I Know This Sounds Crazy

   So, I got a better computer, thanks to my friends Steve and Ashley. As I'm loading all my pictures on it I realize that I have several back up discs that I haven't looked at in a while. And, they contain more pictures of paintings that weren't in my redone portfolio. Some paintings I had completely forgotten. They're all being posted on my Facebook Fanpage, so I won't post them here. I will post more 'making of' pictures. I really wish I done more of these.

    This is the painting. "What Do You Want?" It's a good painting. I'm not sure what possessed me to take pictures while I was painting it. No matter. Here they are.

 Okay, sorry. I thought I had three stages of the making of, but it was just three of the same stage from slightly different angles. Yeah, still not sure why. Anyway, this really shows the difference that the final black stage makes. Also, this has some rare non-black sponging. I forgot I did that on this one, but I think the red sponging is a great addition. I did one other one that has blue and red sponging on it:

  And, i don't have a picture of it. I was hanging on the wall in my dining room, but since I'm in the process of moving it's not there. Nor is it on my Deviant ART profile. What the hell. Oh, well, I'll post it when I get unpacked in my new studio. Promise.

AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG

More Re-Discovered Gems

  As I'm putting my portfolio back together I've come across some paintings I'd forgotten about. Here's a series I did in the later stages of my Cleveland days. I love the magenta (Liquitex Medium Magenta) against the black. I rediscovered three of these. In my defense, I have painted well over a thousand paintings, so it should be understandable that I've forgotten a few. Any way, here's the paintings from my favorite series:

As always, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your support.

AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG

Artist Problems

So, I've been reorganizing my portfolio, after the unfortunate issue with my back up drive . I found some really cool pictures that I had forgotten about. Here's some more. They're the "making of" pictures of Picasso:

I really like this one. It hangs in my bedroom. It's the first thing I see, after my wife, every day. I'm quite proud of it. It's six feet tall and four feet wide. Massive artistic goodness. So, here's how I made it. First, I attached four canvases together. Then I laid out the rough areas of the face:

Nothing special so far. His hair makes him look like a mad scientist. I'll fix that. Here's the next step:

Okay, so nothing happened in between these two. I'm not sure why I took an extra shot of this stage, but who am I to question myself? It does show part of my studio, which was in the basement of the house I grew up in. I was taking care of my mother at the time. It was a pretty cool studio. Anyway, I'm gonna be taking a sea sponge, dipping it in black, and blending in the roughed out patches of color: 

I darkened the hand and shoulder after this one. Turns out there weren't really a whole lot of 'in progress pictures'. Sorry. At least this will give more of an idea of how I did things back then. Pre digital camera. So, here's another series. The only other on I have. I'm not sure why this one got photographed. It's not a bad painting, just nothing really different from what I was doing. Oh, well, why ask why?

I roughed out the picture in black and white, then brushes layer upon layers of thin paint to give it the color. The white patches on the right side are from me getting excess paint out of my brush. On my canvas. I'd adjust my easel to hold them horizontally and sometimes I'd even mix paint on the painting itself. I obey no rules. Sometimes I would blend colors, sometimes just build them up. this particular one doesn't have any tonal blending in it. It's all gonna get done with black paint. My go to.

I was always amazed at how much the paintings change at this stage. I never got tired of these. I don't know how other artists feel, but I felt amazing doing these. No self doubt. No problem I couldn't face. It never sucks to be me when I'm
in the studio.

AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG

So, That was Pretty Cool

  My computer files with my art portfolio in them are pretty screwed up. It all started with an update of my computer that accidentally overwrote my main back up drive. Completely my fault. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. So, I set out to put the thing back together. I had other back ups. I'm not a barbarian. As I rebuild it and put it back on my back up drive I get motivated and decide to declutter and reorganize my portfolio. Because I'm a professional like that *cue laughter*. I get impatient and try to force the transfers to go quicker. You probably see where this is going. The files get corrupted. Not the end of the world, but frustrating. I have more back ups. Apparently not as up to date, but I got 'em. I'm sorting, rebuilding, making all kinds of progress. Then, I think about a painting called "The Hunter"

And I realize I don't have a picture. No problem, I'll download it from DeviantART. It's my online portfolio. However, a search of my gallery reveals it's not on there. Somehow. So, this painting has mysteriously disappeared from my computer and my online portfolios. Okay. Whatever. I decide to go lay down and relax (I am recovering from the flu. Types A and B. Go big or go home).Then, It hits me. I have DVDs of backups. Sure enough the DVD marked Big Portfolio Backup has it. And others. So many others. One's I had forgotten. Some I still don't recall painting. But, some of the jewels are the 'in progress' pics of Fear Finds Felicia.

