[WIP] Abandoned Farm

[Doom_Dude]

I asked Ninja if I could paint his abandoned farm photograph. Here is his source image.

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/4728/ooharroc5.jpg

First of all I haven't done much painting in years.

Here is the basic start on the whole thing. My camera sucks by the way. I still have to go back to the sky and fiddle with it to get some better clouds happening. Also some weird shapes are showing up in the sky due to the paint still being wet. I probably won't be adding in the power lines and the mass of green in the foreground will be a pain. I also realised I should be painting off the image on my monitor. The colors in the one I printed off aren't as crispy no thanks to plain office paper. :p

oh yeah, this is 9 x 12 so it shouldn't take me too long. I'm glad I didn't go with a 16 x 20.... all that green would be a drag. Then again I could've cropped the picture lower and had more sky....

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/5034/farmwip001ce7.jpg

[Ninja_of_DooM]

That's a pretty darned good start you've got DD. I knew you did painting but I have never seen it before. Certainly, I'm honoured to have inspired you to paint something after not doing any painting for so long. :o

Yeah i'll bet the green is going to be a pain. But it's that or more sky, unless sky is much easier to do, which I assume it is. :p From doing my model painting, the one thing I have come to hate is spending ages doing big blocks of color like when I'm basecoating the model, as I prefer doing the detail work which is generally more involving and is when you start to yield results. If you want, I can go back on sunday with a chainsaw and cut down some of the trees in the foreground and maybe paint the grass blue. :p lol!!

[blood imp]

Looking good so far, Doom Dude!

Heh, if you DID paint the lines it would ruin the whole "awesomeness" effect. :p
And painting that green is sure going to be a pain. Keep us updated!

[Nomad]

Needs some more Happy Trees.

[Doom_Dude]

That's a pretty darned good start you've got DD. I knew you did painting but I have never seen it before. Certainly, I'm honoured to have inspired you to paint something after not doing any painting for so long. :o I was certainly looking for something new to paint.

If you want, I can go back on sunday with a chainsaw and cut down some of the trees in the foreground and maybe paint the grass blue. :p lol!!LOL. We don't need you getting in trouble. The original owner might come out of that olde train tunnel. *sniper*

Needs some more Happy Trees.Nah I went beyond Bob Ross mode ages ago. :p

Heh, if you DID paint the lines it would ruin the whole "awesomeness" effect. :p
And painting that green is sure going to be a pain. Keep us updated!Power lines are ugly IMHO. ;) Sometimes you have to change things, so to speak.

[lucius octavion]

Dude, you paint to? I like to do it too but I have to tell you that I am indeed in Bob Ross mode right now. I do like to do mechanical stuff like guns and panzers and things. And biomech stuff because I like HR Giger and Escher. Those guys have to be the best artists ever.

I like your painting of Ninja's farm picture. Nice.

Maybe there's a little raccoon in there. :D I was talking to the bird lady the other day... and I told her that I have a little rascal who's always scratchin' at my door, Hmm! And I like to take a few, raise em up, and then you let them go... Ok, tell you what. Lets take the old two inch brush, some pthalo blue, titanium white, and maybe there's a little stream that lives... right about there. There. Just tap

[Ninja_of_DooM]

I missed that part about the powerlines. Yeah they look kind of ugly. It kind of removes the real abandoned look with it being the only sign of technology. Best to keep it nice and old looking. :D

I actually have a photo of what is under that roof there with all the holes in it. Looking along from one end to the other. Check the photo thread, I don't want to clog this one. The windows you see in the outside photo are on the right-hand side on the inside photo. :)

Lucius, believe it or not, there is actually a river running nearby. Go left around the barn and it'll take onto a dirt road. At the other side and down the bank is the river. Going left around the barn and then left along the road will take you under the old bridge. You'll see this all next week when I shoot the video.

[Doom_Dude]

I missed that part about the powerlines. Yeah they look kind of ugly. It kind of removes the real abandoned look with it being the only sign of technology. Best to keep it nice and old looking. :DHmmmm I typed up a thing about the reasons I like the power lines in the photo and now it's gone due to me doin copy pasta that I messed up.. I find power lines ugly in real life for obvious reasons, especially in places where they're going everywhere. Anyhow, I thought the lines in the photo reveal that the place was one powered and adds to the whole abandoned feeling because they once delivered power that ran lights, machinery and radios and such. Now that stuff is all dead, removed or decayed... Painting lines... Ive done before and think I'll skip it. *drinky*

Dude, you paint to? I like to do it too but I have to tell you that I am indeed in Bob Ross mode right now. I do like to do mechanical stuff like guns and panzers and things. And biomech stuff because I like HR Giger and Escher. Those guys have to be the best artists ever.Yes I like to paint. That's what this thread is all about. :p Giger is cool and Esher is good too. I like wildlife artist Robert Bateman and fantasy artists like Frank Frazetta, Ken Kelly and Ernie Chan, who are a few of my favorite artists. There's so many awesome artists, Chris Achellios, Gerald Brom, Luis Royo, Larry Elmore, Joe Jusko, Simon Bisley, Michael Whelan, Joseph Michael Linsner. Then you have guys like Claude Monet, Rembrandt, Michelangelo and Rubens.... awesome stuff.

