Influences

An enjoyable exercise that has been going around lately. It was a good chance to reexamine the really influential artists along my artistic growth. Not nearly all the artists but a pretty good list of the big ones for me personally. I grew up with no exposure to any of these greats(except Rockwell), like most people unfortunately. But it was wonderful to find them and have the scales fall from my eyes.

sketch. 57

From the sketchbook.

figure drawing #58

I really like doing stale kind of standing poses but they are rare because we feel bad asking the model to stand for 2 hours. This model was game though.

2 hours charcoal on 18"x24" drawing paper.

note- I've updated the photograph of my painting below, its a little more representative of the real thing.

UPDATED Apple *painted*

UPDATED, I got a better picture. Not good, better.

So I set myself a goal to do a painting every 2 weeks, it was a fantastic goal that produced this painting and then died one week later.
The painting is 9"x12" oil on board using this drawing from a couple months back. This really is an awful photograph but I have yet to mastered the dark arts of photographing paintings. I may do a little more color work with it yet but I'm okay with it. I thought setting a time limit would be a good thing to push production, and it would, but life is always fighting back, 2 young kids and the sun going down seem to be the primary drivers.

Check out my collection of great art at the Google Art project HERE. My wife's a big time Pinterest user and I thought it would be cool if I had an account with all my favorite artwork but I've got a massive reference folder and it would be so much work to try to get it transcribed. Google's got some good stuff there though.

sketchbook #56

You may be starting to feel like your visiting Anne Geddes' blog by now but what can I say I like to draw my kids. I really do like the endless source of reference. This is my little boy, middle name Wyeth (after N.C) by the way (Mucha was too exotic).

Sketchbook drawing 9"x12" using a .3 B lead mechanical pencil.

fig. 57

My figure drawing from a couple weeks back. This is only the amount that would fit on the scanner but don't worry the rest isn't very good.

Ode to J.C. Leyendecker

Last night I sketched from a portrait in one of my Leyendecker books. I have a current illustration I am really trying to match to Leyendecker's style. It is hard because he is so good and I am just at the drawing stage. I'll post it here at some point and let you decide if its even close.

Also, check out Donald Jurney's new blog. Awesome landscape artist with gorgeous compositions, colors and atmosphere. I have limited number of landscape artists who I really follow but Donald is definitely one.

fig. 56

A detail of last weekends figure drawing. I was happy with this area, the poorly drawn body has been cropped and forgotten.

This was done on a 18"x24" sheet of drawing pad(this is probably cropped to 8" wide area), all the reddish color areas are NuPastel and the edges are reinforced with sharpened black Conte. 2 hours.

lines and shadows

Update-I think I like this composition more.

I was admiring the drawing style of Steve Huston and decided try to mimic it in a digital painting I was playing with. I love his strong lines and shadows.

Mitt

A piece of a larger composition for the Weekly Standard this past weekend, I don't really like it as a whole much today but I do like the Romney character still. Again these are such quick turnarounds I don't get much time to plan and roll it around in my mind, I'm deciding these parts of the process are very important. But I do like these projects and the challenge.

backfire

This weekends piece for the Weekly Standard. An very fast turn around, very little time to think about the composition and refine the drawing and painting, its game time. I like how it turned out. I really like the smoke that was added as an afterthought.

apple

From the sketchbook.

Bath time

You may be wondering where I got such gorgeous little models for this drawing. You may be surprised to know they are not models nor is that the real Gerber baby but my own kids. This also accurately reflects their feelings about posing for dads drawing, it is beginning to wear on my girl but the little boy is stoked, but he is stoked about pretty much everything.
This took about 3 hours to draw with my mechanical pencil on regular sketchbook paper, the kids were getting pretty antsy by the end (not really of course). I am considering painting this but I am not sure if everyone thinks its as funny as I do.

Mind the gap

Apologies for the gap in posts. I've had some projects of late that cant be shared but have consumed the last bit of my nearly non-existent available time.

A figure drawing from a couple weeks back.

painting

I thought this might be done but its sat around long enough that I now think it is not ready. But I'll post it anyway.I don't think I like the hair too flat and generic.

Jindal

For the Weekly Standard. I went with a simpler style this time.

sketchbook #52

busy

I've been busy lately but for now here is a early stage of this painting.

fig. 54

The figure drawings lately have been a little uninspiring. But this ones kind of nice.

sketchbook #51

I like when my drawings have areas loose enough to look totally random.

But I hate to discover I am creasing my drawing in the scan preview.

sketchbook #50

A recent sketchbook drawing, this may turn into a painting in the near future.

the new me

My previous avatar has lost favor in my eyes (not that I had any particular favor for him other then his interesting face). So I have decided to move on. This time I chose someone I actually like, Mr. Milton Friedman who also has a cool face. Unfortunately it doesn't size down too well and looks noisy in its small form.*shrug* I have had questions in the past assuming I am an older gentleman which I am not, yet. But my face is not nearly as interesting.
I was thinking about how I would like to do a more complete picture instead of a simple portrait so I may build a story around this face. Stay tuned.

Bonus:
I had enough saved out files that I put together this handy animated gif for your viewing pleasure. You will notice that a lot of the drawing is done at the painting stage. I try to get as close as possible with the drawing and nail the general parameters but I really kind of sculpt it at the painting stages.

portrait

My pretty little neighbor. I just needed to get some painting in and this was the available reference.

Sketchbook #49

From the sketchbook.

Coca Cola

A oil painting I did for a Coca Cola related event in Atlanta. If you are in that neighborhood you should be able to see it at the Mason Murer gallery this month.

fig. 53

I reference a good line/shading balance in the previous post. Though it felt good at the time after a little time to look at this I think its got to much line and has a cartoony look to it. The proportions are close but it doesn't feel very realistic to me now.

*fig. 52

I got a bit of push back last time I said this but think that in my opinion this is my best figure drawing to date. That is not to say it is the one you would want to hang on the wall but to me it is the furthest along the path to where I want to get with my figure drawings. I think the proportions are accurate and a good range of shading but also an appropriate line vs. chiaroscuro balance.

This was a 2 hour drawing which unfortunately ended about 10 minutes earlier then I was pacing myself toward. So the lower legs aren't as polished as I would have liked. Again using Nu pastel and Conte but I got myself a medium gray shade of Nu pastel instead of the Bottle green or Cordovan I typically use. It is less workable, harder to erase but I like the look the Conte/Pastel transition is also smoother.

reading

A sketchbook drawing, I toned it and added highlights in Photoshop.

these hands

A digital painting, for your enjoyment.


I did the drawing in a meeting. It is pretty typical of the style that comes out of my mind when I am bored with nothing other than a pencil and paper to entertain me.

fig. 51

I've had a pretty good run with figure drawings working out here for a few weeks. One thing I'm starting to get frustrated about is the generally stiff feeling I often get. I think a lot of it is the model who's sitting there for nearly 2 hours.

Pay no attention to that dead fish hand on his stomach, it is accurate.