Quick Update

I kept the file at a decent size for anyone interested.  That's it for now.  Stay tuned for more

A new piece in the works

Here's a new piece I'm working on.  It's still in it's infancy. I have my photo reference set up and just finished transferring the sketch onto paper.  Transferring can be a horribly tedious and boring phase.  One way I deal with this soul sucking process is by transferring my sketch in a rather loose manner (takes just a few minutes) as opposed to doing a very detailed final drawing then transferring all those details and then following that up by going back over my transferred drawing yet again because it looks stiff and unrefined.  It's just not a nice thing to do.  After transferring my sketch loosely I go in with my photo reference and create my final drawing right on the watercolor paper.  Saves a lot of time and soul.  If all the proportions are right and the composition doesn't have any glaring flaws it's hard to make a huge mistake.  Consider using a 2b or softer pencil and a kneaded eraser so that the surface of the paper/board isn't disrupted too much.

For the next day or so I'll be working on the final drawing and then slapping some paint (gently applying thin washes of watered down acrylics) onto the paper. Will post some more progress shots soon.

"Acquisition" and The Blab Show

I have a new piece titled "Acquisition" in tonight's "Blab Show" opening at Copro Gallery. You can see a preview of the show Here.

Below are some work in progress shots, some recent time lapse videos, as well as the process vid that was posted here previously. For those not already familiar with my technique and process here are my basic steps for creating a piece of art. They may seem very obvious, but every now and then I'll catch myself skipping a step and usually end up paying for it down the road.

1. Thumbnails- Do at least ten of these. Try not to get caught up in details. These are about composition, flow, and getting your creative juices going.  Every now and then my first sketch ends up being the best sketch.  But most of the time my first ideas tend to be the most predictable and contrived.

2.  Refined drawing- I think much of people's style and influences tend to come out when they are drawing out of their head. I try to maintain some of the freshness that comes in a nice sketch. That said, my finals lie somewhere between my refined drawings and my photo reference.

3. Value study/ color comp- Again, these steps are invaluable in catching and correcting flaws early on and refining your composition and value structure. Of course they also give you a sense of what direction you want your lighting to come from for your photo shoot.

 4. Reference- I put a lot of stress on taking photo reference. My work as a student jumped significantly when I started taking my own photo reference. If your working on something architectural or a fantastic creature try creating a maquette and taking photo reference of it. It makes things a lot easier when you actually see how light is bleeding through a translucent object or reflecting off of some shape and lighting the underside of someone's face.

 5. Transfer- YAY! Everyone's favorite step!

 6. Finish- YAY! Everyone's actual favorite step!

The finished painting.

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 And as promised here are the new videos for you viewing pleasure.

52 Shades of Greed

If you've seen my facebook profile you may know that I try to post relevant links about social issues and think it's vital to have an informed public. That said, I'm proud to have been able to contribute to the "52 Shades of Greed" project. Check it out and Spread it around!

Done and Done

Just finished up my latest piece "Acquisition" for the Blab Show at Copro Nason Gallery in LA. It's officially boxed up and ready to be shipped out. One difference about doing gallery work vs illustration is that I knew I could go back into a piece after sending in the final if I really wanted to. Once I send out an original for a show it's pretty much gone. I've noticed it makes me a lot more anal as I finish a painting. Perhaps that's a good thing.

"Goddess of Anitiquity": Process Breakdown

It's been awhile since I've posted a breakdown of one of my paintings.  So hopefully this will be of use to anyone new to Muddy Colors or to my work and process.  As quick overview I'm basically using watered down acrylics on watercolor paper with fairly traditional watercolor technique like wet on wet, scumbling, and dry brushing to produce my finished paintings.

Here's my original concept sketch which is overlapping a few other thumbnails.  In the beginning ideas for the new piece were very elusive.  I feel like I spent four or five fairly stressful days pulling my hair out(beard hairs obviously) trying to come with a decent concept.  This isn't always an easy task and sometimes made worse with looming deadlines.  But obviously concept is one of the most important aspects for a piece of art in my opinion.  The drawing on the right was done with the help of photo reference for the figure and as much of the background as possible in order to come up with a cohesive look and a certain amount of realism.  Cue photo reference.

Ideally, I would've liked to take photo reference of my model actually in the environment

that I'll be using in order to have information like reflective light, edge relationships, cast shadows, and other interactions between figure and the surroundings.  Of course when working on surreal or fantasy based imagery this is rarely an option.

Here's is the final drawing transferred onto the watercolor paper.  I have to make sure the drawing is just how I want it before laying my first wash of paint down as it seals the painting permanently.  Throughout the process I also try to be flexible  enough to allow for spontaneous things to happen while working.  Here some ruffly accent appeared on the dress.  I did a little research on flapper dresses from the 1920's and refined the dress a bit more as well as adding an additional accent in the figures hair.

Here I begin laying down some paint in thin washes.  While the paint was still wet I used a paper towel to lift out some of the pigment in areas that I plan on keeping bright, for instance the windows.  I'm also trying to establish some darks right off the bat for value reference.  What seems dark enough in the beginning of a painting usually requires even more darkening before it's finished.

Paint

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Paint

Paint

Here you can see a shift in temperature on the background walls.  For the most part I work transparently, constantly building up value and color.  In a case like this I have to mix some semi-opaque washes and slowly work the areas in the direction of color and value that I want to go.  I also decided to add a veil at this point which I had been on the line about using or not.

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And here's the final.  As always, if I was unclear about anything or skipped over something you are interested in, let me know and I'll try to address it for you.

Lush Life Show at Roq La Rue

I'm scrambling to wrap this piece up.  But I thought I'd post a quick progress shot here.  Now back to painting!