Cefaloblog

Stephen Cefalo shared an Instagram photo with you

2012-01-10T22:20:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

Stephen Cefalo just shared an Instagram photo with you:

"Just about finished I think but I can't stop seeing things that drive me crazy. #figurative #figure #people #realism #painting #oil "

Thanks,
The Instagram Team

Stephen Cefalo shared an Instagram photo with you

2012-01-08T23:20:00.001-08:00

Hi there,

Stephen Cefalo just shared an Instagram photo with you:

view full image

"Getting pretty tired but I think I've made good progress here. #oil #painting #realism #people #portrait #figure #figurative"

Thanks,
The Instagram Team

Now available for pre-order: ”Dream, Float, Burn" T-shirt!

2012-01-05T19:44:00.000-08:00

Now available for pre-order: ”Dream, Float, Burn" T-shirt! Look cool and classy while helping a child with cancer! This beautifully designed t-shirt by Caleb Harris of Olive Tree Clothing features an image of the drawing “Five Pointed” by Stephen Cefalo against a dark grey heather fabric. Net proceeds will go to Big Love Cancer Care. All shirts are printed on %100 combed ring-spun cotton, super soft baby Jersey Knit. Go to my new online store to place your order!

(Minimum of 20 orders needed before shirts are printed. If printing is cancelled all orders will be refunded in full.)

Stephen Cefalo: "Dream, Float, Burn' at Gallery 26 in Little Rock.

2012-01-03T21:48:00.000-08:00

Stephen Cefalo: Dream, Float, Burn at Gallery 26: an exhibition of paintings and drawings. Please join us for the opening reception with refreshments and live cello music by Eli Ramsey on the evening of Saturday, January 21st, 2012. The exhibition will be on display until March 3rd.

For more information visit http://www.Gallery26.com/. email the gallery at info@gallery26.com or call 501-664-8996. Gallery 26 is in the Historic Ice House Center located at 2601 Kavanaugh Suite #1, Little Rock AR, 72205.

More of Stephen's work can be viewed at http://www.stephencefalo.com/.

— with Stephen Cefalo Paintings in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Sneaker Peeker: What I'm painting now.

2011-11-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

Sneaker Peeker

2011-11-22T21:06:00.000-08:00

A nice juicy crow from a piece in progress.

New Toy/Tool

2011-11-09T11:27:00.000-08:00

The best thing about All Hallows Eve is the 75% off sales the next day. My wife bought me this little skeleton for $1.50. Not perfectly accurate as the skull is too large and the distance from the ribcage to the pelvis is twice too long, but will make an excellent tool for revenge. (Ha, iPhone autocorrect, I mean reference!)

Twilight Dreamboat Robert Pattinson Wears Stephen Cefalo/ Brett Sempsrott Illustration!

2011-11-04T18:50:00.000-07:00

Before there was Team Edward there was team Blaster.

My wife is terribly pleased. Wednesday after a taping for an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Twilight star, Robert Pattinson "Edward"was seen leaving the studio wearing a Blaster the Rocket Man T-shirt designed as a collaboration between myself and my good friend Brett Sempsrott, Blaster's drummer. This would be remarkable enough in itself, but to add to the fun a crazed fan had to be tackled to the ground by Pattinson's bodyguard. (More about the incident here.) I postulate that the man was not after Robert himself, but the super-rare Blaster the Rocket Man t-shirt. Only a few hundred of the punk-quality shirts were made, and they were sold exclusively at a 2004 concert at Cornerstone Festival in Illinois and through my friend's ebay store.

Blaster the Rocketman was formed in 1992 as "Blaster the Rocket boy", when Robert Pattinson was six. Perhaps more than incidentally, Blaster's lyrics use horrific tales of monsters, werewolves and vampires to form ingenious Christian theological parallels. A local band comprised of my friends, I naturally became one of their chief illustrators along with Jonathan Queen. In 1999 they made a comeback as Blaster the Rocketman, and I returned to dreaming up ideas for merchandise. Blaster's frontman, Daniel Otto Jack Petersen still hosts a blog on the theology of monsters and is the vocalist and lyricist for Scotland-based band "Voice of the Mysterons".

My original drawing for the t-shirt.

The top hatted, bemonicled werewolf on the shirt was originally my design. It was drawn, I believe, in 2004 for reunion mini-tour and appeared as in the above scan of my drawing. Blaster ran a small batch of these shirts, which sold out so fast that fans and even some of the band members couldn't get their hooks on them. As demand for the t-shirts increased, Brett decided to redraw the design in order to make a new batch and a few hundred more were screen printed, I think by hand. I must say he did a smashing job, and added a lot of pizazz to the logo, as well as altitude to the top hat.

Pattinson wearing Brett Sempsrott's redesigned logo.

Kimmel's Interview with Mr. Pattinson about the fourth installment of the Twilight saga "Breaking Dawn" is scheduled to air November 9th, and the film opens in theaters next week.

One question remains: How and where did he get the shirt?

Sneaker Peeker: Detail of a Head

2011-11-01T15:21:00.000-07:00

"Nesting", Maybe Nearing Completion.

2011-10-25T21:17:00.000-07:00

Sneaker Peeker: Portrait In Progress

2011-10-23T23:10:00.000-07:00

This is all I'm giving you for now.

From today's painting class

2011-10-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

Sketch Part 3

2011-10-21T10:59:00.000-07:00

Sketch part 2

2011-10-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

Little Sketch In Progress

2011-10-21T09:35:00.000-07:00

Doing a little sketch in my morning figure class. Graphite with chalk highlights.

Sketch For "Self-Portrait as a Centaur", Fleshed Out, Clouds and Grass.

2011-10-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

There is a curious yellow cast to the photo, but I really like the effect. I have now added clouds and grass, and have improved many aspects of the anatomy. I do believe I'm ready to bring these changes to canvas. The painting is actually already in progress on an eight-foot piece of linen, but I had run into some problems which I thought would be easier worked out on paper.

Compositional Changes: Sketch for "Self-Portrait as a Centaur"

2011-10-19T16:04:00.000-07:00

I had a hunch this was the right move, but wanted some affirmation before making the change, so I asked some of my friends on facebook, twitter, and google plus. Ah...it certainly feels better this way. I'm also using a bit of a value change in the horse's body to push the back of the horse behind and relieve the front of the body forward. Thanks friends. I will sign all of your names somewhere on the back for your help.

On the Easel: Sketch for "Self-Portrait as a Centaur".

2011-10-19T11:28:00.000-07:00

The History of My Life So Far Part 4: Fields of Corn, X-Men, and Michelangelo..

