Crazy November!

I realize I haven’t posted in a while so my apologies! It has been a time of transition and upheavel the last several weeks. I am in the middle of moving my art studio and my residence. They were in two separate locations but now my studio will be in my new home (this will save me money and travel time… although I will miss my studio mates). I haven’t had time to do any art due to most of my time going to organizing the two moves. I think there are few things I hate more than moving – possible a root canal or getting trapped in an elevator! I will need another week or two to get settled and organized before I can get back to regular art-making and posting. I can’t wait for things to get back to “normal”.

In addition, I’ve been summoned for jury duty and am right now, sitting in the court house in the jury lounge going through the preliminary stage. It’s just one of those months where everything happens at once!

100 Portraits – No. 30

One of the finest character actors in Hollywood! I love Steve Buscemi. Best known for Fargo – he’s great in both drama and comedy, but especially dark comedies working with the Coen Brothers or with Tarantino. He’s excellent in Barton Fink, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, The Big Lebowski and on and on.

Really enjoyed painting his portrait. Oil on canvas 16 x 20 inches.

100 Portraits – No. 29

Continuing my portrait studies after a short break – small pen and ink sketch on paper, #29 of 100.

Crow sketch in pen and ink

Drawing in pen and ink is pure joy.

5 Experimental Flowers in Watercolor

6 Bird sketches in pen and ink

Red Jacket

Hark! Studies of the Ear…

I think lately, I find the ear my favorite body part to explore (in drawing and painting the portrait). So many little nooks and crannies and interesting curves! I did a few drawings to understand what’s going on with the ear. And apparently like fingerprints, no two ears are alike – each ear is unique to the individual. Some ears are big, some small, some stick out, some are flat, some ear lobes are huge, some are tiny, some ears are really red, some not. And besides the physical differences, some ears are really sensitive and/or ticklish, some not, some ear lobes can give good luck and some ears can wiggle on their own… EARS! Amazing!

100 Portraits – No. 28

I focused more on the overall composition for this oil portrait study.

100 Portraits – No. 27

Here is the latest portrait study. I decided to put up both the underpainting and the painting itself. Oil on canvas, 12 x 16 inches. I did the drawing with a mix of yellow ochre, burnt sienna and ultramarine blue – figuring out the proportions and the general areas of light and shade. I often find that if the structure isn’t right, the rest of the painting can crumble. Or sometimes, the initial drawing might be okay but then something goes wrong in the painting… In this case, I’m satisfied with the way it turned out. Painting the face/head (and painting in general) is still a learning process so I’m sure I still make mistakes. It’s strange how the more you do something, you can gain confidence but at the same time, makes you aware how there’s still so much to learn!