BGOZ Gallery - Art That Tells a Story

The First Day in Paris

2012-01-28T20:21:00.001-08:00

No, haven't been to Paris, but read this piece by Edmondo de Amicis, "The First Day in Paris" and was inspired to sketch this. He talks about the lights, and crowds of Paris at the end of the 1800s. Read it if you get a chance.

Owl and the Moon

2012-01-27T20:06:00.001-08:00

Another quick sketch painting.

Rhinos

2012-01-27T18:26:00.001-08:00

Quick pic of a gouache and charcoal piece.

New Shell Pieces

2012-01-15T17:50:00.001-08:00

I've been working on some new shell pieces. These works are my way of showing how these natural forms inspire imagery to me. My hope is that people will take from this a new way of looking at the world around them.

The first is titled 'The Dance' and the second is titled 'The Tortise and the Raven'. The painting around the shells expands on the original imagery. Tried to give it a watery feel.

Art Crawl 2011

2011-11-23T11:19:00.001-08:00

Thanks to everyone who came out for Art Crawl this last weekend -- and especially those that came to visit us at Mother Dog Studios.

I promise that more new and exciting things are coming to this blog. I'm working on a redesign, and setting up a section of the studio to do art photography. That should increase my posting.

Gel Print Demos

2011-09-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

Did this sorta chrysanthemum as a technique demonstration. Showing painting directly onto the gelatin plate.

This was a pretty simple design, but what doesn't quite translate in the image is the awesome mossy texture of the print. It worked really well.

This was the ghost print of the above. I had a blue undercoat, which I think added to the mossy texture of the first print.

Pretty little Boat Maid

2011-09-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

Gelatin print from Saturday Art Special. This was based on going to Miller Outdoor Theater to see Taiko Drums. They did a dance piece with a boat lady and a thunder god (with horn on head). It was pretty funny.

Salon De Refuses

2011-07-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

So, this year I actually got reminded in time to enter the Lawndale Big Show. I was not accepted, though I'm glad I got off my but and entered. I did get into the rejected art show at the M Squared gallery in the Heights. I think that it wasa great idea, and I got to meet several people.

This is the piece I entered:

This is a crayon drawing on 22 x 34 inch paper. While working on the enginehead diptychs I also created several crayon drawings which followed the paintings -- except the engines were not attached to the person's neck. While looking at different chainsaws for the painting I was struck by how much this brand reminded me of a baby bird head. In this painting I'm looking at not only a quick job, but the way in which that activity has affected the environment. No limb for the nest.

Final enginehead Diptych

2011-07-03T08:57:00.000-07:00

These are the most recent enginehead pieces. With them I feel that I've completed my exploration of finding "engines" that fit personalities. Although I do intend to continue with the enginehead series I am looking at working more with the figure in the next set.

Finished Steam Engine. I wanted to talk about those people that need pressure in order to work. The pressure of multiple tasks and deadlines perhaps, or the pressure that comes from internal and external influences working against one another. This piece is actually very bright and yellow. Unfortunately, the color did not capture so well.

Finished AC Motor. Here I wanted to talk about weighing decisions constantly -- looking at both sides in order to find the solution.

enginehead evolution

2011-07-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

These next two paintings were the first I've done in this new style. I'm happy with the results so far.

Finished Sewing Machine. The sewing engine as it is represents the connecting and brining together of separate objects into a whole. A personality that is precise and collects things into a consistent whole.
Finished Chainsaw. This engine I chose to represent the drive to achieve at all cost and in all speed the task at hand. The easily bored and rather sloppy behavior that can come on as a task begins to drag.

Finished Paintings Finally Posted

2011-07-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

These two paintings are from the enginehead series. In this series I am approaching the emotional and intellectual forces that drive human action as an externalized motor. In these paintings I was trying to represent the character of the person through their motor as well.

Finished Boat Motor. The first large painting from the enginehead series. I designed this series to be done as diptychs. The Boat Motor and the Windmill being the first. Although I like both paintings individually, I don't believe they worked out as a diptych. I will most likely re paint these again in the future. The boat motors in this painting represent the self-destructive force of addiction. For though the motors want to be in the water, the water will eventually corrode them.