2011-10-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

My parents parted ways when I was seven and we left New Jersey for Newburgh, Indiana, a suburb of Evansville deep in the corn belt. My mom was raised there and found a job at a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant. During the transitional period the summer of the 1984 Olympics my sisters and I stayed with my grandparents in a creaky little house in Yankeetown that always smelled like bacon.

Painting in progress of the Yankeetown house. My grandparents are gone now, but I'm combining a few photos for the composition.

Photo of my Grandfather, 1940's. A handsome bloke in his day.

Bacon.

My grandfather, a long-legged veteran World War II bomber pilot from Kentucky, sat in the chair between the window and the dusty old organ, spitting tobacco into a coffee can, and thinking hard. He had stern features like an eagle and scarcely said anything. Now and then he'd turn to the organ and play funny old songs for us singing in a deep bass, sounding incidentally much like Johnny Cash. His pastimes included walking on stilts he made, riding a pogo stick, and fixing various motor vehicles that sat rusting on the property. Sometimes he'd disappear for hours, and we would find him sitting in a chair in the top of a tree. He had tied a chair to one of the branches where he would sit with his shotgun watching his garden, and waiting for groundhogs. There is a story of him as a young man hanging his pants over the back of a chair and trying to jump into them with a running start. I believe this gene if none other was passed down to me.
My grandmother was an orphaned child of Irish immigrants, and still had a little Irish in her Kentucky accent.

I still wore my old Phillies hat, a fond remnant of the days my dad would take me to baseball games and give me sips of his beer. I was informed by locals that my hat was offensive and I was not allowed to wear it here, which concluded any interest I'd ever have in sports. I HATED school, all of it and everything about it (making an exception for you Mrs. B!) but will spare you this unpleasant bit.

My aunt Marilyn, an excellent painter and sculptor had a huge north lit studio facing the woods. She would have me over on the weekends and spent long days teaching and demonstrating to me everything she could think of about color, oil paints, and clay. Marilyn took me took me to the Evansville Museum, which had a fairly good old masters collection, but was well-known for its exhibitions and permanent collection of works by contemporary realists. My first piece was a full-length portrait of Michael Jackson from memory. I was deeply disturbed that I had made the head three times too large, and for the rest of my life I have made heads to small to compensate. I painted animals from National Geographic magazines, two of which I recently found. Most of what I learned about color I learned there. My mom frequented yard sales and ads in the paper for art supplies, scoring a huge book on color, a few others on drawing and painting the figure, and a super 8 camera on which I produced stop-motion claymations. It was also the eighties and I had an airbrush, so there was much chrome and sunsets. We painted my bedroom walls glossy white and my mom let me fill my bedroom walls with murals I drew with paint markers.

In middle school I began collecting comics, and fell in love with Jim Lee's X-Men comics and Todd McFarlane's Spider-Man series.

Spider-Man's left arm has a right hand on it! How could McFarlane and Marvel be so careless?!

My friend Greg Sallee and I started our own comic book, a blatant X-Men ripoff, and sold xerox copies for a dollar a piece. We checked out books from the library on Michelangelo and other Ninja Turtles, which we used as anatomical guides, especially borrowing from figures the Sistene Chapel ceiling. This was my real education.

One of the drawings from our comic. This is a silhouette I drew of an interrogation scene. I still like the composition.

The History of My Life So Far Part 3: Early Influences

2011-10-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

There was very little art in my life as a small kid under seven years old, but these are the first paintings I was ever really aware of. If you feel you're experiencing deja vu in the next couple of paragraphs it's because some of it is recycled from previous blog posts.

This is a painting of my dad's father, Carmine Cefalo, known to me as "Grandpop". It hung on the wall at my grandparents' house from the 40's until very recently, and my uncle now owns it. I was fascinated by the portrait growing up, and it was an inspiration to me as a young kid who dreamed of becoming an artist. I always wondered if I could some day paint something like it.

All anyone knows about it is that it was painted in Italy during World War II, and that my he payed for it with a carton of cigarettes. Nobody can make much sense of the signature past the first few letters. It's pretty well painted anyway, and it's great to have a small treasure like this as part of our family history.

The orange light and aloof gaze away from the viewer are interesting to me. It's fun for me to imagine my grandfather as a young wisecracking tough guy in the Navy. The eyebrows are great too.

During the time my parents were working in a realty office in New Jersey we often spent a lot of time coloring in a conference room. A reproduction of this painting either sat on a shelf or hung on a wall there, but I remember being inwardly flabbergasted and embarrassed that the boy in it was not wearing clothes, and nobody seemed to mind the picture.

Living just outside of Philadelphia we would visit the historical sites, and I became a fan of the founding fathers. Pictures of George Washington were always fascinating to me, and this one by Gilbert Stuart is the one that stuck with me. George Washington lived before cameras were invented, yet we can know exactly what he looks like because somebody sat right in front of him and painted his picture!

Another by Gilbert Stuart. It seemed like magic to me that anyone could paint velvet. I imagined somebody painstakingly painting every tiny piece of fuzz on the jacket. "there must be some trick", I remember thinking.

This portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale was in one of my History books. I remember thinking the skin texture was like magic. It looked impossible, especially considering the absence of photography.

I was also deeply fascinated with the segment about the golden ratio on the cartoon "Donald in Mathemagic Land", and I became very fond of geometry. These concepts stuck with me and I never forgot them. As an adult I still use them all the time.

Major Caravaggio exhibition at the Kimbell Art Museum, the only U.S. venue

2011-10-17T06:00:00.000-07:00

Major Caravaggio exhibition at the Kimbell Art Museum, the only U.S. venue

On the easel

2011-10-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

New Video: Self-Portrait Progress

2011-10-10T14:38:00.000-07:00

This is one of the few paintings in which I've really taken the grisaille, that is the monochromatic underpainting, all the way to full detail and value. There are very few colors on the palette for the figure, only black, white, burnt sienna, and yellow ochre. There may be a bit of cad red light and naples too.

Stephen Cefalo News For Thee

2011-10-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

The Artist's Magazine

I am among a few artists who were interviewed for the article "Tools That Are Tried And True", in the November issue of the Artist's magazine. At the very top of the article is the beautiful photo by Heather Canterbury shown below, featuring all of my maquettes, casts, mannequins, and toys. I received my copy in the mail a few weeks ago, and it should hit the stands in the next few weeks. You can find it at your local bookseller or order a copy here.

