Tag: Notebook
Self-Portrait
Saturday, March 20, 2010 | Permalink | Comments [0]
For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you already know that I was knocked off my feet this week by a pretty bad cold. It probably didn’t help that I mixed up the Claritin and Sudafed in the medicine cabinet. Well, at least I didn’t have to deal with allergies on top of everything else.
Anyway, before I got sick, I had been dabbling with a new way of approaching my work in Photoshop. I’ve always relied on a pencil sketch when I work in the program and I wanted to see how things might go if I tried to just paint digitally. No pencil sketches or scanning of any kind — just me and the brush tool and a couple of layers.
So far, I really like the results. Its stylistically somewhat different from the work I’ve done up until now, but it’s really starting to bring me the same kind of pleasure I get from oil painting, but without requiring a ventilated studio space and expensive paints. I’m excited to see where this goes.
I thought for today I’d share a little self-portrait I did yesterday — it’s a bit of a caricature, albeit a subtle one. There’s another piece that I previewed on Twitter the other day, but I’d like to fiddle around with that one a bit more before posting it here.
If you’d like to see me turn into a zombie, I used this self-portrait for Friday’s Haiku Comics.
Life Painting: Skulls III
Friday, June 6, 2008 | Permalink | Comments [2]
One more batch of skulls! I really enjoy working with the figure and this skeleton gave me the freedom to do that without getting someone to pose for me. I had the opportunity to work with several models this spring, but I’d really like to do more. Again, these paintings are 9″ x 12″ in size and took between an hour to two hours to paint.
Previously in the notebook:
Life Painting: Skulls II
Friday, May 30, 2008 | Permalink | Comments [0]
Here are a few more of the oil paintings I did from observation. Again, each is 9″ x 12″ in size and took about an hour to two hours to paint.
Previously in the notebook:
Life Painting: Skulls
Friday, May 23, 2008 | Permalink | Comments [0]
I’ve always avoided painting. I dabbled in watercolor and acrylic for awhile but I never really found the process very satisfying or enjoyable. So, this spring, at the urging of one of my instructors, Dominic Cretara, I decided to learn how to paint in oils.
My biggest concern with oil paint has always been their toxicity. It’s not even the paints that are the worst, but the mediums and thinners that are generally used. Every artist should be concerned about the hazardous chemicals in their studio — artists work with some of the deadliest substances found in the workplace.
But, as it turns out, the toxicity of the materials really hasn’t been an issue. I’ve been working in well ventilated spaces, I wear gloves and an apron, and I use odorless mineral spirits instead of turpentine. Just following some common sense precautions is all that’s really required.
The result? I’ve fallen in love with oil painting. The one quality about oils I thought I’d like the least — the fact that they do not dry quickly — has turned out to be the quality I enjoy the most. There is nothing more satisfying than pushing paint around on a canvas, cajoling and finessing it until it’s just right.
For practice, I’ve been using a skeleton in the studio the paint from. Each painting is 9″ x 12″ in size and took about an hour to two hours to paint using various limited palettes.