 This was pre-digital. I'm not sure what prompted me to use film for this, but what a great decision. So, anyway here they are:

This was supposed to be a stand alone abstract.

I'm pretty sure less than a dozen people have seen these before now. You want awesome content? There it is. Thanks for dropping by.

AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG

Watercolor Review

   So, I've painted every day. I'm not sure how many days I've been going, but it's been quite a while. Probably a good two months. I've always enjoyed watercolors. Even when they do the exact opposite of what I want them to do:

This one was supposed to blend in the damp paper. Instead, it ran like a scared dog. I tried to salvage it with some white gauche, but I'm not happy with it. At all. I only posted it because I promised to paint every day and post the results. Plus, I'm sure a lot of people will like it. That's the beauty of art. There's also this one:

Not my best work, nor one of my favorites. It is for sale. They all are actually:
  
   Now, painting everyday has helped me shake off the ring rust.I think that these are some of my best paintings. Ever.

Minimalistic and moody.

Graphic and muted.

Minimal and vibrant.

She looks right through you. I think that one eye says everything.

I simply love these two. Sharpie drawings with just the right amount of color. I think the guy in the cowboy hat is one of the best piece of art I've ever created. 

   Maybe I should have done this first, but here's the first one I did in the daily series:

I'm very happy with it, especially considering I hadn't watercolored in years.

AKO ANG HARI

     DOUG

 

So, Here's What Happens

  The project continues, Majestically I might add. Lots of things coming from it. Many unexpected. I now have the saying "At least Just Try". Several other combinations of words and letters grace the pages of the sketchbook. I've also honed my painting chops by painting every day. Here's a couple from early on:

 Now, several weeks later my works look like this:

On the down side, I'm painting so much that I'm having trouble keeping things organized in my portfolio. I did, however, recently post my 1,000th piece in my online portfolio on DeviantART.

AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG

Some Thoughts On My Progress

  I've been doing the Majestic (Synchronicity) Project for a while. Keeping my eyes and ears open for any hints as to where I need to be taking my art. Painting in watercolor and acrylics every day. Every day. It's mighty hard to keep up with posting my new art when I have over twenty five pieces each week. I has forced me to have more discipline in doing the less fun parts of my art. I've done some really good (IMHO) paintings on the daily project:

  Plus these two I did on the same day:

  I've also got some interesting words and phrases. Nothing new there, I've been carrying a book with me  to write them down for well over a decade. I did have this gem come to me out of the blue:
     I'm like the son of Joe Cocker and Scarlett O'Hara. I get by with a little help from my friends, but I've also depended upon on the kindness of strangers.
   That may not help me with my art, but it did make me laugh.


AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG

Synchronicity Update

  Here's the latest on my project. The one that I can't quite explain to anyone. I've been keeping my eyes an ears open, painting and drawing daily, and working my sketchbook. I realized that I was getting way more words than pictures. So, I decided to do a painting with words. I have no idea really what that means, but it sounded like something earth shattering. I though I had an extra recycled canvas laying around, but I didn't, so this overtook another project. In another existence thats the one I did. Maybe some day I'll find out which was better. So, the idea is words...on a canvas.., see where it leads. Here's step one:

Random words and phrases running through my head. In case you weren't aware I'm seldom modest in my studio. It doesn't look finished, so, more words:

Do you see the magic starting to appear? Yeah, me neither:

Words. Black and white. The essence of truth and the answer to the sum of all mysteries of the universe:

 I suppose any day now the layer will be applied that explains it all to me. Hopefully I can pass that on to my fans. Keep your fingers crossed'

AKO ANG HARI

   DOUG