I am so very happy...

I just deleted the post I originally had here, because, honestly, the caricature painting I had posted was so bad, I should have never posted it anyway. Instead, I think I will do some complaining!!!

Well, not complaining, really, just an update, and a listing of some difficulties. It's pretty extraordinary. Here goes:
My move onto my sailboat in Apollo Beach occurs at the end of June, in a little over a month. Very exciting! But with some caveats:
I had figured, if all goes wrong, I could very simply live on the sailboat, and take the bus up to Busch Gardens in Tampa and draw caricatures. But it turns out that the bus schedule is impossible, so I'll need to use my (very) old Jeep. But it's a LONG commute, and the pay ain't that great, and that old Jeep of mine could die at any time, and the whole thing looks really bad.
I don't WANT to commute anymore, anyway. I want to live simply, sail, draw and paint, not get rich, but be happy and see beautiful things. Anyway... I'm moving forward: for better or worse, I'm moving onto the sailboat next month.
And here's another thing: my friend says that my marina slip fee will be "at least" $200 a month, so maybe I'm looking at 3 or 400? I don't know. It's a rather informal situation.
Also, I was expecting to pay very little to get my boat's bottom scraped and repainted, but I think now that it might cost $1000 or more. I DO NOT have that kind of money anymore.
My shoulder has caused me to work less, and will continue to do so, as well as hurting my enthusiasm for murals, which, honestly, takes a toll on my shoulder. I lied about that before. Sorry.
I mean, maybe I can get into portrait work, and get a better price for my artwork, but there's so much uncertainty in all this, that I've been VERY depressed.
I've also been sick for several weeks, just a nagging cold virus, and it's over now, but it's dramatically added to my foul temperament.
Next, my former understanding was that I would be getting $600 from the IRS, but I just learned TODAY that I will NOT be getting that check, since I have a debt to the IRS. That's the kicker. That's the one thing I couldn't afford to go wrong, and now it has. I'm in trouble.
I mean, none of this would have been THAT bad, I guess, but I learned a while back that I'm being taken off my work schedule come May 31. Not my idea. I always knew I could just stay on the schedule through most of June (our busiest month) and make some last-ditch savings for the move onto the boat, and that became my plan. That's not going to happen now, unless I can get lots of sub shifts, and at decent locations.
I could go on and on about this, but I don't want to subject y'all to my sailor cursing.

The funny thing is, I AM happy. I think it's because my artwork has become the center of my life. I couldn't say that a few months ago. All I want now is to live cheaply and work on my art. And if I must sell my Jeep, I will. And if I must sell my sailboat, I will. I'll live on a canoe or something, and paint portraits by the beach, or whatever. But GO FORWARD with the art. Live cheaply and beautifully, by the sea. And I am doing that now, in one way or another. It's very exciting. Whatever happens, happens. It'll work-out.
...Just a little frightening.

Thomas Jefferson

I love the portrait of Jefferson below. I strikes me now, a thought!: Portraiture (the greatest of the arts) was long perfected even 200 years ago. It's fascinating to consider: such a technical and ephemeral skill, so magical to the masses, is now being forgotten as silicone tech courageously destroys all else.

And now for some Jefferson quotes. (I hope I don't go to jail for spreading these revolutionary ideas!)...
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. "

"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it."

"I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. "

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. "

"I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive."

"Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear."

"What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? ...The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all."

"Most bad government has grown out of too much government."

"Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty."

"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first."

"History, in general, only informs us what bad government is."

"If there is one principle more deeply rooted in the mind of every American, it is that we should have nothing to do with conquest."

"It is better to tolerate that rare instance of a parent’s refusing to let his child be educated, than to shock the common feelings by a forcible transportation and education of the infant against the will of his father."

"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground."

Discovery of the Atelier

So why doesn't anyone tell me these things...? I guess I'm doomed to discover 'em on my own.

What I thought I knew, I was wrong; what I thought was wrong, I knew. ...In other words. my "impulse" since teaching myself to draw, back a few years ago, in my 30's, was to very carefully learn to draw in a classical sense, whatever that means, I thought. I mean, I had no idea. I was just a nomad, a poorly-disciplined reader of philosophy and porn and vodka labels. But I was vaguely aware that learning to be an artist was something more than occasional sketches, or silly jobs making cartoons of tourists. And when I started making MONEY making cartoons of tourists, I was snobbish, thinking how lousy were the starving artists, who couldn't draw a face, yet had a degree in art, or who were unwilling to draw a face in a comic context, for mere financial gain. But I've come full circle, now. I desperately wish to be like the old masters, and I've discovered HOW, now. The old-fashioned way, through an ATELIER. I didn't know these still existed, but they do exist, and they're making a comeback. I've included with this post an entry from Wikipedia. Now, all I need do is FIND an atelier studio which is in a warm clime (so I can sleep in my boat) and which won't charge me much... Anybody got any ideas? ...Here's the Wikipedia post:

Atelier Method

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The Atelier Method is a method of fine art instruction modeled after the private art studio schools of 15th-19th century Europe. Taking its name from the French word for "artist's studio," the Atelier Method is a form of private instruction in which an artist, usually a professional painter, works closely with a small number of students to progressively train them. Atelier schools can be found around the world, particularly in North America and Western Europe.

Contents [hide] 1 Philosophy 2 Methods 2.1 Drawing and painting from plaster casts 2.2 Sight-size drawing 3 External links

[edit] Philosophy

Atelier programs teach a form of realism based upon careful observations of nature with attention to detail. A series of tasks (cast drawing, cast painting, drawing and painting from the live model, and still life, for example) are done by the student. Students must complete each task to the instructor's satisfaction before progressing to the next. This system is referred to as "systematic progression" or "systematic teaching and learning." The methods used by Atelier instructors may vary greatly from one studio to another; however, artists using the "Atelier" approach tend to be united in their desire to reintroduce classical methods and techniques to modern painting.

[edit] Methods

Because they lack a central governing body, Atelier instructors are free to teach whatever methods they wish. However, there are several methods that are common to most Atelier schools. Atelier schools and teachers generally agree that the practice of careful drawing is the basis of painting.

[edit] Drawing and painting from plaster casts

Student Cast Drawing after Ariadne. Mims Studios School of Fine Art, Southern Pines, NC.

Atelier students often begin to draw or paint using plaster casts as subjects. These casts are usually faces, hands, or other parts of the human anatomy. Plaster casts provide some of the benefits of live, human models, such as the presence of natural shadows. They also have their own distinct advantages: they remain perfectly still and their white color allows the student to focus on the pure, grayscale tones of shadows. This is the method that contemporary painter Jacob Collins pursues at his schools, the Water Street Atelier and the Grand Central Academy.

[edit] Sight-size drawing

Sight-Size drawing is a method of drawing an object exactly as it appears to the artist on a one to one scale. The artist first sets a vantage point where the subject and the drawing surface appear to be the same size. Then, using a variety of measuring tools -- which can include strings, sticks, mirrors, levels, and plumb-bobs -- the artist draws the subject so that, when viewed from the set vantage point, the drawing and the subject have exactly the same dimensions. When properly done, sight-size drawing can result in extremely accurate and realistic drawings. It can also be used to draw the exact dimensions for a subject in preparation for a painting.

Contemporary realist painter Adrian Gottlieb notes that "while professional painters pursuing a full-time career will develop an 'eye' that precludes the need for measuring devices and plumb lines (tools necessary during the training period), the observation method itself is not abandoned - instead it becomes second nature. Sight-size can be taught and applied in conjunction with a particular sensitivity to gesture to create life-like imagery; especially when applied to portraiture and figurative works."

Wind Song, here I come...

So this is the deal: It's official, I'm moving onto Wind Song in June. It's in Apollo Beach, on Tampa Bay, if you don't remember. Of course, this has been the plan all along, but I'd thought I'd remind everyone. My apartment lease is up at the end of June, and I just now emailed Barbie and "reminded" her of my plans: when my lease is up, I'll be moving onto the sailboat. And that's the plan, and it's only 8 weeks away! Man, this is SOON, I just realized. Whew! I need to get busy. I mean, if it weren't for my bum shoulder, I'd be working EVERY DAY. But that ain't gonna happen. I'll do what I can for now, and when it's time to go, I'll go.
To be honest, I don't have any real work lined-up in Tampa. Hmm, maybe murals, but, oddly, I've felt terribly non-committal to murals. In fact, I've been doing NOTHING toward 'em, of late. Maybe I can draw caricatures at Busch Gardens, but I haven't talked to those guys, and I don't think Dion even knows who I am. And, heck, maybe they wouldn't even WANT me. Or I can draw caricatures at the beach or something. Or, if things get REALLY bad, financially, or whatever, I can always throw-off the dock lines and sail away, and fish, and beg, and/or whatever. I figure I can always walk door-to-door and paint pretty pictures on mailboxes. ...lol...But, no, REALLY, I would do that.
And, yes, WIND SONG, the smallish 24-foot sailboat is gonna be my new home, NOT the bigger boat. That deal didn't work-out. But that's fine. I don't need another bill. Part of the POINT is to get away from bills. I owe the IRS about $10,000, mainly because I refuse to deduct ANYTHING. I say, "Fuck you, HERE YA GO, take this, this is WAY too much, but you CANNOT audit me, because there is NOTHING to audit!" I'll pay the full amount and be happy, just so they can't mess with me. It's rather satisfying. I give 'em $150 a month, and they don't bother me. ... And one day, in 4 or 5 years, I'll have it paid-off. (My four years of caricaturing in Orlando has been both a gigantic blessing and a gigantic curse.)
Beyond that, there's much to say, and there's nothing to say. I'm sitting alone in my apartment. I think I must want it that way. All else is a kind of messiness of the soul, you know: friendship and love. ...I guess that's the best way to put it. ...Damn, I'm an idiot.

Is my thinking fundamentally flawed?

All my life, more or less, especially during my adult years, I've considered mankind to be a fine, good entity. Mistakes will happen, but, I have thought, the goal of the good is universal. Now, I am thinking, such speculation is incorrect. You see, the Internet has opened all sorts of knowledge, and I've been reading A LOT recently, and watching the videos of the History Channel, among others. I'm finding terrible things in our history. Things of history which are virtually without controversy. Things which define us as evil, more or less. And I'm not talking about NAZIs, necessarily, but about the United States, and ancient Greece, and the fella next door, and my own soul. The perils of optimism seem to be overtaking me....
...To be continued... ...

...and here's one from Saturday

I like the guy, but not the girl...so to speak. She is far too awkward, but I got a nice likeness on her boyfriend, and his drawing/painting is more natural and lively, especially the coloring. ...I'm really trying to focus on lively, impressionistic coloring, or as much as is possible in the short time frame of caricatures and the limited palette of naples yellow red, vermilion, and burnt sienna... and a couple of primaries, more or less...

A photo of me at the helm of Moon Song ...

Helped move this boat a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to Captain Richard for the photo. ...Click photo to enlarge (with some browsers)...

Still sick, but getting better...

I felt half normal tonight, but drew badly, then did better. Here's one of a little girl from tonight, plus one from AK a couple of weeks ago (which I just discovered on my camera)... Look at the similarity between the little girl in the one pic, and the man in the other pic. Same nose, and similar hue/value relationship in the middle third of the face... I mean, I SUCK. ..."To DARE, that is the calling..."

Couple More from Last Week

Disney All-Star Resorts caricature stand work from last week. Thought the boy's drawing was cute, but poor likeness, and the girl's pic was good likeness, but in a weird way... I'm always surprised that any of us can get decent likeness when knocking these things out in 15 minutes (or less...)...

Sick...

Suddenly, in the middle of my shift yesterday, I got sick, a sore throat, congestion, chills, aches, shakes... Great! (Sarcasm, there.) ...Anyway, so I immediately got off the fast and got some nutrition and vitamins in me. ...Really bad timing. I have a LONG gig tomorrow, and then a stressful (in a fun way) butt sketch gig on the next day. I really need the money, so there ain't no way I'm calling in sick. ...Been in bed all day, drank lots of water, then did some more practice sketches, and now I gotta go sit at the Nick stand... Woo-hoo!
As far as these practice sketches go, I was looking at actual photos of people on the ButtSketch.com website, rather than looking at DRAWINGS of people. This should help me.
It seems to me that life drawing like this is all about gesture, which, to me, means the "feel" of the sweeping angles of objects. ...And I find myself exaggerating a bit on these...

Butt Sketches

Surprise, surprise! I somehow got a butt sketching gig. And only 4 days notice! ...So, what'd I do tonight? I drew some butt sketches, of course! Actually, they're really fun. I've only practiced these a couple of times in the past (like, a year ago!), and I've never used a marker (pencil only), but here I am, about to go to a gig next Tuesday. Whew! That email frightened me. ...I immediately got out a Pitt brush pen and used that, after carefully penciling it all in. Whole thing takes about 10 minutes. I need to cut that down to about 4 or 5 minutes, I think. Shouldn't be a problem. ... Now, most of these drawings (which I include here) are based on drawings in Keelan's website (K.Parham, that is). But that's only because it's really hard to get reference material for this sort of stuff. In real life, people don't STOP very often, and then online I simply can't find much, just hit and miss, here and there. So I just looked at Keelan's drawings and pretended they were real people. It's funny, because, at first, I tried to match the pics EXACTLY, but then I felt my own style coming on, and I just let it go. ...Not perfect, but I'm satisfied with these early attempts. I'm sure to be practicing these a lot more in the next 3 days. Whew!
...
(Note: That other one is of a Chinese girl painting... Just an image from the WWW.) ...Hmm, I need to get proper markers for shading...

Fast/Cleanse Days 4 and 5 of 25

Not much to report. So far so good. No problems, except... MUST TELL ROOMMATE NOT TO BRING FOOD HOME... Torture! ...lol ...
Actually, I've been off from work the last two days. I think it's easier if I must go to work and not think about food. Sitting here alone in the apartment is tough.

Fast/Cleanse Day 3 of 25

So far, so good. Kinda sleepy today. Drank a couple of Diet Pepsi's to keep alert at work. Good night of drawing. No headaches. Slept well. Weird dreams. Lots of energy otherwise. ... And my shoulder stopped hurting! Unbelievable.

Fast/Cleanse Day 2 of 25

Today was fine. Not hungry. Got grouchy at work tonight, shoulder hurting, people in weird mood, cold, or maybe it was just me. ...I'm allowing myself a little diet soda at work, to keep the headaches away, and I'm allowing myself a little red wine before bed, for health, but those are the only modifications to the Master Cleanse I'm making. And I planned this before I started the cleanse this time. I noticed last time that a little diet soda cured the detox headaches, and that a little wine didn't seem to change the daily "eliminations" or anything, so I've added these modifications to keep my mind at ease, or as comforts. I want to be able to live my life for the next month without worrying about "breaking" the cleanse by a slip-up with caffeine or wine, and to feel rather "normal," and I think keeping caffeine in my system will encourage me, psychologically, to keep up the fast. And a little wine to finish the day is a very nice comfort.... Maybe the cleanse won't work quite right, but I think it will. If it doesn't work, then I'll know. But if it does work fine, then I know I can more easily do the fasting a few times a year, without any kind of worry. And I hope to get completely off caffeine this year. I'm taking it slow, as far as that goes. It's tough, what with the headaches and craving. Caffeine is definitely a drug.

A Couple from Tonight at Disney

The soccer fella's legs look REALLY awkward, not that I see the pic. I know how to correct that. What I like about both pics is the painting on the faces. The photos don't show it so much, but I'm really moving toward more "impressionistic" effects, as opposed to flat color. I love the lively look of that kind of portraiture. Maybe one day I'll get the hang of it.

www.TimothyBrentGardner.com !!!

OK, I took Wayne's advice and grabbed my own name for my website. That's my whole name, and when I googled it, ZERO results came up. That means, if someone hears of me in the future (after I get my site up) I'll be the first and/or ONLY "Timothy Brent Gardner." Can't get more unique than that! ...Also, I had read that your own name makes for a more serious tone. If you're gonna command high prices for your portraits, let's say, (or whatever), then "Pretty Portraits" or "Portraits by Bob," or something like that, suggests a hobbyist, not a professional. ...Also, thanks to JIMMY (at CC) for suggesting GoDaddy.com. Got the thing for $10. Network Solutions charges $35. What's up wit dat???
...This also means that I need to put "Timothy Brent Gardner" on EVERYTHING.
...OK, so that's kinda long. Hmm... My friends can just call me SIR. ....he-hee-he-hee

Day ONE of 25 Days of Fasting

That's right, I'm doing the fast/cleanse again, but now I'm planning on doing 25 days, not just 10. Wish me luck! ...The first thing that happened was, I was extremely hungry last night. But I remember that was what happened on the first day last time. Then day 2 was good, day 3 I felt exhausted, and then everything was fine after that. Wonder what will happen this time.

I REALLY enjoy drawing and painting faces, I'm realizing

In recent months, with my bum shoulder, I've been forced to slow down my caricaturing. I cut-back to only four days a week, and I'm just taking it easy while drawing, not trying to break any speed records. (Although sometimes I think I might be breaking a few SLOW records. lol.) It's been a financial disaster, of course, but I need to stop talking about that.
...I've been using the pencil more and more during this time, mainly for the outside contours of the face, but also for a lot of the bodies. But here's the thing: I am REALLY REALLY REALLY enjoying drawing the human face. I'm also coming to realize the wonderful possibilities in painting the face, as well. I keep thinking, "Man, if I could just be a painter of people for the rest of my life, I'd be happy." ...

All this makes me think of formal portraiture. Once upon a time, I thought portraits were uninteresting, since they seemed to be mere technical rendering of a static face. But NO! Portraits ARE caricature. The portrait artist uses his eye and experience to creatively determine the most important aspects of each face, and he then brings these aspects to the fore. Everyone has certain "telling" characteristics, but this is not just shape. A likeness may hinge on one or several things, from shape to color, or texture, from the dark values of the nostril, to the dull light glow of cerulean/gray eyes. When I look at the old masters portraits, I'm stunned. Look at those too-red cheeks! Look at that busted nose! Those full, craggy lips! ...But it's all beautiful (and probably great likeness).
This photo was from Saturday at Animal Kingdom, which was probably my best day of drawing in my LIFE. My shoulder was starting to bother me a lot, again, unfortunately, but maybe this forced slowing improved my drawing. ...Actually, the caricature in the photo isn't anything special, but it happens to be the only photo I took that day. The husband and wife didn't like to smile, but when they gave a little, I immediately noticed how WIDE their mouths became. And then there was the woman's nose, and rather short forehead. The guy had very short hair, almost shaved, and a dimple in the chin, and wonderfully shaped, prominent ears. I greatly enjoyed drawing them. Wish they'd got color.

Boat Delivery

(The photo here is of Tampa Bay off Apollo Beach, after we'd survived the heavy wind and waves of the lower bay.)...
I spent a few days down in Tampa last week, and during one of those days I helped my friend move a big sailboat from Cortez to Apollo Beach. Her name was Moon Song, an old 41' wooden ketch, with a bum diesel engine, suspect rigging, and virtually inoperable radio. Of course, we had a hellish wind right on the nose the whole way. We had steep 6-foot waves which had us believing we were riding a bronco rather than a sailboat. The first thing the diesel did, was to throw a hose as I was casting-off the lines. Nice. My buddy fixed that quickly, but all I could think was, "If the engine has ANY problem while we're underway in these channels, we'll be in real trouble because of the heavy wind... We'll be blown immediately into the shallow shoal water and lose the boat. Of course, it's so shallow we could just walk to shore from there, but I don't want to be on the evening TV news after losing a half-million dollar yacht!"
Once we got out the channel and into open water, we had more room for a busted engine, since we could simply throw over the anchor, let out the line, and go below and try to fix the thing. But there were WAVES, baby! And the engine didn't push us too well. We'd SLAM into wave after wave, almost coming to a stop every time, trying to simply HANG ON...
But we made it. An all day trip of some 30 miles. Man, we were sore.

The Stuff of Dreams

I'm torn, I admit it. My recent "self-improvement" obsession has me thinking more clearly, and my shoulder hurting less. (Yes, my shoulder is MUCH improved since doing the lemonade detox. Apparently the inflammation in your body is reduced due to the detoxification process. A true miracle.) But I'm torn. I mean, I'm making all these plans for a mural business, but is that my real dream? And how did I get into all this? ...What really IS my "dream life"? ....
Well, last September, I was VERY close to moving onto my sailboat and "sailing away." I postponed this, however, for "one last apartment contract" with my roommate, which meant I'd need to wait until June 2008 to "sail away." If I were to leave last September, my roommate would be left in a tough situation, plus I was worried about other things, so I delayed. And I immediately fell into depression. I had a LONG dark winter to wait-out until the next June, and my shoulder was killing me, so I didn't know how much longer I could do caricatures. I was depressed deeply. Could I survive the winter? I had to do something. So, I thought of murals. I can do that, I thought. It can get me through the winter, and then I'll sail away next June. ...But it didn't work out that way. My depression deepened. I didn't do murals, but I did continue to work on learning more about painting in acrylics.
But look what happened! It's suddenly March 13! I made it through the winter, my shoulder pain is almost completely gone, and one more thing has happened: I've started to really ENJOY drawing caricatures again. That's a surprise.
So, what do I do now? I mean, in order to "sail away," I had planned to depend on caricaturing to make money. It is a completely mobile enterprise. For instance, I know of three places which cater to this sort of stuff: Clearwater Pier 60, Fort Myers Beach "Times Square," and Key West's Mallory Square. You come in, maybe pay a small fee, and set-up, more or less.
But there's another way, and this is part of my "Big Secret Plan" in a sense, which I've been formulating for a long time now. You see, it is legal in most places in the world to "busk." That is, you perform or give-away services or small items for FREE, and then get donations/tips. Now, you won't get rich do this, but a lot of people with wanderlust depend on busking, and do fine, and some do better than fine. Living on my sailboat is a cheap life, and busking really is perfect. The thing is, almost nobody busks with caricatures. Maybe because so many people are willing to PAY upfront for 'em. They're very popular. But some guys DO busk with caricatures.
My concern is this: I don't want to throw-out crappy caricatures just to "get volume" in a busy location. No, I want to create masterpieces every time, and THEN give 'em away. ...And would this WORK? Well, of course it would, to a point. Almost everyone would give me a little money, but a lot of people would give me more. I figure I can average $5 to $10 per piece. ...Or I can charge up front, if I'm in a location which allows it.

But that's not exactly my dream. Here's my dream. Everybody ready? Hold on tight, 'cause it's pretty crazy and beautiful and frightening and will give inspiration to all those "Dream Crushers" out there who enjoy telling people why they can't do this or that. Ready? Here's my dream:
I'm in my sailboat. I have my passport. I've had all the "shots" you need to travel the Tropics. I sail across the Caribbean, and the South Pacific, and Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean, and Europe... ...visiting little islands here and there, and various ports of call... ...and I'm seeing the world... But I'm doing something else this whole time: I am DRAWING everyone I see. Rich, poor, in-between... Healthy, sick, happy, sad... EVERYONE. And I simply give away EVERY SINGLE DRAWING. ...

And that's it. That's my dream. I travel the planet and draw everyone I see. (Of course, I'll have a website or blog, telling of my experiences, and the site will have a "DONATE" button, lol.) ...It's all a rush. I really do get a rush from the joy I see in people when I show them their pictures. They're all strangers to me, but somehow I've connected to them, and my soul is filled with something when this happens. I don't know what it's filled with, but whatever it is, I like it. Of course, most people give me money, too, and that's fine, and necessary, but my mind is swimming in the heavens, not in brutal necessity.
And there's another consideration. MOST people in the world will never be able to afford a portrait, or even a simple caricature, for that matter. With me, they get a little treasure to put in their homes, whether they can afford to tip me or not. ...Ah, I AM a dreamer, eh? And you all thought I was just a bum. ...

I have this image... I anchor in a remote cove. There are palm trees everywhere. The water is clear, the fish curious, a dolphin surfaces in the distance, and I know there's a small village nearby in the jungle. I get out my dinghy, and row to shore. I bring a small easel and a backpack of art supplies. I find the village. I tell them I want to set-up my easel and draw EVERYONE, one at a time. It's morning, so I have all day. "No, no, it's all FREE," I tell them. And I do it. I draw ALL day. My old shoulder injury hints that it's not happy, but it understands and approves reluctantly. Children (and adults) gather around me. They're all grinning and laughing and speaking their local dialect (which I don't understand). But they can't afford to give me any donations. That's fine. I already assumed that. That's not why I'm here. ...In fact, I'm not sure why I AM here, but it must be done, and I greatly DESIRE to do it. I don't know why. ...In the evening I pack-up and go back to my boat, happy, happy, happy, because boy-oh-boy I was drawing well today, and using that new technique, and I suddenly remembered an old little thing that Esly or Duron or Kenny or Keelan or Michele or Brian or Wayne (or whoever) used to do in their drawings WAY BACK in the days of wine and roses in Florida, and I was able to use that old little thing in my current drawings, today. ...And maybe I'm invited for dinner in someone's home/shack in the jungle, and we try to communicate as best as possible (since we don't speak a common language), and it's all pure joy, and good food. ...

....Yes, I dream. Now I must DO. ...Yes?

Here's what I do...

Here's what I do when I don't have anyone to draw at the stands (like tonight). As I've said in earlier post, I sketch. Tonight, I worked on some fairy designs for a mural, and I tried to come-up with a better surfer caricature body...

TheMuralGuy.com

OK, so that's my new domain name. I just grabbed it off Network Solutions. Also, since I've never built a website before, I "practiced" by building a free site on Homestead. I don't have much in the way of mural samples, so I just threw-in random art from my files. Check-out

http://TheMuralGuy.homestead.com

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about this. I REALLY like this domain name. I've been searching for one, and *voila* I found this one just sitting there. Sweet. ...What y'all think? It should be easy to remember. Nice and simple.
Now I just need to find a host, and build a REAL site. Any suggestions?

Master Cleanse... Fasting without hunger

I'm FASTING! That's right, just call me Gandhi from now on. I'm on Day 8, and I feel great. Some of my friends have asked, out of sincere worry, "WTF?!!!" Well, I'll explain it.

{ Word of warning: this will be gross! }

You see, for a LONG time I have been feeling listless. I mean, YEARS. Now, I know some of that is from "hard living," and, believe me, I've sown many wild oats over the years, all across the freakin' United States (and one province of Canada). But even after "calming down" in recent times, it has seemed impossible to lose weight and feel better, without some sort of god-like exercise regimen. And, even then, I was wondering if I needed more than just exercise. ( And, besides, I've tried to exercise, and it HURTS. It didn't hurt when I was younger. WTF, indeed.) ... I mean, what really IS the best set of FOODS to eat? Low carb? Vegan? Simple "balance"? What?
Well, a couple of weeks ago I came across an idea on the WWW: Over the years, our bodies deal with toxins in foods and beverages by producing fats and placing the toxins in the fats, as a way for the body to protect itself. Also, a LOT of undigested "material"/toxins are left in the digestive tract. ...And apparently this leads to a host of other problems, as well as premature aging. You feel a lack of energy, and even emotionally dispirited.
Now, I'm a skeptic, first and foremost. So when I heard about Master Cleanse, and the whole idea of "cleansing" your body, from the inside-out, I thought it sounded a lot like voodoo/new age stuff. But when I read how people said they "felt great" after AND DURING the fast, I researched further.
I've always had the impression that fasting itself, in general, is a very healthy thing. But, when I read that most people don't really experience hunger during their Master Cleanse fast, I REALLY became fascinated. I bought a book on the subject, and looked some more on the Web, and then, last Monday, I started.
As warned, on Days 2 and 3, I had some problems, but not with hunger. No, it was HEADACHES. Freakin' mind-warping headaches. I also had a day in which I just wanted to sleep all day. The thing is, these are DETOX symptoms. I was getting off a life-long caffeine habit. A couple of times I broke down and had a diet soda and aspirin, just to SURVIVE. ...
But then, everything was fine. Days 4 through 8 have been fantastic. I dare say I feel better than I have in all my adult years. But, to be honest, I did have a break-down of sorts, besides the caffeine: on Saturday night I had two glasses of wine with my friends at Kitty O'Shea's. Now, when I had started the fast, I was aware I was "going out" Saturday night, and I had decided I'd go ahead and do the fast and yet have a couple of glasses of wine in the middle of it. As it turns out, I don't think it affected the detox process much. My morning "eliminations" continued unabated. I'll explain:
You see, a key part of Master Cleanse is the "saltwater flush." (If you're squeamish, don't read further!) And what is the saltwater flush? Hmm, well, let me put it this way. What's happening is, the "lemonade" concoction that I make every morning provides about 1000 calories a day, AND it "loosens" the undigested material in your digestive tract. This "material" is apparently full of toxins. So, you gotta get rid of that SHIT, literally! That's where the saltwater flush comes in. The first thing, every morning, you MUST (quickly) drink 32 ounces (a quart!) of purified water mixed with 2 level teaspoons of non-iodized sea salt. And here's the freaky part. Your body won't absorb that stuff. It "flushes" right through you in 30 minutes, or less, and boy o boy you better be near the bathroom!
The whole deal is bizarre. After the first 24 hours of starting the fast, all the food you have eaten the day before has been digested and eliminated, right? So, theoretically, there's nothing left in your digestive tract, right? And, sure enough, on the second and third days, the saltwater flush was just a clean "flush" of sorts, more or less. But then the bizarre/gross part happened. On every day since then, more and more of this "blackish brown material" has been coming out. Bizarre! Gross! Yet fascinating! Or so it seems to me. Where is all this CRAP coming from? Well, my friends, all this crap is apparently just sitting there in our bodies, rotting. Everyone's bodies. Wow! By, getting rid of it, you are getting rid of a lot of weight, for one thing, and volume in your gut, for another. But also you're getting rid of toxins.
With the toxins removed from your digestive track, your body no longer is required to "go through shit" to get to the food you eat, and your body is no longer picking-up toxins from this shit as it tries to get to the nutrients in your diet. That's the idea. Lose the crap, feel better. Or something like that.
The best judge is through personal experience, sometimes. And my experience is, I feel great. That's a practical, solid observation. Man, I am pleased.
And here's another thing. My shoulder isn't hurting as much. In fact, I had forgot about it until last night at work. I was setting-up the easel, and I remembered, "Oh, yeah, I have a bad shoulder. Hey wait a sec...." Then today I read that people had reported the reduction or even elimination of joint pain. What the heck?
Man, it's like a miracle. I mean, I don't want to try and convince anyone of anything, and I don't know what the future holds, but, damn, I think I've discovered something "real" in the midst of all those weight-loss programs and fad diets and exercise machines. Fasting and cleansing. I'm very impressed.
Now, I'm not a nutritionist. (Although, come to think of it, one of my nieces IS a nutritionist, and is working on her PhD at John Hopkins in Baltimore.) But I do know how I feel. The feeling is this: my legs are light, my arms are strong, a gallon jug of water feels like a feather, and *get this* my MOOD is improved. I'm sleeping like a baby, and I'm dreaming great dreams. Wow, I really need to continue this.
But to continue, how? This is what I'm hearing: a diet of fresh veges and fruit and nuts and seeds. That's your basic diet. It will continue to detox your entire body, and keep you feeling great. In fact, to be clear about this, one week before I started Master Cleanse, I started eating only (almost) fresh/raw fruits and vegetables, as well as nuts and granola and whatnot. I immediately felt better. But my digestion went crazy, and I was feeling groggy and "foggy" on some days. Apparently, these were early detox symptoms. So, I guess, I had given myself a little head start on detoxification and improvement.
And so, what now? I'll finish this in a couple of days, and ease my stomach back into solid foods with orange juice and a little vegetable soup. And then I'll try and maintain the right foods, and probably a little wine each week, which supposedly has enormous medicinal benefits too. I'm not completely off caffeine, so I'll keep reducing its intake while avoiding migraines. (Quick cut to All-Star Music Hotel last Wednesday: "Kid, I'm not weeping because you're ugly, I'm weeping because of a freaking headache! Now hold still so I can draw your ugly mug!") (Just kidding... kinda.)
Also I should note that this cleanse is something which can be done several times a year, and it can be done for a longer period, say, 20 or 30 days. That's why I'm not too worried about cheating a little with a couple of diet sodas and wine. Not perfect, but close. Man, I feel great.
A number of celebrities apparently swear by Master Cleanse, or so I hear. Beyonce was the latest one to sing its praises, I think. And, of course, celebrities know best, right? That's why they're on TV! ...lol
Here's the references I used:
books:
Master Cleanse, by Stanley Burroughs
and
Lose Weight, Have More Energy, and Be Happier in 10 Days, by Peter Glickman
web:
http://www.lifetrainingonline.com/blog/lemonade-diet-recipe.htm

Anyway, that's it. If you read all of this, then you must really be interested, lol. So, if you have any questions just let me know. I, actually, haven't read all the information in those books, but I got the gist. Fast, cleanse, feel great. Simple.
By the way, WILL POWER is indeed a part of this. Most people do not get hungry, and I haven't either, but, man, I miss the PLEASURE of food. ...Just a couple more days, Tim! .
..And some people experience CRAVINGS, as opposed to hunger.
...In the end, you must WANT to do it. Good luck!

A baby and a man

A couple more from this last week.... I enjoy the challenge of getting a good likeness in babies, although in this one I screwed-up the ears a bit. Some caricaturists tell me they refuse to draw babies altogether.

There is another way...

Among caricaturists, there is ENDLESS debate and controversy about what should be emphasized, whether quality or speed. And there's much noble talk about balancing these two elements. On one extreme is the artist who demands a "studio" type piece on each drawing, and seems to take FOREVER on each drawing. The other extreme is the FAST artist, who will draw very similar-looking faces over and over, very quickly, while being a real salesman and, even, a clown/comedian or something, entertaining and laughing and grinning. I suppose the second type is closest to what is expected of the contemporary caricaturist, but, boy, you're starting to move a long way from ART in that scenario. Then again, some interesting things happen in those pressure-packed, crazy, spontaneity-filled sessions of caricaturing at retail stands and at private gigs. The IDEAL caricaturist is the one who can draw great, and quickly. That ideal is, simply, phenomenally difficult, and rare.
...In nearly four years in Florida, I do think I've fully explored the normal approaches to caricaturing.
...But there is another way to approach retail caricaturing, I believe, and for aspiring artists, it may the best. Here it is: retail caricaturing should emphasize neither speed nor quality, but, instead, LEARNING. That is what I'm doing now. Of course, I want to maintain a reasonable speed, and I want the finished work to be neat and fair. But, before that, I can learn.
Here's how it works. You go into a shift at a retail stand. You set-up, and there is no one to draw. Well, sit down and begin sketching. Maybe bring reference material. Sketch, sketch, sketch. And then color, color, color. Now, since you're at a caricature stand, the professional thing to do is to sketch and color cartoon-like material. But what am I doing, exactly, with all this sketching? I'm CREATING. I'm exploring. I'm thinking of a certain character design, maybe a flowing movement THIS WAY, or THAT way, and I grab my pencil and I sketch it out. Wow, that's cool, let's try it like this. ...What you're doing is flexing your creative mind, and your VISUALIZATION. Try to SEE the image on the paper before you draw it.
But what about customers? Here's what I do these days. I'm happy! I look at the model and I visualize his/her face in a "cool" way or angle. What cool features does he have? What does he want to be? Basketball player? Well do you want to be dribbling, or shooting, or dunking? Dribbling? OK. ... So I draw the face, using marker-only at first, then using a pencil to guide me for a lot of it. And then the body. Hmm, I've done dribbling basketball players before, but maybe I can come-up with something NEW. I look at the model. Is he skinny or fat? Or muscular? Or is the model a pretty female teenager? Are her breasts small? Are her arms long? Or is she a little chubby girl? ...You see, instead of drawing the same little body over and over, which I'm guessing is probably kinda lame anyway (be honest!) you let the WHOLE person guide your creativity, and you come-up with something original and cool. (You must use a pencil for this type of creativity, by the way, before inking.)
And you can extend this to the use of watercolors (if you're at a location that uses watercolors) or whatever coloring method you use. Experiment, mix creatively. Although, to be honest, most of the experimenting with color should be done at another time. But what CAN be done is OBSERVATION. Use your color knowledge to match the model's hues/complexion. I mean, just yesterday, my buddy Brian told me he uses a madder (pinkish) color to mix with his naples yellow-red, and when I tried it, WOW, it was SO much better than the red I was using (for many faces).
My roommate Wayne had told me that when he worked with our friend Joe (Bluhm), that Joe told him to "make every picture different." And that was the insight which got Wayne on the way to phenomenal improvement. Caricaturing ended-up not being Wayne's "thing," but my point is his artistic improvement, which was crazy-good.
And that's the whole point. That's the "other way" to approach caricaturing. You see, caricaturing is a TEMPORARY activity for most of its artists. They will either move on to other art and be successful, or they'll leave professional art behind altogether. I'm speaking to those who want to "move up" to other art and be successful. That's what I'm trying to do myself. Now, that "other" art may be, simply, studio caricaturing, or it may be illustration, or fine art oils, or even sculpture. Whatever. The main thing is that you use your many hours "in the trenches" as a valuable tool in increasing your artistic skill. It IS possible. Anyway, it's a lot more satisfying than cranking out the same crap over and over. And you can still make a sustainable living.
Good luck!

[One last note: For those who wish to continue caricaturing in retail and at gigs, I recommend the same approach. But you MUST be able to "change gears" and go REALLY fast. There's really no other way. If there's a line of people, you MUST knock 'em down quickly. That's how the game is played. And that's fine. It's intense, it's crazy, it's like an athletic competition. BUT, I plead with you, avoid this: DO NOT become one of those guys who apparently doesn't care. That's the only way I can describe it, in a sense. This is the guy who never improves, and cranks out pic after pic, and it's all crap, really, and it all looks the same, and the guy often will make lots of dollars. And the caricaturing companies "love" this guy, simply because he makes a lot of money for them. They really do WISH he drew better quality stuff, but they have only so much control. (Heck, if I owned such a company, I'm sure I'd feel a similar way.) But, unfortunately, it comes down to paying the bills, and this artist will indeed be rewarded. He has reached a certain point, where the average customer is generally satisfied with the experience. But this is NOT art. It is an assembly line, it is entertainment and salesmanship. These artists talk and sing and dance and joke and, sadly, never improve and do not respect art. They respect their sales numbers. ...Sales numbers. Gosh, that's all I ever hear anymore! I did THIS much here. THAT much there. I BEAT so-and-so, hooray! ...It's low-brow competition among friends, but it's not art. ...In general, I'd say this is a Crap Stage we all go through, but you MUST move beyond it. I'm trying, myself, to move beyond it. And while fast crap may pay the bills, you satisfy only your wallet, while the other artists furtively snicker, and while the artist inside of you regrets ever giving you talent. How can that be satisfying? You may as well be selling used cars.]

Hindquarters and Tail

(CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE.)
Interesting comparison to last night. I've mostly finished the hindquarters and tail. The hues are coming along nicely, and also the fur texture. Not perfect, but satisfactory for a first try. Wow, I learned a lot today. Just gotta get in there and DO IT, like with anything else. I'm slowly speeding-up. (Does that make sense?)

Learning Fur...

Rear leg in-progress.