Finished Windmill. Of the enginehead series I did for school last semester, this was one of the toughest. As a windmill does not have an engine per se, I envisioned a pump for the head. As an antithesis to the Boat Motor's addiction, this painting was focused on the care of other, and transfer of one's own benefit (the wind) to the action of care.

Painting Updates

2011-02-24T20:54:00.000-08:00

Here are some updates from Painting ...

I really like how this one is coming out. To me, the water is almost there.

This one I really had to think about. Including designing the pump motor.

Poster for upcoming show

2011-02-07T21:55:00.001-08:00

I was asked to do a poster for an upcoming play by Center Stages. It's suppose to be in a Edward Gorey style. Lot's of fun to draw

New Paintings

2011-01-29T11:56:00.000-08:00

Here's an in progress picture of the "Boat Motor" or "Addiction" painting for Advanced Painting. It's part one of a diptych (the second painting will be "Windmills"). Each diptych will be two paintings, 36 x 36.

Thoughts?

Walking Line - Update

2010-12-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

Wanted to go ahead and post an update. I knew there was an elephant in there, and I found it.

Studio Night at Mother Dog

2010-12-12T08:21:00.000-08:00

Last night was the "Raining Cats and Dogs" show at Mother Dog Studios. So, I was up there working of course, and left the mingling to the artists that were finished with stuff. Have a show to get ready for, and I'm not driving 50 miles to just sit around. And here is a picture of the inspirational wall, which was uncovered when I removed the big wooden box that was taking up this wall of the studio. The paint was just cracking and falling off. I've left it for now since it looks so cool, and I know that John will want to take many excellent photos with it.

Work in Progress - Walking line

2010-12-12T08:13:00.000-08:00

I've decided to call these kind of pieces "walking line" after hearing Paul Klee's work being described as "... a line taking a walk." I thought that described what I was doing here. I let the line just travel around and when it's done I find the image inside, by luck. So, I never know where these pieces are going to end up. I usually do this on paper while taking notes or sitting in a meeting, and for some reason find the technique difficult to translate into charcoal and paint on board. This was the third line I tried last night, the other two didn't have anything interesting in them. Right now my focus is on figures and animals, so the egg-beaters are left out for now.

Cattle of Helios

2010-12-12T08:09:00.000-08:00

Tried to think of a good name for this one. These lonely cows out by the road when I'm driving to work. I've been really impressed with the white-yellow grass, kinda looks like snow. But here I was trying to capture the warm sun of the afternoon on the way home. I love the way the cattle break up the plane of the field.

Houston Art Crawl

2010-11-21T16:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone for coming out and enjoying the arts!

New things posting soon I promise!

some pieces looking for a show

2010-08-23T21:16:00.000-07:00

Not the best photos I know, but didn't want to unframe them. These are some paintings from Life Drawing.

Been Away

2010-08-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

I've been away from the blog for the summer I guess. I'm back and will be posting more regularly I promise. I'm not sure what to catch up on, so here's some stuff that hasn't been posted yet.

New Stuff on Way

2010-04-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

Here's a sketch for a new piece I'm working on. I'm going back to some ideas from a few years ago. I think I need to go back and expand a little.

Work in Progress

2010-04-11T06:10:00.001-07:00

Two updates on this one (see original here). This picture is making me happy too, but the cell phone pictures are making me very sad.

Work in Progress

2010-04-11T06:06:00.001-07:00

This image is very dark. Photographing in the studio with my cell phone isn't really working so well haha. I'm happy with the way the figure is shaping up (see original sketch here). There are a few stories trying to push there way into the piece. I'm going to have to pick one before I can tell you what it is that she's holding.

Work in Progress

2010-04-11T06:01:00.000-07:00

The colors on this one make me very happy. In fact, I think when this is done, I'm going to hang it in my house. The charcoal sketch underneath was so solid that the paint washes aren't making a lot of change (which is good, I liked the sketch). However, now I have to be very careful not to create new sharp detail in a style that conflicts with the sketch. Of course, now I'm just worried about messing it up. Haha.

