Finished it at last, and Life Drawing

Got most of the highlights in on this painting. Once it dries, I have a few little touchups left, but it is largely done.

Got in some life drawing at MCC tonight too.

Above: 20 minute and 1 minute poses

Copulating Lizards

Although I am still working on two paintings, I jumped the gun and started working on the next one; it will show an opened skull with two copulating lizards. This is a further exploration of the primitive emotions which are underneath the cerebral cortex, (or what I've heard of as the "lizard part of the brain.")

I got the preliminary drawing done, but some parts of it were difficult. The male lizard on top in particular was troublesome. The angle of his head is slightly foreshortened, and his mouth is open. I ended up redrawing several components of the composition several times. Had some trouble with the perspective - basically the view is at slightly higher than eye level with the skull, so the "platform" on which the lizards are mating appears very flattened by perspective.

Originally, I had envisioned viewing the lizards in a more foreshortened, face on angle, but it didn't work well nor very believably given the relatively limited space in the skull, because of the perspective. So I redid it with the lizards at a more lengthwise view. The clay model lizards that I sculpted came in very handy for visualizing different angles and views.

Unlike the previous paintings, one of the lizards is actually coming out of the perimeter of the skull. Her toes and her chin will be hanging over the edge. The skull itself has his/her mouth open in an expression of animal ecstasy.

Malibu Mermaid Barbie

Today was very productive day. I got the body color in on the Barbies, including their fish bodies. I'm using the barracuda as a reference for the tail. For the body, I went to Whole Foods, where a man behind the fresh fish counter was very helpful - he held up a large salmon for me so I could take a picture and get a reference photo for the silvery scales.

striping my snake

The snake is supposed to be an Amazon Tree Boa, but I made it much more colorful than the real thing. (I made the colors more saturated and exaggerated )

Progress

I changed my mind about the underpainting for the snake. I looked at pictures of an Amazon Tree Boa, and they actually have reddish scales over a ochre/yellow underlying skin. So I made him ochre, and will put reddish orange and yellow stripes over it.

More work on the skull

The more I paint skulls, the more detail I see. I'm not putting every fissure or "crack" in the painting, but by just putting in a few, it really lends a sense of realism.

I was worried about the background being too dark, but as the painting has developed, I'm liking the deep background, which is almost like a navy color.

The jaw/mandible is the last part that needs a final layer. Then I can start on the snake, bird and branch. Got the base colors on the snake and branch in already.

I should start making better progress. I'm on a little hiatus from my temp job at the Bank, for at least a couple of weeks. I'll be able to get some serious studio time.

More progress on skull

I put in the body colors for the skull today - it went amazingly fast. But things will slow down as I put more and more details in.

For now, the main thing is to get the major shadows and lighter areas blocked in. Reflections and subtle details will take longer, and will be added along with the highlights.

Paintings in process

I made some progress in the last week and a half. Got two paintings transferred to board, and acrylic underpainting blocked in. I also got the first layers of oil paint blocked in. The Malibou Mermaid Barbie painting is a commission. I got the body color blocked in for the cliffs and sea. Next week, after that layer dries, I can put in whitecaps, waves, and highlights on the rocks.

Tree boa

After rearranging and doing numerous thumbnail sketches, i finally settled on how the snake should curl around a branch inside a skull. I got a fairly finished drawing done, and will transfer this to panel later this week. I thought about having the snake going after a flying bird, but decided to have the bird caught and dead.

Lizard model

This evening, I did some photography, to develop reference photos for a number of paintings I'm going to be starting. (enough to keep me busy for quite a while). As usual, I underestimated the amount of time it would take, and only got about halfway through what needed to be done. However, I was happy with how my little copulating monitor lizards are looking! After looking at the photo, I'm going to retake it tomorrow night, from a slightly higher angle.

I also started trying to manipulate and set up the boa in a tree branch. The clay model snake is so limpid that I needed to find away to suspend it and get rid of the droop. String or wire would cut into the clay and would not be a good solution. So I used a band of saran wrap to suspend it... this suspension method doesn't cut into the clay.

Armature for Lizards

The first half of my day was not fun... worked for a few hours at the Bank, doing some contract work. Then I headed to Pearl Art Supply and bought some modeling clay.... only problem is that it was so heavy to lug that to the studio in my backpack!

