What I Do

I am not quite clear if I have even stated the purpose of what this blog is really for.  In this particular entry I'll sort of walk you through the progression.

I may not have stated this earlier, but I accept commissioned works (priced on a sliding scale based on my client's requests of size, medium, and degree of difficulty of the particular piece).  My three favorite mediums that I would consider my strengths would be watercolor, acrylic, and traditional graphite.  For instance, two good friends of mine recently got married.  On their honeymoon they had the fortuitous opportunity to capture one of the most striking images I've ever seen taken by someone who isn't a professional photographer:

pelican reference picture

They sent this to me and asked if I might be able to paint it for them to hang in their home and I was more than happy to oblige.  After conferring with them on several occasions, we had decided on several things.  One, that the picture should be divided into three canvases and each canvas should be fairly sizable so that when placed next to one another, it would create the illusion of a larger overall painting.  Two, that the color of the top of the rail should be changed so that there's not so much blue.  After a few more discussions, I decided to go ahead with a few preliminary sketches.  The final sketch being this:

pelican triptych sketch - watercolor on watercolor paper

Upon seeing the finished sketch, they still felt that something was missing.  Something needed to be drastically changed in order for this work to become a main focal point on the wall they decided to hang it on.  Plus, a predominantly blue color scheme sort of clashed with the colors they chose to paint their walls. They asked if I could redo the sketch in a sunset setting.  Again, I was happy to oblige and what follows is a sketch I used as my basis for the final product:

sunset pelican triptych sketch - water color on watercolor paper

This obviously changed the dynamics of the color scheme drastically and made it a bit more challenging to create the right kind of shadow and highlights that might seem appropriate for an early evening setting when all I had to go by was a photo take in the middle of the day.  My friends were still pleased with the final result and so was I.  It was by far one of the more difficult pieces I've ever had to do because keeping the same consistency and color flowing smoothly between three separate canvases without obvious breaks in the transition is considerably more difficult than it looks.  This is what I gave to them as the finished product (forgive the disproportioned photos - I didn't have a good camera or stand at the time these were completed - but you get the idea):

pelican triptych - acrylic on canvas

Again the quality of this series of photos very badly compressed into one image falls well short of the actual pairings themselves.  This kind of mistake will be remedied in the future though because I have since been able to purchase a proper camera with accompanying tripod.  :)

Anyhow...this is what I do.  

Humble Beginnings

Some days...regardless of the effort and energy I might be putting forth...drawings or paintings just don't flow how I had imagined them in my head.  It's frustrating beyond all belief.  Lots of times I would just scratch the project and start over...with the second attempt usually not coming to any avail.  So many of my works have never been finished because I just trashed them.  In my mind...every pencil mark or every brush stroke should be perfect and when it didn't come out just so...I would get frustrated and trash it.  I used to hold myself to a ridiculous standard in that way.  And it translated into other aspects of my life.  There's very few things in my life that I don't like to do right.  Remember what Socrates said: It is not living that's important, but living rightly.  When I was in art school, my professor told me that learning on how to redefine works that aren't exactly coming to fruition is most important in sharpening your artistic abilities.  That sentiment struck a chord with me and ever since, I have tried to quell that kind of impeding habit.  Not to say that I don't get frustrated with my work anymore...because I do...but instead of immediately trashing them, I'll set them aside, allow myself to take a breather (and sometimes leave it alone altogether for a few days) before I pick it back up and try to keep going.  It's hard to ignore your first impulses and trust in your abilities beyond what may be happening in the moment...but I have seen good things come from it.  And conversely, I have taught myself to do the same when things seem to be flowing exceedingly well.  Because when you feel like things are moving along just right...they usually aren't.  If you take time to reflect...imperfections may become a bit more evident.  What's important to my personal progress is to remember how it all began.  I remember when I graduated high school and had expressed my intention of going to art school to my parents...my mother gave me a little something in support of my decision and to show me just how far I'd come along.  To this day I keep it as a constant reminder to not get discouraged or berate myself too much and remember that behind every work, there are years of history and practice flowing into it.  This is my very first drawing:

yellow duckies - crayon and pencil on paper

A Humble Beginning.

A Long Week Ahead

So, I know I said that I'd post a picture of the finished product for the Masked Rider painting...but when I finished, it was late and I was so excited that I finished it that I forgot to do two things:  1) Spray it with fixative 2) Take a pic of the finished product.  But you guys saw the other pic...it wasn't too much different.  Just a few more details....a few more highlights/lowlights.  You get the idea.