Work in Progress

2010-04-11T05:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, this one does not resemble the model, maybe an elderly version haha. Still, I'm liking this piece a lot more since starting the paint (see original sketch here). I've been having good luck with the acrylic washes, and the colors are coming together nice. This is maybe a little over half done.

Life Drawing Pics

2010-04-05T17:16:00.000-07:00

Here's some pics I took of the Life Drawing poses as I sketched them a while back. One of our best models!!

Some More Crayon Work

2010-04-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

These are the last three drawings from the children's sermon. Enjoy.

Crayon Sketches

2010-02-28T08:35:00.000-08:00

The Eyes

The Hands

I was asked to draw some pictures for the children at church for 5 Sundays. Each day I was asked to draw a specific body part during the children's service. Since it was for the kids, and I would be sitting with them, I decided to go with crayons!!! I'm pretty happy with the drawings, especially the eyebrows!

Wednesday Night Life Drawing

2010-02-10T21:00:00.001-08:00

This Wednesday, we had Jeremy model. He's playing Howie in the Center's production of "Our Town", so we had him in costume for some of the poses.

Howie delivering the milk.

Howie talking to Mrs. Webb.

This is not Howie, and it's a rather sad disheveled-looking hobo.

Here's a smart upwardly mobile individual, about to leap into the fray.

Anyway, hope you enjoy these drafts, I'll be posting some more as things progress.

Wednesday Night Life Drawing

2010-01-27T21:04:00.000-08:00

Here's my sketches from tonight's Life Drawing.

Bohemeo's Sketches

2010-01-10T07:51:00.000-08:00

Some sketches from the bands at Bohemeo's last night. It was a great show!

Happy Halloween

2009-10-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

Oh No! Somewhere in New Jersey!!! It's Halloween!

If I was fuzzy and scaly and kinda fat and had big teeth and glowing eyes would you still luv me? hahaha

Wednesday Night Life Drawing

2009-10-28T20:55:00.001-07:00

Amanda did a great job modeling tonight. Here's what I got.

Wednesday Night Life Drawing

2009-10-14T21:04:00.001-07:00

This was an all crayon sketch night. My goal was to get every pose, and find something to use in a larger crayon piece.

First image of the night. Liked the movement, might be worth a larger scale.

This one was pretty funny. ran out of time on it, the head really unfinished

This ended up being to cropped I think. And it was hard to get it dark enough (didn't want to use black on it).

I liked this one a lot. Again, ran out of time, and it's a bit to light but would work in a bigger version.

Believe it or else, this is not pencil. It's crayon. black white and gray, but crayon.

This one was very interesting because of the shadows. I'll need to set this up again. The figure looks out, the bottom shadow looks down, the top shadow looks up (good noses on shadows too)

New Model

2009-09-24T19:31:00.000-07:00

YAY, yellow chair! This pose actually had really great lighting. I think I should've gone black and white on it.

Didn't really want to post this, but I try to be honest. This wasn't working, but I'm gonna work on it some more. I should've started with the hands.

Quick sketches. Good poses last night!

I think this is my favorite of the night. It really captured the model.

This is my second favorite. I wish the paper was a little longer, and the pose too. I had a lot of problems with paper this night. I kept using newsprint, and I just cant erase like I'm used to on it. I was planning to remove a lot of color from this one, but nevermind.

This is third favorite, simply because I ran out of time and didn't get it as finished as I could have. It's a really good start though (I think).

Postcards

2009-09-17T10:08:00.001-07:00

These are pics of the postcards I'm submitting to the Elder Street Gallery show in October.

and in paint

2009-08-17T20:44:00.001-07:00

This may come back again later, though not like this. Here's the painting based on the sketch. Sometimes I loose all detail on these 6 inch paintings :(.

Anyway, though no one may want it, I promised an explanation to go with the painting. To put it simply its about disconnected emotions. Disconnected in the fact that the target may not be something that you can attach directly to the emotion. Hence shadowy forms. The basic emotion (haha) we boil down to in this process is confusion.

