Caricatures Count Too and Audre Lorde

Institutional rejection of difference is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which neeeds outsiders as surplus people. 
   As members of such an economy, we have all been programmmed to respond to the human differences between us with fear and loathing and to handle that difference in one of three ways: ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think iti is dominant, or destroy it if we think it is subordinate.
    But we have no patterns for relating across our human differences as equals.  As a result, those differences have been misnamed and misused in the service of separation and confusion.  

AUDRE LORDE,
Sister Outsider (1984)

Instead of trying to paint, I decided to do this sketch.  A caricature of Obama.
I was inspired by the artist Jason Seiler, who is pretty much OFF THE CHARTS with his illustrations.  I'm hoping this will kickstart my productivity.    As for the quote above,  I've been reading Race Matters by Cornell West.  The above quote was used in the book.  This stood out for me because I agree that differences in people are often misnamed and misused in the service of separation and confusion.   I have heard people refer to the president (still) as a Muslim because of his name.  (And as if being a Muslim connects one with terrorism).  Regardless of what one thinks about the presidents ideas and policies, it is fundamentally wrong to judge someone in such a simplistic and stereotypical way. 

Obama sketch

I shamefully admit that I haven't read AUDRE LORDE's book, or for that matter any of her poetry other than what I was able to google recently.  All I know is that she is a Black Lesbian Feminist, so that is enough for me to disregard everything about her.  Wow this separation and confusion stuff really works.  (BTW, that was sarcasm for anyone not hearing it through the print)
Here's another interesting quote.

“Black and Third World people are expected to educate white people as to our humanity. Women are expected to educate men. Lesbians and gay men are expected to educate the heterosexual world. The oppressors maintain their position and evade their responsibility for their own actions. There is a constant drain of energy which might be better used in redefining ourselves and devising realistic scenarios for altering the present and constructing the future.”
― Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches

Fixing up and moving on

I was all set to post the nearly final painting today.  When I looked at the photo I saw a glaring error in the composition that wasn't evident until I blocked in the neck area.  So rather than pointing it out I cropped the photo so I can fix it.  I wouldn't want anyone to key in on that error because that's all you would be looking at from now on.  I blocked in the neck and left some inconsistent areas until I can get a few more layers in there to soften the edges. I remembered the advice from Gary and Rhonda which was to minimize the lower portion so as not to take stray from the focal point.  So don't worry, there will be more minimizing there as I go forward...

By the way, I need to add that I recognized that I was not as focused as I needed to be when I went in to do the neck.  I moved ahead anyway knowing that as long as I didn't do anything drastic, I could fix it.  Hopefully I was right.

Latest News: Self Portrait

I felt compelled to post something new today because I got tired of seeing the same post day after day.  It's a reminder to me that I've done nothing since then.  I drew the outline for a self portrait over the weekend.  I've been intending to get a self portrait in my portfolio for awhile and after taking several dozen pictures, decided it was time to at least try one.  This is the first stage of a large one I started this morning. So far, so good, but when I snapped the photo the reflection of the water that hadn't dried created an effect that wont be there later, so the nose actually looks better than it is at this point.  But as I said, I needed to get something in a post.  My intention is to create a fair amount of texture in the shadows to make the painting interesting. It's important to let the watercolor do it's thing.  Just need to nudge it in the right direction.

Lately my work schedule is not conducive to painting (or sleeping for that matter), but I've found time to golf so there really is no excuse not to paint as well. 

Foster Apartment sketch

A little sketch (5"X7") of those apartments behind the Art Supply store.  I'm trying to work a little more raw and gestural so that I can get more paintings done in a smaller amount of time.

Happy Birthday to Adrianne!

Not much to say here.  I liked the photo my daughter took of her and her new adopted dog.  The challenge was trying to get the close up view of the dog to look identifiable.  A lot of pencil strokes later...  In fact many more than I anticipated having to do I got the look I was after, but I might have to tinker once I study it for a bit.  I just finished this and you know how it is.  I'll see something that isn't right and need to go back in.

It's been bothering me that I haven't done a finished watercolor yet.  I want to get that done today, but time isn't on my side.

