The Two Towers

Well this took far to long to get finished up but here's another. Thoughts?

A finished piece...

I feel pretty good about how this turned out.  I think I brought a focus to the tank upfront with a little color shift to a greener hue to separate it from the other tanks/objects.  I also tried to up the mark making and strengthen the edges and detail in this tank. Feels like I'm making some strides forward.  Let me know what you think.  I'm excited to get to the next one.

Another underpainting

Here is another one I'm working on.  I tried to get some of the lost edges and softer edges here in the under painting. I left out more of the details for simplification.  I'm having fun doing full values under paintings.  I haven't done them this way before so I guess I'll see how I like it.

Under-painting

Okay my friends this is one of the pieces I'm working on.  I did this under-painting today.  Any initial worries here?  I realize the mountains in the background are not worked much. Any suggestions there?  The sky was just a hazy overcast from all the reference photos this day.  I'll be working on the underpainting for the other piece tomorrow a little so I'll post that once there's more to discuss.

Finished piece

Ok I'm stopping here so I don't fall into my pattern of overdoing it.  Hopefully I stopped soon enough.  Let me know what you think.

quick underpainting

So this is a real quick underpainting although I'm aiming to keep things real loose and thick here.  I'm planning on going in with subtle more green and red spots to play with the color.  Thoughts?  It will also have some solid telephone/power lines crossing the street that cut through the sky.  They'll contrast with the loose and blurred edges that will be in most of the piece.

Study using a straight edge

So I prepped a bunch of surfaces and this had the most extreme surface.  I figured it would be the best thing to test the use of a paint trowel to lay down straight lines wet into wet painting.  It was interesting and worked pretty well. I went back and softened many edges after but I will definitely pull on  this little trick in the future.  You can see the various little ridges that catch the light.  It's hard to have enough light to get a decent shot and not pick it up.

Done and Done

Can I say I don't like this new format?  I don't know what happened, but I really dislike it.

Anywho, it was sunny, so I was able to get these pics.  I still need to clean up speckles, esp. on the bottom one.  The top image will be on the postcard.

I'd like some help choosing a cropping. Please pick your top 3.

Ok so the original shot is on the bottom. I have a 16x40in canvas that I thought would be fun to use for this piece. I'm thinking a cropping of the shot may prove a stronger composition but I'd love some help picking one. I've cut some holes in a paper that help show the proper dimensions for the canvas.  Please select your favorite 3 and if you have an argument for why go ahead and leave that also.  Thanks friends.

Floating shit

Here are some poor, very quick snapshots of 2 of the pieces for the upcoming show.  It gives you an idea for the vein of the work.  I'm working in multiple layers more and more, especially in the background; it gives a nice contrast with the subject.  It may not come across here, but I'm happy with the textural effects.

This one is finished, save final varnish.  Critique it all you want; I'm not touching it again.

This one is in the final tweaking stages.   I'm still working with the front stones, and to some degree, the cast shadows - and of course the frame/border.  The problem area I'm having is the interaction between the cast shadow of the deer skull and the globe.  It's hard for me to get the values correct in this spot to really make the globe come forward as it should.  Perhaps it's unfortunate that the shadow creeps directly behind the globe.  I'm looking for subtle tweaks; it's impossible for me to do significant paint-overs at this point.  any ideas?

Trying to pick up some traction and keep this project moving. Here's another little guy 6x8inches. I have one more of this size then a bunch of 8x10in panels then I'll do some larger pieces.  Let me know what you think. This is tentatively done unless someone helps me see something now or I find something I want to change after being away from it for a while. I hope the image is good enough it's just from my cell phone.

Scotty's grandparents home

This is a commission piece I just finished. It's 16x20in.  I had a bunch of photos from different decades and seasons given to me and was asked to recreate a shot of the home as it looked back in the 70's early 80's.  It was a challenge but I think it turned out okay considering the challenges given.  I'm open to any critiques if you have something that could help it out.

These others are some pieces I've updated.  I did them really quick in the beginning and then I've added some changes. Also the lighting is definitely warmer in the new shots.  Let me know if they were improvements or if I should consider changing more.  These are only 6x8inches.

Make like a tree... WIP

As per Brandt's request, I am posting this latest one I'm working on, part of the show I will have out here in Albany next Spring.

I'm usually self-depreciating when it comes to my work, but not so with this one.  Everything seems to be clicking, and I'm really figuring out what is working best for me.  I'm questioning one thing, but I'd like to see what you guys say about it.

It's not a great pic.  I usually shoot outside for best results, but the weather here hasn't been optimal.  I just rigged up a stage for still life photoing in my room, and purchased a few 5,000 kelvin, 900 lumen bulbs.  I'm still trying to figure it out, as you can see (glare, fish eye), but at least the temp seems to be working.

Yes, the last leaf is yet to be done.

Finished

Does anyone else ever have completely bipolar relationships with their paintings? While working on this one, I would look at it one day and hate it and then love it another day. Anyway, I am finally okay with it. There are still things that bug me but I'm calling it done.

Worth it?

I have struggled with this painting ever since the drawing stage, and as you can tell, I am still struggling with drawing issues, so I am wondering if it is even worth pursuing at this point. I'll tell you my ideas for what it is supposed to be when it is finished. I planned to paint the hair realistically, then the black part will have stars (the night sky) and the colored squares will continue behind the circle in the top right hand corner and the sky circle would have some type of border. The part I can't stand about it right now is her arm and hand. Is it fixable? It is difficult to fix things at this point in my process since the sky background is collage, so if any of the edges have to change, I have to paint in the sky.

composition

i'm working on an environment concept piece that i really want to test my illustration chops on. the idea is somekind of decades old abandoned supertanker stranded in the desert that some nomads take up base inside. there's just this section that's exposed, with the bulk of it buried in the sand dunes, creating a dark underground space inside. this would be the exterior establishing shot. 

i came up with these composition mock-ups and would like to hear people's thoughts on which and why is most engaging. 

*also, who's in charge of the monster image in the blog header? can it be shrunk down to a quarter size or something so that we don't have scroll past it?

Sentinels

A few 8 x 10.  A few of you have already seen them.  Sticking with the burnt sienna, ultra blue, and yellow ochre.  I need a few embellishments to make them pop - texture etc.  Geoff, I'd love to see a paint over.

photo reference

Robh Ruppel had a great post about considering design when using photo ref: HERE

Robin Eggs

The latest...

Reincarnate

New Turkey carcass.  This one is 24" x 30".  The red glare at the bottom is from the "no-parking" curb I set it on to take the pic.