So, I'm starting the project I talked about in my last blog . I got a few submissions. Not nearly as many as I'd have liked, but I'm sure more of my friends and fans will send me inspiration. Here, in case you want to send me a cool picture (hand touching face, get creative! challenge me!). I took some blank canvases and smeared them with paint. Sometimes it helps to get some color going. Sometimes it's just nice not to stare at a blank white canvas. I chose a canvas:
I picked out a reference. This one was sent in by my friend Laura, although it's a picture of her daughter:
I like this one because it's at an odd angle. Looking down and not full frontal face. Not a three quarter view either. Anyway, it just struck me when I sat down at my easel. So, here goes. This is what happened:
I've never done a painting on video before. I had trouble holding my phone and painting. I started out on this one holding my phone in front of me. It was very difficult to see my hand with a brush and then see it on my phone too. I kinda got off center at the end there too. (Also these videos were too long to upload on here. I had to upload them to YouTube, which took longer than it did to paint this painting.) That was the 'adding white' phase. Which, of course, is followed by the 'adding black' phase:
At this point it's pretty much done. I did tweak a few things. Typically, at this point, I like to look at a painting for a while to see what needs to be done. Sometimes something bothers me and I can't quite figure out what it is. In this case I didn't have that problem. I didn't video the rest, just for my sanity I guess. I added some touches of white:
Then, after this dried for a couple minutes, I did another pass in black:
You can see that the paint is still wet on this. After this step i look to see if I need to go back with the white. I didn't see anything that bothered me, so this is the final result:
I suppose it's called "Ella". I really liked this one. It went quickly. The two videos are unedited. That's the amount of time it took, plus about another four or so minutes to do the final passes. I've noticed that I see things I wish were different, but I think it's just due to me putting it all out here. I like the way the subject and the painted canvas go together. I was looking for light and dark patterns to match up to each other. I think it went quite well overall. I'm anxious to hear what you think. Comment on here, or email me, of hit me up on Facebook. Of course, you're welcome to send a monetary compliment:
I have an idea for a painting series. I've realized I like to paint people with their hands to their faces, like this:
Or even like this:
So, what I'm thinking is, people send me pictures of themselves (here) with their hand(s) on their face and I do paintings/drawings of them. Imagine, you could be a part of my artistic process! If you'd like you could purchase the finished product. Even if you didn't, you would be a part of history. Immortalized forever in the annuls of art history. I'll post my progress on here, and on my Facebook fanpage and likely some other places as well. I have no real idea how this will turn out. I'm excited to see. I'm posting this at 3:18 CST on April 11, 2017. Here we go. Oh, here's another painting (or three) before I go:
No artist, no matter how good, makes nothing but high caliber art. Every single one of us has created several pieces that suck. Or just kinda hang there. Maybe not horrible, but not what you'd put in the portfolio. Any artist that tells you different is a liar. No one ever gets good without making mistakes. Sometimes correcting a mistake will show me a new technique that I use to great acclaim. Sometimes it's just nice to create without having to be good. I like to grab some watercolors and a brush and just see what happens. You tell me if these are good or not. Or don't. It doesn't really matter. I enjoyed painting them. I hope you enjoy seeing them.
So, I had some health issues last week. If it hadn't been for my wife I'd have never gone to see any health care professionals. It didn't seem to be a big deal to me, but it sure did to my better half. I can't say it was a life changing experience, but the time off from my day job has given me more time to be an artist.
This week I'm gonna show you some of my watercolors from back in the day. 1999ish. Back when we were all partying like it was...well, you know. It was a year or so after my pastel cloth studies. This series was seashells. I had two good sized shells and a nice set of watercolors. And some free time after work. I'd try different setups with the shells. Different color schemes. Mostly I'd just paint and forget the rest of the world. I did a bunch. I think I have them all. Like to see 'em? Here they are:
