Right on new years I got a horrible plague that set me down for a while. Then life got busy, and with the weather as cold as it is I've been feeling a strong desire to go inside and not, well, basically be more selfish with my time. It's necessary, time to start new work, which means telling the world to fuck off. I mean that in the nicest way possible of course. I love my friends and there's a litany of people I want to see more, but if I do that, then I'm not making work. My energy is finite. This is by the way one of the reasons why it's rough dating artists, or anyone with a drive/passion that isn't their primary partner. Sometimes (well, oftentimes) we have to put the work first. If we don't we can't be who we are...So anyway, last month or so I've been prepping panels. These are pine plywood panels that are about a quarter of an inch thick. They have been treated to prevent insect damage, and primed with a high grade gesso, and then left to hang out for a while. The cracking was unexpected but rather desired. I want the wood to show through, I want the viewer to know the materials they are looking at.
When I go to make a painting, I have an idea of course, but it always changes. I will do some sketches, to decide the general composition however I always change it when I lay out the underdrawing. You can see on the right one of those sketches (by the way, click the images to zoom in). I don't use models, what I do is I'll go make reference sketches, take photographs, and look at photographs online of people/things/situations that contain what I want. When the drawing is done I don't use any one person as reference, the people in these drawings don't exist. I may borrow a nose, shape of the eye, or something, but I always change it. I will also use myself as reference also, sometimes (rarely) I may as a friend to help, but with the type of drawing I do and my years of studying human anatomy it's rarely necessary. Most of what I do is observe, internalize, and regurgitate.So the image on the left is on an 18 x 24 panel (which is what most of my paintings will be for a while, I had a bunch cut to that size). Right now it's winter, and while many complain about the grey Ohio winters, I rather like the clouds, and how they change. So hence the color palate is going to be largely greys, purples, blues, greens, blacks, with highlights of gold with this one. The background's palate will be cooler than the figure in front (from a color standpoint). I'll be painting this largely in acrylic, and may switch to oils later if I am so motivated. What's it about? Well you'll have to decide that for yourself. Of course I have something in mind but in the end it's not what I say but what the viewer gets out of it. I may make a video of the process if I get off my ass and get a tripod. That's something I want to do... When I started my youtube channel it was supposed to be more artwork, but I do like to document, so there's lots of stuff on there from when I go camping, and that's ok. It is time though I show more about my process, especially since now I can edit videos again (that's largely why I haven't made any art related videos of my own work in a while).
So yeah, aside from the work I am planning out my year. Odds are good I'll be going west for a visit that I've been meaning to take for many years. I'm also looking into vending again, which is something that I want to do but kind of intimidates me. I like stability, and vending full time at fairs and festivals would mean quitting my day job. For a time I'd be flying blind, and that makes me nervous. I have already done a lot of research on taxes, I'm on several mailing lists, and I've worked for and assisted with people who have done this for a living... it's a plunge though, and I don't want to mess it up. The idea of traveling during the summer and painting full time is too rich to pass up, and I think my more conventional paintings and prints would do well.
Soooooooooooo anyway. Workworkwork, time to get back to it!
