New Self-Portrait Painting (In Progress)

I started this painting on the 17th, and this is how it looked yesterday. Now the real work begins. I need to straighten lines, get my skin tone going and a lot of other things...

Figure Practice

I haven't been able to be in front of a live model in forever but I heard about posespace.com and I used a pose from there to do this study. It's not the same experience as it could be from life but it'll do for now. This one is in charcoal. I learned a lot from this one just by using compressed charcoal; I found out I don't like it. I prefer carbon pencils much more.

Self-Portrait ("Listen", Carbon Pencil on Paper, 2010)

This was about a month of work. I learned a lot about my features and used this piece as an opportunity to introduce a conceptual element. I'm never without my music and I thought I should include it somehow. Some may pick up the earphones and some may be confused but either one is fine by me. The biggest problem I had apart from the drawing is getting a good photo of it so I ended up scanning it. It's still not the same as the original but it'll do for now.

4-Hour Portrait Sketch

This is a painting I had to get out of my system today. I made my brother sit for me, that wasn't easy. But here it is, it's about life-size, oil on canvas. I may tweak some things but I'm glad I finally did a portrait of a family member!

5 Hour Still-Life

I challenged myself last night with one of the most difficult objects I've ever painted. I bought it at Value Village, and I'm not sure what it was used for but it was a great find. I only gave myself 5 hours to paint it so I didn't get to every detail but I'm liking the results. The only thing is the background colour is too dark so I'll have to change it. Here it is so far:

First Foray into Landscape

For those who have been reading my posts, you know I really wanted to try landscapes. Well I'm in the middle of one and...I don't know, maybe it's too soon to say. I'm not sure I love it. I love when other people do it, it's mesmerizing. This painting is photo-based as I don't have a portable easel right now but it's winter so I'm faced with a lot of bare branches and dull colours. I am not big on colour in general but I like there to be enough colour in front of me to manipulate as I please (tone them down if I need to). Also I'm not sure I love the act of painting grass or foliage. I mean art is tedious by nature but this kind of tedium makes me want to stab my canvas. Mind you, it's not necessary to paint every detail for realism, but shortcuts often degrade landscapes.

That all sounds really pessimistic but I still have hope for this genre, the only thing is I think I'd rather make landscapes up--just construct them from imagination because I'd feel less constricted. I'd still do studies from life (in more appealing weather) but I really like the idea of just creating my own world. I know many artists do this and I think it's a great idea and I'd love to be able to do that in a naturalistic way or, in other words, a non-artificial way.

As for my current landscape, I'm not sure I'll finish it. I know I should just to finish, you know? Because it's no good having unfinished work lying around, it's very demoralizing. I also know I'm very hard on myself and even though this is my first real attempt at landscape, I expect only good or great results in my eyes. Others may love it, I don't know but I won't be including it in my portfolio, LOL.

New Projects Started & Other News

I just finished a commission this past weekend which you can view on my website. I've also started a couple of exciting things which I can't wait to show everyone but it's not time yet. One of them is a drawing that is nearly done and the other is a painting that is a new direction for me. When they are at least 80% done, I'll give you a sneak peek.