Artist Gary Everest

"Photo op" with Artist Gary Everest

Gary Everest and I have been talking about meeting up for months now.  It dawned on me that if I actually committed to setting a date, it  probably would happen.  I've admired Gary's portraits since I found him on Blogger last year.  If I remember correctly, I found his blog through our mutual  friend RH Carpenter, who seems to have the ability to bring many people together with her informative blog. Essentially I went to Kentucky to find an artist 15 minutes away.

I was trying to find an artist online to show Gary.  Looks like I'm dozing off here. 

Detail of one of Gary's   paintings.  I cut myself out of it, so my shoulder is visible in lower left corner.

   I was up at 3 Am this morning determined to knock out a painting.  So when I met up with Gary at about 11:30, I  was looking pretty haggard.  His work is more impressive up close, where you can see his meticulous attention to detail.  Like myself, Gary will work and re work his paintings to get them right.  Neither of us have the ability to just knock out a quick little piece at will.  He does a great job of measuring the correct dimensions and checking to make sure they are accurate.  This explains why his subjects are so recognizable.  One of the most gratifying things about blogging is sharing thoughts and ideas with other like-minded artists like my friend Gary.   
As for that painting I was going to knock out this morning.  I will have to address that topic later.  Suffice it to say it did not turn out as planned, but I did get something painted.

Hospital Parking Lot Study

First let me say that this picture is from a movie scene.  I was not imposing on someones private moment.  I saw this scene in Junebug, and wanted to capture the intensity of the moment.  In my rush to get it on paper, I ignored the obvious compositional challenges.  Had I been more deliberate I would have printed out the picture from my camera and composed it before proceeding. Instead I used the digital frame to paint from, and couldn't get my lines correct.  

And now I realize that I've just confessed to taking someone Else's idea.  This solves the question of whether I should try another more finished painting of this scene.  If I were to succeed in bringing this to the paper it would never be completely my own.  So I will probably move on and take what I learned from this.  I think it works in segments but not as a cohesive piece. At least as a study.  Lastly, I'm relieved that I found some time to get something done.  I had to get up at 2:30 AM to do it...but I did it.

Study

By the way, I have yet to  watch the entire movie, but it looked good. About an Art dealer trying to sign an eccentric painter from the south.

At least someone is doing something....

The mission of Golden Leaf Education Foundation (GLEF) is to empower humanity by enhancing educational opportunities internationally, in memory of genocide victims and in honor of survivors—golden leaves:

As I've stated before, my schedule at work has me thrown, and I have used this excuse far too many times when explaining why I can't muster the paint or pencil to page.  I have been dabbling, but my mornings are taken up now, so I have to find some other time to paint.   In the meanwhile, my eldest daughter Grace is making great strides as a member of  GLEF .   Golden Leaf Education Foundation aims to enhance educational opportunities internationally. http://goldenleafeducationfoundation.org/about/

Water Study

This water "study" has been sitting on my table for weeks.  I finally got it to the point that I thought would be okay to post.  The idea was to generate a believable representation of someone in water.  I got close, though, the actual picture was taken from a brochure for "Aesthetic Medicine", and was more "aesthetic" in presentation.

Ongoing Struggle

This has begun to resemble a self portrait.

I'm still struggling to get this current project done.  It has hampered my ability to paint freely because of the time constraints.  The timing of this project was unfortunate, because my schedule had changed and I got very busy.  Add to the fact that I haven't done a commission in a very long time and, well...  maybe the expression of angst in this attempt is a reflection of my own in getting this finished.  It was supposed to be a smile. Oh, and not to mention I thought I had it nailed down awhile ago and had to completely retool.  I keep coming back to certain images no matter how I try.

Old Cartoons from 2009

One thing I don't like about the Templates, is that I cant find a way to write above the photos I have already posted unless there is type in place, so it ends up as a caption like this comment here which ends up looking unbalanced....

   I'm still working on the commission, so here are some old caricatures from 2009. 

Taking the guess work out...

I wanted to move forward with my latest project.  I sat down to get some paint on the paper at the very least ..  What started as an exercise ended up a finished painting.  I was very pleased with this result.  One problem.  I skipped a crucial step in the process.  Working out the details with the client.  Although they liked this painting, it was not the style they had in mind.  Nevertheless I was happy that I was able to get a painting done.  And this gives me confidence to move forward. 