I would normally say to just chalk it up to old age but....there has been one thing that's been plaguing me...........next week...I have to do a cleanse.  I went to the doc for my annual checkup a few weeks ago and he said I need to lose weight and lower the levels of a bunch of toxins I've apparently been building up by eating too many pickles, chips, other assorted fried foods, tortillas, lots of cheese, few vegetables and drinking cherry cokes, sprites, and wine, beer, and liquor.  Who knew?  If that stuff is so bad...why do they sell it everywhere but I can't find organic foods at my local grocery store?  See...it's not my fault...well not entirely.  I'm a product of my environment.  Anyways...tomorrow it starts.  I should have LOTS of spare time hanging out in the house cause it's not gonna be too much fun (if you know what I mean) so I should be able to make a few more posts.  Don't worry I'm not going to go all Julie & Julia and make some blog about every day of my life and all the ups and downs.  Anyhow, I'm going to start a new series of sketches & paintings whilst I'm having to hang out at the casa.  I hope to have a few more postings before the weekend is up.

I'm hungry.

Hello Again

It's already 12 days into the year.  Time seems to be ticking by so much faster with each coming day.  My days are consumed with mindless repetition.  Wake up.  Groggy (I'm NOT a morning person).  Shower and dress.  Then off to work where I meander through another day as I count the seconds like a child daydreaming in school about the hours of freedom that lay just ahead.  Come home.  Rest and eat.  And then finally...finally after all that...my day begins.  I get to do what I love most.  I started drawing when I was about 9 or 10 years old.  Ironically I didn't realize I didn't have any talent whatsoever until I was given an assignment in my history class.  My group project needed a cover sheet and computers not being mainstream in my tiny town (I know...I'm old) made our choices extremely limited.  We could do a collage of old Natural Geographic pictures (like everyone else) or we could try to create our own.  I just drew one...and the reaction...the way people looked at it is really what peeked my interest.  My teacher, friends and classmates...even my own parents were a bit skeptical as to whether or not I had actually drawn the cover to our report.  To me it was overly simplistic...our report being about Native American culture or something to that effect...I just drew a teepee and a squaw standing in front of it.  So it got me thinking...what else can I draw?  Before the year was up, my notebooks and sometimes pages in my text books were doodled on.  I have always liked cartoon animation and comic books and those influences sort of spurred me on when I was a kid.  Batman...being my hero for as long as I can remember...started showing up in tons of old spirals and on blank spaces in books.  It's been some years since my early days of trying to recreate my childhood hero...but there are still some hints of that kind of style of art in some things I continue to do today.  I would like to think, however, that I have progressed well beyond that sort of quirky and often exaggerated perspective.  Here...let me show you.

The Masked Rider - Acrylic on Canvas

I have been working on this for the past few days.  Ssshhh....this one is a surprise for two of my closest friends who live down in South Texas.  They are fellow TTU Alumni and are probably the biggest TTU football fanatics I've ever met.  This past season...as anyone who has paid any attention to our conference knows...was NOT a stellar year for us.  While I won't go on a rant about it...yet...I will say it was a season full of firsts...but bad ones.  I'm hoping this might lift their spirits a bit as we all hope for better seasons to come.  Funny thing is...when I asked them for their current mailing address and told them I will be sending them a surprise soon...they thought I was either 1) getting married or 2) having an illegitimate child.  Haha  Gotta love my friends.  I'll post a picture of the finished product once it's completed.

Here's a few examples of things I have done in the past:

Laura's Painting - Acrylic on Canvas

I like this painting so much that I made it the front design to some of my business cards.  My friend, Laura (obviously), recently bought a house and asked that I paint her a big painting (this one ended up being three feet tall and four feet wide).  She gave me free range and said I could paint whatever I felt like painting.  She didn't give me any directives about it other than the size and she let me know that this would be the center piece of one of her rooms in her new home and the decor of said room would all depend on what I created.  I had never been given that kind of freedom before, but I have to admit I was very excited about the finished product.

Nap Time - Graphite on Paper

This is a portrait drawing of my friend and her son and I hope she forgives me for posting it on here because it was was intended as a gift for her and her family...but it, quite simply, is one of the best drawings I have ever done.  I am only a little bummed that I didn't get a better photo for my portfolio.  I haven't had the pleasure of knowing them long but once I laid eyes on the photograph (which I used as a reference) of these two...it was so innocent, so pure and sweet...that I knew I wanted to draw it.  It was one of those images that words can't really describe and I chose to draw it as opposed to paint it because, in my opinion, traditional drawings capture moments like these in ways that other mediums or styles can't.  Drawing...just plain traditional drawing...seems to be a fading style in today's art community...but I love it.     

Obviously there are more where these came from but I hope this will suffice as a brief preview into my work.  Your thoughts and comments are welcome.