Fire Hoses

2009-08-14T13:03:00.001-07:00

I'll let you guys think about it. It's probably not what you're thinking. Though it's prolly just crazy.

Day One 08/13/2009

2009-08-13T19:06:00.001-07:00

Here is a sketch for a portrait I will be working on as soon as the model gets here.

Wednesday Night Life Drawing

2009-08-12T21:39:00.001-07:00

Here are the sketches from tonight's Life Drawing.

This is our model Wes. Wish I had more time on the hands. Wes was a very charactered model, as you can see below.

Wes, as a worried Samuel L. Jackson

Wes, from Cats (Thunder Cats that is).
Zoinks! There's ghosts in that theater! And, Wes as Shaggy.

These were some of the final sketches, where Wes tried to portray a mob surrounding a pink bull (thanks to the National G).

The Bees

2009-08-10T21:09:00.001-07:00

After listening to a report on bees, I was inspired to try this for today's Day One painting.

Day One Again

2009-08-09T21:25:00.001-07:00

I'm trying to start it again. I've got lots of little pieces of masonite ready to go. For those that don't remember this belongs to my series of paintings all executed at one sitting. I'm going to try to do one a day during the week. Enjoy

Finished Painting from Life Drawing

2009-08-09T21:23:00.001-07:00

Ok, finished being a relative term. I'm finished because I don't want to go any farther with it. The more I work certain parts, the less cohesive the whole painting is. I love the sketched out figure, and just wish my phone took better pictures in low light.

Wednesday Night Life Drawing

2009-07-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

Here are the pieces from Life Drawing tonight. I was kinda surprised how much I got done, and how many people turned out. It was a great night :)

Ah, crayons.

I think this was my favorite

I wanted to do more with this, but that's a hard pose to hold.

This was actually the first drawing of the night

I love the color and movement, needs a little more work though

This is just the beginning, but it was fun to be painting

I guess this one worked, the model took it home. :)

In Prep for new Collage Portrait

2009-07-21T20:45:00.001-07:00

Here's a quick snapshot of the underpainting for my next collage portrait. Instead of magazines, I'm painting the collage. Below are some of the photos I took at the beach for the collage.

Wednesday Night Art Group

2009-07-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight was our Wednesday Night Art Group (non-model session). I was originally going to get everyone to choose partners and draw each others faces. Unfortunately, not enough people showed up. Below are examples I did of some people who did show.

This was my attempt at my friend Charlie. I think it looks more like the lead singer from the Talking Heads myself, but I am very happy with the drawing anyway.

This did not start out as a portrait. It became a portrait of Ron who was drawing me at the same time.

The following are some sketches I did while being the model for Charlie and Ron.

Wednesday Night Life Drawing

2009-07-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

Here are my sketches from life drawing last night. We had two excellent models. Pastel and charcoal in such a small format is not as fun. Need to buy more big paper.

I like this image because it has nice strong lines. I ended up putting a lot of lines in my drawings last night.

This drawing I did almost entirely with a kneadable eraser. Problem with that is the lack of value change. Oh well, I thought it was nice.

I tried to crop this image closer, which I think worked. Here you can see those lines again. haha.

Ah, the umbrella scene. I thought up the lighting for this first. Unfortunately, my paper was under-tall.

The Valkaries. (classical music and life drawing, what do you expect)

This pose was actually natural for the model. I wish I had more time to work on the hands.

I love this pose. The lighting was perfect, and it was 15 minutes so we had time. This was actually the first pose of the night.

This was the last pose of the night. Both models together. I went for the crayons, but thinking I still needed bigger paper.

Wednesday Night Life Drawing

2009-06-25T11:44:00.001-07:00

Here are some sketches from Life Drawing last night. Cory was an excellent model.

