We are Painting day and night to have our pieces ready for Illuxcon. Last year boasted great sales and a large turn-out. The weekend is a super fun time with many tables set up at the nearby hotel conference hall with new work and amazing artists.
ILLuXCon, Allentown Art Museum, Oct, 22-26
I've Been Getting Pretty Serious
...and posting mostly drawings on Social Media: Instagram and Facebook. I've been challenging myself to show my goodies and secrets as much as possible and crossing my fingers that people say "YES"!!, "I would decorate my place with these" or, "I want to see myself in this style"...because I love to draw people...
Best Days Ever...
Best Tool Ever for Cleaning Brushes
I used to use big metal brushes that looked like grill cleaners to clean Purdy brushes (for house painting). I searched for something like this to clean fine oil painting brushes and found this awesome Metal Eyebrow brush on Amazon. The plastic eyebrow brushes you get in makeup kits and stores are too brittle and you loose the teeth every few days. This one has held up for months! I love to use it everyday...sometime I paint just to use it when I'm done, really.
Sketching...
I have my reference, now I need a strong drawing to work from:
I use Tombow pens on any hot pressed drawing surface, here: poster board.
Drawing is like dancing with socks on a polished floor. So much fun!
Need Models? Make 'Em.
I'm working on a series of paintings which require stylized animals in the scenes.
I have photos from zoos allover the world through my travels with the museum, but the lighting always seems to be wrong when I composite these photos into my reference. I always need living models too, but making a paper mache human would be taking things too far! Here's some process shots of making a parrot for a painting about "taste".
Building the claws with wire and tape...
gesso...
paint, Viol-a!
Self Portrait A Day for Thirty Days
Painters,
I just practiced a portrait-a-day for thirty days. My improvements were amazing.
You must use a new source of light everyday (in my case, a different window).
You will teach yourself beyond measure and improve your work!
Stepping back
Dear Painter-Philosopher,
The best thing you can do for your painting is to step back. This isn't just art-school advice, I tell ya, it's true in every one of your life experiences and it's true for your art work!
You must step back over and over again with your work held completely straight to your view. You must see it from a distant perspective, make better decisions about your shapes, values, story. Every mark you make shapes the power of your piece. Every opinion you consider is valuable information to shape your destiny.