I like your painting of Ninja's farm picture. Nice. Well it'll be even better when it's actually done. lol

[lucius octavion]

Are you using water color paints?

[Doom_Dude]

Nope I'm using oils.

[Ninja_of_DooM]

I find power lines ugly in real life for obvious reasons, especially in places where they're going everywhere.
Me too. The area where I do most of my walking has a load of huge pylons running across the landscape for as far as you can see. They're good for finding your way to the hillside and back down should you get lost because they run over the path that takes you up. But I've had many a potential photo ruined by the fact that these things are in the way. Next time I'm there I'll take a photo to show you what it's like.

But keep up the working DD. :D Looking forward to seeing more progress shots.

[Doom_Dude]

yep the same thing happens when I want to take a photo of the sunset from my yard... the dumb power lines are in the way. If I move far enough that the lines are out of the way then I'm not getting the landscape I want in the picture and theres houses in the way. heh.

[lucius octavion]

Nope I'm using oils.

It almost looks like water colors to me. So did you use paint thinner or gesso or something?

[Doom_Dude]

Nope. I used some linseed oil but that was only because my tube of white is so thick. It looks washed out in the pics because my camera is sucky. 2.1 mp + close up = fail. Maybe if I took the shots out side it would come out better....

Anyhow here is an update. Just started doing all the bricks on the front. Gonna take a bit to get it looking right.

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/1562/abandonedfarm02qu4.jpg

[blood imp]

Still looking awesome!!!

[MR_ROCKET]

Hell yeah DD!


Looks like it would be a bitch to paint those telephone lines in.. I'd say stay away from that part heh.
I guess they could be penciled in after it's done and dry Eh?

[Doom_Dude]

Hehe thanks.

Yeah it would be a bitch since they're such a fine line and yes they could be penciled in later. It would suck if you penciled them and fucked up the whole thing. :p

[lucius octavion]

You can use ink with a fountain pen or something. But then again, they don't look that nice.

[Doom_Dude]

I'll skip the lines and not worry about it. ;)

Meanwhile I got more done today. I think I may cut the greenery down a bit where it peaks at the center of the bottom of the building. Got a bunch done on the front of the main building and got a good amount of the roof done.

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9748/abandonedfarm03eq2.jpg

[Ninja_of_DooM]

Nice work DD. :D keep up the painting because it's looking really sweet. *thumbs* Wait until you see the rest of that barn on film. The video came out pretty dark in most places, more than it should have been, so things might be a bit harder to see. But it added some creepy factor to the house in particular. The bigger part of the barn is a lot bigger inside, more-so because of how dark it was.

And I forgot just how excessive the greenery really was at the the front until yesterday. Someone must have been dumping stuff there and grass grew over it.

[Doom_Dude]

Thanks. I thought the roof was going to be harder to do. Once I do the edge of the roof that should make it look better as well.

Your video sounds interesting. Do you have one of those digital cameras that also takes video or did you get an actual video camera? I just noticed while looking for a new digital camera that most of them do video now.

[Ninja_of_DooM]

Not quite. I have a video camera that also takes photos. ;) I haven't tried it out for photos yet, but my standard digital camera takes pretty sweet photos anyway and seeing as the camcorder isn't designed primarily for taking photos I'll probably stick with my camera.

[blood imp]

Nice work so far, DD! *thumbs* On a side note, how often do you paint the painting?
And I'm really excited to see those videos, Ninja!

[Doom_Dude]

Thanks. Not as often as I want! I didn't even get to touch it today. :/ Since I started, I tried to do some each day and probably spent anywheres from 15 minutes to 45 minutes on it each time. I have it right here behind me on my fold-able, metal easel, so I can just turn around in my chair and mess with it.

I also have a lighthouse painting (16x24) sitting here on a table near my comp that is only part done. Trying to get psyched to work on that as well.

Speaking of cameras. I need to get a new digital as my olde 2.1MP is getting on my nerves. In some cases it takes a nice shot but it sucks most of the time.

[blood imp]

Hmm... that's not too much time. :|
Can we see the lighthouse? How long ago did you start that one?

