Whitney - In progress

Canvas size is 2'x2' painting in oil. I have a long way to go on it. I found out that Venetian Red with either Yellow Ochre, Naples Yellow Light, or a combo of all three, makes a beautiful basic skin tone. So far, so good.

Monotone Face Ftudy

This is an oil portrait - monotone - of a baby's face. I had a magazine and this baby's face was so cute, and I decided to try and do a face study to see if I could capture it monochromatically. I started to add color, but I was really pleased with how it turned out and so I decided to just leave it that way.

Charcoal figure bust

Charcoal figure bust

Here's a photo of the bust I'm going to be drawing in charcoal, and the outlined sketch of it.

Quick sketch of nude model

Quick sketches. 5 & 10 minute drawings in vine. Both sketches were done simultaneously. First, quick outline, and then re-outline the same pose but quickly darken in the lights & darks.

Abraham Lincoln

Here is the completed piece. I entered it into an art show in Richmond, but the juror rejected the piece. For my first oil knife painting, I thought I did a pretty good job. Anyway, it's 18x24, and usually, I clean up the oil that runs down the canvas, but this time, I thought, 'what the heck.' It was fun, but not something I'm interested in doing a lot of.

Abraham Lincoln

In progress painting the Lincoln portrait.

Abraham Lincoln

This is my first stab at a knife painting in oil. The piece is 18x24. I don't have any idea what Lincoln's skin tone was, so I'll just have to wing it. George Peter Alexander Healy did the official White House portrait of President Lincoln. Here's the outline, so, we'll just see how it goes.

Quick sketch of nude model

War Art - Repost

I'm just reuploading this so that you can see the progression and not have to scroll back months to try and find the final image.

War Art

This is the almost completed image of the coffee still life I completed some time ago. I said that I was going to repost it, and forgot. Here's the piece without the finished background.

Billie Holiday - Lady Sings The Blues

I believe it was November of 2011 that I posted the video to the making of this painting. I just realized that I've never posted a photo of the painting. The calligraphy that's in the video was done by me as well, and if you'd like to purchase the painting, the calligraphy comes with it. It consists of the lyrics to the song, 'Lady Sings The Blues.'

The painting is on 4 16x20 canvases. It's in acrylic and the entire painting is blue with the exception of the stark white portions. Even the darkest areas are a very, very dark shade of blue.

Coffee Sketch

Here is the beginning of a sketch of a still life - coffee. Coffee is by far, one of my favorite subjects. I Loves It. Anyway, this is kind of a repost in a round about sort of way. The finished image was posted some time ago, but I never showed the sketches of it, so I thought I'd post them here. I'll repost the completed image so you don't have to scroll through to try & find the finished.

Head Study - Complete

This is the final. I'm pleased with the level of depth & shading. But I'm not too pleased with the way the face looks slightly off and cocked wrong. I guess that's what happens when you start the foundation wrong. If you lay the foundation to a house wrong, it doesn't matter how pretty you make it, it will be wrong. I laid the foundation to this thing wrong. It looks nice, no doubt, but it's all off.

Head Study

Head Study

Some images of a head study I did awhile back when I was at AAU. I believe I sketched this out while in Iraq. Some of the proportions are kind of off, but this was my first "from life" so-to-speak drawing. Up until this time, I'd always drawn from photographs. There's a HUGE difference when drawing from life. No matter how much depth a photograph has, it is still a flat, two dimensional piece. Drawing from life gave me an understanding of proportions that a photograph doesn't allow. You may notice all of the mistakes I've made, but that's good. Learning from our mistakes is how we progress.

Progress

Over the next few days/weeks, I might be posting some charcoal drawings/sketches that I've done through the years. Part of this is because most of my artwork has taken a turn towards oil portrait painting. I have already posted one or two, and I'll post once I get a few completed. Right now, I'm working on a bunch of those small, cheap canvas boards. I find it's easier to mess up a $1 canvas board than a $50 canvas.

That being said, if anyone is interested in canvases, two of the best places to find them are on Craigslist, or at the Goodwill/Thrift stores. At the Goodwill/Thrift stores - or even on Craigslist for that matter - often people have already painted on them. Scraping off excess paint and painting over the image is a great way to save money and create your own masterpiece. Heck, it beats going to Michael's or Ben Franklin. A $5 canvas that needs a few applications of paint beats a $50 canvas any day of the week.

Well, that's my two cents for the day. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Photoshop Edit

Okay, don't laugh. This image is of me from the inside of my living room. It was for a lighting project at AAU and I had to see if I could match colors and lighting up. The window area doesn't exist. Well, the window does, but not the image outside. That is taken from one of my several trips to Dubai.

Speaking of Dubai, if you're ever interested in going to the Middle East, Dubai is one of the most laid back Middle Eastern Nations. However, it also has a serious western influence. In my opinion, it's not a real view of the Middle East. I've been to Egypt, as well as Iraq, and though I'm not suggesting a person go into those territories - amidst the uprisings and bombings - I do recommend other nations that allow you to experience the real thing. Going to Dubai and eating at Burger King or McDonald's - though not a bad thing - is not my idea of experiencing another culture. Eating their native food is a good start.

Thumbnails

These are the thumbnail sketches of the still life drawing. I should've posted these before posting the drawing.

Still Life Study white/orange

Charcoal - completed. The ellipse on the bowl ... ugh. Sometimes you don't notice these things until you're finished.

Still Life Study white/orange

Thumbnail sketch of a still life. I thought I'd take a bunch of white objects that seem to have nothing in common and combine a colored image with it. The orange will take on the same black & white shading as the plain white images.