Artwork fascinates me,
probably because I’m often in awe of the talent that is around, of artists who
can transform an image or create an image so perfect you have to wonder if it’s
an actual photograph that you’re viewing.
Or an artist who uses pencil to create a detailed drawing from memory,
without fault or error of design, and as much as I know I can draw, I could
never match the talent of a natural creative artist.
One such artist who
fascinates me this month is Chloe, but you may know her better as Coconut-CocaCola
on DeviantART. Chloe uses a variety of
different approaches to art. In her
earlier days Chloe used Photoshop Element and Tablet Graphic to produce the
images of the early Classic Who and the Torchwood characters Jack and Owen that
I chose for this article. Nowadays she
will use pastels, pen, pencil, prismacolor, aquarelle and acrylic.
I recognised Jack
instantly although others were critical of his facial image, and I suppose
there are elements of David Boreanaz in there – Angel! But I liked it as I recalled in which episode
I had seen it used - Small Worlds
My favourite of the two
Torchwood photos has to be Owen, set in shadow and silhouette. This is of course is Owen the Dead Man, so
his character is much darker from the second series. Although there’s still an
element of cartoon feature with this, I do find myself drawn to the darkness of
this artwork.
In the Classic Who, I’ve
selected three of my favourite images, although in the Patrick Troughton image,
Jamie McCrimmon does look slightly strained, but it’s the image of Patrick I
was most impressed with. The Second
Doctor has a way of pulling such extreme facial expressions that it must be any
artists dream to match that in whatever tools are available, whether it be
Photoshop or pencil
Another of the classic
Who characters was the 4th Doctor, Tom Baker, this time with Sarah
Jane Smith – Elisabeth Sladen in Doctor Who and the Dinosaurs which looks as if
it should adorn a book cover. In fact so
certain was I that I’d seen this work before, I scoured the internet, but alas,
I’m unable to find it.
The Seventh Doctor
Sylvester McCoy I found quite a comical facial reaction, but his portrayal of
the Doctor was different in a way to others I’d viewed, he was far haughtier in
character, so this comical expression really matches his character well, giving
also an animated look about him.
My favourite pieces of
art of the New Who are the David Tennant and Matt Smith pencil drawings. I’ve always loved pencil drawings and I like
the contrast of colours around Matt and the weeping angel with the planets
surrounding them. Even though it’s a
drawing it feels almost real, with the intricate detail in the shirt creases
and the pattern of the shirt.
David Tennant’s Doctor,
I love, he was after all my favourite Doctor of the New Who and his facial
expressions for the Doctor were brilliant.
This was one of my favourite photos collected in various magazines, but
to see it recreated in pencil is just awesome.
Chloe has been a Doctor
Who fan since the new series began. “I loved the adventure and the little
horror in the episodes. But what drew me
the most was that character Who faced his enemies not with guns and hate.”
Chloe was only drawing
animals and such when the new Who series began.
“It is after beginning the
Classic Series that I began drawing the old Doctors. I know it is weird, but somehow, I always
preferred making fanarts about the old ones.”
Chloe assured me that
Photoshop was not as difficult as I was led to believe. “Digital
art has so many tools that ease the artist’s work, with a click we can perfectly
erase mistakes. Sure, it took a little
time to get use to the tablet graphic and Photoshop’s tools. But after getting the technique, you can
easily surpass your level in traditionalism.
That’s why I stopped it for a while, because in some way, I felt that I
was a bit cheating since my real level of drawing was behind my digital
art. I wanted to find myself a style
that would be unique to me (still searching).”
Chloe does love
Torchwood but when the series ended, so did her artwork on the programme. “Doctor
Who is an obsession that comes to me every year.” Chloe does do fan art of other programmes
including Supernatural, and Anime.
At the moment Chloe is a
student, finishing her cegep (pre-university in Quebec). Currently her priority
is getting a formation in Tattoo and working on her graphic novel. She is hoping to get into Emily Carr
University in Vancouver to study illustration.
At the moment Chloe is
raising funds for a sponsored head shave challenge for cancer, that is taking
place in the Carrefour Laval, in Laval at 2pm on 15th June 2014, we
wish her all the best for this venture.
See
link below for more details and how to get involved
Artwork
by permission of Coconut-CocaCola
http://coconut-cocacola.deviantart.com/art/Universe-s-Guardian-Angel-329606369
(done with oil pastels for the background and normal pencil for the Doc
and angel)
