Valentine Barker
@valentinebarker
From oil painter to comic artist and a little of everything in between. Artist on The Airless Year. Demi. He/Him/His.
Why, yes, I *AM* reading a Warhammer: 40,000 book on the beach in Albania... why do you ask?
I need a little help so I can get my meds when I go to Athens this week, so I'm opening two digital commission slots!
That's absolutely fair! I've only seen a little Red Dwarf, but I loved what I saw. I love their aesthetic and play style and hope they get loads of support in the future. I painted mine in pink armor to go with my whole kind of vibe and I think they're pretty great.
I absolutely cannot take the 40k universe seriously. I made a "Horus was right" sticker for when I went to the game store. I also needed a bird token for one of my teams -- and I had a 3D printer -- so I made one. I just can't take it seriously.
At the end of the day I'm a painter at heart. I just haven't had a whole lot of time to dedicate to it over the past ten years or so. Thankfully that is starting to change and I'm finally able to get back to painting LARGE. This painting is 120cm x 60cm, but my next painting? 100cm x 160cm.
I don't have a sweet potato handy, but have a photo of my current painting:
Finally decided to finish this recreation of Warhammer art with my cherished Leagues of Votann!
Sometimes you just gotta draw Shohreh Aghdashloo. #spacegirlfriend
I had the good fortune to see this before it was posted and I absolutely had to draw it!
It's a little glossy because, well, oil... but here's the painted version of yesterday's Thandsome Thursday! Oil on paper. 15x20cm.
Anyway, here's my Thandsome Thursday offering for today! It's gonna be a two-parter as I'm hoping to get into the studio tomorrow to paint it. So, tune in tomorrow!
I've been having a lot of fun drawing with crayons recently. Today I decided to try painting over top of them! I was expecting disaster, since they're water soluble, but it turns out that linseed oil or paint thinner don't reactivate them! Thanks, @postcardsbybecky.bsky.social for the inspiration!
Today's Thandsome Thursday is brought to you by the letter C. For crayons. Because thats what I drew it with.
Point in case: I just finished this under drawing for a bit of an experiment. We're going to find out what happens when I apply oil paint (and solvents) over water-soluble wax crayons. I'm excited.
I went back in to this little study and made some corrections. I think it looks much better now even though there's still stuff to fix. Oh well. On to the next!
I got up to some more painting today and I'm feeling pretty okay about it. I think I was maybe trying to do too much for a while, but that's how it goes. Anyway! Here's the palette at the end of the session and the painting! Oil on Arches oil paper. 15 x 20 cm.
@mrsbarker.bsky.social found a green onion on our walk today!
I was told to post the painting I did today, so I'm posting the painting I did today! Oil on Arches oil paper. 15 x 22cm
My palette management has certainly gotten a glow up! Oh, what a difference 20 years makes! On the left is a picture from when I was in school; I count 21 separate colors? On the right was today's session; 8 and I didn't even use one of the whites!