Swimmin' with the Sharks

About two months ago I posted a Laker's Girl pin-up I had done as a gift for a friend. As stated towards the end of that post, a coworker said he wanted one for his favorite team - which happens to be the San Jose Sharks. So I set about to do my thing.

The drawing stage gave me the most grief of the entire process. Though once I was happy with it and had it transferred to the canvas, the whole thing went by extremely quickly. All in all I spent four hours at the easel painting. This was the first time I had a 1:1 scale final drawing taped to my easel as I painted, and that helped inform a lot of my decisions more than my reference did. Pretty soon I was checking the reference mostly for color matching and letting the drawing I've already done guide my hand.

When all was said and done I was able to present the painting to my coworker and it was warmly received. So much so that another coworker remarked that he wants one for his favorite hockey team. I think he may have to wait a while, however. I compiled a list of the projects I want to undertake and it was a lot longer than I thought it was going to be. There's nothing like seeing something in black and white to get the blood moving and the creative energy flowing.

Oil on canvas. 12" x 16"

Laker's Girl

This piece requires a small amount of back story.

A good friend of mine has a painting I did back in high school, and much to my surprise he loves the bloody thing. He loves it so much he's kept it up in his house and apparently it's the topic of conversation when people come over, all of which I discovered when I showed up to visit him one New Year's Eve. He was so proud of a painting I had done what seemed to me to be a lifetime before hand. Needless to say I could not stand idly by and have people believe that to be an accurate representation of my work. I just couldn't do it. So, as a result I vowed to do a new painting for him. He could keep the older one up, just as long as people didn't think I was still as bad as I thought I was in high school.

This is not that painting, but a different friend of mine saw it and wanted something similar. As with most personal pieces I dragged my feet putting it together. First I had to find a willing model. Then I had to find the appropriate accessories. Of course the project as a whole gets pushed around as I take on other assignments. And lastly I have to find the motivation when the model has the free time; assuming she's still willing. (Thank goodness she was!) So I shoot the reference and I'm excited to work on it, but then something else entirely comes up. To cut to the chase, this painting has been seven months in the making.

Of course, this is the problem with having friends that are sports fans. No sooner had I finished this piece that a coworker of mine says he wants one for his favorite team - and the cycle begins again.

Personally, I'm really happy with this piece, (even it is partially responsible for ruining my sleep patterns) to the point where I threatened to not deliver it to it's intended owner. I think my recent experimentation and exploration has paid off as I can see a certain amount of confidence that I haven't seen in my recent work. I put down a brush stroke and I left the sodding thing where it was without much fussing over it. The only area that I slowed down on was the face, but really that was the most important passage to get right. Speaking of which, I tweaked her features a little so that it was more an approximation of my model rather than an accurate portrait - I don't know, I figured she'd appreciate it.

Oil on canvas. 20x30

Christmas is finally over!

With the completion of this painting I think I can finally say goodbye the holiday season.

A few years back I had done a painting for Madam Butterfly for a class assignment. That painting is hanging in my mother's house and I surmise it had been admired by a friend of hers. That friend wanted me to do something similar for her. Actually, that's all the art direction I got. Something with a geisha theme.

After a flurry of sketches and a few false starts I was primed to finish it by Christmas; but another project popped up and this got shuffled to the sideboard. But, it's done now. Though since it'll be near a month or so since it's delivered, I may take another stab at it.

I just can't leave well enough alone.
Oil on canvas. 18x24

Octopuses

Octopuses! Now, before I get an avalanche of angry letters, octopuses is the correct pluralization for octopus. I know too many people who have taken too many marine biology classes to make the common octopii mistake. I've witnessed said bio-nerds lecturing people on their pluralization faux pas and I don't want to be on the receiving end of that wrath.

With that being said, I got a random request from someone to post more octopuses - and as random as that request may have been, I randomly had a painting of an octopus laying around. This was done as a birthday present for an acquaintance not too long ago. I'm surprised I still have it, honestly. I suppose the temptation for art isn't as strong for everyone as it is for me.

Oil on board. 8x10