Showing posts with label Portrait. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Portrait. Show all posts
Monday, June 9, 2014
PRINCESSES IN THE SHOP
Just a quick post here to say my Princess paintings are now available in my shop! After hanging in the Game On exhibit at Side Street Studio Arts in Elgin, Illinois, their frames got some fresh paint and protective varnish. If you'd like to buy the pair together, email me or message me through Etsy and I'll make a custom listing where you'll save $50.
Monday, May 12, 2014
THE FORDS
 |
| The Fords, 2014, Adobe Illustrator |
Not too long ago I completed a fun little illustration for the Thomas Ford Memorial Library in Western Springs, Illinois. I was asked to create some comic book style drawings of Mr. and Mrs. Ford based on their portraits that hang in the library. The idea was to tie them into the summer reading program's theme of graphic novels.
I kept the drawing quick and loose, stuck to a limited palette and used a digital watercolor and ink look complete with hatching. Give a hoot kids, read a book.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
PRINCESS DAISY
 |
| Princess Daisy, 2014, Acrylic on Panel |
Both are currently in the Game On exhibit at Side Street Studio Arts in Elgin, Illinois. So go check them out and see the other great video game inspired art there! The exhibition ends April 27th.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
PRINCESSES
 |
| Princess Peach, 2013, Acrylic on Panel |
I'm not a girly girl, pink and princess type, but I've started a series of paintings based on the ladies of the Mushroom Kingdom.
I've chosen to focus on their seriously-not-a-damsel-in-distress stare and intricate hairdos and crowns. I chose iconic images from each game to make into a super flat, wallpaper-like background in the Super Mario Bros. 3 color scheme. And no, those aren't fire flowers in the wrong color or ice flowers behind Peach. I went with something a little more obscure -- they are the flowers in the matching games in Super Mario Bros. 3.
Ready to kick ass, Princess Peach is complete. Daisy will be next (below is the start of the process), and I would like to include Rosalina from Super Mario Galaxy to complete the set.
 |
| Princess Daisy Process, 2014, Acrylic on Panel |
Saturday, July 28, 2012
HIVEMIND
Finally! A new painting! Two in fact! They are available in my shop.
Sometimes there is the feeling of bees buzzing around in my head, so much commotion and noise of thoughts and ideas and fears and worries. All of these bees make so much honey that all the gears in my brain get slower and slower until I break. You have to let the bees fly and the honey fall.
This one has made me think a bit about my tendencies to draw people with no eyes, as well as other things...like why have I always had nightmares about bees crawling into my ears?... But back to eyes! I feel that even though the eyes can show a great amount of emotion, they aren't necessary to do so. A twist of the mouth, the position of hands, the angle of the head and motion of hair all can tell so much about the subject. However, I'm also very aware that I am an extremely shy person. It has taken me years to be able to look someone in the eyes while talking with them, and yet I still awkwardly look around, glancing from their face to the window behind them, down to my hands, back to their face, etc etc. I treat eyes like the sun, take a glance, get the general idea and then quickly look away as if I were to go blind.
So, I'm taking advantage of my discomfort with eyes to strengthen my use of other facial features and position to get the emotion across. In fact, it could be that very discomfort that is the reason I tend to not draw eyes; I am uncomfortable looking into someone's eyes, and to draw them you really have to look at them a lot. I could even go so far as to say that, in the case of self-portraits, I don't want others looking at me looking back at them.
Although, this painting is a severe example of having no eyes, I already know that the next set I'm working on will be more subtle. Instead of no eyes at all, the figures are more statue-like. These pieces need the extra emotion given by the eyes, but not the direction and complexity of pupils and irises. It'll make more use of the eyelids than the actual eyes behind them.
Sometimes there is the feeling of bees buzzing around in my head, so much commotion and noise of thoughts and ideas and fears and worries. All of these bees make so much honey that all the gears in my brain get slower and slower until I break. You have to let the bees fly and the honey fall.
 |
| Hivemind Progression |
 |
| Hivemind, Mixed media on panel, 2012 |
 |
| Companion Piece, Mixed media on paper, 2012 |
This one has made me think a bit about my tendencies to draw people with no eyes, as well as other things...like why have I always had nightmares about bees crawling into my ears?... But back to eyes! I feel that even though the eyes can show a great amount of emotion, they aren't necessary to do so. A twist of the mouth, the position of hands, the angle of the head and motion of hair all can tell so much about the subject. However, I'm also very aware that I am an extremely shy person. It has taken me years to be able to look someone in the eyes while talking with them, and yet I still awkwardly look around, glancing from their face to the window behind them, down to my hands, back to their face, etc etc. I treat eyes like the sun, take a glance, get the general idea and then quickly look away as if I were to go blind.
So, I'm taking advantage of my discomfort with eyes to strengthen my use of other facial features and position to get the emotion across. In fact, it could be that very discomfort that is the reason I tend to not draw eyes; I am uncomfortable looking into someone's eyes, and to draw them you really have to look at them a lot. I could even go so far as to say that, in the case of self-portraits, I don't want others looking at me looking back at them.
Although, this painting is a severe example of having no eyes, I already know that the next set I'm working on will be more subtle. Instead of no eyes at all, the figures are more statue-like. These pieces need the extra emotion given by the eyes, but not the direction and complexity of pupils and irises. It'll make more use of the eyelids than the actual eyes behind them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)