As you see, it's been a while since the last time I painted. Here I am again with a quick sketch on Photoshop CS6.

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I did this painting for WetCanvas challenge. This painting is on the second page of my HKie sketchbook.

One of watercolor masters who I admire for his composition and brush economy is Alvaro. And today, to study from his paintings, I did these two sketches on my sketchbook along with my notes on his style.

I really enjoy this new sketchbook. This one is called HKie, created by Indonesian artist Soleh. I got this sketchbook yesterday and did this sketch.

One of the best ways to improve composition is by doing studies from movies. Sometimes I like to take screenshots of movies and sketch them, just to learn how the scenes are composed, how shapes and lights are arranged in such a way to create a pleasing picture.

Here is what I like to do very quickly when I don't have much longer time to paint. Basically quick studies of values, colors, edges and proportions. But it can also help you plan your painting, especially if you want to paint in big size.

After spending sometime in Lamongan and South Sulawesi, we finally went back to the capital city. This watercolor sketch was done after a photo reference which I took at the Sultan Hassanudin airport in Makassar.

So the most important lesson I get in painting, besides value principles, is the tonal composition. You have to be clear with your focal point. Do not let the elements in your painting compete with one another.

This mosque, called Masjid Shirathal Mustaqim, is located in the village of Cabenge in Soppeng, South Sulawesi.

Again, as a way to learn composition in watercolor, I painted this from photo ref taken in Lamongan. The painting process however was done in the Bugisnese house in Soppeng, South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

I decided to buy a new watercolor brush; this is my first squirrel brush in fact. The brush I have been using so far is just a waterbrush, which many believe is very hard to control. This brush is called Arte Kazan.

So after six months not doing any watercolor, here is a new sketch which I did after Joseph Zbukvic. Lesson from this sketch: focal point and brush work matter.

For me personally, though I am not really skilled yet, watercolor is best applied in landscape painting. This is another painting from my watercolor sketchbook.

I did this unofficial concept art for upcoming movie Gundala Putra Petir (Gundala Son of Lightning), an Indonesian superhero created in 1969 by comic artist Hasmi. This movie is directed by Hanung Bramantyo and is going to be released in 2016. When I first heard of this, what came to my mind was a man with a muscular body and good looking face. But it turns out that Hanung doesn't plan to add those features to the character, which is a bit disappointing, at least for me. "I don't want," he says, "him to be perfect."

To make this picture, I spent about four or five hours painting on my laptop using Photoshop CS3 and, believe it or not, a conventional mouse. The design was just happy accidents, starting with random abstract strokes. And the character is based on my observations of the muscle structures of bodybuilders. Thus I gathered a lot of photos of bodybuilders from the internet as reference and just like a sculptor, I carved the body by painting stroke by stroke. As for the background, it's just a simple block of rectangular shapes with some spots of different colors and values.

To be honest, I haven't read the comic book nor have I watch the 1982 movie, but I'm excited about this new Gundala--as you know, Indonesia has very few movies on superheros. Gundala Putra Petir is definitely a fresh melon among the rotten bananas of horror movies and religious dramas. 

Sury asked me to download this movie called The Homesman yesterday and  I didn't watch the whole story but there's this scene that captures my interest: a woman sitting and looking outside at a horse and a house. A dramatic scene. So I decided to paint it on Photoshop CS3.

The painting process was quite fast actually, though it took me two hours. Wait, don't get me wrong. I fell asleep in the middle of the process. It could be 30 minutes or so if I had not slept.

Digital painting of Artha Gading Mall in North Jakarta

I always say to my friend Harry that I'll paint every location I visit. And since now I'm in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, and had a chance to go to this luxurious mall last week with my girlfriend Sury, I try to paint the view in my laptop. Why watercolor? The story goes like this: I'm currently reading a wonderful book, Mastering Atmosphere and Mood, by Australian watercolor artist Joseph Zbukvic. The book is so inspiring and his watercolor work is simply amazing. Because I don't have watercolor paints and brushes at home, I try to do it digitally using a watercolor brush set available here. Unzip the file and import the ABR file to your Photoshop.

On my forth day in Jakarta, I did this painting using ArtFlow while the photo reference was in my laptop. ArtFlow works very well for me, probably the best among painting apps in Android. I find it easy to navigate the brush types, size, and opacity and color. The ability to export as a PSD file helps me fix the painting later on desktop when I'm working with Photoshop. Thanks, ArtFlow. Anyway I give permission to the developer to use this painting for the app. About the painting: Cityscape in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, Indonesia.

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Setelah mencoba landscape, saya berkesimpulan bahwa menggambar pemandangan jauh lebih gampang ketimbang potret karena kau tak perlu memirip-miripkan dengan lokasi sesungguhnya. Sang pelukis boleh berimpruvisasi untuk menjadikan karyanya lebih menarik. Kali ini, sebelum berangkat ke Jakarta, saya melukis beberapa tempat di Blimbing dan Brondong untuk saya ingat saat saya tak lagi berada di situ. Saya juga tertarik untuk mengabadikan setiap tempat yang saya tinggali ke sebuah lukisan.

Sekilas tentang lokasi dalam gambar: Tempat Pelelangan Ikan Brondong, salah satu pusat Pelelangan terbesar di Jawa Timur. Di sana terdapat monumen kapal Belanda Van Der Wijck yang tenggelam di laut Brondong puluhan tahun silam.

Gambar dilukis dengan jari di ponsel Android.

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Mainan baru: aplikasi anyar dan aliran berbeda. Dari dulu saya meminati hanya gambar potret dan sekalipun tak pernah melukis landscape. Maka untuk menantang diri, dengan aplikasi ArtFlow di ponsel Android, saya nekad belajar landscape--tentu saja setelah mengamati banyak karya-karya digital hebat macam Zhuzhu dan Craig Mullins. Gambar ini saya lukis dengan jari telunjuk di ponsel China Cross A7#

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