Commission

This is part of a sketch I did for the commission.  I am going to be focusing on finishing this in the next week.
Some of my family might recognize the person in the reference photo. 

Revisiting Yupo

Lutz Tavern  Watercolor on Yupo: the painting as it looks now...to see what it looked like before I tinkered with it, see the link mentioned below.  Hindsight is that the original was actually fine if not better in some ways.

May of 2012 the Lutz Tavern on Yupo original post    I found an artist who has been very successful using Yupo for his Watercolors.  This piqued my interest once again in using this water resistant paper for a water based medium.  The upside to using Yupo is it's resiliency.  You can lift paint with absolute ease, in fact all the

"The Grab" drawing for 49er fans.

I decided to draw a picture of "The Grab". 49er faithful will know what I'm referring to.  It took me some time to get the logistics right.  I may or may not go into further details with the process.  It was pretty straightforward.  Get the angles and dimensions correct and go from there. This panoramic photo sort of shows the progression.  And here is the final, or close to final drawing.

Serving breakfast at the Blanchet House

The Blanchet House of Hospitality

My daughter Grace invited me to help serve breakfast Monday morning at the Blanchet House of Hospitality in downtown Portland.  This organization helps "To feed, clothe and offer shelter and aid to those in need".  When I was a kid my dad volunteered  here and hired some of the patrons to help with odd jobs around our house.  Now I can say  three generations of Neals have volunteered here. (This was my first time, but Grace has helped here before).  Just this small commitment of time made me feel invigorated and grateful for what I have.  It's great to get things in perspective. Every little bit helps.

MOVING FORWARD: Lecia and Adrianne at Sauvies Island

First I have to say that this photo doesn't show the entire piece, but in order to get the details to show, I had to leave out part of the sky.  (I purposely avoided cutting the landscape in half in the actual drawing).
This last Tuesday I underwent surgery to repair my hernia.  I knew I would have the opportunity to get a fair amount of drawing and painting done.  So I took on another watercolor on Wednesday. It did not go well.  I was disappointed in my effort,  so much so that I didn't even want to post it.  This gave me cause to evaluate my ability to construct and execute paintings satisfactorily.  So on Friday I looked up a photo I had been wanting to paint from the moment I saw it. ...The photo for this drawingwas taken by my daughter Grace at Sauvies Island last year.  Grace has been able to capture some great scenes on camera, and I think this is one of her best.  In fact, both of my daughters have a very good eye for photography and I have added some of their photos to my list of potential pieces. (I am going to use a clause in my personal creative contract here that allows me to use anything my immediate family has photographed as  reference material). anyway...
I decided to literally go back to the drawing board in order to re-establish my  fundamentals. The first effort was Charlie Neal.  A good start, but not entirely satisfactory.  And now about this drawing.

Charlie Neal

A couple of weeks ago I asked my nephew,   Frank, (Charlie Neal) to send me a photo that I might use for a painting or drawing.  He sent me two, and this is the first one I chose to do. I am trying to focus in on fundamental drawing with attention to composition and value.  After somewhat of a grueling session, I was able to finish this drawing.  I would have liked to work a little larger because some of the details were hard to work on. The drawing itself is satisfactory, but I was not entirely happy with the likeness. He is manning a  50 cal. , one of my personal favorites.  By the way that's not the barrel in view on the right although it might appear that way.

The Yupo Watercolor challenge: Rose Bowl Champions

Congratulations Ducks

For the Oregon State fans...If you despise the Oregon Ducks, my apologies. In the past I have shied away from painting sports action scenes for two reasons.  Firstly, most of the photos from these scenes are taken by  professionals.  In my mind, this somewhat compromises the integrity of the painting because the composition is not entirely my own.  Secondly, there are licensing limitations to what I can do with such paintings. Having said this, I felt compelled to congratulate the Ducks by painting this photo of De'Anthony Thomas breaking away for a touchdown.  I've wanted to do more  action paintings because they can convey such high energy...about this painting...

Drawing. Angle and Perspective

Adrianne's Mischievous Self Portrait

I'm not sure why I came back to draw this reference photo. Some time ago I attempted to do a  watercolor of it, which turned into the "Green" painting ...