Back to the Drawing Board

Well, I've been sitting on my ass for about 2 months due to a broken foot, and yet haven't written a single blog!  Why? Well because it's more important to me to paint than to talk about myself in  damn blog.  I'd get back to my process on the hyena, but I guess I don't see the point at this time.  If you guys want to know how I paint, ask me!  For now I'm gonna just post in progress pics!

So currently I'm working on the Siamese Twins.

Floating colors here, but it's on it's way.

Late.

- A

Art School.... Enroll or not to enroll, that is the question!

  Holla, I've decided to take a break from my progress post of the Hyena painting to address a burr in my side...... art school!

  When I was in high school, I could think of nothing better than to escape my home state and it's typical paintings of maze (uh I mean corn) and kachinas.  I felt that California offered what I wanted and needed in my life.  However when people ask me where I learned to paint and draw I tell them "The Animator's Union in Burbank, California."  From who they ask, "Karl Gnass"!!!!!  (spiritofthepose.com)

  That's right, my parents helped me to get out to a California school, a CSU school to learn VERY little about my chosen field.  At the time I had wanted to pursue animation, but I quickly found that i just wasn't my bag! I fell in love with story, but with no guidance until my senior year, that quickly became a second choice.  I pursued storyboarding with no training at all from my CSU school.  That's right, zip, zilch, zero, nada!

  One of the reasons I was not as quickly successful as some of the other students was the harassment I received during my enrollment at said CSU school.  Apparently it was ok for the male students to continually pick on me with every name in the book.  In some cases the instructors would chime in and join this harassment.  I was threatened daily that if I didn't play the game I would be blacklisted among my co-students.  Ladies, and gentlemen if this happens to you, get angry and go to the highest level you can think of in the university's art department (or higher if needed).  Do not let people get away with this kind of behavior.  It is completely uncalled for and ridiculously unprofessional.

  This however is besides the point.  I did not learn anything during my enrollment in art school due to the lack of training of my own TEACHERS!!!!  Not one of them actually worked in the industry I had chosen.

When you look at schools it is important to look at the instructors' professional history and current work. If they took the job to teach because they couldn't function in the industry you have chosen, DO NOT TAKE ANYTHING FROM THEM!

  Don't let people fool you.  One can be a successful artist and not enroll in art school.  Are you the kind of person who learns things on their own?  And by learn, I mean nearly master, anything you 100% commit to.  If you can seek out the info you need by dedication alone, then YES you can become a successful artist.  But understand that this kind of a choice means a lot, and I mean a lot of work on your part.  Every part of your life may need to become a part of your self education.

  Seek out other artists you admire.  You have nothing to lose by asking them to look at your portfolio.  Do you have REAL friends in that particular chosen field?  If not, ask questions.  And I mean ask ask ask!!!!  Do not forget that you are asking them for the favor.  First impressions are everything, so do not act like a jerk who feels that his or her art is a gift to the world.

  The two most important things I can think of are;

1.  DO NOT GIVE UP!!
2.  NEVER STOP LEARNING!!

  No one likes a quitter who dwells on their past mistakes and their "If I had...." mentalities, and trust me you wont like yourself much either.  And please understand that when you retire, you will still be an artist.  It never stops, it never goes away, and you can never ever ever stop learning!

  In short, if you don't believe in the bullshit of art schools, then do it yourself!  If you love it, go for it, and work your butt off like you never have before.

Working in the details.

  As of day two and three I had established the midtones, some of the darks and a few hints of the highlights.  Now on to day four.

  At this stage in the game I need for the paint to have dried a bit over night.  I work wet into wet as I mentioned before, but there are limitations to this.  I consider myself to be a fairly fast painter, and trust me this is not always a good thing, as I tend to paint myself into a corner! (That's right, I went there.)  But the faster I go the more paint on the canvas and the less I can do once I have drenched every square inch in view.  The dryer the better.

  I start to look for the darks and lights, not in terms of transparent glazing, but the true darks of the piece.  For example:

In the above pic you'll notice how the portion under the neck, and in the one nostril I managed to get to that day are much darker than before.  I start to layer on top of these darks and midtones to create the depth I want in the hair.

