon, then peel up the paper carefully. It will leave a faint but photographically accurate transfer that you can paint right over. This is how Rauschenberg did some of his Kennedy shit.
  • edith headedith head 5,106 Posts
    Wow, you guys rule. I have 2 16x20 canvases laying around that need to be primed but i actually want this bigger, i'm thinking 20 x 24. I'm going to go the tracing paper route and print out an outline in Illustrator. This actually sounds kinda fun.b, 21b, 21Thanks guys
  • nzshadownzshadow 5,518 Posts
    /font1
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    /font1
    h, 21
    b, 21Get picture from TV.
    b, 21Put picture in Illustrator.
    b, 21Click "Live Paint".
    b, 21Watch in amazement as it traces your picture for you.
    b, 21Print it out at any size you want to (it's now a vector).
    b, 21Trace it/paint over it/put it on a tshirt.
    b, 21Have a nice cup of tea.
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/know.gif" alt="" 21b, 21b, 21listen to the man, he knows what he speaks.
  • pabloscooterpabloscooter 370 Posts
    Lots of good suggestions so far..b, 21b, 21If you don't have a projector, you might want to try this method...b, 21b, 21Get a large enough sheet of paper (vellum works good) to cover the canvas (or a bunch of smaller pieces of paper that can cover it when taped together). Get some kind of soft dry medium (powdered charcoal works best, but a soft pencil lead, or regular vine charcoal will work)-some people will tell you to use bestine or something like it to really spread around the ground evenly- but you prolly don't need to. Just fully cover the paper and tape it down to the canvas so the charcoal backed paper is charcoal side down on your canvas. Make print outs and tile them onto the canvas and start tracing. The charcoal will make a transfer of your traced lines. They sell stuff called "transfer paper" at most art supply places that basically does this method for you with less work. There's black transfer paper and white transfer paper use white it you want the hole canvas black(or anything darkish) before you start. Good luck!
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