White Canvas

Angel in the Monotype, Mixed Media Monotype,  8 x 10"

These were fun to create. I would do the monotype print, then go back with colored pencils and strength the forms and play with the pattern. There are some cool shapes in this. I like what is going on in the bottom half of the page. If you look carefully, you can also see the angel in the monotype.

"When you are an artist, say, a painter, you have this huge white canvas, 
and you have this unstoppable urge to fill the canvas with color. 
Red and white and blue."
~ Christo

Big Art

Falling Figure, Mixed Media Monotype, 8" x 10"

I was picking forms and faces out of the prints and went with these. I spotted the face of anguish in the bottom right corner and went with that theme for the rest of the print. It has good falling movement.

"All the arts we practice are apprenticeship.
The big art is our life."
~ M.C. Richards

Without Freedom, No Art

Figure with Energy Swirls, Mixed Media Monotype, 8" x 10"

My mom has an obsession with energy swirls, so when I made this figure, I was trying to accent the energy swirls. You can see the swirls in the figure and background. I had fun blocking out the shapes. The result is a very nice piece. The colors are simple, but effective. Good movement in the piece. I should use the black print more often.

"Without freedom, no art; art lives 
only on the restraints it imposes on itself, and dies of all others." 
~ Albert Camus

Red Tree Thicket

Red Tree Thicket, Mixed Media Monotype, 8" x 10"

This was a grove of trees. I was having fun playing with the negative and positive spaces of the shapes. I played with the repeated pattern of the tree shapes. I had fun with the brown ink pen. Filling and drawing roots with watercolor and ink. The red is dramatic and looks like a tangled mess. There is much vitality here.

"Red is one of the strongest colors,
it's blood, it has a power with the eye."
~ Keith Haring

Get Away With

Man Reading Newspaper,  Oil Pastels on Paper, 11" x 14"

My mom and I went to Borders at Ward Center so she could work on her website dailycelebrations.com. I did a quick sketch of this man reading a newspaper. I think I fit it on the page nicely. The pink comes through nicely and I had fun layering the pastels. I used cross-hatching to define shapes.

"Art is anything you can get away with."
~ Terence Trent D’Arby

Essentially a Channel

Lady at Borders, Oil Pastels on Paper, 11' x 14"

More cross hatching to define shades. I had great fun with her curly hair.

"The position of the artist is humble.
He is essentially a channel."
~ Piet Mondrian

Dig Beneath the Surface

Woman with a Visor, Oil Pastels on Paper, 11" x 14"

There is not much to this drawing and I got the basic figure down quickly and finished it later. This woman resembles one of my friend's mom.

"I don't dig beneath the surface for things
that don't appear before my own eyes."
~ John Singer Sargent

Drawing the Line

Lady on a Bus, Oil Pastels on Paper, 11" x 14"

This woman was on the bus, riding to Ala Moana Shopping Center. Her granddaughter was so cute, I wanted to sketch her, too, but she moved around too much. The blue of her glasses are a nice focal point. I used effective cross hatching on her jaw, drawing down. And I like the way I drew her gray hair--black with white on top smudged.

"Art, like morality, consists in drawing the line somewhere."
~ Gilbert K Chesterton

Divine Perfection

Guy on the Bus, Oil Pastels on Paper, 11" x 14"

I like this drawing because it has a nice spontaneity to it. I like how I drew the ear. In fact, this one came so easily, it is like it flew out of me onto the page.

"The true work of art is
but a shadow of the divine perfection."
~ Michelangelo

Nudes - Hot and Cold

Nudes Hot and Cold, Oils on Paper, 2' x 3'

  

This was a painting I am very happy with. I painted it in Florence and it was the first time I painted two models at the same time.

These were a two 30 minute poses with a model break of 10 minutes

The assignment was to paint the two models and try to put as much distance between the two figures.

I did this by through focusing on the hot / cold contrast as well as the amount of details in the figures. The red figure really jumps in this painting and by the same token the blue figure sinks into the paper. 

There are some minor problems with this painting but overall I am really happy with it.

"I am still learning."
~ Michelangelo

Criticize by Creating

Angry Nude, Conté on Paper, 18' x 24"

This was another assignment for the pastels class I took in Italy. It is probably one of the most academic nudes that I have done. It looks cool. This is one piece of Conté, rubbed on its side all over and then I shaded with an eraser. This is an excellent likeness of the model.

"Criticize by creating." 
~ Michelangelo