new painting - Zora

Zora - mixed media on board - 6x6"

 ..new small painting - Zora, mixed media (acrylic and oil) on board, 6x6" - Another small painting that started with abstract marks and splatters, and evolved from there...Will keep posting more of them as they develop.

this painting has been sold on EveryDayOriginal.com

detail of Zora - mixed media on board - 6x6"

new painting - Mairin

..new small painting - Mairin, oil on board, 5x7" - I've been making several of these small paintings lately.  As usual for me, they all start with abstract marks and splatters, and I go from there...Will post more of them as they develop.  Right now, most are still in abstract form, and I do love them in that stage - little treasures of marks and texture...

this painting has been sold on EveryDayOriginal.com

another sketch in the book of kells

..another painting sketch in the book of kells – ball point pen and acrylic on book pages (6x9"), used a razor blade for a lot of this too. words on left page are text showing through from underneath = "the creator is Conscious of the spiritual value"

a haunted ink wash

Lady of Cedar Canyon - finish

 here's another ink wash painting - Lady of Cedar Canyon - black ink on yupo paper.  See the image below for the start - making marks, saw this ghostly figure standing in front of an abandoned house, and painted and erased into the marks.

the start - making marks

more ink!

Zati- finish

 ..another ink wash painting "Zati" on yupo paper using black ink, water, alcohol, brush, spatula, and rake/comb. See the image below for a pic of the start.  Having a lot of fun with these!

(this ink wash drawing is sold)

Zati- start

an ink wash face metamorphosis

...this face emerged very much like finding things in the clouds, for sure, but more like watching a high-speed timelapse video of cloud formations or like looking at things under a microscope. It's really neat to watch the washes of ink react to the water and alcohol and move around on the surface for a bit before settling into the yupo paper.

another one for Inktober

ink washes and graphite - finish

...more experimenting with ink washes. Making marks with black ink and water on yupo paper - using a spatula and alcohol too - found the figure in the marks, and drew into it with graphite. (See the image below for what the marks looked like before I drew the figure).  It started as a mark-making experiment, and then I saw the figure in that shape.  I drew into the abstract with graphite to extract the figure from the abstract, and drew the lights in the figure with an eraser. 

mark-making with ink washes - start

a few Inktober sketches

ballpoint pen on watercolor paper

Inktober is the month of ink drawing.  Here are a few ballpoint pen drawings and one ink wash sketch.  I've been having fun experimenting with ink washes and will post more of those soon too.

ballpoint pen on watercolor paper

ballpoint pen on watercolor paper

ink washes using black and white ink on watercolor paper

Painting on a Planchette

Did this little painting on a planchette for a Ouija Board Art Show at Remington Tattoo.  :O

this painting is sold

Portrait Painting Demo at the San Diego Portrait Society

I will be doing a portrait painting demonstration Friday September 12th at the San Diego Portrait Society.  Click the image for more info about the demo.

3:00 - 5:00pm
North University Library
8820 Judicial Drive, San Diego 92122
off Nobel Drive near 805
All are welcome!

ps. It's Ron's birthday on the day of the demo, and he will be my model.  Should be fun!

Spectrum Exhibition at the Society of Illustrators

I am very honored to have my painting, Vortex, included in the Society of Illustrators Spectrum Exhibition! Many thanks to curators Irene Gallo, Greg Manchess, Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner!
The show runs from September 2nd to October 18th, 2014, and the opening reception is Friday September 12th - beginning at 6:30pm.
Though I won't be able to attend, I'm very happy that my painting is in great company among so many amazing artworks.  If you're in or near the NYC area, you should definitely go see the exhibition. Visit the Society of Illustrators website for more info.

