#10 The Athlete

Based on a few concepts of art history...mostly ancient Greek art and Degas' ballerina paintings. I wanted to convey the athleticism and grace of these famous paintings but in a contemporary setting and pose. Thinking about sports, skills and endurance, nothing really trains the body like yoga. Also, yoga is a hugely popular and is able to be accessible and elitist at the same time. So this ideal frame in an elegant yet strong pose is my interpretation of today's elite athlete. Here are a few progress shots:

It's so easy to get discouraged

I'm not perfect (in many more ways than as a painter, but let's focus on that imperfection for now). I've always been pretty good at relating semi-realistically what I see in front of me on paper with pencil or paint. But it's never come easily. I measure, I draw, I erase, draw again, etc etc. I'm sure this is the case with the most artists....but there are sometimes when I just can't get it 100% right. And until that point, I'm frustrated beyond belief. The painting I last blogged about, I caught the first mistake pretty soon on and fixed it. Then there was just something wrong with the eyes...and I ended up pretty much trashing the left side of the face and starting over. Much has changed (well, I can tell...can you?) and it's still imperfect and I'm still frustrated. So here's what I have now -- and a previous stage to prove it's changed :)

This is the first draft I was happy with until I realized the axis of her face was totally off. And one eye was way off...although I did like the treatment and finished look of the eyes at this point.

And now. A better likeness to Ellen, but still completely unfinished and hopefully it'll all come together with a tad more detail. I couldn't be happier with the hair - the one constant (and for once, easiest part) positive of this process.

#9 The Portrait of the Model

I was thinking...since I'm using the same model for all my paintings, perhaps it would be interesting to have a portrait of her...as herself. And who knows, as I finish it, she may fit a stereotype that I'll want to use the portrait for. But for now, this is Ellen. She is my beautiful friend and I'm excited to finally paint her with the pink hair she had when she first started posing for me:

And because it's always fun to see the progress and mistakes that have been corrected, here she is with a nose that is much too long:

7 Done! (13 to go...)

Party girl is finally done. Feels really stinking good.

#8 The Career Woman

Getting to 20.....

#7 The Party Girl

Part of the reason I love painting is seeing the process of a new work take form. Sometimes I have the entire composition mapped out before I begin. Sometimes I wing it. This one, "The Party Girl," is referring mostly to embarrassing drunk photos that get shared online all too often. In this day and age, when real consequences don't seem to exist and no one really understands the eternal life of something posted online, I felt it prevalent. The pose is inspired from Luke Hillestad's "To Set His Torso Free." When I saw this painting I was amazed by how fluid and dynamic the body looked. So here're some in progress shots. I'm feeling close to done on the figure...now to complete the rest (my least favorite).

St Paul Fall Art Crawl

Unlike with the Spring Art Crawl, this time, I knew what to expect. I knew people didn't walk around with the intention of buying. And if they would buy, they usually wouldn't buy anything over $50 unless they came specifically shopping. Also with Lowertown St Paul's face being ripped open 24/7 by bulldozers and pipes sticking out of the ground getting ready for a transit system that won't be here for 4 more years (don't get me started), we knew attendance would be low. That being said, I used this art crawl as a debut of my new series and showed paintings that only my friends had seen previous. I was obviously very nervous about this. But it was wonderful. I put up an artist statement (which most people read) to introduce the meanings of the pieces, which I think helped my purpose a lot. I got a lot of laughs and a lot of comments - which really validated this series for me. The fact that the public can relate is what it's all about - and that keeps me painting.

And a shot of my apartment because it is just so cute: