Works in Progress

I thought I would post a few pictures of what I have been working on. 

 This is a study of my daughter... I am thinking of doing a piece about the words of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon.  Talking about our reliance on the Savior he encouraged his people to help those around them.  To paraphrase, In the eyes of the Lord are we not all beggars in need of help.  This is going to be my little beggar.

I am trying to put together a piece for the Art contest hosted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  The theme is "Make known His wonderful works"  This was a study of one of my daughters.  My orignal idea was to have several children surrounding their mother and father while they taught them out of the scriptures, but I don't have the time for such a large and complicated piece. 

 This is the wipe out/in for the still life I am working on.

I have found if I try and figure out my colors before actually starting the picture I have better results.  Here are two ways I have going about doing that.  The picture above is a copy of the drawing and I have written down the pigments I used to approximate the local color.  The bottom actually shows the work of trying to figure out those colors.

 I just got this painting framed and really liked the frame.  I think it really pulls out and supports the painting effectively.

New Painting

I recently started a new painting and thought I would share the value study and drawing.  I've been doing a lot of studies lately as well, trying different things.  I've been learning a lot.

Welcome to Georgia

Life has changed drastically for myself and my family.  We moved to Georgia and I will start a masters degree in Medical Illustration at the Georgia Health Sciences University in the Fall.  This is a bit of  change for me, but combines two things I enjoy greatly, science and art.  I have included several paintings as well as studies I have been working on lately.  I miss the GCA and feel very fortunate to have studied there.  I am a little surprised but I miss New York City too, but the next two years will be a unique opportunity as well and I look forward to the adventure. 

The tomatoes were a quick setup I completed in a couple of hours.  I blocked it in with paint and got to work.  It was  a good opportunity to get back into painting again.

The American Flag and World War II helmet is something I've been working on for a while.  I completed the underpainting in New Jersey and started painting it here in Georgia yesterday.  Since the setup changed I've had to rely heavily on photographs, my value study and a new setup that is not exactly the same but close.

 

 The bottles are something I started and havn't finished up yet.  I put a first layer down, but the details need to be ironed out.In art school we only used graphite and I have had a desire learn how to use charcoal. I have included several skull studies I completed to help me become more familiar with the medium.

My own little Studio Space

 I have been working hard to get a small little area of my bedroom turned into a studio space.  I'm very happy with the results.  I mounted a spot light I bought from  a friend on top of the tube that my canvas was shipped in.  It works great.  I then stacked some boxes in the corner with a 1/4 piece of birch on top with surrounding cardboard with fabric draped for a still life platform.  Right now I am painting several blue bottles I got at a garage sale with a metal cup.  I really like the colors.  Still a little unsure about the composition.  I also am working on the flag and WWII help I posted about a while ago.  I have included the value study I did for it.  I'm excited to get working on the actual painting.  I am suppose to start a part time job tomorrow so I won't have as much time to paint, but I'll at least get a little cash flowing. 

Bitter Sweet

This past week was a bitter sweet.  Sweet because I've been producing some nice work and I'm happy with everything I've learned, but bitter because Tuesday was my last day at the Grand Central Academy of Art.  I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to learn from such painters as Jacob Collins, Ted Minoff, Scott Waddell, Josh LaRock, Mason Sullivan, Che, Chris Waddell, Camie Davis, and Sam Wisneski.  All extremely talented and wonderful teachers.  We'll see what the future brings for the time being I am working on some still lifes at home and looking for a part time job to get a little cash flow going.