I made the armatures for two monitor lizards. They will be mating, inset inside a human skull cut away from the side. A continuation of the idea started with "The Lizard Part of My Brain " painting.

The armature, though simple, must capture the essence of the gesture of the lizard. I might still move it and bend it around somewhat, but I want to have the basic gesture captured from the start. In the photo above, you can see the aluminum wire armature from above. It's covered with masking tape to help keep the clay from sliding around when it is applied.

I made the female lizard a little smaller. Tomorrow I'll start adding the clay. Then, this weekend, I hope to shoot some reference photos of all these reference models so i can begin painting. So here is my queue of projects/ideas that have reached a more tangible state (preliminary drawings done or thumbnail sketches, reference models sculpted, etc):
Fighting chimps (anatomical) series
5 more BDSM skeleton/submissive paintings
Lizards mating inside a skull
Snake hunting inset in skull
Barbie mythology - mermaids

New Ideas percolating

I have so many ideas swirling around in my head right now that I have trouble sleeping or relaxing. When I retired from my corporate slave job, I had this fear that I would run out of ideas. Fortunately, this doesn't seem to be the case right now.

Because of the strong daylight I get in my studio, I will be setting up props and other reference models and photographing them at night in a controlled light situation. From this I can derive reference photos. Because I think that setting up lights is such a pain, I'm going to shoot several reference photos at the same time.

Therefore, I am madly sculpting snakes, and copulating lizards. By this weekend, I hope to shoot reference photos for several paintings.

I really had fun with the opened skull paintings ("The Lizard Part of my Brain" as an example), and have some ideas for a couple of more paintings that explore primitive emotions and drives. I sculpted a tree boa, which will be coiled around a twisty branch, ready to strike an innocent bird, all set inside an opened skull. Today I picked up a beautiful twisty tree branch at Ixia.

Tomorrow I have to pick up a bunch of modeling clay... these lizards and snakes take up a surprisingly large amount of clay.

So the photo shoot will include, attacking chimp models, snake on branch, mating lizards, skulls from different angles, plus some Barbie dolls. Economy of scale, I guess.

New teensy paintings finished

Just finished final details yesterday afternoon. I'll show these during Open Studios, though they are still tacky. I'll set them on the easel. Several of these little guys are inspired by famous rockers: Pete Townsend, Eddie Van Halen and Axl Rose.

Tiny skeleton rockers

I saw some itty bitty paintings over at Anna Conti's home, sitting on her mantel; one was a beautiful Chester Arnold portrait, and another was a little landscape by Anna. They were both like little gems sitting up there, and I got the itch to do some tiny paintings. I don't even know why I decided to do musicians and rockers. Below is a little prep drawing inspired by Van Halen, and then a painting in process of Peter Townsend. The little Van halen will be 6 x 6 and the little Pete will be 7 x 5. I also have a little skeleton inspired by Axl Rose, a sax player, and a violinist.

The little guitar player painting below still needs highlights on the hands, and details like the pickups and frets on the guitar (Les Paul sunburst - love the colors)

I'll be showing at least three of these at Open Studios next weekend. I'm going to try to get all 5 done by Wednesday!

SF Open Studios Weekend 1

Had a great time this weekend going to Open Studios in the Mission District. Friday night, I went with my friends Diane and Cassie, from Phoenix. We hit 1890 Bryant Street for their opening reception. Highlights included Aubrey Rhodes, whose paintings are a complex, (and successfully done) intertwining layering of words and figures.

Other studios we hit and enjoyed at 1890 Bryant included Diane Olivier (amazing landscapes in pastel and figure drawings), and Cynthia Tom (surrealism).

Saturday, I tagged along with artist Anna Conti, photographers David Sumner and Marianna Whang to Project Artaud, Developing Environments, and Cellspace. Highlights included Victor Cartegena, Shawn Harris, Dale Erickson, and Bernie Rauch. I also got a studio tour of Anna Conti's workspace, and a preview of a piece she is working on for the Seventh Seal series. Wonderful suspense, beautiful color in her narrative paintings.

Rather than go into detail about what we saw, here is a link to Bay Area Artquake, where Anna will post about the highlights of Open Studios.