Worked in Studio today

2009-05-02T10:49:00.001-07:00

I was hoping to get more accomplished today. Continued working on the crayon technique. Trying not to cover the drips to much. It's starting to look decent. You cant really tell from this pic (I have another I might upload later), but I was trying to fix the sky without painting over it. On the far left you can see the "reverse-drips" that I tried. Also, in the original crayon pieces the horizon line was mostly white (paper) so I thought I'd try that too. It looks ok so far. I want to capture some from the original pieces, but not lose the cool drips.

Get Thee to the Library

2009-04-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

No pics yet, just wanted to comment on a promising book I picked up at the Library today. "The Romantic West" with an awesome painting on the cover (one of my favorites that I found on wikipedia several months back) "The Wreck of the 'Hope'" by Caspar David Freidrich.

Anyway, the whole book started with the end of the French revolution, and how the middle class, industrialization, and get this "loose credit" affected portraiture. I'm taking notes for Figure Drawing this Wednesday.

New Studio Work

2009-04-19T14:19:00.001-07:00

Finally made it back up to the studio. Spent 8 hours working (very little goofing off). I'm proud of that.

This painting is from a set of works I started in Life Drawing class at the Glassel. The originals were done in crayon, and I'm trying to capture that affect in the paint. This was just the first pass, so it's hard to tell if it will work.

Here is the Red Elephant painting I started a while back, it's almost done. Of course, you probably notice the elephant is no longer red. Ah well, I think the change was an improvement. Again, I apologize for the cell phone resolution. The colors on the original are much better.

Art Night - Magazine Project 4 (new model)

2009-03-17T19:04:00.001-07:00

This picture doesn't do it justice, but I've felt bad about not posting. So here is another Magazine Project. I actually did this while the model was posing, well at least roughed it in. I've finished it out more today. I'm liking it, so I'm calling it done.

Art Night - Magazine Project 3

2009-03-07T19:24:00.000-08:00

For some reason I keep thinking of Doctor Who while I'm working on this. I'm pretty sure it's inside the Tardis.

Life Drawing this Wednesday. Should be able to try this with a real model. Can't wait.

Art Night - Magazine Project 2

2009-02-27T19:20:00.000-08:00

Here is from the second night of work on the magazine project. I'm pretty happy with it so far. I've begun further defining the figures and the backgrounds. At this point, I do not know which will be more defined. Probably I will reduce the background, but we'll see.

Art Night - Magazine Project 1

2009-02-26T19:36:00.001-08:00

This Wednesday I did not have a model (yet again) for Art Night. In my erratic humor that night, I decided it would be a grand idea to get people involved in a project. I'm calling it the magazine project because that's where it started.

The idea was to sketch a model using collage, then going back and drawing more detail out of that. I've posted my example page (of course I had no model, being the model). I will post the steps of this process so that people can follow along.

Red Elephant

2009-01-20T13:56:00.001-08:00

Here's a work in progress. I just started this painting last time I was in the studio, and fleshed out the idea at home afterwards.

Sketches From Life Drawing

2008-12-18T16:22:00.000-08:00

Here are my sketches from Wednesday Night Life Drawing. It was kinda cold in the studio yesterday, but I think I got some good poses. Still trying to find a way to photograph crayon well.
Here I found an umbrella for a prop. Guess what I started drawing, yep the umbrella. Of course the umbrella is the last thing I should've looked at. I turned away from it after realizing, and I think rescued the sketch.

We had some really high lights during this session. The angles on this weren't easy for some reason, prolly because I was standing holding the paper the whole time. Now the blue has edited all wierd.

I really liked this sketch, but I couldn't bring up the definition enough, so I'm not sure you can see the triangular compositions. I think this ended up being my favorite.

Our model was dressed in black, so I kept using colors and here I made it pink. Thought that was funny. Now that I look at it though, I think the proportions are off.

Didn't have enough time on this one. I thought the lines were pretty elegant. I kinda like the unfinished look (and the green lines).

This was from early on when the model was holding her coffee. Notice the excellent hat, which worked quite well with the umbrella.

This was our last Life Drawing session for the year. But, never fear next year we're keeping it going.

