Gundam Watercolors- January 2019

I’m slowly working my way into the world of “kitbashing”, in doing so it’s hard to not dip a toe in the world of “Gunpla”. Gunpla, from my understanding, is just plastic model kits of Mechs from the show/manga “Gundam”.

I know less than nothing about Gundam, but I follow many folks to build gunpla models on instagram. It occured to me one weekend to use these models as a reference for some painting. It’s been hard for me to paint out of my head as of late, which means I’m ripe for some studies!

For these paintings I’m using 140lb Hot Press and Cold Press watercolor blocks from fabriano with assorted colors from my collection.

This was my first Gundam Study. This one was based on a promotional image I found in an old kit instruction booklet. I love old instruction booklets, I have about 50 and they are just lovely.

XM XI Crossbones 001

Using an image from https://twitter.com/TamashiiUk I painted this watercolor of the XM X1 Crossbones Gundam.

XM X1 Crossbones 002

Here’s the full painting. I took some artistic liberties with some paneling and pose.

XM X1 Crossbones003

Painted from an image by https://www.instagram.com/takashiman.6789/ on instragram, this more static pose of the XM X1 Crossbones Gundam.

I really enjoyed this one, the cloak and shadows were very meditative. It was fun playing with the hard surfaces of the helmet vs the soft fabric.

This one is based on a giant gundam statue in Japan. I painted this too dark too fast so it’s a bit of a dud, but I learned a lot how I can work with layered values in watercolor.

I’m not really going anywhere with these paintings, but it’s been fun painting them and it was a great way to paint something without fighting my imagination for something totally new. Jen Bartel talked a bit this week about patience and focus in young artists and how it can be key to sit down and really work on something to learn and grow.

This little essay has made me think a lot on what I’m doing with my art. The work I’ve done for productions has really pushed me to sit down and work on something until it is truly good enough, not just good enough to share and that’s a good feeling. I feel that I’ve stagnated lately, whether that be me or the cancelled projects I don’t know but I’m hoping to sit down and produce polished work in this next chapter of my life.