Bluecanvas: Magazine and Launch Event in Los Angeles

The October Issue of Bluecanvas Magazine presents an article about me including a full-length interview and several images of my work. They should soon be available at your local bookstore. I will be exhibiting two pieces at the October 13th launch event for issue ten in Los Angeles.

When:

October 13, 2011

6-11pm

Where:

http://exchangela.com/

Exchange LA, 618 S. Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90014[map]

Art School Collaboration with:

Ringling College of Art and Design

We would like to invite everybody to the Bluecanvas Magazine Issue X Launch Event at Exchange LA during the October 2011 Downtown LA Artwalk. It is with the wonderful support of our artists, fans, sponsors and community that we are able to successfully launch the 10th issue of Bluecanvas Magazine. Please join us for an exciting night of art, live digital art, live painting and drawing and live tattooing, plus special guest KCRW Dee Jay Anthony Valadez.

New Snail a Sketch Blog

Snail a Sketch is going strong, and I've been receiving requests from all over the world for sketches. To allow you to follow this project I've set up a new blog at http://www.snailasketch.blogspot.com You can see things I've sent out to people as well as a few highlights of interesting things that people have sent me.

Have a magical October,

Stephen Cefalo

Stephen Cefalo
stephencefalo@sbcglobal.net
www.StephenCefalo.com

StephenCefalo.blogspot.com

twitter.com/CefaloStudio

New Snail a Sketch Blog, Sketch of My Son With His Cat.

2011-10-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

I had so much material from snail a sketch that I thought best to start a new Snail a Sketch blog. I would like to share this particular item though, as it is near to my heart. My son put an envelope in the mailbox for Snail a Sketch with some Harry Potter and Star Wars drawings, as well as a rendition of "Five Points", so I did a sketch of him with his cat. They are inseparable and speak in a language nobody else understands. Actually I am beginning to speak it myself. My sketch reminded me Of Joseph Beuys' "How To Explain a Picture To a Dead Hare", which t me is not that different to trying to explain something to a living cat, but sometimes I think they may actually be communicating.

"How to explain Hellamooties to ee pokey-eared shan."

Snail a Sketch: A Few Things From Batch One.

2011-09-27T09:41:00.000-07:00

Snail a Sketch highlights from today. More info about Snail a Sketch here. Here are a few things I've sent off today.

This is an anatomical sketch of my son's arm I've used in a few of my painted compositions. Go to the paintings page on my website.

A hand study for a twenty-figure composition I'm working out.

Another for the twenty-figure composition.

Another.

A study for a new diptych I'm working on.

A Sketch for a future painting in mind.

This is a sketch for a painting currently on the easel.

A head sketch that I am fond of. It's of a friend from my anatomy class in grad school.

A little reinterpretation of one of the drawings above.

The things people sent this round were most interesting. Here are a few highlights. By the way, you do not have to send a drawing. If you do it's just more fun for me. I archive everything sent to me, and plan to do something interesting with them in the future.

Personalized stamps! I didn't know you could do that. I'm leaving senders anonymous unless they want to be known.

A necklace, which I thing is a stone. Whatever it is made from it's a beautiful object and my wife wore it to work today.

A great drawing by the sender with the personalized stamps.

First batch of snail a sketches

2011-09-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

Aren't they cute? Just picked these up today. I'll share a few things in detail tomorrow. Now I sleep.

Jennifer At Profile

2011-09-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

This is a study in oil completed in a single sitting from a figure drawing night at UALR. I liked it where it stopped.

New Video: Time Lapse Portrait of Krista, video

2011-09-23T21:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a new time lapse portrait of my friend Krista. With Broccoli. The painting is still in progress. Watch more videos on my youtube channel.

Snail a Sketch

2011-09-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

Snail a Sketch fever is sweeping the nation. At least two people have already claimed their sketches by going through the five easy steps to receive an original sketch by me in the mail. You do not need to sign up for anything, create any sort of an account, or buy anything. All you need to do is make a visit to my facebook page and my website, print out a little picture and send it with a self-addressed stamped envelope. If you also draw you may send a sketch of your own, but that is optional.

I thought it would be an interesting to break the cold impersonal barrier of social networking while increasing traffic to my websites. For specific instructions visit the personal info section of my fan page. When I send you a sketch I will post it here on Cefaloblog.

In The Cefalo Studio: Beautiful Photos By Heather Canterbury.

2011-09-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

I recently did a photo shoot with a local photographer, Heather Canterbury for the upcoming November issue of the Artist's Magazine. The article is called "Tools that are tried and true", and begins on page 58. My section is about the mannequins, casts, and humanoid figurines that I use to help me build my narratives. I hadn't met Heather prior to the shoot, but couldn't have hoped for better photos.

legs from an action figure and Michelangelo's David pose for a sketch.

A painting I've been working on. I have since added five figures to the composition.

A couple of years ago my wife found a set of little reproductions of classical sculptures. Beginning with sketches from my sketchbook, these can be helpful to work out the musculature. I also use broken action figures to work out shadows and perspective on the figures.

Working out the anatomy for a centaur painting currently in progress.

In the studio with all of my beautiful junk.

Sneaker Peeker: Portrait in Progress

2011-09-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

This is is a large section of something I've got on my easel, sort of a pregnant Mona Lisa motif. I like where it's going so far. The background is so far undertermined.

Video: Portrait Progress: "Laurel Magnolia"

2011-09-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

This is a video I put together tracking the progress of a portrait in oil. The title of the painting is "Laurel Magnolia". Here is my previous post on the painting. The music is a polish dance performed by lutenist Jacob Heringman, one of my very favorite musicians.

This is my first piece executed on a traditional gesso ground. I used a combination of rabbit skin glue, marble dust, chalk, and titanium white pigment. I'm struggling in the beginning, as you may notice, against the super-absorbant surface, almost fresco-like. This was a challenge especially in the black background colors. With layers of oil I eventually overcame this.

Here is a link to my YouTube channel for more videos.

Blue Star

2011-09-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

This is one of my "paintings from the rack, reworked". The model for this was great, a school bus driver, a classically trained musician, and a catholic scholar of sorts. It was originally a classroom demonstration from the live model. The costume elements were added using the mannequin, and the background is invented, based on a sight I saw while my neighbor was burning his field. The blue star is actually the planet venus, visible over our field at the time I was working on this.

Here's the original painting as it appeared in the racks. It was fine the way it was, but I really thought it would be fun to mess with it.

Some of my favorite free social media tools for artists.