Grilled Cheese

2008-12-14T09:45:00.002-08:00

Today is suppose to be a Grilled Cheese Lunch. Hopefully some people show :)=

Lighting Rig

2008-12-14T09:45:00.001-08:00

Curious Hawk

2008-12-14T09:40:00.000-08:00

While waiting for glue to dry yesterday, I saw this hawk swoop in. He just sat there and watched me shoot hoops and wait. I know it looks like a pigeon, but I never claimed to be an ornithologist. The beak is partly shadowed.

BIG MOON

2008-12-14T09:38:00.000-08:00

This will probably end up as a painting. It's been hard to watch the road on the way home lately, because the sky has been so awsome. Plus, I read online (I know) that the Moon was suppose to be really close the other day. It was a great show.

New Painting - Studio Window

2008-12-14T09:35:00.000-08:00

Here's the start of a new piece. Along the same lines as the Tree and Building painting I just finished. I started out with the sketches.

You can see, there is still some work to do figuring this out. Hopefully I'll have a painting to show soon though.

Horroriculture

2008-12-14T09:33:00.000-08:00

This drawing just spilled out the other day. I have no idea where it was going. You can finish it, thanks.

Trailer Pirates Ahoy

2008-12-14T09:29:00.001-08:00

A new series of characters straight from the office to you. ARRRR!

Set Up Design

2008-12-07T17:48:00.001-08:00

Well, here's a peek at the sets I helped design and build for a church play. I had a pretty laid out plan for what to put in the scene, but had some free reign on the construction and layout.

Notice the rocks, I had some fun with them. They are masonite panels cut into "rock" shapes with Great Stuff insulation sprayed onto them for texture. I explain this as making rocks by de-erosive means. However, for anyone that may be contemplating this technique be warned, it works better when it's warm.

Here's a closeup of the palm tree and rock. Well, there's not much to say about the palm. It's suppose to be a date palm. I think it reads ok. I was going for a 2-D popup book style, I think I got it.

Brain Projector

2008-12-06T20:14:00.000-08:00

In the future we won't have teachers, just Brain Projectors. Watch out though, when the old brain wears out, sometimes it will grab a students.

Snail Eggs

2008-12-06T20:04:00.000-08:00

I just heard today that snail eggs may be served to the gastronomically ellite. Poor, poor, Mrs. Snail. Did this sketch while sitting for the Art League Gallery. It's more of a slug than a snail, but I don't think it matters slime is slime. hehe. Want to Know More? ... (article)

Work from Studio

2008-12-01T13:30:00.000-08:00

Everbody loves robots right? Hope you do, that's the new piece I started today. I wish the colors would transfer to my camera phone. Maybe I should take my real camera next time. Right now there is only one part of this piece that's giving me fits. Can you guess what it is?
Anyway, I wanted to do something different this time for my subject. So much landscape lately.

Ok, I know I've already posted the following pictures. But these are finally done. I've had this Tree and Building Interference for a while now. I couldn't figure out how to finish it. I'm happy with the results I got. The photo is a bit blury, and unfortunately cannot see the painterly effect I achieved. I guess if you want to see it, you'll have to visit the studio. I'm planning a new "interference" piece. I'll get photos of it as soon as it's started.

The Art Crawl painting still needs to be stretched, so the cropping may change (I won't repost it :) ). I love the blue, and the movement. This photo is a little washed out, but there is a cool fresco feel to it.

In other news, I got a new space at Mother Dog Studios. More room to fill up with paintings.

Sketch Update

2008-11-26T22:07:00.000-08:00

This is a quick sketch I did at dinner. I'm working on an idea for a painting, but I want to get a model to work from. And Life Drawing is this week, so I need to find a model with the right look. We'll see.

This was a sketch I did the other night. It started out kinda amorphous, but ended up as a turkey's dream. Happy Thanksgiving.

Interference of Tree and Building

2008-11-26T22:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a painting that I haven't worked on in a while, but it's in the studio now, and I got some done on it. I'm liking it.

Storm Coming to Shore

2008-11-26T22:04:00.001-08:00

Here's a small painting I finished for the crawl.

