here are my attempts to draw real people. i know they are way cartoony… but if i manage to capture a hint of personality i will be perfectly happy.

i made 2 goals for this year, #1 is to get out more, # 2 is to attempt to be more organized and professional. so far, i have made no progress in getting out more, though there are signs of hope. yesterday, i made the first step of progress in getting organized! luckily i got in contact with an architect who had some used filed cabinets he was trying to get rid of for cheap. when i went to his house there were ALOT more than i expected and he gave me ALL of them. they had been stored outside for along time and a bit wet from rain and some were also full of blue prints from his old projects. i had to remove his blue prints and stack them in his garage, they were damp but the paper was amazingly resilient. i had no way to get the cabinets home but luckily my dad was off and has a huge trailer and really wanted help, otherwise i would have only been able to take one. the whole scene was kind of exaggerated and surreal to me… the sky was blazing from a sunset and my dad and dylan were loading up all these massive cabinets while i was petting the architect’s st bernard. when i woke up this morning i had to go into the garage to make sure i wasn’t dreaming it all last night.. and yes it was real, i have many cabinets now, and alot of organizing to do

i found this bird book at a second hand shop recently and like to look at it before going to sleep. i always pick a picture book to keep beside my bed to take my mind off any thoughts from the day. i’m drawing birds ( birdlike)
creatures all the time lately. of course, the birds i draw are not at all realistic, like the ones depicted in the books i love. i seem to only use certain vague similarities, like an elementary shape or a curve in a neck or beak. the most intriguing thing about the exotic birds is their ability to make courtship displays; i cannot get over the beauty and oddness of it.

sketches and underpainting…

here are some progress images of a piece i’m currently working on, these images are only part of a larger painting. the piece is 33" x 40" with a lot of detail so i have been focusing on sections at a time at about the size of 11 x 14. i’ll share the whole piece when it is finished… soon !

{ lower left side} sketch followed by under-paint on panel.

"a cry for help" a benefit show for the endangered species of the world, see flyer ~ here ~

here is my piece titled "pika mountain" ..
the theme of the exhibit is centered around endangered species.
i choose a pika for my subject
they are not listed as an endangered species but there it is possibility they will be. i first learned about them from this podcast a while back.

title "pika mountain", size "14 x 10.5" {ovular frame}, ink & acrylic, on aquarelle paper

Thinkspace ‘A Cry For Help’ benefit for endangered species (opens Jan. 8th, 2010)

There will be a very special exhibit over at Corey Helford Gallery this month (opening dec 12) called the "Multiplane Group Exhibit", each artist will paint on 3 layers – one panel and two sheets of glass…a style based on the multi-plane camera process used in early disney animations.

starting materials…

final : "paper wind" acrylic on glass and board.

1940 walt disney fantasia is one of the earliest animations i remember watching and i still think it is my favorite of all. while i was browsing the web researching, i found this blog post about some of the making of the film, and was awestruck at how much physical work was involved.
i think most of the film was filmed with a multiplane camera too..

classic "hedgehog in the fog" used multi-plane type camera technique along with real elements like smoke to create atmosphere

this painting must be really small too… i enjoyed this film especially all the handmade things in the sets:)