2011-09-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

Saatchi Online

Even if you don't place in the Saatchi online "showdowns" entering is a fantastic way to get your work seen. You can friend people, "like" artists "favorite" with stars, and share to facebook. You may assemble portfolios of your own work as well as collections of your favorite work by others. Another great feature is that you have the ability to make your work available for sale in original form or giclee prints. It's mighty convenient that you can sign up through your facebook, so there's one less password to remember. My Saatchi Online Gallery.

Bluecanvas

Bluecanvas is a beautifully designed social network for artists and a super-hip art magazine sold at major bookstores and also a social network. It works much like Saatchi online in the respect that you can favorite, friend, make portfolios, and sell originals and prints, but I find it a little more user-friendly. Instead of the showdowns, though, members have the opportunity to vote and be voted into the paper publication. If you do good stuff and really work it for a couple of weeks befriending people, uploading, and starring your favorites, it's easy to get noticed and work your way to the top. One of the ways I found to keep at the front is by starting groups. It happens that the most recently added group appears at the top of the groups page, so if you put your work as the thumbnail picture, guess what, everybody sees it. Also it increases your odds of being seen if you interact with people and upload LOTS of work. Adding good tags helps too. I will be featured in issue #10. Perhaps best of all is that there is a super-hip release party and physical exhibition in downtown L.A. when the issue comes out. My Bluecanvas Profile.

"Art" facebook app or "Art gallery" app on iPhone/ iPad.
There is a free version, but it's worth getting Art Gallery Premium, the $0.99 version on a mobile device. Basically, you upload stuff to the online site, vote for stuff, and get your work voted on. The most popular pieces make it onto the mobile app, which appears as just a random series of images you can flip to, save to your favorites, or download to your device. It's terribly addictive and super fun when you find your own work on it. It is searchable by artist.

Flickr

Designed for photographers as an all-pictures social network, many painters also use it. It displays daily feeds on artists you follow, and you can display your own feed as a widget on your blog. Also, friending, starring faves, sharing, etc... My Flickr Photostream

Openmuseum
VERY cool tool. You must apply and be accepted, which I like. There is a bent toward narrative and figure work, which is a benefit to me. Create your own "museum" of your work with subcategories below your work that allow you to speak about your process, history behind the piece, or anything you like. It is very complicated to learn, and you must train on the phone to learn to use it. Scott Hess, a painter I've long admired was my trainer. Many people sign up and give up leaving a blank profile pic, so it's full of those. When you publish a new collection you can announce it, share, and post to social networks, even send as emails to other members. It also allows you to build your own custom webpage. Many talented people and people seriously interested in art are on there, and it's easy to shine in this small community if you're accepted and are willing to put in the time to learn to navigate it. My Openmuseum profile, My museum, "the Cefalouvre".

Myartspace

Obviously named before Myspace faded into obscurity, but actually way cooler than myspace ever was. Works like facebook pretty much, but you can create awesome slideshows of your work with customized music and backgrounds. This site is also very slick and fashionable-looking and there are interesting interviews on the blog. My Myartspace Profile.

Deviantart

This is an interesting and unique which I find a little bewildering, hard to find and connect with people, but I haven't put in the time. I'm sure there's something I'm not yet getting. I may warm up to it. My Deviantart Profile.

Self-Portrait Progress: Where It Is Now.

2011-09-07T23:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, I put it away for a little while so I could get excited about it again. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. Please click on the "self-portrait" tab to see earlier stages of this.

Sneaker Peeker: "Nesting" Progress.

2011-09-06T15:10:00.000-07:00

I'm a little further along here. Actually close to molehill. I mean completion. I love autocorrect.

Better Ribbons, Expanding Composition

2011-09-05T07:52:00.001-07:00

After settling on the idea of a swirling ribbon thing I've done some closer observation of the movement of ribbons. I decided that the composition looked cramped at the lower right, so I added on a half-inch strip of paper to the right.

I'm toying with the idea of adding some flying feathers. What do you think?

On the Easel: Sketch for "Murder of Crows".

2011-09-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

This is one among several compositions I'm working out with pencil before I go to canvas. This really allows the composition to be flexible. As you can see I've added on additional pieces of paper as I make changes. My process with pencil is apparently too aggressive for the paper I'm using. It looks pretty good, but I work the pencil until the paper won't take anymore. Actually it's a combination of charcoal, white chalk, and graphite.

Did you know that a flock of crows is called a "murder"?

A few more unwitting quotations of old paintings here I think:

Botticelli's "Birth of Venus", 1486, Uffizi, Florence

If there's a single painting art history loves to hate it's "The Storm" by Pierre Auguste Cot, but I think it's actually an influence here.

"The Storm", 1880 by Pierre Auguste Cot, Louvre, Paris.

Compositional Help With "Brushes" App on iPad

2011-09-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

After messing around with the "Brushes" application for a while, the notion occurred to me that I could actually use it as a tool to help me work out my compositions while I'm away from the studio. I took a snapshot of a compositional drawing I've been working on and began painting on it in Brushes. I even solved a few drawing issues as you can see in the red piece of cloth.

Color study done in Brushes on iPad.

Original drawing

Drawing with changes made after the digital study.

The History of My Life So Far Part 2: Spaghetti, Giants, and Ghosts

2011-08-26T19:47:00.000-07:00

When I was two we left the Army base in Germany and my dad took a recruitment job in Somerset, Pennsylvania. After a couple of years my dad decided to try something else. We moved to his home state of New Jersey, where my parents decided to open an Italian restaurant next door to the giant tire man in Clementon, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia. We were to the left of him I think.

The Tire man as he appeared when I was a kid.

In training pants with my sisters. My little sister is holding my other favorite toy.

If I remember correctly we bought the building from a fortune teller. The restaurant was called "Spaghetti Works", and was a very nice place for the simple name. We had a live pianist who also sang, and often caught our own crabs and mussels from a motorboat on the bay. "The Eye of the Tiger" was red hot and could be heard blaring over our motor noises. I was a huge Rocky fan. I would get payed in quarters for cleaning the mussels. It seems we practically lived in the kitchen.

On the roof of the restaurant was an apartment in which a family from Puerto Rico lived. We played there all the time and would sleep there when my parents pulled late nights. The whole apartment was like a spooky attic, and they had 3d books with illustrations of ghosts. Once while poking around in some stuff in the corner I found a Catholic Bible with a spooky painting of Jesus on the cover. Unfamiliar with Bibles and unaware of Jesus I freaked out and tore the Bible into many pieces. "It had a picture of a ghost on it!" I explained. Their daughter, named "Mona Lisa" explained to me that I will now be doomed for the rest of my life and would never go to heaven. Naturally, I was terrified and I wanted to know if I could possibly reverse my fate. She told me believe in God, to pray every single day and gave me a list of words never to say. "That might help." So I did, and meticulously so. Without any real knowledge about this I kind of invented my own religion, somewhat of a combination of catholicism and a sincere belief in the gods from the 1981 movie "Clash of the Titans".

