Anima

This marks the first time that I did not work from a reference image for the figure! It was interesting to see how her features played themselves out along the way, with tweaks here and there to add more human qualities. I based it all on what I have learned and how I thought the lighting should look as it played across her features. My portraits can often "err" on the side of alien and they usually have to be reigned in a bit due to the feedback from clients. This is also the most detailed drawing that I have ever done and I am very happy with how it turned out.

Anima. Graphite on Arches paper. 30"x22". 2010. For Sale.

Detail shot.

Garden

I started this piece at the '5' opening about 2 weeks ago and have finally finished it. It's a bit of a collaboration with Choplogik. He did all of the ink line work around the flowers (which, bad me, I didn't really get very detailed pictures of).

Garden. 4'x6'. Acrylic on wood. 2010.

detail.

detail.

I really like the texture and flatness of his lines contrasted with the softness of my paint and it's very calming to have him working with me. It takes away some of the creative angst I feel when I paint; that inherent loneliness in the creative process is assuaged when you share a common vision with someone. It's a bit hard to describe except perhaps as a weight that one feels, like a burden pressing down on your mind that wants to be born and you alone experience it, holding it up, until it is expressed onto the canvas and others can share in the epiphany. It can be very stressful if you take it too seriously. When every brushstroke could make or break the piece, especially when you work in an unforgiving medium where there is no hiding or erasing the previous mark, you have to remember that every brushstroke is the epiphany. There is no wrong way to go about painting.