Each time my older brother goes to Hawaii, he comes back with one of these guys for me. I'm exactly not sure why he does it, save to say that he's a nice guy and that I'm a guitarist. I have the drummer and guitar player and have had my eye on them for a while to include in a painting. Overall, the piece was fun, but I didn't plan ahead as much as I should've. You'll notice that the bottom of the figurine hugs the bottom edge of the canvasboard. There really should be some room there. Ultimately I would have to repaint the whole thing, making the figurine a little smaller. All in all, I won't fret so much over it, if it were to be painted again, this would be corrected.

Ok, today's piece is, for me, one of my absolute favorites! It came along easily and the results were smooth, tight and crisp. This piece demonstrates the manner in which I prefer to paint, whereas yesterdays piece was a much more loose and painterly approach. Once again, it is a nod to Bravo, I pour over his work so often that it does influence my style and choice of subject matter on occasion.

It's one of those days where I walk around going,"What should I paint next?" I have been working on a rather large piece full of crazy details, narrative and complex composition, but now it was time to do a Daily Painting and I had to find something that retained my interest as much as the biggie. I didn't want to break out another food group and I was running out of time. I was going through our pantry and noticed some cans and voila! Honestly speaking, I did borrow this composition from another artist, but frankly, I couldn't help myself. The metal, the translucent paper, the reflections, the dancing, diffusing shadows...it's full of great elements! All in all though, this is really a piece meant for a larger canvas, actually a smooth gessoboard would be best. Regardless, I had fun and the end result is a looser than I typically paint, it almost has the feel of a different artist.

Out of all the daily paintings done thus far, this one is different. It was a blast to paint and was a refreshing departure from the norm. I, as you could guess, am a HUGE Claudio Bravo fan. I own 28 of his books/exhibition catalogs/magazine publications, 2 documentaries (one of which I obtained directly from the Chilean Director Hugo Arevalo, nice guy), dropped a substantial sum to go to Monterrey, Mexico with the sole purpose of seeing an exhibition of his at the MARCO, and am mostly responsible for what you find on his wiki page. Why do I bring him up? Well, back in 1999-2000 he did a solo exhibition of "telas" or draped cloth. I've seen some of the work in person and it is astounding to say the least. I am fascinated by the way fabric interacts with light and form and have been using some red and purple fabrics in a few of my daily paintings. With this latest piece I decided to paint only the fabric. The red and purple combination was a symbolic gesture towards a Messianic expression. I am religious and I couldn't help but think of the promise that Latter-Day Saints make each week in the sacrament prayers to "...always remember him." I also am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and felt a greater sense of reverence painting these draped fabrics. Red is symbolic of the blood shed by Christ and purple symbolizes His royal heritage as the Son of God. Latter-Day Saints also believe that He will come again dressed in red manifesting to all nations that He "tread the wine press alone" and that He "drank the bitter cup which the Father gave unto [Him]".

It is not often that I paint a religious theme, my reasons deal with my sense of inadequacy in representing the sacred and divine. Regardless of that, painting this for me, was a spiritual experience.

Ok, today's painting is a classic still life subject. I think every realist artist that ever existed has painted peppers at least once. Personally I think the shiny surface lends itself to a very enjoyable painting experience; highlights, diffused reflections and strong colors. I approached this piece a little more like the way I do my large finished pieces: I paint the lights and darks and loosely input the details, then use a fan brush and lightly blend it all and take out the hard edges, then paint over the blended colors. Sometimes I will do this again and again. The finished product turns out smooth, but with subtle nuances of color and the paint doesn't get too thick or overly textured. The majority of the daily paintings I've done are not painted in this manner, mainly because the painting can get along just fine without this application.