In the kitchen at Spaghetti Works.

I began drawing E.T. obsessively, which was my favorite movie, and would keep busy in the kitchen for hours doing this.

Based on a doll I had just like the one above, they were officially my first still-life drawings. After several of these I memorized the doll and drew it on everything in sight, even on the furniture. None of the drawings survive unfortunately.

At my grandpaerents' house. These are not hipstamatics.

My politically incorrect costume.

My Prize-winning smile winning smile.

In 1983, the year Return of the Jedi was released, I won a smile contest at the mall. My prize was a coupon for a free cheeseburger handed to me personally by Darth Vader.

The History of My Life So Far Part 1: Germany and Earliest Memories

2011-08-23T21:57:00.000-07:00

My Birthplace: Nurnberg

In 1509 the great German Renaissance painter, printmaker and mathematician Albrecht Durer returned to his hometown of Nurnberg.

Nurnberg, 1490

"Self-Portrait, 1593" by Albrecht Durer.

He purchased his home from the family of astronomer Bernhard Walther, where he lived and worked until his death in 1527. One mile away and 510 years later, on June 20th 1937, crowds applauded as Adolf Hitler personally dedicated the German Military Hospital. It was converted into an American army hospital in 1945, about the time my grandfather was trying to drop bombs on him. That is the hospital where I was born on the birthday of painters Charles Le Brun and Franz Von Stuck in 1976.

Home of Albrecht Durer

"Nemesis" by Albrecht Durer

Nurnberg Army Hospital

I have an unusually strong long-term visual memory, but only about select things. I do not know what car anyone drives, model, make, or color. However I have a few bizarre memories from infancy.

Memory the First: The Christening

I remember looking up at vaulted ceilings and the spooky statues. I heard echoing voices that I believed were coming from the ceiling. I was handed to a man, crying, and felt cold water rush over my head. There were no photographs taken and nobody told me the story. As an adult I asked my mom about these images. As the catholic church was not a regular part of our life I did not realize that this was actually my christening at a church in Germany when I was six months old. According to my dad it was the Fraunkirche in Nurnberg. Here are some pictures of it that I found on a google search. Very few people believe this, but this is my A-1 visual memory.

The Fraunkirche, Nurnberg

The Fraunkirche, 1696

My parents travelled a great deal while in Europe. I have a crystal-clear memory of a bleeding bull, stuck with spears, the matador, and the cheering crowd. Again, no pictures of this. We left Europe for Pennsylvania when I was two.

With my mom, visiting a castle in Nurnberg.

Somewhere in Italy.

Palindrome Reclined

2011-08-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

I spend a lot of time noticing how form repeats itself in nature. When I look at the human back I often notice that the overlapping muscles of the lower and upper back are nearly a mirror image. I wondered if I could fool the viewer at first glance that this was a normal reclined figure, the pelvis on the left functioning as the upper torso and shoulders.

On the Easel: No Title Yet.

2011-08-18T21:24:00.000-07:00

I'm using my imagination a lot more in my process recently in my interpretation of form. How can I take my impression of the movements of the figure and push them to where I make you see what I see?

Much imagination is also employed here in the placement of shadows too.

This is a composition I'm working out currently for a painting. I'm doing a lot more of this lately, which to my surprise I've found extremely gratifying. It's one of those things you know would help but it sounds boring. Actually I'm flying through loads of paper just throwing my ideas down and pushing things around. It's so much fun I've hardly thought of painting in the last week.

Two of my favorite stories as a child were Rip Van Winkle, which I took as literal history (as well as Greek Mythology.) and "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak. Both are definitely in there.

From "Where the Wild Things Are", Illustration by Maurice Sendak

A little help with shadow arrangements using some of my kids' toys.

From the Archives: Oil sketch: Kids in Pool, 2004

2011-08-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

Oil sketch from life on a gessoed end of cardboard. Why don't I do more of these?

From the Archives: Horns, 1999

2011-08-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

Johanna, one of Steven Assael's favorite models, would pose for our class at times. This is one of my more successful graphites from these sessions. She really wore the antlers and made the breastplate herself out of rope and melted plastic.

From the Archives: Group of Three, 1999

2011-08-09T11:48:00.000-07:00

This began with the male figure, which I drew from the model in graphite on a manilla folder. I later added the two ghosty female figures.

From the Archives: Spectacles, 2004

2011-08-08T21:34:00.000-07:00

A small graphite on paper, somewhat of a grotesque and eyeless self-portrait. This was part of the "Drawings VII" biennial at Koplin Del Rio in Los Angeles.

From the Archives: Freshman Portrait of Michael Lierly, 1995.

2011-08-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

I posted a portrait a while back as my first portrait, but this may actually be it. I remember having no idea how to use oils and smearing tons of turpentine all around this piece of canvas like watercolers. I was just so anxious to paint after a few still lifes of an egg in grisaille. The results, though were astonishing to me, and encouraging. It's a portrait of my friend Michael Lierly in his bed at the dorm, and the jumble of shapes at the bottom are the blankets.

From the Archives: Sixth Floor, 1999-2000

2011-08-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

An old student painting begun during my senior year, this is pretty much my first step outside of strict observational realism. I combined a pose from Steven Assael's class with a study of the stairwell in our Bronx apartment. I meant it as a picture of every human's frustrating struggle of trying to transcend the body. The image embodies the hardness of New York and is even a little frightening. It was done eleven years ago, and considering flaws in the drawing it carries a sophistication that I still enjoy.

From the Archives: Curly Lock

2011-08-07T21:34:00.000-07:00

I found a disk the other day with several old drawings and paintings that I thought I had lost record of. I'll be posting some of my favorites.

This one is from about 2005, a sketch from Carl Samson's Tuesday night group in Cincinnati. I did a lot of my best drawing there due largely to the pressure of being surrounded by such fierce competition. I enjoy the calligraphic line of the hair and the expression embodied in the single eye. The touch of the pencil is light and breath-like except in these areas, which I pushed almost to black. A good example of hierarchy of focus in a drawing. The shadow cast from the hair is a nice touch too.

New Drawings at Gallery 26

2011-08-03T14:36:00.000-07:00

New Drawings at Gallery 26

"Five Points" Graphite on paper

I've gotten reactions to this drawing like "More like this!" How is that even possible?

