Friday, July 30, 2010

Marilyn Monroe

Just varnished this new Marilyn Monroe. Oil on canvas. My gallery in Vegas closed a few months ago, so my rep is now hurrying to get me into a new one. Have some exciting projects coming up, so I'm stoked about that. 

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

College and Superheroes

I found this comic I wrote and drew for my final design project, eons ago. The narrative is basically the old "comic" going head to head with the new "graphic novel." Obviously the graphic novel thinks it so much better than the comic — it thinks it's so much more sleek, more cutting edge etc. The comic, of course, has a very long history, and the graphic novel is of course derived from the comic. The info is presented as superheroes that battle each other, and the "mediator" is a regular guy that has to spell out the problems and resolutions to the superheroes.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Nude girl on carpet

Bombarded with work so I wasn't able to get any updates in. I'm working on this piece, and trying to get it done within a civilized time frame. I photographed this particular piece through each stage, as I was working on it. I don't usually do that. 
This stage is the second to last stage. This stage is where I painted out a portion of the painting with white house paint. It's a kind of deconstructing, I guess. I'll be putting graphics on top of that. 
As I was working on this series, I started to feel really comfortable with my new style. I used to use projectors to do my drawing, a kind of amateurish approach. Now I just draw straight onto the canvas with a 2B pencil, and go through 2 to 3 layers of oils, instead of my normal 4 or 5. I haven't been glazing either. Styles evolve, so I guess every series will have inconsistencies.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Luis Caballero

I first saw the work of this artist in Bogota a few years ago. They were huge canvases, oils overlaying charcoal. Washes in oil. Amazing stuff. He's Colombian, but studied in Paris. 

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

New Series

Ok, so here's one of the paintings in the new series I'm working on. It's an oil on canvas, 80" x 48". It's fun to revisit my passion for comics, that I've had ever since I was a kid. The comic work for this is from The Treasure of Tranicos, an original story by Robert E. Howard. Pencilled by John Buscema, inked by Klaus Janson. 
I sold this piece, and when I started, it was really just an experimental painting. I loved the way the mediums looked so I did a series. I'll have 6 paintings when I'm done.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Michelangelo

You really don't have an idea of the enormous power of this guy until you see his sculptures face to face. He has that great quality of creating figures based on a keen insight of human anatomy. It's not just a learned process. It's something great figurative artists have. It's a total immersion into the way the body works, the way each joint involves the total articulation of tendons, bones, muscles and skin. And as if that wasn't enough, the fact that he was working in marble, using hand crafted tools. Just pure vision and hard work, and indelible talent. The prodigious amount of work he put out doesn't seem possible.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Nudies

Couple more sketches for possible new paintings. I watched a doc on Michelangelo last night. Obviously he will be my next post.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Nude modeling runs in the family


My wife's really been a great model. Well, what do I look for in a model?? First, she's gotta have patience. It's not just a camera shot. I get in there with a sketch pad and make my own notes. Subtle colors, reflected light, soft shadows don't transfer that well through the lens. Then there's the details, like the light reflected in the eyes, or the mirror images, etc. Anatomy's a strange thing. You really need to know it; how the bones and muscles articulate and how each causes stress on the other. I love it. So these pics are some random model shots of my wife, and the painting is titled "Ethereal." Oil on canvas.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Great photography, if you like fish

I run across some really great photography sometimes. These were pulled off of random sites, and they are definitely among ones that I use as inspiration. The lighting is perfect, — chiarscuro — and the themes are along the lines of some of my ideas / sketches that I've done in the past. 

Friday, March 19, 2010

More sketches

A few more for new paintings.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Nude woman's gonna get done

This one is an oil on canvas, 36" x 48" and it's not finished yet. The model is a really great girl that actually sold me my Canon SLR. (BTW, Rebel, with EF100mm Macro IS USM, and EF 24-70mm USM lenses.) She's posed for me a lot over the years, and she's super nice.
This piece I think is next in line to get done.  

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

The Three Graces


Unfinished painting. This was the first of a series that I never finished. The Three Graces, as people may know were the ideals of humankind. They represented charm, beauty and creativity, and were depicted throughout history by artists like Raphael, Antonio Canova, etc. 
My version has the opposite meaning. It's really the level to which humanity can / has sunk. The meat / flesh on the ground represent depravity, and the subject matter is tied to the modern world by the Coke can in the bottom left of the painting.
Ironically, the girls that posed for me for this painting were strict vegetarians. They were cool though, totally handling bloody chunks of raw meat.

Who's the Frazetta thief??!!

Great example of Frank Frazetta's artwork. He was the quintessential artist for REH's Conan. Oh, and yeah. It's a pity the Frazetta kids can't get their shit together. Money can definitely be the curse of all evil. Trust me, I know at least one person motivated by greed. Money's out there people. It's there to be made. Go make it. Don't stoop to a sub human level to get it.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Pig chasing and wenches. My influences.


When I first started art, some of my biggest influences were Frank Frazetta, Neal Adams and John Buscema. I was really into fantasy and comic art. Well, I admired a lot of the artists on the Conan series. Michael Kaluta, Ernie Chan, Barry Windsor Smith, Gil Kane, Earl Norem, Klaus Janson, Alfredo Alcala, and others. 
Buscema and Windsor Smith, though, had great lines. They had a natural ability to draw. Frazetta too, though. It's a pity everything that's going on with him.


This comic sample is from Buscema and Alcala (as inker).  They don't make art like this anymore. 


I'm gonna be posting stuff like this throughout. There's some great Windsor Smith pencils and inks he did for the first few Conan the Barbarian issues that were incredible. Zukala's Daughter, The Tower of the Elephant.


Which brings another topic to mind. Robert Ervin Howard.

Oh, those nude sketches...


Some of these sketches are for the new series I'm painting. I draw using a regular ballpoint pen, usually blue, and pretty quick. I know some artists spend hours on a sketch, but I've never felt that was necessary. I'm really interested in getting my point across, getting the energy of the piece.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

I have to start sometime

I'm about to finish a series of new paintings. These are figurative, oils on canvas and birch panel. They're pretty big, the largest about 50" x 66" unframed. I've decided to put aside my portraits of pop and sports icons for now. Well, unless commissions come in. Of course... These new ones are really the first set of paintings that reflect a style and subject that's truly mine. Anyway, this is my first blog entry. I shall be back...