Another painting and test post

My last post didn't work exactly like I wanted to, so I'm playing around and seeing what all can be done. This is a little commission I did a week or so ago.

A New Painting and a New Way to Blog

South Carolina Low Country
Oil on Canvas Board
4x5

I'm working on a new way to post images and content on my blog. I know I haven't posted in awhile, but I am starting up again. Right now, in fact!

Abstract 1

I wanted to put up an abstract that Sam and I had done, but I felt bad for not updating when I said I would be able, and I had this one on my computer. It's a small one I did by myself, but it's like how my brother and I work together.

It's rather small, and for right now I'm so sick of orientations for images not working that I'm not going to try with this sucker, though I might look at it later and cringe and I'll fix it. Though right now it's not bothering me. Though I should have been asleep two hours ago. Tomorrow morning I might just cry ;)

Well, it's beginning to feel a lot like fall here. We've had our first cool night. By cool I miean mid to lower seventies, possibly even upper sixties in the wee hours of the morning!! I didn't feel fall yesterday, but today I fought the urge to rush out an buy a pumpkin! Fall is my favorite season!!

Frog Person 2

Well, uploading it as PNG keeps the image in the correct orientation, though I don't see why it should have an effect. Thank you for the help!

This is my second frog person. I still love them! I doodle them all the time. I've got them everywhere. They are so creepy, and so neat! I can't wait to write out their whole sort of history or at least a specific story.

Anyway, once I get my car and get to all my other images, I'll post more. I hope to have my car in about two days... and two hundred dollars later. *cry* If it's not three tires its the brakes.

And if it's not the car it's me crushing my hand in the door of the cardboard crusher. Well, I had help with that, I'm not completely incopetent! I can type now (yay!) and the bruise looks better (yay!)

Then perhaps I'll get on schedule. I hope so, because I can't take many more accidents.

Frog Person

Frog Person

Ink and Watercolor on colored board

Tiny

I love my little frog people that I draw and paint. They are very macabre in their own little way. I've been working with developing a whole mythology surrounding them, and they are quite interesting.

For the most part, all people have to know about these creatures is that they don't matter well. They do not hold themselves together when they enter a world based in matter. They have to think about everything in so much detail, it is quite exhasting and most prefer to stay in their own little world. But a few are curious, and come out on occasion.

In one of my stories, Hermes would be considered a fairly well advanced frog person, though he looks nothing like a frog. I might post little excerpts as I post more of these creatures, or just little ideas about where these strange things come from, and what they want. Or don't want. They are complex for being so simple.

I think these things come about from my preoccupation with the sub atomic structure of the world and how it holds together.

I hope you enjoy my less realistic work!

Regular Updates

Regular updates with art (that might be) worth seeing and some new articles (that will be) worth reading: all to start in a week and a half. First post will be a map up of a working schedule and what to expect, then everything after that will be content, posted regularly.

Hope you enjoy.

Vi

Rick's Angel

Guardian Angel

A coworker at work, Rick, wanted me to paint this for him, as it means a lot to him. So, after a bit of trial and error with the substrate, I got this painted. I'm actually really pleased with it. I worked fairly large, larger than a 16x20 for sure. I also did this in acrylics, something I'm still not used to working in. The only thing that needs to be done is I have to spray it and give it at least a satin finish, because the matte acrylic just looks way too chaulky for me.

My palette was fairly large (for me) and I had a white, a black, a warm red, a cool red, a warm blue, a cool blue, and of course yellow ocher. I used liquitex heavy body acrylic medium on shellacked vellum. Yes, odd, I know. Worked well, too. He asked for it on very thin paper, and nothing wouldn't wrinkle so I had to seal it. 

I was so sure I would have so many more problems with this than I did, I'm terribly pleased with the way it came out. I haven't done a master copy (can I refer to this as that? It was what I was thinking while I was painting it) in so long, and I didn't want to paint it exactly, and I didn't want to go way out on a limb. I think I hit a pretty good balance. I painted loosely, but everything still pulled together well. 

Hopefully, in about five or ten days, I'll have the other painting finished. And then I can move on with my life. Yes.

Ja!

New pictures soon

Just want to let everyone know I haven't completely disappeared. It's just been very, very hectic.

I'm going back to school, my friends just had a new baby, I've been helping another friend watch her baby, I'm working on two projects that I'm going to have finished soon (they are both turning out better than I thought!) and someone has been in contact with me doing some wax sculpting for them which I am really excited about. I've also been working on learning a new language and getting caught up to speed on physics and math. Not to mention I'm working full time and my cousin is going to move away soon. Poo. 

I promise I have been drawing everyday. I just haven't been posting. They are really small little ink drawings from life, though, nothing terribly informative for viewers. I like giving you all something with substance. Or a little note telling you I will soon. Like this. I've just been noticing a lot of new traffic to the site, and I don't want people to think I've completely given up. (Anyone seen my wand of motivation?)

I'm hoping I'll have one painting done tonight or tomorrow morning, and another in about five to ten days.  I've been kind of down for awhile, which is why I haven't been posting, but I think I've been mopey enough and I'm going to try to get back in the scheme of things. Posting book reviews, little art articles, and, of course, projects I'm working on. And just painting.

Drawing a Day - 9

Ah, it's the little things that keep me sane. Like doing these doodles of Justin when I have a spare couple of minutes. They're much more fun than working on the giant painting.

I did paint online yesterday, but I did not twitter. I am glad I got some of the painting done, however I did it. I got the book laid in, and one of the hands looks really good. I also played a bit with lace and her neck, but that's all going to get covered up. Next time I should have the hands, book and rose all done, and then I'll post a picture on the blog. 

I also started something yesterday, but completely trashed it. It's been awhile since I've done that. Not really so much for the bad painting (thought that didn't help my decision) but because it would not have worked. My client would like it to be sealed onto his car, and what I thought would work would have been a disaster. There is a reason we should all take chem! Yay for science! I forgot a couple little facts. Ah well. I'm preparing my substrate better tonight, and hopefully get the drawing done. I will not paint until my foundation is good. 

I hope to have this done before the weekend is over, and then work on the Adams image. 

If I can get these two things done, I think stress will be a lot lower. I'll twitter when I'm working online next time!

Ja

Drawing a Day - 6, 7, 8

So, I've been working on some large pieces for some people, and I have not done much that I could post. So I did these, and as I don't have my camera with me, I scanned these images and tried my best to save them in photoshop. I've really got to practice that, or just go get my camera.  Justin is good for posing a couple of minutes at a time, and I'm getting better at speed so he doesn't have to sit there and read so much.

The first one was hard because I had not done sketches from life in awhile. I've mostly been working from photographs and imagination and it took a minute for even that to pop off the page. And he looks so old and terrible. Perhaps that's just because that's how I was feeling while drawing. Sorry Justin!

The second one turned out pretty well. We were at Books-A-Million and Justin was reading my newest find, Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan. Shaun Tan is an amazing artist, and his books are a wonderful mix of painting, writing and design. On his website http://www.shauntan.net/ I love his paintings. A couple remind me of Wayne Theibaud (in design, not so much subject, but there is that first landscape that gives me fits every time I see it! The color! The abstraction!) Go, read his books, visit his site. <3

In any event, the picture I did of Justin turned out better than I would have thought. His head was moving all over the place, looking at the illustrations, but I managed to get it down. At least he looked younger.

The last one isn't too bad. It's Justin's favorite and I slapped it together at the iHop. Over a fruit crepe and ice cream sunday. I liked his expression, but I'm still picking them all apart. I only posted because I know I've been neglecting my little blog here. I really need to clean up this sucker a bit.

In other news, I will probably be painting online later today. Still working on Mrs. Adams, but I've got something else I've got to work on as well. It won't be as interesting to watch, so I suppose I will spare you all. XD No use running everyone away. 

I am also going back to school in Physics. I think that will be fun, as it's something I've always been interested in. Oddly enough, more people are saying "What are you going to do with that?!" than they did with the art degree. I will never understand people. I am a bit nervous about it. I haven't looked at physics since highschool, apart from pop science books that, while fun to read, aren't exactly as informative as they should be. I'm going to be brushing up on my math as well. Ah! My Calculus! I have forsaken you and you are such a cruel mistress!!

I'm also working on something that will keep me from having to work at what I hate. Anyway, I'm not going to let so much time pass again before I post. And maybe next time it will be informative!

ja!