Art Crawl Painting Update

2008-11-26T22:02:00.001-08:00

Here's the update on the painting I started at Art Crawl. I'm pretty happy with it now.

Art Crawl Houston 2008

2008-11-24T17:31:00.001-08:00

Here are some photos from the studio. This was my first Art Crawl (as an artist), and we had a great time. There were lots of people coming through Mother Dog Studios.

This is one of the walls I had in the studio. Since I share a studio, we each got two walls. Fortunately, I didn't have too many pieces, hehe.

This is the back wall of the studio, I had my portfolio out on the table, and some more paintings hanging. The one in the middle is a painting I started that day during the crawl.

And here am I painting while people were walking through the studio. Of course I took every opportunity to put down the brush and talk to people. I had a great time explaining my pieces, and was happy that people were interested enough to hang out and listen.

Here I am working on the painting. I'll be sure to post it when it's finished. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time during the crawl.

And for those keeping score here is the beginning of the painting from Art Crawl. I didn't start with any concept, I started with the paint flowing down the canvas. The yellow blobs turned out to be people after all.

Wicker Chair

2008-11-19T21:20:00.000-08:00

This was the last piece from Life Drawing tonight. I'm trying a new technique. I'm liking it.

The Bunny Man

2008-11-19T21:18:00.000-08:00

This is unfinished, but I wanted to post this. Cory brought Halloween stuff to our last Life Drawing session.

Wednesday Night Life Drawing 11/19/2008

2008-11-19T21:11:00.000-08:00

Here are some of my favorite sketches from tonight's session.

This looks like something from the Sears catalog. I actually started with the center axis, and the weight seems to work really well. I'm happy (just wished I could've finished the face).

This was a surprisingly good angle. I took a left-over donkey and didn't expect much out of it. At first it looked pretty blah, but after a time this came out.

Sorry about the blurriness. I love this sketch though, because we had Wes, our model, smile for the entire pose.

Finally, Back in the Studio

2008-10-05T08:58:00.001-07:00

I made the trip up to the studio yesterday. Tried to get a lot of work done. I was up there at 9:30 and started painting. It went pretty good, but jeez the studio was quite, and I started getting sleepy. Beautiful day outside, so I went to 19th street to check out the happenings. That got me inspired again, and so I went back to finish some stuff up.

I feel like this peice is finally nearing completion. I really like looking at it. I added the buildings in yesterday. I was originally planning a smaller grouping just in the middle, but after putting the first one in, I realized the scale was all wrong. A actually used the drips to define the shapes of the buildings, which makes it look like there are some ghostly buildings in there too. I like the effect.

Here is the update on the "august sun" painting. I'm really loving this one. It's still got two more sessions on it I think, but I was able to correct the tree line. I had the color bands reversed earlier.

By the way here's a link to an earlier post of these paintings ( in progress )

Wednesday Night Life Drawing

2008-10-05T08:45:00.001-07:00

Had another great Life Drawing session at the Art League October 1st. Here is one of the sketches that I'm going to continue to work with.

I've been wanting to work more with these pastel sketches, but of course it's difficult without fixative. I mixed up some water and acrylic matte medium in a spray bottle to use. I made this quick sketch as a test. I've already gone back in with some prisma color. The matte medium kinda worked, but it obliterated my finer shading and splashed little pastel filled drops all over the paper.

By the way, here is an update on the sketch of Cory from the last session. I used the matte medium spray on it, and then started going over it with burnt umber and burnt sienna glazes. Still not sure about this process. Oh well, live and learn.

Inspiration and no Materials

2008-10-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Went to "Collage 151" opening at the M2 Gallery in September. The show was a collection of collage pieces by Patrick Palmer. I was really inspired by the use of maps in some of his peices. I had the idea for some collages of my own. A series I'm calling Star Maps. Still trying to work out the media. I've was separated from my art supplies, which were in my studio in Houston. After the hurricane, it's taken a while to get back up there. Of course it was Sunday when I was working on these two mockups, so the only place to get art supplies was Walmart.

These two sketches were done after the mockups. I'm still working on it.