New Crank Easel

2011-06-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

Someone I don't know literally gave me the easel of my dreams for free. A friend of my in-laws had it sitting and doesn't seem to have been used. It was waiting there in Chicago for me where I happened to be going for the weekend. It was like the movies in which the kid who stares at the guitar in the store window finally gets it.

It's a Cappelletto Renaissance beechwood crank easel, and came with a special linseed oil for oiling the fancy wood. It has a palette and paintbox that box that both clip onto the front. Thank you God, I'll try to do something decent on it.

Laurel Magnolia

2011-05-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

"Laurel Magnoilia" began as a response to the painting "Laura" also known as "Portrait of a Young Bride" by Giorgione. I found this portrait strange and captivating. The laurel branches seems to sprout out of her back. At one glance there is strength in her eyes and at another she looks entranced. Researching the painting a bit I learned that the laurel was a reference to Daphne and a symbol of chastity, the exposed breast a sign of her potential for motherhood. On trying to reinterpret the theme, however, the results felt stiff and weak. It just didn't work emotionally for me as a portrait of my own wife. As I reclined her in her feather coat and she struggled to clutch the lapels together she began to look more like Rubens than Giorgione.

"Laurel Magnolia", Oil on linen, 30"x24"

"Laura" by Giorgione, 1505

I have always been a huge fan of the portraits Rubens painted of his wives. He is clearly enraptured by his subject, and the emotion would be unbridled if not for the self-consciousness in the hands. In the Giorgione the gesture of the hand opening the coat is countered by the the disinterested stare away from the painter. Rubens' ladies gaze fully into the painter's eyes while the arms deny full access to the viewer. To me this was a more exciting solution.

"Isabella Brant" by Peter Paul Rubens. Isabella was Rubens' first wife

"Isabella Brant" by Peter Paul Rubens

While keeping the symbolism of the laurel branches, laurels are native to the mediterranean. It does happen, however, that a "laurel magnolia" tree grows in my front yard in Arkansas, named for its similarity in appearance to the laurel. The magnolia's tough, waxy leaves stay unchanged during the cold months, making it also a symbol of strength and endurance.

"Venus (Helene Fourment) in a Fur Coat" by Peter Paul Rubens. The second wife of Rubens.

"Portrait of Suzanne Forment" by Peter Paul Rubens. This is a portrait of Helene's sister, but bears many of the same qualities of his wives' portraits.

A Change Of Light Source

2011-05-13T23:35:00.000-07:00

Things Are Starting To Click.

2011-05-12T21:55:00.000-07:00

Re-working it.

2011-05-07T21:27:00.000-07:00

It was losing momentum, so I'm taking it back a few steps.

Self-Portrait, Day Five

2011-05-06T22:56:00.000-07:00

Goofy iPhone camera squashes everything. It has a blue cast too. Interestingly however, the bad photo draws attention to a few weaknesses that I didn't notice so much sitting in front of the canvas. Going very dark just for laughs, and obviously studying Rembrandt very closely.

Self-Portrait, Day Four

2011-05-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

I actually got to put in a day's work on this. I'm liking where it's going.

Why I Don't Smile In Self-Portraits

2011-05-04T19:14:00.000-07:00

"Confusion is displeasing but so is ennui. The "touch of disorder" that lends charm to a regular scene is disorderly only from some external standard...Persons of vigor who prefer to live and who are not contented with subsisting find the too easy repulsive."- John Dewey, Art As Experience

In-Progress Self-Portrait by me.

I can think of few great paintings in which people are smiling. The few exceptions I can think of are hardly showing the most attractive side of the subject's likeness. The first examples that come to mind are the smiling self-portraits of Rembrandt. Showing his bad teeth in full glory these are anything but cute portraits of a happy painter. There is a terrifying mortality in these grins.

"I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity. 2I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? 3I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity...And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit." -Ecclesiastes 2.

"The Prodigal Son in the Tavern" by Rembrandt

The best-known painted smile is of course Mona Lisa, but this is not quite a cheerful likeness of a pretty lady either. The expression is a complex one. There is a sadness in her brow-less eyes that is ghostly, and a darkness in the palette. The painter is not telling us about a lady at all, but telling us about the human soul.

You know this one.

The formula is theoretically simple: "thing + it's opposite", life vs. death, youth vs. decrepitude, dark vs. light. happy vs. sad. It takes a positive and a negative to give a battery an electric charge, and anything in nature that "works" has both. It is these balances that give us a broader sense of human the experience, and true aesthetic beauty has a lot to do with this, not the superficial "attractiveness" of the sitter. "There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportions"- Sir Francis Bacon in "Of Beauty". This is why Thomas Kinkaid doesn't work, it's ALL positive and pleasant without the dangers of the natural world, making it a mere falsehood without any experiential truth. They are completely fabricated non-experiences. John Ruskin said of a Turner landscape of Vesuvius "He paints the blue mist, because it brings life and joy to men, and the lava stream because it brings death to them."

"Self-Portrait with Palette". This was done as somewhat of a portrait sample, so there is not so much strangeness in the form itself, but the messy palette and dogeared reproductions of "The Blinding of Samson" by Rembrandt and "Expulsion from the Garden" by Massaccio in the background were elements I used to create a little dissonance.

"Self-Portrait Twice"

Of course the rules change in a commissioned portrait, in which the character of the sitter is an end in itself. Most patron's don't want hints of sadness and darkness in a portrait, and hope you will accentuate their most pleasant features and downplay the warts and wrinkles. My portrait of the tv gardener, P. Allen Smith is a picture of a particular aspect of his personality that he wishes to present to the public. The portrait is "about" him, and the likeness and expression of his character are the goal.

"P. Allen Smith"

But in a personal painting or "work of art" the likeness is only a means to an end. The power of painting is that it spans tens or hundreds of hours of time, allowing for a complexity of expression as the painter makes choices and changes his mind. There is less room for complexity in superficial emotional expressions such as smiles, frowns, and screaming faces. A painting asks the viewer to look deeper than the surface of the picture. Where there is redundancy there is no profundity.

"Beauty deprived of its proper foils and adjuncts ceases to be enjoyed as beauty, just as light deprived of all shadows ceases to be enjoyed as light."
- John Ruskin

Self-Portrait Day Three

2011-05-03T22:18:00.001-07:00

Only getting a few hours a night in this week but doing as much damage as possible when I get the chance.

Self Portrait, Day Two

2011-05-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

There is some distortion in the photo making the forehead appear huge, but it looks better in person. The challenge I've given myself here is that I would limit myself to using only a fan, a round #2 sable, and a knife to model the form.