  Hmmmmmm...... not sure I have much more to say about this.  I am not a perfect painter, nor am I telling you that you should paint like me.  But what I will say is that with each painting I learn, as does everyone, how my process works, and does not work.  I make mistakes all the time, but I get what I want in the end.

Late

- A 

The process of the hyena continues.

  Hello! So to continue on the path from earlier, my next step is to lay down the base colors on the canvas.  I like to use gamblin oil colors.  I really like the creamy gooey texture they have as well as the fact they are all made here in the US.  Not too expensive but not cheaply made either.  I am not against using other brands as I do have some winsor & newton tubes, but the majority is gamblin. 

  Anywho, I start with the midtones and usually work from back to front.  It's really your preference what you work on first.  For me I like the BG established at least part way so when I lay in the details, like fine animal hair, I don't have to paint around them to finish the BG.  

This is a little past day one.  I pulled a bit of detail out on the gloves.

I try to concentrate on the general and moving toward the specific.

  I work wet into wet with a bit of galkyd, liquin and a bit of oms (odorless mineral spirits).  I blend as I go, and then work back over the areas that seem to be drying a bit if I really want them to blend well.  I believe this was day 2 or so, not sure.  For most of my pieces it takes me about 2 to 3 days to get the general shapes and tones down, but anywhere from 4 to 10 days (sometimes more!) for the details.  It all really depends on what I am going for.

  As with all of my paintings I am constantly looking back at my reference to change, or evolve as it were, in order for the anatomy, setting and detail to work toward the final piece.

Well that's a small portion of the midtones, and the move toward the details.

Late.

A

Painting Progress

  Ok here we go, let me tell you about my process.

  The current series I am working on is  a Circus Sideshow character series.  All of the characters so far have been based on what I would consider, recognizable sideshow performers ie; Strongman, Carnie, Fire Eater, and my current piece is the Escape Artist.

  Ok so how it all starts......

  Well I must say that to me, the story behind a character is just as important.  I first have the idea for the character, choose an animal that I think personifies the idea and also lends itself to interesting anatomy.  At times the anatomy in my pieces are both human and animal, but at others it is entirely animal, insect, etc.  Each painting has a story behind it.  The Escape Artist's story will be posted after I finish the painting.

  Visual reference is an artists best friend.  Life reference is best, but lets face it, who has the time to ask a hyena to sit for a portrait.  Plus it's downright impossible!  So the next best thing is FLIKR.  I use flikr like crazy.  I DONOT COPY THINGS NOR DO I USE COPYRIGHTED IMAGES ILLEGALLY!  I use each of the photos to help me get to the place I am going.

Here are a few samples;

 

   

 The last picture I used quite a bit of, because one it's Houdini. Second It's the perfect pose I was looking for.  I will however tell you that I do not use a transfer of any photo.  I use them as reference for my painting, I then transfer or re-draw my sketch on the canvas.  Here are a couple of sketches.

   

And finally a blend of human and hyena anatomy......

FINAL CANVAS SKETCH

   That in a VERY small nut shell is the start of a painting.  I also have to gather A LOT of reference of other objects that appear in the backgrounds and the victorian designs, such as clothing, jewelry, or as you will see as the painting progresses... chains with a touch of steampunk.  Trust me, if I upload all the photos I use I'd have about 20 to 30 images just for this piece all the way down my blog!  I may not use them all, but when I encounter a problem with any portion of my painting I look through the images for the information to fix it.  That is why I try to find as many images as I can even if they do not seem to appear in the piece itself.  Questions? Feel free to askith me!

late-
  A

The start of my blogedy blog blog blog.

  Well hello, that is if you're reading this, welcome to my art blog.  No I'm not going to start talking about the way art should be, nor will I bore you with crap about how I'm right about painting on ANY level.  But  what you will get is a good idea (that is if you're interested) of how I decide on, research and paint my own personal work.

  Stick around, this could be fun!

- A