[FreeLanZer]

Wow I really like the foliage you've painted.. it looks so lush and fresh. :)

[Doom_Dude]

Wow I really like the foliage you've painted.. it looks so lush and fresh. :)Thanks FreeLanZer. It looks better in RL tho. I need to get a better camera or I'll scan the thing when it's finished and dry. ;)

Hmm... that's not too much time. :|
Can we see the lighthouse? How long ago did you start that one?Here is the lighthouse. It's a Fall scene and all the brown-ish area is going to be dead grass and stuff. Ummm I started it a few years ago but I kinda got out of painting and just now got back to it. I dug this one out because I want to finish it. I also have a tiger portrait I dug out of the wood work that I need to finish if I can find the original photo. I may have to fake it and just look at some source photo's of Tigers.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7271/lighthousesj9.th.jpg (http://img337.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lighthousesj9.jpg)

[blood imp]

The lighthouse one looks like it still needs work (obviously, as you're not finished :p).

But anyway, back on-topic, how's the farm going?

[Doom_Dude]

I haven't touched the paints in the last couple days.

[lucius octavion]

Wow, you sure are way better than me at painting rock texture. I can do it but not as well as you.

[Doom_Dude]

Thanks. I really like doing stuff like rock and sky.

I hope to get some more done on the farm tomorrow or on the weekend. As far as art goes, I've gotten back to drawing. Did up a couple Chupacabras..... :p

[lucius octavion]

Lol @ Chupacabras I've been wearing this (http://www.cryptomundo.com/wp-content/uploads/chupashirt.jpg) T-Shirt a lot recently to school and people look at me like I'm doing some kind of funny business.

[Doom_Dude]

Excellent T-Shirt! :D

[Ninja_of_DooM]

Now my internet is working again I've managed to upload my videos. So here we go.
farm house (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pcfxTmyb6s)
farm (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xed2tPsOJkM)
I have a ton of photos to upload too, so keep your eyes on my photo thread too. :)

[blood imp]

The second one was nice. The first one you can't see anything (dark) inside. Wheej, you said you might do a tunnel/bridge video (in the video)!

[Ninja_of_DooM]

Oh yeah, I forgot to upload that one too. I'll do it tonight when I get back from work. You get to see the tunnel, but I didn't go in. Too dark to see anything. I don't know why the house turned out so dark in the video. It was dark, but not pitch black like that. A more powerful torch would be better.

[blood imp]

Maybe the camera had the wrong lighting configurations? I have no idea. Although cameras in general catch things in less detail than human eyes.

[Ninja_of_DooM]

True that. But I think I know why the first one was dark. I had it all set for light adjustment and started recording when the battery went dead. I think I must have forgotten to set the light adjustment after changing the batteries. Still, despite the quality, you got to see it in some form. :p And I see a lot of abandoned farm videos already exist on youtube. lol!

EDIT: Here's the third video! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1SVw8rMd00)

[rustyslacker]

Hey Doom_dude, how about an update? This was looking really nice, and it'd be a shame to leave us hanging! :)

[Ninja_of_DooM]

Yeah, come on! Let's see an update. :D

[Doom_Dude]

Sorry guys, I haven't touched it since. I will be finishing it soon! I don't like that I stopped but I had some conflict that will go unmentioned and now I just want to get back into the whole art thing.

[blood imp]

Well, sorry for your "unmentioned conflict". I hope that went well for you, whatever it may have been.

Here's the third video!
This was the clearest one yet! :D Pretty cool. How long is that tunnel again?

[Doom_Dude]

Oooh hey thanks for mentioning the vids, I missed them!

I like the 2nd Farm video Ninja, that was pretty cool... and that train tunnel is pitch black right from the start. :D *turvy*

[blood imp]

I like the 2nd Farm video Ninja, that was pretty cool... and that train tunnel is pitch black right from the start. :D *turvy*
Yeah! It changes almost immediately! Pretty weird. Then again it might just be the camera*zuh*

[Ninja_of_DooM]

Yeah, the camera isn't so great for lighting and such-like. The tunnel itself is about 1km in length, give or take. Maybe longer. With the tunnel being so close to the farm, you could easily make yourself a low - zero budget horror film. :D

You won't see anything in there unless you have a really strong torch with you, as I said before. You only know if you're going the right way if you see the light atone end of the tunnel, but you lose that when you reach the middle because of the bend in the tunnel so you're going blind until you see the other end of the tunnel. You have to be careful you don't walk into any old farm equipment which is kept against the sides of the tunnel.

What's worse, the ground is littered with rocks and potholes and if it's a windy day you get cold gusts blowing in from one end which makes it harder to see if it's in your face. :p