Link to Anna Conti's site:

Photos: Top: Cellspace

2nd: Dale Erickson in his studio

3rd: Sandy and Aubrey Rhodes

What if there isn't a model around

Today was one of those days when I wished I had the woman (Lilla Kat) who modeled for me available. In the original reference photo, Lilla's left foot is in an awkward position. I wish I had caught this while she was in the studio for the photo shoot.

I tried drawing a modified repositioned foot without using a reference, but it didn't look believable. So I shut the studio door, set up the mirror, and drew my own leg and foot. Not as elegant as the original model's, but served the purpose. Is that why many artists keep a mirror in their studio?

The other challenge with this painting is to capture the delicate subtle shades of Lilla's skin. She has to be one of the fairest figures I've ever painted.

Anyway, I'm on the downhill slope and will be able to finish this painting soon! I only need to add in the skeleton's two arms. His arms have to go in last because they are in front of Lilla.

Studio Visit

Started the weekend off well. Friday morning, Anna Conti and her friend Marianna Whang came for a studio visit. I showed them some of my recent BDSM skeletons, as well as clay sculpture chimps for an upcoming piece that I only have sketched out. Then we had lunch, and a lively political discussion. I tagged along with them to SF MOMA, and Anna and I checked out the Postwar Japan photo exhibit - quite interesting. I got to hang out with Anna and a group of artist friends on the SFMOMA rooftop sculpture garden. Ended the afternoon by going to Ritch St. where there were some food vendors- actually quite good.

Saturday, worked on Death and the Maiden. Went through a frustrating phase, where the proportion of the legs and feet didn't look right. But late that evening it all seemed to fall in place. The reference photo of the model is OK, but the model's left foot is in an awkward position. I ended up sketching my own foot on Sunday, but hopefully no one will notice .

Sunday afternoon, I went to check out the Open Studios SOMART exhibit - all the Open Studios artists have a sample small piece. Finished out the afternoon and evening working on the second Dom and lease painting - all that is left now is to put in some highlights on the hands, and touch it up a bit.

Death and the Maiden

I'm making some progress on a small panel, part of the BDSM skeleton series, portraying a beautiful woman with a skeleton lover. I got the underpainting on the figure and skeleton done, and started doing some finishing work on the figure's head. The arms of the skeleton will be put in last - he will be holding her hand, and with his left hand, caressing her face.

Had a bit of trouble with the model's left leg. It got distorted when I did the transfer of the drawing to the panel, plus, I think the drawing had some flaw in it to begin with. So I spent yesterday making corrections.

This is one of the most fair complexioned figures I've ever done. The subtle differences in the tone make it a good exercise in seeing and tonality. She has the most beautiful skin tones.

The real challenge of this painting is making all the elements work together in a believable way. I do not have an antique sofa - I had to extrapolate it. The model was actually seated on a black futon. Additionally, I had to extrapolate the relationship between the skeleton and the model. I had her pose with the skeleton, but we could not get it into exactly the right position.

Open Studios

After several years of opting out, I decided to try and participate in San Francisco Open Studios. Oftentimes, at my old studio, the Open Studios weekend was just too stressful, and since I was working a day job, trying to maintain enough work to support a gallery and solo show plus put in time for Open Studios was too much.

However, I think now that I have more time to devote to painting, I can handle the extra workload.

Above are 3 of the BDSM skeleton paintings that I finished. Today, I started background layers on two more panels. So for the series, I have three paintings done, two panels that are about 75% complete, and two rather incomplete panels with just backgrounds blocked in.

SFMOMA Sketch Friday

SF Museum of Modern Art invited artists (or anyone who loves to draw) to attend Sketch Friday. They even provided sketchbooks which are returned at the end of the session. These books end up being a record of all these sessions, with different artists' works. We all went in to draw what we wanted to from the Avedon exhibit (a wonderful and fun exhibit, by the way!)

Here are the drawings I completed in around 2-1/2 hours. Fortunately, was able to find a bench in front of the Warhol Factory photo with the grouped nude human figures.

It was a lot of fun. And sketching makes you slow down and really see the artwork instead of just glancing at it and walking away. I'll probably do this again in a couple of weeks.

After the event, I went back to the studio to work late, until 10 p.m. I just installed some new lights. The studio is a wonderful place to work after dark.