Thoughts in Sfumato

Alpine

2011-06-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

Sold in Hawaii, Made in Indonesia!

2011-05-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

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.

EBAY

Applicable in situations of traveling hunger and hyperventilation

2011-05-20T09:58:00.000-07:00

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.

Ebay listing

Technically, it's still food.

2011-05-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

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.

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Another painting of food? Not today.

2011-05-18T11:10:00.003-07:00

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.

It even looks great rotated too!

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Carol of the Bells

2011-05-17T11:15:00.000-07:00

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.

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* insert banana idiom here *

2011-05-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

Bananas! One of my favorite fruits, I haven't painted one of these since I did "Draped Gold" way back in the day. Of course, nowadays I work faster and so I didn't have to watch as a batch of bananas slowly rotted away as I painted them (which did happen last time). For painting, I do like the little spots on the bananas, but I can't stand banana still lifes that feature fruit so bruised that it looks like a soccer team kicked it all with black magic markers strapped to the ends of their shoes!

Today's painting tackles impending summertime doom

2011-05-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well, Summer is on it's way, for those of us in Arizona, that means a face melting heat will soon bear down upon us like the 'Lone Biker of the Apocalypse'...

I can see this mountain from my house, btw

Yeah, we've already hit 100° F so far this year. To combat the onslaught of thermal brutality soon to come, my wife has picked up a few watermelons. Luckily for me, I was able to paint one before it's consumption.

As you can see in the video, I wasn't too pleased with the green, I kept painting it again and again, slapping new layers in order to keep getting it as dark as I wanted. Overall, the end result turned out well. I enjoyed this one and should definitely paint more watermelons as the summer necessitates them!

La botella

2011-05-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

The latest daily painting was done outside of the my place and at the studio of my good friend Mr Tyson Snow, he set up this still life and we both had a go on it. I can't say where he has tucked away his piece, but I have chosen to throw it out to the world wide web. It's a little bigger than what I've been doing lately and you might notice that the panel surface is very smooth versus the canvas board that most of my daily paintings are painted on.

Well, there's no video on this one, but as always it can be purchased here.

"C" is for...

2011-05-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

Ok, so when I began this whole daily painting thing, a friend of mine suggested, "Dude, you ought to do a plate of cookies." I thought that was a great idea, so I submitted my order to my wife. Now, chocolate chip cookies would've been perfect, but she had all the ingredients for Peanut Butter Cookies instead, so that's what I painted. Besides, now I still can do choc chip cookies sometime and call it Cookies 2: Electric Boogaloo.

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Would you like fries with that?

2011-05-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

Today's painting is another still life courtesy of the kitchen (funny how often food is immortalized by artists). Potatoes are a rather versatile subject, you may not realize it, but you've seen them star in Star Wars as asteroids! Yeah, those guys at ILM are pretty creative. Anyhow, this painting is interesting especially if you watch the video, at the 6:33 mark you'll see a 7th potato materialize out of nowhere. First of all, it's sudden appearance is due to me painting it while the camera was off unbeknownst to me (dead batteries or full card, not sure which) but it is also worth noting that the extra potato was not originally intended to be in the composition. That potato was actually the potato on the forefront, I moved it later for composition sake, I didn't like that open space on the left side. That's the beauty of being an artist, as Claudio Bravo said,

"La gente dice que pinto la realidad, sí, pinto la realidad, pero no cualquier realidad, hay que componer... Un artista tiene que componer, es una cosa que una camera no puede hacer."

"People say that I paint reality, yes, I paint reality, but not just any reality, one must compose...An artist has to compose, it's something that a camera cannot do "

What he's saying (and the point that I'm making) is that the artist has a the freedom and responsibility to tweak and adjust what he is looking at in order to improve the composition of the piece. Michelangelo said he felt like a co-creator with God, I like this sentiment and love the ability an artist has to change anything (s)he wants!

Here's the video...

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OLIVES!!

2011-05-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

Today's painting was great, it took a little longer than the last few daily paintings, but was worth the trouble. The subject is one I've been wanting to do for a long time, not the olives, but something canned. I love the highlight on the glass, all the stuff inside the jar, packed in like passengers on a Central American bus (been there, I should know!) The green of a green olive isn't quite "green" in the way one would assume, there's a lot of yellow and some orange in it, pale and not so strong a green as one would think. As always, this was a good learning experience.

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Todays's painting! Tomatoes and Onion

2011-05-04T16:40:00.000-07:00

Today the kitchen is proud to present the latest still life, sorry there's no video on this one (my camera consumes batteries with a vengeance!) I really do like this piece, I dig the mood that reds can have. For those of you wondering, the plate has some artsy chef illustration on it, for what you can see in the piece, it looks like nothing discernible. Anyhow, that's not the focus anyway!

As always, this piece is looking for a good home and the shipping is always free!

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The Daily Painting Continues!!

2011-05-03T08:19:00.000-07:00

Well, Today's painting is one that I REALLY enjoyed doing, anyone that knows me knows that I have an affection for Converse shoes, so today I decided on using my favorite Chuck design for my subject. They don't make this particular shoe design anymore, but at least I've preserved it for future generations...

