Shaken.

Below is a response that I pulled off of the Rational Painting forum.  I feel like the author is talking to me.

You seem to be under the impression that mastering drawing will be a simple matter of doing a few exercises when you get around to it. I think you’ll realize how unrealistic an idea that is if you ever do try it. Every day you waste doing something else is another step forward you’re not taking. At the end of our lives, we are not reimbursed for time we’ve wasted. If you aspire to ever become a Master-level artist, the time to begin the serious pursuit of it is right now, and if you put it off, you’re kidding yourself if you think it will be attainable later in life through a less than whole-hearted effort. The easiest time to learn these things is in childhood. A late start is a handicap one has to work very hard to overcome. In fact I doubt it’s possible to ever overcome such a handicap entirely. How good an artist do you want to be? The place to start is drawing from direct observation. Working from photos will be counterproductive in that regard. It will interfere with the development of your eye.
–Virgil Elliott

Listing, everyone is doing it.

Lists from the last decade.

Some books I read (in full or in part, or on audio):

The Idiot, Player Piano, The Feast of Love, In Defense of Food, Facing East, Becoming Orthodox, Moon and Sixpence, The Plague, Sophie’s World, Crime and Punishment, The Iliad, The Odyssey,The Painter in Oil, Charteris’ John Sargent, The Elements of Color by Itten, Charles Bargue Drawing Course, Letters to an American Lady, Loved Ones, Brideshead Revisited, Treasure Island, The Botany of Desire, To the Lighthouse, Columbine, The Cheese Monkeys, The Minpins, No Country for Old Men,…

Some people I met:

Jonathan Pope, Miles and Henry and Jane Pope, Johnny and Barbara Pope, Laurie and Mark Bertand, The Hortons, Nick from Islands, Jacob Collins, Nancy Guzik, Molly Schmid, Stan Rayfield, John Hodgman, Bishop Antoun and another Russian priest, Paula and Josh Gibbs, The Mosleys, The Wilkins, Michelle Henghold, Gloria Cooper, The Hughes, Lauren and The Chiltons, The Hollands, The Nolands, The Trotters, Mary Willis and the Bertrams, Toby, Casey Price, Anna Barnes, Theresa Raus, Justin Hughes, Becky Cox, Meg and Bruce, John and Nadia, The Wagners, John Schortmann, The Bleams, The Youngs, Dan and Joice, Camie Davis, Nick Hiltner, Andy and Remy, Fr. Ambrose, Judith, Kevin and Garrett Thomsen and Penelope, Jesse Weaver, Jennifer Friedrich and Frieda, the ladies at Malena’s Mini School, Becca Huber and Tracy Malone.

Visited:

Greece, England, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Houston, Natchez, Chicago, Monroe, Dallas, Waco, Lake Kiowa, San Antonio, New Orleans, Mobile, Gulf Shores, Graceland, Memphis.

Became Orthodox.

I don’t really enjoy chopping up my life in decades, but I guess doing it helps me remember popular culture and gives context.  I aged from 21 years to 31 and that felt more like 3 decades.  I look forward to the next X.

Painting by Hiroshi Furuyoshi:

Another birthday.

I really, really just want to go bowling with the family for my birthday.  Haha!  I can’t wait.

My oil portrait process.

Below is an 11×14 sketch on tracing paper.  I have started doing more prep work on my oil portraits to make sure I get the drawing correct first.  The extra time spend drawing here made the painting go so smoothly.  I highly recommend trying this.  I hope the buyer enjoyed having a pencil sketch along with the painting.

In the unfinished portraits you can see my yellow underpainting.  I don’t know why I chose yellow, but it worked.   I started the color down in the hands and fabric to ensure that I didn’t use all my energy on the face then rush through the fabric.  This worked well for me.

Here is the finished painting:

Drawings by Gerard Michel.

Sorry for the long absence.  We moved from Florida to Oklahoma at the beginning of November, and I just did not find the time to blog.  I have some catching up to do.  Check out my Flickr photos to see what has been going on.

Today I just want to show you a couple of images by Gerard Michel.  I stumbled onto his Flickr page a few months ago.  His architectural drawings are so pleasing.  He uses nothing but his eyes and paint and pen– no instruments or tools to get the drawing right.  Wow.  That is all I know about him.  Check out his work here.

Pumpkins 2009.

They loved painting their pumpkins!

Henry has his pumpkin pattern sketched out.  They love this season so much.  It is as good as a birthday to Miles.

Lea Hanna’s poster portrait.

18×24 oil painting.  This was a collaborative effort between me, my husband Jonathan and Lea Hanna.  We came up with the idea after looking at a book about the illustrator’s from the 1940’s and 50’s.  Lea Hanna is an avid photographer and will be studying photojournalism for the next few years.  Jonathan did some research on WW2 posters, and he came up with a list of taglines.  Here are a few he wrote:

“There’s more than one way we can shoot!”

“Grab your Cannon, gals, and shoot for the Navy!”

“I WANT YOUR CAMERA for the U.S. Navy”

“Women, get out of the kitchen and take pictures!”

“It takes more than ONE MAN to do this job. IT TAKES A WOMAN!”

“Focus on a career in the NAVY”

“I flashed the boys in the NAVY”

“Needed: brave female photographers for the U.S. NAVY.”

“I can lick ‘em with my camera!”

This portrait is quite unique, and I cannot wait to do another poster-style painting.