Beginning the Underpainting

Beginning the cheetah mural underpainting. The cheetah ALONE is 21" X 30", by the way. The mural as a whole is 5' X 3'. Kinda small, but if I were making it a complete thing, I'd either expand it some and/or add a trompe l'oeil window area of stone or brick or something.
...Whew! I have such little experience painting, and have never done wildlife, except for that one little dolphin last year. Anyone can see how I'm slowly, slowly doing a little bit at a time here... First the careful drawing, then stopping, worrying, playing video games and weeping for a week, then painting the first layer of spots, and more gnashing of teeth and roaming the Internet for hours and hours, and then *suddenly* at 2 AM I jump up and throw on much of the underpainting values, and snap a pic. I'm hilarious. ...Also, note that the flash really "warmed up" the hues here. They are NOT that orange! It's just yellow ochre and burnt umber and a little mars black. ...

Anyway, just the beginning! Hours and hours of layers and layers of fur and the proper hues and final details. Wish me luck! (Oh, and then the background, lol.)

Just a couple of teenagers I drew this week

No big deal here. I just happened to take a couple of pics for some reason. It's funny to see all the little mistakes, in hindsight. But the girl does indeed have a broad, masculine nose bridge. Both families went crazy for the drawings of their respective teenage children. That's always a strange feeling. I see nothing but mistakes and a struggle for likeness, and a little beauty.

Mystery Comment

Hmm, so I got this comment on my birthday post. (See February 8 post.) It's interesting. It appeals to my suspicion that I, quite frankly, SUCK as an artist:

"Perhaps you have talent, I don't know, but I do know this: it'd be hard to come to that conclusion based on the drawings you have posted on your blog. Your stuff looks pretty amateurish to me, amateurish, uninspired and insipid -- if you're unsuccessful, maybe that's more of the reason why. Check out some drawings by the old masters and note the differences 'tween your stuff and there's. Perhaps you should quit lamenting about how talentedly unsuccessful you are, open your eyes and realize your stuff is pretty crappry (there's no life in your stuff...a faithful copy -- with no interpretation, no interesting linework, nothing -- of a photo, I mean come on...how insipid can you get?) and do something to change that. Just my two cents.... "

....Anyone know who left this? It was signed "Anonymous." I thought, at first, it was some random person throwing-out grief for their own satisfaction. But on second glance, it's pretty clear that this is a fellow artist. I'm guessing the artist is either someone I know at CC, or someone from the NCN. I did a search on the NCN Forum for some of the words used, like INSIPID and AMATEURISH. I've narrowed it down to three people. Of course, I'm probably way-off, but who knows? It's all very interesting. It's like a crime I'm trying to solve. Funny. Nobody ever comments on my art, really, so to have this mystery comment appear, well, it's strange and disconcerting. I'd LOVE to have help with my art, but I'm not sure if ANONYMOUS is more concerned with helping me or with burying his/her own inadequacies in slights of others. Sad and weird is how I feel in the end.

It's been a while...

Well I haven't posted LIVE, finished work in a while. (Preferring instead to document my rough drafts and experiments.) ... Some may know the guy here (Jimmy, new CC artist). ...I shoulda taken a photo of the little boy. I can tell you the mother said, "It looks just like him, OMG!" I wasn't that enthusiastic, but I liked the cute factor. The boy was cute. I captured that, in my opinion.

More Fairy Rough Drafts

...I created two more fairy designs tonight, working, again, only from my imagination. This is fun. I wasn't sure I could "design" all on my own (and make it look half-decent) but I think I can do it now. I like my progress so far. ... I mean, I've been able to "draw what I see" for a few years now, but to CREATE, that's new for me. I REALLY enjoy it, I'm realizing. (And there was nothing else to do at Sports tonight.... boo-hoo...)

Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent

Again: "Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent." That's a quote from Calvin Coolidge, of all people. I read it today (Feb. 8, my BIRTHDAY), and it stunned me. You see, I've always thought of myself as talented, and, you know, a special human being. I've been tested as having a really high I.Q., and I taught myself to draw as an adult, and now work as a professional artist, of sorts. And I have this wild, roaming streak which has led me on lots of travels and lots of jobs, meeting lots of people, lots of women, etc... "I'm unique!" I keep thinking... But I've had this "underachiever" sensibility, thinking it cool, or, I don't know... I just have never really wanted to "try too hard" at anything. ...Perhaps fearing failure? And in recent years I've gained weight, and now look like a real bum (and I feel that way, too). But today I read that quote. It was in a book about exercise, actually. I bought the book yesterday, and started reading it today, with the intention of "getting in shape again." (I once was quite the athlete.) Well, really, I simply want to be able to spend a long day painting murals without feeling horrible, or go sailing for a week and not kill myself from exhaustion. These are tough things, and they're what I want to do, and so I REALLY must improve my physical condition. ...But back to that quote. Man, those words sting me. Which is a good thing. I mean, ME, COMMON? No WAY, dude! But there it is. I AM common. I agree with that quote. ...
I indeed have talent, and I indeed am not successful. Heck, I couldn't pay rent this month. How sad is THAT? Ouch. What a bum! I only made $28,000 last year. WTF? ...I know, of course, success is measured by other things than money, in the final analysis, but sometimes money is a useful measure, however imperfect.
Anyway, this stinging quote has motivated me. I did NOT spend the remaining hours of the day playing PC games online, or sitting around drinking beer. I did other things, like watching a 2-hour DVD about acrylic painting. And, you know what? The DVD was inspiring! I've had the DVD for a few months now, but couldn't get beyond the "This is what kind of brushes I use" stage. But today I watched the WHOLE thing with great interest, and, WOW, it was so very nice to simply sit back and observe a professional painter using acrylics (to paint a wildlife scene). And TWO HOURS of it. Simply "absorbing" through observing. I think that's how we learn anything: we mimic what we see. And I had NEVER seen anyone paint with acrylics. OH I SEE, I kept saying.

And, tonight, I got back to working on my mural. I'm painting on the big "practice wall" I put in my studio/bedroom. The central figure is a cheetah. I had "traced" it using an overhead projector, but the resolution wasn't adequate for good detail. So, tonight, I went back and drew the head FREEHAND. (When I get into the actual acrylics stage, I'll do a lot of adjusting, I'm sure.) In the drawing of details, I'm using a sepia-colored wax pencil, which, I discovered, will ERASE easily with a Design PLASTIC eraser (on gesso-primed wallboard). In the photo you can see the result, which is NOT a finished drawing, but simply a LOOSE MAP of contours and values, using, mainly, an fat ART STIX. (I wish I'd done more with the normal, fine-lined wax PENCIL.) But it's enough to get started with. I will paint, let it dry, paint some more, adjust, let dry, paint more detail, etc, until finished, simply layering and layering. Acrylics are wonderful for quick layering. ...Usually I would paint the background first, but I'm so emotionally curious about painting a big critical figure in a mural, that I'm rushing into the cheetah first. ...And if it goes well, I'll be assuring myself that I CAN INDEED DO THIS. Believe me, I'm full of fear.

