sorcerer guy (what a sales title)

A couple of little touch ups.. the hand on the right was looking a little big to me, so I shrunk it.. I got rid of a couple more unwanted paint strokes, and I recropped slightly (again) because I felt the piece didn't need such space to be balanced.... oh.. and a signature :)

This is a presentable stage to me.. maybe I'll tighten it up in the future, but I'd thought I'd post it here for now.. cheers and thanks again guys for all your positive feedback!

sticking to my word pt. 4

..and a little bit more edge refinement... almost there..


..painting in the borders to fit the new canvas size..


.. so in my eyes at this point he looked too sophisticated to be cropped at an angle.. he's more of an experienced sorcerer, so he doesn't need an action packed dutch camera view (i'm communicating with myself).. rotate


...a sorcerer type guy casting a spell with some smoke underneath him.. (btw, I tend to look at things for a long time until I see something interesting.. this new layer took some time)


-coming back from my break- you know what.. I don't like what I'm seeing at this point, so I'll re-assess the painting.. I decide to duplicate the original abstract shape and play around with viewing it in different layer styles... here's what I ended up with - flip the canvas upside down and change the abstract to a soft light layer... because what I really see is...

sticking to my word pt. 3

now I think I can start painting and refining some of the details out a bit more... and also a needed break..


.phew.. got my light sources in there now... I'm kind of losing some of that local color.. Let me refine that a little bit more with another overlay layer..


and one more for the fill light.. this one I didn't want too much spill over between the other layers, so I double-clicked on the layer and dragged some of those arrows around to adjust the blending of the layer (for the other photoshop guys out there)..


one for the bigger picture of light sources...


after I got my general local colors roughed in, I decided to add a couple of new Linear Light layers - one for the general shadows..

sticking to my word pt. 2

..new layer: overlay - to get a better idea of what this guy's local colors are going to be.. at this stage, I tend to spend a lot of time referencing/experimenting with colors to see what works..


alright, so next I'll throw some lines on there to get a feel for what the shapes are going to be (it's not uncommon that I may use a couple of layers for this.. a rough and a cleanup.. sometimes I spend quite a bit of time on the drawing, but I was lazy today)


..and less hard edges..


...I think it needs more contrast at this point..


.. cropping in I can see a character in some of the shapes...

sticking to my word pt. 1

... and a hue/saturation pass.. because I just didn't feel right painting a red and turquoise painting that day.. there are some interesting shapes in there.. i think.. so onto the next step!

**the key here when I'm doing this for myself is to just a reminder that all I'm looking for is an interesting set of shapes..


Once I feel like I've created something that I feel has somewhat of a potential I'll bring it into photoshop and tweak edges even more using the smudge brush..


So here goes.. a step by step of a new piece.. I'll just jump right into it (for those of you reading this it goes from the bottom --> up). I started with a random set of scribbles in ArtRage. The good thing about the program I find is that there's a cleanliness of edge variation and color mixing that you don't get in photoshop..

antonio mancini!

I just got his book off Amazon and now my artistic abilities have been humiliated.. in a good way :) So I had to do one more copy or else I'd forget everything I had ever learned about art.

The other thing I have to do soon is another piece of my own.. with process images (i haven't forgotten)..

crunched for time... so...

I decided to do another DS master copy.. One day I will actually use that program for other uses.. for now, it makes me feel satisfied by studing Sargent...

new toys..

I got inspired by Mindy's DS paintings, so I decided to go out and get that Colors! program.. for my first painting.. a master copy from Degas.. of course, his painting is just a tad better.. :*(

back to the drawing board

I seem to be doing more collage work when in the workshops as of recent.. These were some of my better days... if I remember correctly.

bay views pt 10

peaceful, relaxing, and full of little annoying bugs buzzing in my ears.. nature is full of greatness.

more of..

continuing with this process. I will post some process images in the next piece as i got the suggestion halfway through this one.. (thanks Grant btw for the suggestion).. your comments are always appreciated.. and flattering, thank you!

new methods

On the path of experimentation. I think I'm becoming more and more abstract as I work. And I end up staring at my painting for hours trying to see weird things. I should change my title to full time starer of abstract paintings.

bay views pt 9

I was struggling as usual on this one. I found out really quick as I was painting that tree bark has so much subtle color variation (most of which I couldn't capture). Then when I ran out of time on the painting I noticed the contrast was much higher in the shadow vs. light category...

Just when you think you've kind of tackled one area correctly, another one slaps you in the face..

Next time I'll bring a bigger thinking cap.

OTILS pt 6

Selected oldie quick sketches. I just finished another pad recently so I might post some newer old stuff soon, but I wanted to post these from the archives before I moved on.. some of the semi successful sketches from 2 years ago.

replenishing my oil paints

i've been starting to do some longer figure paintings these days at this school in Belmont (www.bacaa.org).. i'm working on a new one, which i can't talk about... but here's the last one i did..



i figure a couple of details won't hurt either, since when i look at small pictures of paintings i get annoyed sometimes that i can't look a bit closer at the artist's work..

this is one of my attempts at karma.. i hope to see lots more details of paintings in the future... or at least imagine them.

sidetracked in my sparetime

i told myself i was going to only work on this for one hour tonight... but given the hours i already put in it and the yearning to do another piece, i decided i would get it to a certain level and then post it...

in this case my painting time is the reason why i'm not getting other areas of life covered.. ugh

i guess i'll have to save the errands for another day..

bay views pt 8

we painted on a blazingly hot rooftop.. and surprisingly the burn was mild.
as for the painting, it was tough because buildings frustrate me.. yet i am strangely attracted to them - hence the artist's dilemma

All Ears

So.. I'm thinking about getting these blog posts out into prints. Is there anything you guys would like to see printed out and hung on your wall? Leave me comments!

I'd love to hear from you, even if you hate my work with a passion!

Okay back to painting now..

Cheers

cleaning up after a mess

you ever get those times when you just feel like painting a blubbery cotton haired ninja in a dark moody environment? today was one of those days...

the majestic

Thank you for your kind words! I feel greatly gratified and motivated to do more when I hear them! It's good to know you guys are still viewing my work.

Here's a piece I struggled through in spurts for the last two weeks. Is it done? I'm not sure, but I want to work on another one now, so I'm posting it as is.

John: I was inspired to write a book before, and when I finished it I realized how much more knowledge I had gained while not writing it. I felt like writing another book.

So I think I'm going to write a more solid book when my brain knows more...

bay views pt 7

the hills around berkeley are nice. i'll have to explore that area more.
after i painted this i think my eyes got 5-10% worse from the glaring sun... good times

strong lungs or bad breath?

ArtRage/Photoshop combo

experimenting

practicing some old theories with a clearer mind.. hopefully they stick..

beginning

here is a painting to get me inspired to work on my story. if all goes well, and i am still fully inspired, i'll finish it one day... more to come :)

bay views pt 6

i lucked out on this one. the fog rolled in as i was painting the bridge, and as soon as i painted in the fog, the sun came back out with a vengeance.. timing is key.. then again, i wish i had more of it.

soldier of fortune

a first pass...

bay views pt 5

this painting taught me something about semi-larger pieces. be sure to TAPE IT DOWN!
the wind decided take the paper and whack me in the face with it.
don't worry... i still like you nature..

Ninja Dairies

posting the finish here..

bay views pt 4