Today's piece is named "Firewalker", it measures 6" x 8", medium is oil paint...not be confused with that old Chuck Norris movie of the same name!

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DAILY PAINTING!!

2011-05-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

Back in 2004 an artist name Duane Kieser began an art phenomenon known as "A Painting a Day" which is basically the practice of producing one complete postcard sized painting a day and making it available to the public. This practice makes it easier for collectors to obtain original works by established as well as emerging artists without having to spend the high amounts of money typically associated with gallery costs and/or large works. For years I have wanted to throw my hat in the ring, not only for the benefit of making my work more available, but also for the challenge associated with such an endeavor. In addition (when time and resources permit) I will be publishing time lapse videos of the full process of the painting posted. All featured paintings will be listed on ebay for sale for those wishing to get their hands on an original.

Today's piece is an apple still life named "The Congregation", it measures 6" x 8", medium is oil paint.

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Click to see the video

'Abraham Beholds the Heavens' featured at the Springville Museum of Art's 25th Annual Spiritual & Religious Exhibition!

2010-11-01T16:22:00.000-07:00

The 25th Annual Spiritual & Religious Exhibition at the Springville Museum of Art in Springville, UT will be on display from now until Dec.28th, 2010. I'm pleased to announce that my painting 'Abraham Beholds the Heavens' will be on display along with many other fantastic pieces by many other great artists, including 'Becometh as a little child' by my friend Tyson Snow. Go to smofa.org for more information.

New stuff

2010-10-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

I've a got a few new things that I've decided to post. Truth be told, if I posted all the stuff that I've been working on then I'd be blogging more than painting. Anyhow, I recently just finished a piece of a Biblical nature. It's called 'Abraham Beholds the Heavens'. I have a more elaborate incarnation of this piece that I will be doing, but this is the first installment, so to speak. My father has been growing a beard for some time so I figured he'd be perfect for the part, besides who better to play the 'Father of Nations' than my own dad.

A Singular Creation

2009-12-08T20:45:00.000-07:00

A while back I Googled "still life" and was surprised to find one of my own works Draped Gold (formally titled, 'Fruit Still Life') on the first page of the Image Search results. Suffice to say, I was pleased and surprised. Nowadays, you'd find the piece on page 2 of the search results, but all the same, I was curious as to why this was so. I can credit this to A Singular Creation. 25 months ago I entered that piece in their monthly Art Showdown and won and I've been happy with the degree of exposure it has afforded me. A Singular Creation is an online community of artists who compete, critique and share insights. Recently, I updated my profile with many new works and the reaction has been great. Half Dome is featured in this month's newsletter and the ASC site homepage. There are a lot of great artistic opportunities on A Singular Creation and I recommend it to all aspiring artists out there. On a final note, I have entered 'El Alcance' on the latest Art Showdown, feel free to check all the fantastic artists that are throwing their hats into the ring!

Tyson Snow

2009-11-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, you may have noticed a painting entitled, 'Whereas I Was Blind, Now I See' featured not only the Conference Center for the last several months, but also in the September issue of the Ensign. This was the product of a friend of mine Tyson Snow. He's a fantastic artist and I had the pleasure of painting with him in his studio during the time in which this piece was conceived and executed. On Friday, I stopped by his place and took this picture and hung out for a while. I wanted to take a moment to share his work with those out there that may be unfamiliar with him. You can see more of his work here, here and here.

Another finished, many more to go!

2009-11-08T10:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've had this one done for some time now, but being as busy as I am, I'm just now posting it. I've name it "El Alcance" pronounced "EL AL- KHAN-SAY" which is the noun form of the Spanish verb "Alcanzar"(to reach ). So basically, it means, "the reaching" or "Reach", Yeah, I know, in English that doesn't sound very cool unless screamed at 105 decibels by James Hetfield during a live rendition of Welcome Home (Sanitarium), but then again, he yells out the command or imperative form of the verb not the noun. Hmmm.... Looks like I better shut up before I elicit any more blank stares!

Enjoy!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

2009-10-31T11:04:00.000-07:00

Since it's Halloween I thought I'd share the pumpkin I made this year. It has a day's worth of deterioration so that adds to the "rotting skull with jacked up teeth" look.

Enjoy!

So let it be painted, so let it be done!

2009-10-29T17:08:00.000-07:00

Good news! Another painting has begun! Good News Again! That painting is finished! Yeah, yeah, I know, I haven't posted anything lately. Anyhow, you'll notice how horrendous a painting can look as it goes through the process, this one is definitely no exception.

Ultimately, I'm very satisfied with the finished result. The photos, of course, do this painting little justice

I think I need a break from leaves for a while

2009-09-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

I will say without reservation that this piece has given me a headache or two. The leaves have gotten gradually easier and more enjoyable to do, but the most challenging aspect has been the facial subtlety, diffused light and busy background.