Also I've finally been working on my own fairy designs. "Eventually" I will paint a few of these on my niece's bedroom walls. Actually, I was fearful of this, too. I've never "designed" anything. I've included, in this post, a little rough draft of an original design, more or less using my imperfect memory of a pixie fairy kinda like Tinker Bell. I've only COPIED, so to speak, Tink images in the past, so to be creative and make my own thing, well, it's a new experience, but, you know, it's FUN. Trying to get all the anatomy right, and the pose "just so," well, it is indeed fun. I'm fairly satisfied with my first efforts here. All this caricaturing must be helping me in more ways than I thought... LOL... Also, creating my own designs is essential to not getting sued for plagiarism. Of course, this design is still too Tink-like, but it's a start. I mean, I COULD just TRACE another design onto a wall in someone's home, but I'd like to use the images for my mural portfolio, so I must be original.

Anyway, my birthday has come to a close. Thanks to all the well-wishers. I'll keep everyone updated on my new exercising habit, and my mural work, and "success attitude." (Oh, GOD, did I just say that? ..........See how I am... LOL.)

You'll never be able to paint better than you can draw

I heard that recently. Is it true? I'd like to THINK so. Learning to observe and draw well, is a necessary path. And while drawing can be an end in itself, through history it has served as "preparation" for painting. And not because it's simply a discipline, but because it teaches OBSERVATION, I think, and trains the hand; in other words, it develops the "artist's eye," which is so necessary in any real art. Drawing and painting are really the same thing: sensitive observation. Or so it seems to me. ...So, I'm working on a mural of a cheetah, and I'm THINKING about the cheetah. And so tonight, at work, I did a little sketching of a cheetah. Of course, I had to stop and draw a PERSON for MONEY, but I got some of the "cheetah study" done too. No big deal.

New Studio

I've rearranged everything. The utility room wasn't big enough to use a projector, nor to "step back," so I cleared-out my bedroom, laid down plastic and canvas atop the carpet, and moved my whole painting set-up and "mural practice wall" into the space. (I now sleep on a little cushion which rolls-up under the desk!) This is a real improvement for learning murals, and I finally got myself an overhead projector, so now I can actually practice the EXACT techniques I need for mural work. ....
And, YES, those are practice spheres, but I've never done 'em before. (They're in EVERY learn-to-paint book I buy.) And you know what? Spheres are actually excellent exercises. You must BLEND, and you must work from dark to light in different colors. If you can paint spheres in all the colors, you can paint any object, in a sense. I darkened each hue with its complement, basically, and tinted with white, for all the variation in value (and chroma). (I kinda rushed 'em, and didn't get the shadows right, but the shadows in the book were wrong, I noticed.).... And I've switched to professional Liquitex heavy body acrylics. They have a higher percentage of actual PIGMENT.
... Oh, and I did something I thought I'd never do: I bought a couple of books by Lee Hammond. If you've ever browsed the art technique section of a big bookstore (and who HASN'T!) you've probably noticed several books by Ms. Hammond, and you've probably noticed that some of her example artwork is, well, rather SIMPLE, if not SUSPECT. But, you know, I realized the other day that LEARNING acrylics REQUIRES simple work. (I've been getting frustrated.) So when I looked closer, I was intrigued. I mean, look at this limited palette: cad red medium, cad yellow medium, prussian blue, and then throw in alizarin crimson and burnt umber (and tit white and a black) and you're set. Nice and simple (and EDUCATIONAL). ...More to come.

Back to Acrylics

HOLIDAYS, BE GONE! Wow, I hate that stretch from Halloween to New Years. The days are getting short, darkness surrounds me, it's getting colder, I'm more and more broke, and I'm alone. Argh! Depressing, eh? Sorry. But it's over now, and I'm working on painting. ....
I've figured-out that I don't have the right airbrush for fine art, so, at the moment I'm returning to acrylic brush painting. My step-sister (in St. Cloud) wants some fairies painted on her daughter's bedroom walls, so I'm starting with a Tink-like design, just for practice's sake. And, yes, it's the same design I posted a while back when I was experimenting with airbrushing. It makes a good comparison. .....
Some of the drawing was traced from a Disney design online, but most was freehand, and, of course, I did all the acrylic painting, which was the point of the exercise (as opposed to drawing exercise: I get plenty of that already!) ...I'm figuring-out skin tones, blending, and whatnot, and, man, it's TOUGH, especially on drywall like this. I mean, getting all those details, and not having a PEN or something... Jees...
The figure in the photo is 9 1/2 inches tall. ...It didn't really take too long. I really like the IMMEDIACY of acrylics, actually, and the simplicity. Just a brush and paint, and you're set.
...Anyway, I see some problems with this painting, but overall I guess it's acceptable. The legs are too dark. The face is rather cartoony. The hair is BAD. You can't see her ear. Oh, well...

Why Our Hearts Ache

I'll admit it. Now in my 40's, I've become disillusioned. After all the emotional trauma which is youth, and young love, and rejection, and all the years of hard work in life in general, I feel empty, or at least I WAS feeling empty. But during the last 3 1/2 years, here in Florida, drawing people for a living, and having a little more TIME in my weeks, I've loosened-up a bit, and have recovered some lost sensitivity in my soul, so to speak, I think.
I'm thinking of women, of all things. What horrible creatures, I sometimes muse. What is their worth? They've given me nothing but heartache, and, more recently, nuisance. They can't drive. They're physically inferior, in a brute sort of way. They promise soul and body, and give neither. ...But I still appreciate the physical beauty. And, for their souls? What the ...? Give me a beautiful painting, or a fine meal, but not the soul of a woman.
But, now, I've remembered something. You see, I met a young lady recently. Well, she's too young for me (in her low twenties), but she's not too young for some of you. She'll remain nameless here, but some of you know her, here in Orlando. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, she reawakened my RESPECT for women. This had been gravely challenged in my mind.
No, really. Just when I thought I couldn't be more disillusioned, I came across a young woman who floored me with her sweetness, kindness, creativity, and potential. Wow, I thought. Wow, I remember this. I remember respecting women, and desiring them for their souls, in addition to their bodies. I remember, now, the desire to wed and have children, not because it was a genetic impulse, but because I worshiped a particular girl, and wept at her feet, without restraint. Women can do that, if they aren't so hell-bent in becoming like men, aggressive, selfish, and, well, you know we men suck. I remember worshiping a girl or two, long ago, and now I remember why. I respect; I long; I fully realize I'll never be a better human than my lady, and my heart aches, and breaks.
And I find that I am rejuvenated by this recovered knowledge.