I postponed the juggler and did the guitar player first...

Today is not only my birthday, it's also my youngest daughter's BD. 15 years old... WOW! Up at 5:30am to get a BD breakfast together before off to school. Didn't get a lot of sleep last night 'cause she is also going through mid-term exam week. Being first year high school, this is her first cramming experience.

Got a BD call from my older daughter early this morning, who also did not get much sleep. She runs the publicity photo department for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. They announced the Academy Awards nominations this morning, so all the Academy employees involved had to report last evening at 5:30. Once in the building, the place was locked down, all cell phones were taken away and the Internet was turned off until after the announcement. The lock down happens, because they all learn who the nominees are ahead of time so they can get a jump start on their jobs... which keeps them up all night.

So... it's my BD and I've decided to take the day off from my illustration work and just paint...

Going to start working on the juggler. I did a quick sketch to get a better sense of him...

another detail on the background landscape



...and a detail of the detail

I haven't had a lot of time to work on the painting in the last couple weeks. I've got a couple days now.

Started using a new medium. I was using Liquin Fine Detail, but have started to use Studio Products Marogers Medium and am quite taken with it. It certainly is different from anything I've tried before and apparently has a reputation that can only be described as "ya love it" or "ya hate it." I've been encouraged to use it by some and called a moron for using it by others... I'm going to continue using it for the time being.

Another detail:



...and a detail of the detail...

Another detail - upper left



Working on a large picture with several more or less discrete areas has an advantage. I can move around to different areas from day to day. In that way I keep working on it while the just painted areas dry.

I'm going to start showing some details. There is not nearly finished painting in this detail... but since the picture is so large, I think details are important.

H A P P Y ** N E W ** Y E A R
The final post for 2006... The underpainting is very close to being done which brings me to the beginning of the actual painting, so to speak. Quite scary, actually. Handling fully loaded brushes and color is a more difficult process than applying washes for an underpainting... I just keep telling myself I can do it...

Had some time to work more on the underpainting

I have been very busy with some illustrations for several clients. Driving me crazy... that sleep is an unfortunate necessity. Not enough time to paint as much as I want to... driving me crazy...

Still working on the underpainting.

December 15, 2006 --

What a day... got my Xmas present to myself - a Sorg studio easel to replace the contraption I made... see the pictures below. "What a day," because I got word from the trucking company that it was to be delivered this morning. However, this morning the entire street in front of my place was being closed for the funeral of a fireman who had passed away. The church is just down the street from my place. Fire trucks from all over the region were lining the street. I talked with the cop on duty at the nearest intersection up the street and told him I had a delivery coming... would the truck be able to turn down the street? The answer was an emphatic NO! Fortunately I was able to get in touch with the truck dispatcher to tell him that I would be waiting at the intersection with my trusty hand truck. I happen to have one left over from my days in the location sound biz, where I had to move lots of gear around. The truck finally arrived and transferred a huge 130 lb box to my hand truck. I walked and pulled the thing to my place, unpacked outside and carried the various pieces up to my little studio... Put it together, snapped some pictures, and then went and bought a pint of Jack Daniels for a personal little celebration this evening...

I made a YouTube video to demonstrate the smooth and easy up and down motion with the easel and a heavy large panel. Check it out

December 14, 2006 --

My really lame studio...  I so much want to have one with higher ceilings and more space...

On an art forum a person asked me to show a picture of my studio, showing how I use a computer monitor for reference pictures.

December 10, 2006 --

I spent a bit of time on the characters, but decided to start painting the background -- the fallen moon, the sky and the billowing smoke. Much of each will be mostly covered over with tree leaves during the final stage of painting...

December 3, 2006 --

Working more on the underpainting... detailed work... I can't imagine doing this sort of tedious work at any time earlier in my life. I've always prided myself on experimenting, exploring, prospecting, but now it does seem like the time to weld all that stuff into a cohesive nugget... OK, stop the stupid metaphor... basically I'm 65 and playing my end-game. What was all that exploring about...? That is what's really going on here, pulling it all together, yah!...

December 2, 2006 --

Saturday... was able to spend some good time on the underpainting today...

November 30, 2006 --

Thursday... was able to spend some time in the afternoon and early evening on the underpaintiong. The tree branches in the underpainting on the right side and in the mid area are guides for the leaves that will eventually be there. i.e., most of the branch delineation will be finally overpainted with foliage - leaves.

November 29, 2006 --

I thought I had to spend the day working on an illustration for a childrens magazine, but when I got started, I also came up with some questions, so I sent an email to the client and while waiting for the return, I did more underpainting. The answer didn't come till late in the day, so I got some stuff done...

November 28, 2006 --

Started the underpainting today... Didn't get very far, but I did get started

Below are a bunch of prelim drawings...

The setup process has involved adhering a large print of the drawing (no color) to a panel, applying six coats of an acrylic matte medium and a final coat of oil based medium mixed with titanium white to knock back the intensity of the line drawing. Below is a picture of the panel ready for the next step.... the underpainting.




To be continued...