Self Portrait, Day One

2011-05-01T22:07:00.000-07:00

Colors Of Fall

2011-04-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

I began this as a portrait of my daughter, unsure of how I would finish it. I simply liked the deep space created by the converging lines of our play set. After our move from Cincinnati to Arkansas I came up with the idea of the chalk drawings as a way to activate the foreground. I stole the images from actual drawings done by my children.

A 1940's Portrait of my Grandfather, Artist Unknown

2011-04-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

The orange light and aloof gaze away from the viewer are interesting to me. It's fun for me to imagine my grandfather as a young wisecracking tough guy in the Navy. The eyebrows are great too.

Screaming Hand Influence

2011-04-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

You know it never occurred to me before, but this MUST have been an influence. I loved this image as a kid, and drew it all the time. If you skateboarded at all you know what this is.

Left: Detail image from "Iconoclast", Right: "Screaming Hand" from Santa Cruz skateboards.

Red Scarf Completed and Photographed

2011-04-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Here it is officially photographed. It is a collaborative project with poet Daniela Petrova for an upcoming issue of the magazine "Poets/Artists".

Where It Is Now

2011-04-14T00:57:00.001-07:00

Finished? Maybe, at least for now.

Starting to Click

2011-04-12T23:15:00.000-07:00

I really feel this is starting to come together. I changed the shape of the color to show it overlapping the scarf. Pulling harder edges into this is a really helping to solidify the form, and I'm continuing to develop pretty much all areas of the picture with large flat to tiny round brushes.

I will restretch this more tightly to stretchers of the right size when it's finished, but I've really enjoyed thinking of the edges of the painting as plastic and able to be changed.

Modeling the Clothing

2011-04-11T22:34:00.001-07:00

I'm now using the mannequin to really help observe the folds and movements of the cloth. You may notice that she's not as tilted to the left as she was and that's because I have rotated the canvas a few degrees clockwise on the stretchers. I've also stretched it onto larger stretchers and recropped the composition. In the process the city behind her tilted but I liked the effect. Still lots of fussy work and modeling to be done, but I'm enjoying the feel of it.

I'm having to improvise the communist school uniform based on a photo. I have a sailor hat that worked well for modeling the hat and had tho cut a strip of red fabric for the scarf.

Behind the scenes

2011-04-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

First Crack at an ipad Painting: Day One

2011-04-06T19:42:00.001-07:00

I got my ipad in the mail today and couldn't resist downloading the brushes app to start painting. I chose one of my very favorite heads by Dick Van Dyck to begin with. Actually it was Anthony Van Dyck. As you can see in the image below I was struggling to manage the colors and finer aspects of the drawing. As soon as I discovered the color picker tool I found I could pick a color and slightly alter it, making uniformity a little easier. I'll keep this going over time and see where I can take it.

Sneaker Peeker: Moving to a smaller brush

2011-04-04T21:30:00.000-07:00

Breaking out the size zeros at this point and finding a few hard edges. They look softer here in this fuzzy photo. If you've been following this piece you may notice that I've changed the position of the eyes. I think it is way better this way.

Red Scarf Day Three

2011-04-04T18:56:00.000-07:00

This went through a lot of interesting stages today so I took lots of progress photos. The top is the most recent to remain consistent with the order of the recent posts. Something really happened in the most recent stage that really clicked for me.

Red Scarf Day Two

2011-04-03T23:10:00.000-07:00

Jennifer at profile day one

2011-04-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Red Scarf Day One Part 2

2011-03-30T23:09:00.000-07:00

Red Scarf: Day One

2011-03-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

From tonight's ALA Portrait Demo

2011-03-29T22:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight was my third portrait demonstration for the Arkansas League of Artists. The model was Joanne, and the audience was great.

The two-hour meeting left seventy minutes of painting time, but luckily we had a great model, and she sat very still without breaks.

I brought a few examples of my work, which you can see in the background. Here I'm blocking in, getting a little head start while they're still making announcements.

Not bad for one hour and ten minutes, although I noticed later that the pupils are two different sizes. That's driving me crazy, but it's easy to fix.

I wish I could have had time to really capture the hair. Very nice wavy locks. I gave Joanne the study, or at least I will as soon as I fix the pupils.

Sketch For Red Scarf

2011-03-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working on a collaborative project for "Poets/Artists" magazine with a poet, Daniela Petrova. The theme is "Self-portrait. Born in communist Bulgaria and living in New York, her work recalls the emotions of a girl caught in flux between two worlds. The red scarf is a recurring image in the poems, a symbol of communism partly but also a part of her childhood. In the spirit of collaboration I have taken a school photo of Daniela and reinterpreted her as my daughter. This is the first sketch in which I'm working out the image.

Today I received a blank postcard from the Indiana University Fine Arts Student Association asking me as a member of its alumni to send the card back with a sketch. It will be part of an exhibition to raise money for an art career symposium called "Making Art Work".

Sketches of Tuscany

2011-03-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

In the summer of 2006 I went to Italy with two of my best pals, Jonathan Queen and Michael Lierly. I remember the train ride through Tuscany being so awe inspiring that we all just sat silently trying to absorb the beauty. I pulled out a little watercolor kit and did these.

As with any landscape I felt at the time that I was completely failing to capture the vast scale and grandeur of these mountains and hills, but I feel I did manage to get a little piece of Tuscany on paper I like that somehow you can feel the speed of the trees in front as they zip by. Not sure if I did that on purpose.

Naturally, as the scene changed I had to piece together elements of different places, but it is amazing how consistent the scenery was from hill to hill. Same houses, trees, and gardens everywhere.

Compositional Sketch

2011-03-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

This is a sketch for a composition I was working out for a large painting a few years back, and you may recognize some of the poses from a few spinoff paintings that I did from it.

My kids have grown quite a bit since I sketched this, and I've set it to the side. It is possible that I may still use the idea for a painting, but i think it stands well on its own as a drawing too.

Sneaker Peeker: Layering the Hand

2011-03-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed working on this one. I literally developed the anatomy first and then put in a coat if translucent skin overtop of the muscles bones and veins.

The fingers and especially the thumb need shaping up, but I like where it's going. I feel it is three dimensional and well sculpted.

Tiara

2011-03-14T10:29:00.000-07:00

Tiara, Oil on canvas, 2007

Art Paris Showdown on Saatchi Online: Help me win!

