Friends

I met a wonderful artist tonight, it's great to make new contacts in a new city. 

The Green Mile – Sketch

I watched "The Green Mile" for the first time – yep, 14 years late to the party.  The cast was incredible, lots of great performances.  Loved the setting of the movie (era and sets).

Presley - Complete

Here is the final Presley painting.  I kept the banner fairly loose so it wouldn't come forward too much, and I made Presley and her surroundings very warm to evoke the hippie/outdoor vibe.  I ended up using a lot of ochre in the background to give the painting a bit of a 60s vibe.  I'm hoping I'll get another character to paint in this series from my client, I'm enjoying the character design process.

Sketches

 While waiting at the Oakland DMV, I decided to sketch a few people who were waiting.  Like me, we were all pretty agitated over the incredible wait time (2+ hours.)  I don't think my sketch captures quite how unhappy these gentlemen were.  Sketching people in public always presents a fun challenge; how fast can you visualize a likeness before you have to turn away quickly?

 "Nubs" are a style of character I started back when I was in school (~2006).  They are my favorite form of doodling:  I can test out different expressions/emotions and styles.  I never put any pressure on myself regarding how they turn out.  I usually can sketch 10-20 and end up with 1-2 I genuinely like.

I went down to a basketball court to sketch a couple of pick-up games.  This setting is a great challenge in speed and paring down the figure.  I use a marker and water, spending an average of 30-45 seconds on each one.

Presley - Scars & Stripes

I'm working on another woman in the breast cancer series that Esther came from.  This time I'm doing a young girl, a "Boho" hippie type with a peace flag in the background.  I'll try to make this one much brighter than Esther, I'll probably go with a palette of yellows and greens.

Scars and Stripes - Esther (Final)

Here is the final painting of Esther.  I feel this painting really benefited from warmer shadows and lost information (as I cited before, some new trends I'm getting into.)  I'm signed on to do some more of these characters, I can't wait!

Scars & Stripes - Esther

I'm working with a lovely person on a project for breast cancer.  The finalized paintings will be made into prints and prints on canvas.  This commission combines character design with portrait painting (one of my all-time favorites.)  These are the concept sketches I submitted of "Esther" - she's an older woman whose undergone a double mastectomy.  She's sitting in a rocking chair sipping some scotch (single malt, hopefully.)  The top sketch is an overall abstract of the idea, the bottom is a tighter face sketch to get the personality established.  I'll post the final painting in a few days.