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.

Stage Three: Digital Delay. Reference photo has no neck.

I got to the point  where I was ready to paint the lower portion and realized that my reference photo had been cropped.  I quite literally cut my own throat here. (thank you, that pun just popped into my head).  I have been grumbling about the digital frame I use for my reference photos.  It's difficult to navigate because the cheap buttons on the back don't always work.  In short, I need a normal  computer display to work from so the I can get rid of this thing. (or I can just work from life, but this one has specific lighting that won't look right if I do that)  The digital menu jumps around and I can't find the photo I need, then when I go to zoom it jumps out of the menu and I have to start over.  Hate is a strong word...I hate that thing.  By the way, my pc is just across the room and too far away to use, so Ill probably end up using my old pc as a photo holder and get a new monitor for that.
Now that I've vented, the actual photo is on this computer and I'll have to upload to the digital frame to go any further.  The danger of not being able to work on something when I'm ready is that I start to tinker with the finished parts.  So instead of tinkering, I decided to post this.  More as it develops.

Matting and framing

My friend Adlai Alexander asked if I could frame a couple of my pieces for him as well as a print done by another artist.  Basically, the top and bottom left two are a couple of sketches (obviously more finalized sketches) I did for him.  The bottom right is a  print of an illustration of him done by Hampton Rodriguez.
 I made a note to myself.  The top painting was intended to be a quick sketch, but it came out pretty good.  I shouldn't have used the cheap drawing paper.  There were some obvious defects in the paper that showed up.

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.

Adlai Sketch

First and second stage of the drawing

Click here to Enlarge Drawing

I decided to stop here on this sketch.  It became apparent that I was not going to capture the likeness entirely so it's time to move on to the next thing.  I'm happy with this as it is, but somehow he looks heavier in the drawing than he really is.

Adlai

I woke up early to get something done this morning.  I was able to start this sketch of my friend Adlai Alexander playing guitar at one of his concerts.

Is this the one?.....

I am desperately hoping this is the one that works....late for work.  More later

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.

Night Light Painting: On the agenda.

Photo: Woodstock Park, Saturday evening.

  It's so difficult to focus on one topic when I'm busy with work.  I've decided to start jotting down some of these ideas in my blog if I don't have time to paint in the morning .
I'm thinking about creating a series of night paintings.   I want to get back to painting scenes that include people, even if I have to add them into a photo.  I took this awhile back and will need to adjust how it is framed up since the focal point is right in the middle.  The thing I enjoy about night paintings is all the ambient light and subtle colors that are there, but cannot necessarily be seen in a photo.  A lot of artistic freedom can be exercised . 

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

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.

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 ...