Blooper Videos on DIY Body Easel

What a ridiculous amount of mishaps and poor judgement occurred as I attempted to film myself doing a demo of quick, direct watercolor sketches in the cornfield. I was working on an additional lesson using the Analogous with Split Complements color scheme in The Color Scheme Game online course. The purpose of the sketches made from spontaneous marks inspired by the shapes in the landscape are used as reference for designing closed shape line drawings to paint in while playing the game.

It was overcast ... perfect for filming without the blinding overexposure that happens when the sun hits the white body easel and the white watercolor paper.  BUT ... I didn't remember that ... a mistake I've made far too often.  All I could think of is how I wanted the cornfield to look for my quick sketches, lit beautifully with the warm glow of late autumn afternoon. I opted to stop filming after demonstrating how the palette, water container and extra reference materials fit onto the DIY Body Easel.  You see that in the video above. If you're interested in making your own body easel, see the link below for my classes on Skillshare.

I planned on returning to the cornfield in the late afternoon when the light might be more inspiring.  Unfortunately it rained.

There are two more attempts at capturing footage for the video demo ... both of them bloopers. The second attempt is worse than the third.

I returned to the soggy cornfield the next day. I'm filming this myself with a camera phone on a tripod. It's difficult to stand in the right place for the camera to capture what I'm doing as I paint.

The sun shone brightly, too brightly, making it difficult to see the screen to know what the exposure looked like or if I'd pushed the start button hard enough to begin the filming. 

Perhaps it was fortunate that I'd also forgotten to fill my water bottle.  I had less than an ounce of water in my tiny atomizer. I did three sketches using minimal, murky water and hoped for the best. 

The best is definitely not what I got.  Here's a link to this unlisted Blooper video if you want to watch... It's very short. I sped up the painting part since you can't see anything anyway. Why post it at all?  Because if you're like me, you enjoy seeing that making videos doesn't always go easily, even for the people who make them all the time.  And ... because I need to laugh at myself when things go this wrong.

Youtube Link to Blooper in the Cornfield

The third attempt at filming went a bit better except that I totally missed standing in the right spot for the first sketch. The overcast sky was far better lighting for filming and you're able to see more of what I'm doing with my brush.  In this video I demonstrate my portable DIY drying/carrying system for protecting and transporting multiple wet watercolors or small oil sketches.  It's come in very handy over the years.  It's lightweight and folds flat in my bag.  Overall, this last video isn't a total disaster, just frustrating not knowing when I'm in the right spot and when I'm not.

YouTube Link to Less-of-a-Blooper Video in the Cornfield

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Thinking about taking an online art courses?  I offer bite-sized classes on Skillshare as well as more comprehensive classes here on ExploreWithChrisCarter.com.

If you aren't already a premium member on Skillshare, please check it out.  You receive a two month trial period totally free when you click on my link:  Skillshare.com/chriscarterart . 

Thanks for reading my blog!

Chris Carter