My craft is my love

I LOVE to paint. Oil painting from life.
The paintings are never easy and almost never go "as planned". The most intimidating part is looking at the blank canvas after looking at the model.
The most exciting part is moments later when you attack the canvas with the slightly thinned paint, a couple of guild lines. Blue circles, red triangles, sienna lines. A little dripping but not too much, too much dripping would mean you've put too much turp on your brush. I measure the features, I make notes in my head. The direction of the surfaces, which way will I direct my brush stroke. Fat over lean, thin then thick.
This is more than just drawing, you are feeling the figure with your eyes, this is sculpting with paint. As much as you have built up your figure, your portrait, this is when you have to lose it to find it again. Never be afraid of not being able to find the figure again. Lose the detail, lose the edges, then bring them back, but accurately.
As the painting continues, the brushes get smaller from a flat and a filbert to a bright and a round.
The paint gets tacky and drags more the longer you paint, usually an hour or two into the painting. Now you can build up the paint. It is not as buttery as it was before. You can stack for an impasto look if that's what you're going for. The highlights are thick, the shadows transparent. This is when you add your color. I like letting the viewer's eyes mix the colors. Doing as little mixing as I can on the wooden palette and most of the actual mixing on the painting itself. The colors are relative so as long as the tones are correct you're golden. Constantly adjusting the proportions, your eye is having a conversation with the model.
The most interesting works of art reveals artist and involves the viwer. The great designer milton glazer says it should "Inform and Delight". I could go with that too.

stop sopa and pipa

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

sketchbook page

Here's a page from last week. One of my favorite things to do is to sketch sleeping people on the subway, it usually takes me 2 stops to do one face. Fine point pen.

life drawing.

life drawing from college. These arn't great drawings at all. I had just started taking a class called high focus drawing. The man who taught it was Jim McMullen It really helped me with seeing the movement in the figure and direction of the poses. I enjoyed the class a lot.

here's some drawings from a little while after.

did i ever

Here's two things from my college days. I wish I could do this one over again, I like parts of it, but it's so disjointed. eh.


This one is from my sketchbook. Hand made sketchbook. ballpoint pen. I love making sketchbooks. I've made a bunch with only one unaccounted for.

4 horsemen part 2

Part 2.

Here comes some adjustment curves and color layers. And some more rendering. Usually this is when I start playing the Beatles songs. Most of the brushes and shapes I used in photoshop are default brushes with maybe 2 or 3 custom ones.


At this point I wanted to make that cape really be a focus to the viewer so I went to town on it.



And here's the Final image, I wanted to add a few more 2d design elements just to bring the image together a little better. I was going for creepy and but don't look away creepy.


I hope that was helpful!

4 horsemen part 1

While cleaning up my hard drive I found these. This was done for an art forum. The topic was the Four horsemen.

Here are the sketches from the book. I keep things loose and usually these sketches are just a starting point, I will almost certainly change things.

This is is a color sketch. After scanning the figures and just doing quick color. Seeing what might work and what might look interesting.

Still working on the characters, but now in much higher resolution.

Let the rendering begin! Well not rendering, just adding some depth.


Just more coloring and painting. Still trying to find the painting. I like to lose the painting and then find it back as I paint.
You can see how I've changed some elements and designs from the beginning to this point.
Stay tuned to part 2!