I am excited to announce Keller Williams Los Feliz has invited me to be an exhibiting artist at the first annual KW Los Feliz Fest. I’m really excited to be a part of this event. Dec. 2nd 1-5pm at Alessandro Elementary School. Come and see all my artwork from the last 15 years of my life, some has never been shown to the public in person before. I hope to see you there.
"Pinkscapes"
I have been a traditional artist all my life. If you don’t know what that means, it is working in traditional media; paints, pastels, pencils on physical surfaces like paper and canvas. The category includes sculptural media and others as well, but I don’t usually work in those so I won’t focus on their qualities. I was introduced to Photoshop in college around 2000 or 2001. I have always thought it to be interesting but never really truly saw it’s potential until years later. To be honest in my youthful ignorance I probably had some biases against it, some sort of art snobbery. I remember in my digital design class I did an artwork depicting a man looking disheveled and depressed surrounded by computers and working away. When I talked about my work with the class my professor through a pen at me. I had said something like, “he’s just sitting there in front of a computer screen wasting his life away clicking at his mouse.” Something to that affect. I was criticizing his life’s work as a graphic designer who had used design software since it’s inception into the market place, so I don’t hold any hard feelings towards him. He was completely justified to be upset. I’m kind of embarrassed to share this story. But I share it to give perspective about what I’ve been up to. I certainly no longer feel that way about digital art. I haven’t for a long time. In fact I think digital programs have been a gift to the art world and they are amazing tools that help artists make amazing images…seriously there are a lot of amazing images out there, it’s mind blowing! So since college I have dabbled in digital art but never really committed to understanding it and taking advantage of it’s assets fully. I’ve been trying to do that for the past year or so but really have been pushing hard since last September or October. And lately, specifically I’ve been trying to duplicate a traditional art approach into my digital painting workflow, which I have found, at least with this particular approach has been super difficult. “Pinkscapes” the painting depicted in this post is the result of trying to do just that. I don’t feel like I accomplished the desired approach, but I am happy with the image. The reasons I think I did not accomplish my desired approach boils down to the fact that the brushes I’m using in photoshop are not live brushes, meaning, after making a stroke the pigment stops flowing. If you were using real watercolors on paper the pigment would continue to flow through the water and create some amazing blooms of color. I usually use those blooms as inspiration to create my shapes and forms by going over it in colored pencil and I create an image that for me is super satisfying. Photoshop without those live brushes do not present those shapes as happy accidents, you have too much control. It’s not really a problem in general but for what I’m trying to do it doesn’t seem to work. But you know, working in photoshop consistently for the past year or so has been a real joy and developing work flows to create great works has been fun and really fulfilling. I will continue to do so indefinitely.
"Two Crowns"
Two thousand years ago God became a man, to live a perfect life, a life we were unable to live. He willingly accepted a death sentence so that we wouldn’t have to. He wore a crown of thorns pressed into his skull. He rose again and now rules on his throne, his authority is the ultimate authority that we all submit to or rebel against. I pray you all come to know him and live a life truly free, free from the prison of sin. He now wears the crown of the King of kings. Thanks you Jesus that you were a king willing to give your life for his heirs, his children. Happy Easter! He is risen!!!
"Contrails"
“Contrails”
I saw some contrails during a really nice sunset and envisioned a painting where the sky was full of them. This image is what I came up with.
"Cogi" What Tad learns about himself will change the world.
Cogi is a story premise I came up with. This is the mentor in the story, she does not have a name yet, if you have any suggetions let me know. Cogi is the name of the villain in the story, it is short for cogitatio, which means reflection in Latin. The story begins with the main character, a middle aged man named Tad (whose name may change later) who is living a depressing life working his day job. He used to be a creative artist, but something has happened to him to change his outlook on life for the worse. He comes home one day, which is the home he grew up in, and sees a creature rustling in the forest behind his house. He runs up to his storage and sifts through boxes of old drawings to realize what he saw was a creature he had drawn years ago. He pursues the creature through the woods and follows it to a large old tree that used to be a place where he would play and use his imagination. A portal opens and he falls into it because he can’t stop his momentum while running after the creature. He eventually meets this creature pictured here which may or may not be the creature he chased originally. She becomes Tad’s mentor in this new world which he discovers is made up of all the creatures he has ever drawn in his entire life. The creatures of this world have brought him here because there is an evil that is trying to destroy the world and Tad is the only one who can stop it. Tad is reluctant at first but then he really falls in love with these creatures and wants to help. He fights the bad guys henchmen, Dubium, Timor, and Otium and fends them off by realizing he can draw and in real time the creatures he draws come into existence to join the fight. The henchmen’s defeat only enrages Cogi. Eventually Tad has to face off against Cogi. He does defeat Cogi in the end and there is a big reveal, you maybe able to guess it from clues in this description, but I think I will reveal that when the story is complete. We’ll see.
Finished! "Tenacity"
I finished this piece this morning. Really loving it! It was a quick one, just having fun with painting in photoshop and continuing the process of getting better. I finished this in a couple days after deciding that I would start finding sketches in my sketchbook to change into a finished paintings. The theme of this work is a metaphor for our lives. Sometimes all the things in our lives are on fire and life feels so hard. Stay kind, work hard, recognize the things in your life you need to improve on, admit your faults, shortcomings and things you are embarrassed about. The hard times will help you grow, and you will become a better person in the end and you will come through that hard time as a more beautiful person.
Latest progress on "Tenacity"
Tenacity is a quality that all of us could use more of. It seems we go through life’s challenges and sometimes we give up so easily at the first sign of difficulty. This image is to remind me that when it seems like nothing is going right if I hang in there, I will grow again and overcome my difficulties.
“Tenacity” photoshop digital painting