Inspiration

Where do artists find inspiration?  I hear this question often.  Well, some people are inspired by very specific things and others are not.  We are all different.  It can also vary for what type of art or project you are creating.  For me, it starts with an image i see in my mind which is usually first evoked by a feeling.  From there, I find artists who I admire and want to emulate their style or feel.  Then I find images that I can pull from.  I might just use it for one part, for color, or for form/shape or all of the above.

I am currently working on a very large canvas painting and have acquired a number of images to pull from.  Some of the artists I have been looking at are Alex Kanevsky and Chloe Early.  The rest of the images are for color and for working with water and reflection.

Retract

Today I drew with an eraser.  In the art world we call this retractive drawing.  It s fun little exercise and can make for some truly beautiful creations. 

They say...

A sketch a day keeps artist block away...

Lost in Paradise

I'm currently taking a figure painting class throughout the C Gallery in Los Alamos.  This week we had our class at the teacher's house up in the rolling hills of Los Alamos.  We couldn't of asked for a more beautiful day.  The rustic italian/spanish house sits atop a hill which then over looks more hills covered by vineyards, mustard, and cows.  Its a home for the sophisticated cowboy.  

Back to class.  For the first time ever, I'm working on a huge canvas.  Its probably at least 4.5 feet by 4 feet.  I can just barely carry it.  And I'm also tackling overlapping figures.  Why?  Well why not?  I have a feeling this painting will take me many hours to complete and will most likely go through many transformations.  I've learned that skin tones look really great behind a blue wash, and that i prefer to use a rag to paint with rather than a brush.  

For this painting I was thinking about light vs. dark, life vs. death. in terns of being a Christian.  Who we are before we know the Lord, and who we are and the life we have after we have began a relationship with Him.  I envisioned the top half to be the "light" and the bottom half to be the "dark."  The bottom half has a broken, fractured person, the one on top is whole, complete.  I will bring in other elements later (rocks, water, light).  I am excited to see where this will go.  

After class we took a cruise in the ranch mobile and began looking for places to do landscape painting.  I won't attend that class, i just went for the ride.  

unfinished

pastel

I've adjusted back to America.  I have a hard time adjusting to a free schedule.  As beautiful as it sounds, it was harder to be ok with doing nothing.  Thankfully Connie Rohdes let me sit in and sketch in her pastel class.  I've been working on portraits and trying to nail the face down.  So, cheers to starting.  Sometimes thats the scariest part.  

I am also taking a paint class and am working on a huge canvas.  Unfortunately it won't be in encaustic, but it will be in acrylic.  I pray my painting skills will come back to me.