2011-03-09T06:54:00.001-08:00

Hi friends. I've entered this piece in the Saatchi Online Art Paris Showdown. The top 128 finalists get to show in Paris. Voting goes on until March 20th and I'm doing very well. As of this morning I'm number 388 out of 3777 entries, but I get bumped back now and then. With your help maybe I can get in the show. Simply create a free account as either an artist or enthusiast at www.Saatchionline.com and vote for my piece here. Thanks!!!

ART PARIS SHOWDOWN

Art Paris Showdown on Saatchi Online

2011-03-09T06:53:00.000-08:00

Hi friends. I've entered this piece in the Saatchi Online Art Paris Showdown. The top 128 finalists get to show in Paris. Voting goes on until March 20th and I'm doing very well. As of this morning I'm number 388 out of 3777 entries, but I get bumped back now and then. With your help maybe I can get in the show. Simply create an account as either an artist or enthusiast at www.Saatchionline.com and vote for my piece here. Thanks!!!

ART PARIS SHOWDOWN

An interesting Delaroche Comparison, more Lange Photos

2011-03-01T20:04:00.000-08:00

A while ago I posted a few interesting comparisons I've noticed between my painting, "Mother and Child", most notable were some unintentional similarities between my painting and the famous photograph "Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange.

View Previous Post

While looking at some Paul Delaroche paintings online I found this one called "Young Mother With Children". I don't believe I've ever seen it, I doubt personally that Lange knew
about it, and I'm certain that Delaroche (1797-1856) didn't know about our work.

This is further evidence to me that the motifs are inside of us, woven into our DNA maybe.

Isn't it interesting that both Delaroche and I decided to light the head and arm the same way? Both rest their heads on their wrists in a weary, almost mournful gesture. Both babies slump backward in white clothing in a death-like motion, making the pose at once resemble a Madonna and Child and a Pieta. All three of our mothers gaze off into an unknown the left disconnected from the child at the breast.

The positioning of the older children on either side of the mother also create a parallel between Lange and Delaroche.

Since the last post I've come to realize that the migrant mother is not a single photograph, but part of an entire sequence of photos. I've posted some more of these below.That's probably an obvious fact to a photography person, but as a painter I forget that in photo a different set of limitations applies.

All of these Dorothea Lange photos are public domain, and are available here for hi resolution downloads on the library of Congress archives.

Rembrandt Copy

2011-02-23T16:00:00.000-08:00

I still copy the masters now and then. It's a great way to push past the limitations of what you think you know, and an excellent way to work yourself out of an inspirational rut.

This is a copy of a Rembrandt self-portrait I did last year in attempt to learn the way he used heavy impasto with flake white. In the process I also learned how far he really pushed value progressions for extreme contrast.

Drawings from last night

2011-02-19T12:09:00.001-08:00

A couple of drawings from a figure drawing group that met last night.

The pose, which was completely spontaneous on the model's part reminded me of Ugolino and his sons by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, as well as some of the figures on the Sistine ceiling.

The Cumaean Sibyl, Michelangelo, from the Sistine Chapel Ceiling

Ugolino and his sons by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux

This drawing doesn't remind me of anything, but I was pleased with it. He does bear a sad kingliness like Denethor, the Steward of Gondor from Return of the King. He could be the emperor with no clothes.

A Little Help Brightening Some Sunken Colors

2011-02-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

The color in the darks had sunk in, or faded when dried. My daughter was curious about how I was using the oil, so I was feeling nice enough to let her try. She was pretty amazed to see how bright and dark the colors got when she painted a fresh layer of oil into it. The brush is dipped into stand oil cut with turpentine. I like to actually leave a trace of dirty color in the brush that can sink into the dips and valleys. What are the blobs of paint in the hair you ask? I scrape the mixing area of my palette at the end of the day with a knife to clean it. I like to use the excess paint to build up texture in interesting places by just wiping the knife off somewhere on the canvas. I will scrape a lot of it back down and paint back over it, but what is left gives the surface a little dimension that I enjoy.

"Oh, you can see the colors its supposed to be now!"

Before oiling down the colors- dead and gray

After oiling down the colors- lively and luminous.

Sneaker Peeker: Developing Head And Shoulders

2011-02-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

Sneaker Peeker: New Portrait

2011-02-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

Freshman Self-Portrait, 1995

2011-02-11T10:32:00.000-08:00

I don't remember if I noticed the distortions when I painted this or not. I used to cringe at the proportions, but recently have come to appreciate this early attempt at self-portraiture for its strangeness.

It was produced as a homework assignment for Jeff Markowsky's painting class. I remember hanging a nightlight on a cord from the ceiling, and it dangled in front of my face for the light source. That partially explains the strangeness of the color palette. Oh yes, I also remember that I did not own a mirror, and that I looked at my reflection in a cd to paint it, possibly explaining some of the distortion. For all of its shortcomings I feel that there is life in it, and the light effect succeeds at creating an interesting mood and psychology.

Sneaker Peeker: Re-working arm position

2011-02-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

Previously the upper arm was vertical, covered by a blanket, and there was no forearm showing. I'm re-concepting my composition as a series of upward swings, for now inventing the arm position until I have a model for it.

Sneaker Peeker, Developing the Head and Arm 2

2011-02-03T22:50:00.000-08:00

Sneaker Peeker, Developing the Head and Arm

2011-02-02T22:48:00.000-08:00

Coffee Sludgescape: Descent Into an Abyss

2011-02-01T13:44:00.000-08:00

Light seems to be emanating from a pool at the bottom and even casting shadows from some of the figures, revealing the craggy brain-like patterns on the walls of the cave. Is the pool the destination or an obstacle they've encountered on their journey?

Sneaker Peeker, Chaotic Beginnings

2011-01-31T22:37:00.000-08:00

Again, part of a composition, but not the same as the man on the laptop. There is a good deal of trying things out and shifting them about in this stage, but to me it's the most fun.

Study af a Man Reclined

2011-01-31T16:31:00.000-08:00

A quick study in oil, done as a study for a large composition I'm working on. I did the study a few years ago, but am just now getting around to the painting. I started it with a fleshy colored tone at a middle-gray value, and let it represent the half-tones. After you lay down the shadows and get them right the rest falls into place pretty quickly. There may only be three or colors here, probably sienna, black, naples yellow, and white.

Sneaker Peeker, Man On Laptop

2011-01-24T20:44:00.000-08:00

I started a nine-foot allegorical composition today that I've been planning for a while. This is a detail shot of a head blocked in at about life-size. I'm basically limiting the palette to earth colors, red, and white, using a black and white mixed gray for the cools. There are other figures in the composition that I will probably show you later.