Be Careful

   They say you should be careful what you ask for. (no, I don't know who 'they' are). I believe that's correct. I've been an artist for most of my life. I've been putting serious effort into it since 1999. I got to thinking about that. What makes an artist great? I'll tell you. Suffering. Pain. The same things that make a great comedian, in my humble opinion. I sometimes think that the reason I've suffered so much is because I've been asking to be a great artist. Or, does all this suffering make me want to be a great artist? Probably not, but who knows. Now, don't get me wrong. I've had a pretty great life. I have a wonderful wife and a great family. I have awesome friends. I feel like I'm possibly the coolest person I know. But, I have suffered. Some of it was due to being young and stupid (redundant?). Some of it was poor choices. Some was my devil-may-care attitude. Some of it, though, was the universe throwing things at me just to see how much I could take. Well, I've survived , I've reached my goal of being a fantastic artist. I've since set my goals higher, constantly pushing myself. i wouldn't change anything I've been through, because it's made me who I am. But, damn, if you had asked me at the time, there were some things I would have changed. Anyway, I entered some paintings  in a contest to be posted on billboards in Los Angeles. I entered three of them. I like my chances:

AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG

A Little "Behind The Scenes"

   I hear questions from my fans from time to time. Lately I've been getting questions about how I come up with titles for my paintings. Well, some are easier than others. Some paintings tell me their name as soon as I finish them. Some are much more difficult. I have a couple of books I like to thumb through sometimes when I need a title. One is a book of Grateful Dead lyrics. That one is very handy. Another is "The Ultimate Guide To Perfect Word", a book of lists and phrases written for scrapbookers. It has proven to be quite handy as well. Lately I've needed some extra help since I do two paintings a day. Every day. I did stumble upon a trick that has really helped me. Since I post them first on Instagram, I post them through my phone. When I need a name I now type a short description of the painting in my phone. With no spaces in between. Then, I look at the list of word recommendations my phone gives me. Anything that strikes me as fitting becomes the new painting's title. Hopefully that didn't ruin your mental image of my creative process.
   Another thing I wanted to pass on was the process of a watercolor painting I did yesterday:

It's called "Wholesome", (which is what my phone came up with), but I wanted to point out something about the way it was painted. When I laid the face out, I did a rough sketch then used the three line "Those Guys" face to put the eyes, nose, and mouth in. I've done this several times to rough out a face, then I've gone back and cleaned and tightened the drawing. This time I though "what would a Those Guys face look like if it was left simple but made 3D with the watercolor shading?" I should probably explain for those not familiar with Those Guys:

They started out as a sketch book exercise, to see how bare bones I could make the face and still convey emotion. Somehow, they became quite popular. They are fun to draw, so, I'm  all about Those Guys. Anyway, if they were in full color and shaded, "Wholesome" is an idea of what they'd look like. So, that's what I got. Some random thoughts for the folks who like my art.

AKO ANG HARI
     DOUG