Hurricane Sketches

2008-10-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

Termites on the windows. AHHHH! Well maybe ants. Anyway, didn't get a lot of drawing done durring our little evacuation into the path of Ike. No power, and trying to keep Andrew entertained. And little windup flashlights are hard to draw with.

The night after the hurricane, and the moon was nice and bright. The clouds kept running across the moon, changing it's face.

Ahhhh!!! They're rising up from there graves in the soggy soil!!! Hurricane Zombies!

Haha. Thinking about the cemetery in Galveston as the storm blew in. An idea for a horror flick, of course the problem is that all the zombies get blown around by the wind and smashed into things. Maybe it's a comedy.

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-16T08:53:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping to get some art posted once power is returned, probably this weekend. I plan on adding a prompt from Ike to the Life Drawing Session tomorrow, if we have it. More on this later. To anyone that was affected by this storm, I hope you are doing well.

Son of Tron

2008-09-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

Well I know that this is an Art Blog, but it's also the only blog I really have now. So here's something sort of art related. Cosmic Bowling.

We went out last night to the local bowling alley. I'm glad I don't have seizures, but at first it was a little tricky aiming with the lights dancing on the floor. Still I almost broke 100, haha. Oh yes, the art part. With the black lights on, I loved the way the bowling shoes looked. It reminded me of Tron. I intend to do something artistic with this. Just you wait.

Wednesday Life Drawing Sessions

2008-09-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

Well, this last week was the first Wednesday Evening Life Drawing session that I've run. It was a lot of fun, and I hope that next time even more people show up. I took off the whole day from work to get ready for it, (not knowing exactly what to expect). As a consequence I got to attend the daytime life drawing. There was not a model, so us artists had to take turns modeling. Unfortunately, I was not able to sketch myself as a model, but here's what I did get.

These were the tree sketches I did get. I wish I had something more than my moleskine, but it was fun. I tell you, my 20 minute pose definately helped me empathize with my models. I promise nothing longer than a 20 minute pose.

Here is the model from the evening session that I ran, and the final drawing I ended up with.

And I want to give a special thanks to Cory Todd for modeling for us. He did a great job.

Working the Studio

2008-08-25T13:38:00.001-07:00

I just started moving into a studio in Houston. Still not much up there, but I figured I should start trying to put out as much work as possible while there. It is easier to focus. I've started three pieces so far. Nothing done yet, but here are some previews.

Tree Zombies

2008-08-25T13:34:00.001-07:00

I was noticing a lot of dead and dying trees along the new jogging path. I don't know if this is a result of the path (hopefully not) or just the dry weather. Anyway, I thought the were cool and kinda creepy looking. I'm going to try and post more.

Brazosport Art League Daytime Model

2008-08-06T21:41:00.001-07:00

Here are some sketches from the daytime life drawing session at the Brazosport Art League. Didn't have enough time to really work on the face. Anyway, learned a lot in preparation for the first night-time session. Can't wait.

The Surrender

2008-08-05T19:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, a lot of people fed into this idea.

Portrait

2008-07-29T21:05:00.001-07:00

Wood-Grain Bear

2008-07-29T21:00:00.002-07:00

I really saw this in the wood grain of my kitchen cabinets.

Tadpole

2008-07-29T21:00:00.001-07:00

Frisby Golf at the Park off Memorial

2008-07-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

Building a Foundation

2008-07-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

You need some kind of foundation to really achieve your goals. At least that's what I was thinking about when I sketched this

Egg Road

2008-07-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

Idea for a new painting

Tree at Discovery Green

2008-07-29T20:49:00.000-07:00

I loved the grass in the photos from my trip to Houston. tried to capture it.

Meditation

2008-07-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

A picture of me after a run, right before getting rained on. Trying to work on my breathing

Three-Eye Emotibot

2008-07-29T20:45:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just don't know what it's thinking.

Quick Trip

2008-07-29T20:41:00.001-07:00

Images from a recent trip to Houston.

a turtle

2008-07-16T21:30:00.001-07:00

relaxing on the pond.

Texting

2008-07-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

post your text on the tree.