"Brian Schumacher" - 12"X16"

This is the second painting completed in Brian Schumacher's open grisaille class, a painting of him actually. I very much enjoyed taking his class. He is a very helpful and insightful teacher. I feel I learned much just in four sessions. Unfortunately, I am working now on Saturday's and will be unable to continue studying with him unless circumstances change.

Pig

"Boot Heaters" study 8"x10.5"

Moving to NYC

For those of you who haven't heard, I am moving to New York City at the end of September. I started a new blog in honor of this stupendous event. You can find the link to it here.

My First ART CHICAGO

This was one of my favorite paintings from Art Chicago. It is by Odd Nerdrum whose paintings I had only seen online until now. I like the way he uses paint. He was represented by Forum Gallery. Another of my favorites was by Jeremy Long represented by Linda Warren Gallery in Chicago. I wish we had taken more photos.

Four Hour Study and Some Quick Sketches

Viking Warrior

This is my latest still life project. I haven't decided if it's done yet, but if it's not, it is very close.

Visit to the LACMA

Bevin and I visited L.A. this past weekend so that she could meet and interview some people involved with the International Latino Theatre Festival of L.A. We spent an hour or so at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and here I am in front of one of the many amazing paintings - Portrait of John Viscount Garlies, later 7th Earl of Galloway, as Master of Garlies by Anton Raphael Mengs, 1758.

Wow, this museum's collection from the Baroque period blows away that of the Art Institute of Chicago's! I was very impressed. I just wish we had taken more photos. Their website has images of their permanent collection: http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/mwebcgi/mweb.exe?request=browpage;dept=europ

Still Life in Black and White - approx. 16"X20"

This is a stil life that I worked on over the coarse of several months starting last fall.The first layer was done with ivory black, lead white and Turpenoid. The subsequent layers gradually shifted to lamp black and zinc white with more oil in the "sauce". You may be able to tell the difference in the color of the super-ball to that of the buddha.I learned a lot painting this scene. The light was very close and bright and it was important that the light that shown on my panel was of the same intensity otherwise my eyes would have to work too hard to go from one to the other. There are so many hightlights in this scene I was afaid that they would distract from each other. I was also concerned that the overall effect would be too dark if I tried to make them as bright as they appeared to me and my light sensitive eyes. This technique is a gradual build-up of layers, each one covering completely and attempting to contain more fat than the previous. Some of the last layers I got lazy and didn't completely cover the previous, so you can see the difference in the quality of the surface (it doesn't show in this scan). A coat of varnish might do the trick for that. Can anyone guess what material the figure in the back is made of?

Monday and Wednesday Quick Sketches

Here are a couple more recent drawings.

Staying At It

Even when the world takes over, time must be made for my real work.

Thoughts On My Progress

I asked Bevin (my love) if she thought my drawings were improving. She said that she thinks that I am getting more consistent, which makes me feel good. I told her the other day that I felt that I was getting less attached to my drawings and that I can more easily abandon one if it doesn't feel like it is going well. I think this is a valuable way of approaching a drawing because when I start over, I am able to apply what I learned and to correct errors that I discovered in my previous attempts. I like the feeling of learning a pose. I would rather build toward a completed drawing than to feel like Im spending most of my time correcting the marks I just made. There is a thin line between refining a line and correcting it. I think I'm getting a better feel for when I've entered "correction mode" which I think is a sign that I've started to focus too much on details and have yet to capture the major constructive elements of the form. This is my number one goal: to capture the proportions in a way that is representative of my perspective relative to the model. To be able to be confident as I do this (which I think brings along a certain amount of quickness) goes hand in hand with this goal. Secondary goals include line quality, being able to see the major divisions between light and shadow, drawing the air between the model and myself, etc.