Regrets turn to Inspiration

Not too long ago, Dan and I found ourselves reminiscing our time at MSU. I asked him if he regretting anything, and he said he didn't. Dan then asked me the same question. I unfortunately did.

It was summer semester of 2008 and I was in Drawing II with one of my favorite professors. Michelle was the caliber of professor that saw past the work you were creating and into what you 'could' be creating. She was full of wisdom and advice that I tried to take in, but my mind was cluttered. It was summer, I was a few weeks away from a summer in Austria and I was utterly unfocused. I felt myself falling short, which then caused me to step back further away from my work. There was so much potential in that class and though I was trying to grasp at it - the majority of it slipped through my fingers. I'll probably always regret letting that class pass me by, instead of addressing it with the fervor I should have.

Cut to a few years later, I found myself replaying some of Michelle's pointers to me as I worked. Caught off guard, I stopped working and began to examine the memories I had from Drawing II. Thankfully I possess a pretty reliable cache of college, (though I am not quite sure how I managed that!) and I found myself rocked.

Suddenly, everything I was trying to do had an answer. Everything I was feeling at that moment had a root and the root was buried deep in something I remembered from that class. Something that had not quite sunk in during drawing II, was suddenly brought to life. I can't quite explain the exact sensation other than the cliche, 'click!'. In a whirlwind of paint, paper, gel and brushes I started redoing old projects, looking at old work, rethinking old problems. And transfers... I had forgotten about transfers.

Michelle had suggested I play with transfers, (using gel medium to transfer a toner-based image to another surface) and I started to during that class - but never appreciated the process. Until now.

This week alone I have probably made about 10 various transfer paintings as I experiment with the process and materials. Each one takes about a day to fully complete and each one is a bit of an adventure.

This owl was one of the first experiments. I used an opaque gold acrylic in the background, which falls a bit flat in the scan. The paints for the owl itself needed to be mixed with a bit more gel medium as well, but as an experiment goes - I'm happy with it.

In the end, I guess having a regret isn't always a bad thing. Looking back on the situation and seeing where I fell short was the impetus to stumble into my current position and I'm grateful for that at least. I'll be honing my transfer process for the next few months and am very excited for the images in my head to finally have a home!

Thursday night with old pastels

I was cleaning out my desk area (again!) and came across a box of pastels I thought I had used up ages ago. I bought this set specifically for a Drawing II project back at MSU and they have followed me around since then. I've gone through sets of better pastels in the meantime, so it was a happy surprise to find this familiar box in the back of my supply closet.

The set had basically been worn down to teeny nibs of color, (except for the black pastel) so it was a challenge to cover the paper with as much thickness as I usually like. This led to a bit more color experimentation than I usually do; "Oh the brick red is gone? I guess I'll try magenta..."
Made for a fun evening regardless :)

Pictures from 'Take a Walk in Her Shoes!'

This past Thursday I had the honor of participating in the second annual 'Take a Walk in Her Shoes' fashion event. I created 4 large paintings of women as 'guardians' of our world and was pleased with the result.

With just about 2 weeks of working time, I spent nearly every day furiously painting, blasting Florence and The Machine and subsisting on a diet of primarily coffee in attempts to finish the images on time. (On a side note, Lungs is my current favorite painting-soundtrack. Gets my elbows moving!)

I was nothing less than thrilled when I was finally able to sit infront of the finished printed posters without any major art-tastrophies.

At 24 x 36, they are the largest images I have created and it was awesome to be able to donate them to such a fantastic cause.

Below is a picture from the event, with Guardian I up on an easel in an inner room of the show. (I am not sure who the nice folks are in the picture however)

Prints of the paintings are available for purchase through my site :)

New Business cards!

I returned home this week from our trip out to San Francisco (for Google IO) to find my new business cards were waiting in the mail! I was down to my last 10 cards and ended up handing the rest out at the conference/airport, so I was very pleased to see my stock replenished.

The new cards had been slightly redesigned to match with my new site layout and to include several new images that I felt would translate well to the backs of the cards. This is my third time ordering from moo.com and as always, I was impressed by the quality of the paper and the printing of my images. There's something about the sheen of the card they use that I just cannot find with other printers. The dimensions are a little different from US card sizes (as they are a UK based company) but I don't find the difference off putting at all. I think I enjoy having a *slightly* larger card anyway... more room for the art on the back!

In other news, I am gearing up for a huge art-opportunity this week. I will be showing 4 new pieces (24 x 36 posters) at the 2nd Annual'Take a Walk in her Shoes' fashion event. The event is put on by the Community Partnership for Homeless at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. To say I am excited is a massive understatement. The Biltmore itself is an absolutely breath-taking building and the fashion show is for a wonderful cause. I am so honored to be able to be a part in this fantastic event!

With that being said, I should get back to work :)

The Messenger

It's been a busy spring.

ChickenBrick is pumping out new projects, we redid my website to include Paypal, I've gotten started on an Etsy store and I've been a *tad* preoccupied with the release of Dragon Age 2 and Portal 2. It's safe to say, coffee has been my best friend for awhile.


In between the excitement of the videogames and the reorganization of my office-area (yet again) I tried to find a bit of time to draw. The Messenger is an image that I had been mulling over for a few weeks prior and was happy to finally have a chance to sketch it out.

Not too long into the sketching process, I realized I needed a refresher course in equine anatomy. I spent the next few days drawing nothing but horse heads, horse legs and horse musculature, it was like 6th grade all over again. (Except far more realistic - I hope)

Once I felt a bit more confident in the horse design, I finished the rest of the image and was fairly pleased with the outcome. The full version can be seen on my site :)

Art request: Fancy Goldfish

I got a request from a friend earlier this week for a fancy goldfish. I love painting fish so I was onboard immediately. She was interested in a slightly more graphic styled fish as she was hoping to use it as an oversized laptop sticker. I worked with heavy outlines, bright colors and was lucky enough to find a fairly dramatic reference photo. (However, I did make a few tweaks to the fins for added fish-drama).

"Goldfish, 2011" is a mix of watercolor and india ink on heavy bristol board. Hope you like it Kim!

Thane Krios Speed Painting

I just started playing Mass Effect 2 ( I know, so late to the party) and was inspired by the deadly drell assassin Thane Krios to make a few quick sketches and paintings.

While Thane is very interesting to look at, he was not easy for me to draw. I tended to humanize his alien features subconsciously (excellent example of "drawing what we know") and he looked like a human wearing a Thane costume. After a few more nights sketching his reptilian features I tried another painting.

This time I attacked it quickly, not allowing myself to get caught up in the fine lines (which I would inevitably turn human) and used a reference from the Mass Effect 2 trailer. 45 minutes later I decided to stop and just let it be.

The next Thane image I want to tackle will involve the texturing on his scales. In-game the scales are absolutely gorgeous, distracting even. On many occasions I have found myself circling Thane's head with the camera just watching how the light plays on the scales. Then I realize I have made myself motion-sick and need to go back to chasing down whatever thug I was bringing to justice. (My Shepherd is so Paragon is hurts.)

Bioware did an incredible job with Thane's design and I definitely look forward to sketching more of the assassin.