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and another sketch in the book of kells

..another painting sketch in the book of kells - acrylic on book pages (6x9" 2-page spread), words on left page are text showing through from underneath = "have character and purpose"

another sketch in the book of kells

..another acrylic/graphite sketch in the Book of Kells sketchbook (6x9") - more painting, drawing, sanding, palette knife, and text from the page underneath showing through again - "be at the head of the curious. allow them to wonder"

another WIP - Hylonome

..another WIP spawned from making marks and throwing turp. - Hylonome, 24x36" oil on canvas. Looking forward to working on this a bit more after we finish moving!!  The boxes are taking over the studio at the moment...

oil figure sketch

..more making marks and throwing turp spawned this sketch of a figure - oil on board, 18x24"

I could seriously just make marks and throw and drip turp all day.  It's one of my favorite things to do.  Sometimes I get figures, and sometimes I get sort of SciFi/fantasy type landscapes.  Or sometimes they're just marks.  Love doing them.  And I have a ton of these!  I've usually just called them starts or WIPs.  I put them aside with the intention to keep working on them.  But sometimes I think..maybe they are just finished.  There's a life to them this way that might just be best kept in this state.

had a great time at Comic Con!

Thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth at Comic Con!  I had a great time, and enjoyed speaking to so many people about our new studio and getting classes going again.  The enthusiasm and excitement about our new space is much appreciated!  I had a lot of fun sketching and painting with everyone in the booth, seeing friends, meeting new people, and checking out all the cosplay.  I come away inspired by all the amazing talent that surrounded me, and motivated by all the great conversations I had with so many awesome people!

painting alongside Maggie Ivy

Hammin' it up with Ron Lemen and Eddie Holly in cosplay

Lyric

This is a detail from a painting I did shortly after we moved our studio down to Park Blvd.  It's a portrait from life, and the model is Tori Roze.  Always love painting her.  And I do love using that rake too!

currently on the easel...

WIP, oil on canvas, 30x40"

..another WIP, oil on canvas, 30x40"
Of the many WIPs I've got, this one is speaking the loudest and wants to be on the easel at the moment.

also, click the Paintings page tab to see more paintings and finishes

a WIP of Sirens

Sirens, oil on board, 22x28"

I decided that I might start posting more WIPs.  This is a WIP of Sirens - oil painting on board, 22x28".  What I'll add to it might not be a whole lot more - or at least, not extremely noticeably different - but still, it's a WIP.  I've got a lot of WIPs at the moment, and I hope by posting some that it puts me that much closer to finishing them.  We'll see if that plan works. 

To see some of my finished paintings, click on the Paintings page tab

another Book of Kells sketch

acrylic and graphite on book pages  ~ painting, drawing, sanding and palette knife.

another painting sketch in the Book of Kells

Acrylic on white book pages - painting and palette knife and sanding and scraping - 4x6"

This sketch is on a 2-page spread of white pages.  I made marks with my palette knife, sanded, painted, made marks, sanded, scraped, and found faces in the marks I made, and painted into them a bit more - which is generally how I work and come up with things on a blank surface.

more in the book of Kells

Another acrylic sketch in the Book of Kells.

The text on the left page is text from what was already on the page, and I just painted over the rest of the paragraph.  I've been discovering and composing new phrases and sentences that really are very different from what the entirety of the paragraph is about, and end up influencing what happens in the sketch as well.

another sketch in the Book of Kells

..acrylic and graphite on book page, 4x6".  This one went through many stages and was sanded and scraped and scratched at many times until this face emerged.  Not much of the book page shows through as a result, but there are layers of faces and scribbles underneath this one.

Doll Head Still Life Painting

oil on board, 7x12"

..this week, painted a doll head still life.  Super fun!

another sketch in the Book of Kells

acrylic on book page, 4x6"

fun with color and light, painting and sanding and scraping.

another addition to the Kells sketchbook

acrylic & graphite on book page, 4x6"

I've been having a lot of fun with this Book of Kells sketchbook.  Here's one of the newest sketches - acrylic & graphite.

and another sketch in the Book of Kells

sketch in the Book of Kells,  4x6"

sketch with acrylic, graphite, palette knife, and razor blade on printed page.