You'll notice the face has changed a little (actually a lot!) I feel like I'm oversteering while driving a car; so subtle are the changes in light and structure of the face that it is easy to overpaint or underpaint it. The change in lighting in the studio is also heavily affecting the way the face appears...one day you see freckles, other days you don't...*holds head in hands*

Because the light is diffused by all those encroaching leaves, there's no strong light and dark, to combat the undesirable uniform tonality, I must darken the background sufficiently enough to push the model and foreground foliage forward, but no so much as to blacken to leaves out to an indistinguishable mass. This will also help to simply the background a bit and reduce the level of 'busyness' that could negatively the picture as a whole (ya know, like a cheese grater on the eyes...or a Father's Day tie!)

Ultimately, there's still much to be done here, blouse, face, arms, fingers, leaves, hair....yeah, everything. Hopefully, this will be done on my next post!

If only if was always this simple pt.2

2009-09-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my batteries in my camera died a while back and let's just say that I've just gotten around to getting new ones. Obviously, I don't have a lot of pictures of the process of this piece, but I'll provide these two for your viewing pleasure.
At this point, there's a few little things left to address, I think knowing when a piece is finished can be the most difficult aspect of art. As they say, 'Projects are never finished, only abandoned', of course, one must be aware not to overwork a painting. A good rule of thumb that I learned from a fellow artist and friend Tyson Snow is to photograph your work in black and white and see what tonal problems arise. Right now I can tell you that by so doing, I've discovered a few spots on this piece that demand my attention. After all that, I still have to come up with a name for this...any ideas?

If only it was always this simple!

2009-08-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

The other day I decided to start a new piece, there was a blank panel staring at me and I could no longer resist the desire to slap some paint on it. I decided on this scene, Camy at the bank of a stream, lightly touching the water. I did the initial drawing in graphite and then inked it with a fine point Sharpie and decided that a blue-green wash would be best rather than the diluted Burnt Umber that I usually do. I started the grassy area by simply blocking in a straight-out-of-the-tube Sap Green...GASP! Yeah, yeah I guess I'm violating the Geneva code by A. painting straight from the tube and B. using a pre-mixed green, anyhow, that's a discussion for a later time. I spread the paint on with an awful/falling apart brush that I have that would be PERFECT for painting animal fur. After I have a good thin wet layer of green, then I take a small, stiff flat and begin carving out blades of grass as you can see here...
In less than 24 hours from the moment I began I managed to do enough on the rocks and water to arrive at this point. The water is one continuous flow of wet colors and the rocks consist of varying wet paints applied loosely. If the rest of this painting can go this smoothly, then I can safely say that this will be the easiest and most enjoyable piece that I've done in a long time... time will tell.

The beginning of a new piece

2009-07-25T19:10:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while people will ask me to do a tutorial. Most often someone has a question about how to paint a certain texture or render a peach or an orange realistically. Unfortunately, I don't often take photos of the painting process. So when I began my latest piece I thought would be good time to do so.

This model for this piece is my wife's younger sister Camille. She has striking features and a very exotic beauty about her. She's very versatile and can cover a range of different looks.
I'm painting on gessoed board and begin with a graphite drawing. I pay particular attention to measurement and proportion of the model, but am loose with the trees. Once the figure is in perfect order then everything else around her will be easier to arrange. Once a proper pencil drawing has been completed, then I do a pen drawing using Sharpie Ultra Fine Point permanent markers. After the pen drawing is complete then I will put a diluted layer of burnt umber using either Liquin, Walnut Oil or turp to thin the paint (in this case I've chosen Liquin). Now in a perfect world, I would have mapped out all the leaves before this stage, but since my brain is wired to be both impatient and confident, I figure I will just paint the foliage without an underdrawing. That's not always the smartest thing to do and I don't always recommend it, but this time I figure that things will be just fine.
Once this underlayer has dried, then it's time to begin painting! The leaves are loosely and faintly drawn in with a brush and then are blocked in as I go. I'm beginning from the left since I'm right handed so as not to run my hand over already painted areas (I am not very consistent with that though) Now this is the point where mindless drudgery starts to settle in and I begin to ask myself, 'Why in the world did I decide to paint hundreds of little leaves?" then I remind myself, "Oh yeah, because it will look great and besides, at least I'm not painting the full body shot that I had originally intended." So as to retain the interest that I have in the piece I decided to branch out (no pun intended) and work on the tree trunks and begin the shirt. The shirt at this stage is mainly just a rough idea of the darker areas, the shirt will end up being much lighter in the finished product. You'll also notice that I filled in the eyes...just so should she wouldn't look like a zombie starting back at me.
At this point I'm beginning to play around with the face a little and decided to lay down a layer of paint to begin building up the paint layers on the face (and to avoid the leaves for a while...they sure can get boring!)
Here's the closest thing to being finished right now... these tree trunks
Leaf detail...
I decided that the leaves were looking too warm, too yellow, so I sanded them over a little (as you can see in the last 4 picts) and began painting over them using cooler tones, especially the uppermost leaves. I decided to start blocking in the hair using straight Raw Umber. As you can see, I try to plan stages to the painting, but am easily distracted and am likely to skip around. This "tutorial" is a more of a travelogue than tutorial, perhaps I'll start talking about what paints I'm using or something...*shrugs shoulders*