Mikey's Art - the art of Michael J. Kloepfer

Fun with analysis... The Musketeer

2011-12-30T14:10:00.000-08:00

A new piece, The Musketeer.
I have the sketch looking how I want it. Now I am using the armatures of 3 canvas sizes, experimenting with the placement of the figure within the picture plane. My computer graphics skills allow me to experiment endlessly, and see how each configuration looks. I am grateful for the opportunities and advantages modern technology offers.

It's interesting to see how each arrangement tells a unique story. For instance, look at how and where the eyes are placed in the following examples... or how on some the chin rests firmly on the diagonals... What is contained in the shapes created by the diagonals? What major outline shapes fall along the diagonals? What happens at the intersection of diagonals? What story does that tell? How does it change the meaning of his expression, gesture, body language? These are the questions I am asking myself as I experiment, move the figure around, make it larger or smaller, etc.

It may be a while before this becomes a finished piece...

15x30"

16x20"

18x24"

Color Study - "Temperature"

2011-12-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

12/04/11:

A slightly more accurate color correction.

12/03/11:

Acrylic, 5x7"
After watching a documentary on Polar Bears, I had the idea to do a small color study contrasting the cool shadows on the snow with the warm sunlight hitting the polar bear's fur; a metaphor for the contrast of the warmth of the sun against the cold, vast expanse of polar region.
Not surprisingly, I call this study "Temperature."
The color on this scan is as close as I could get to the actual painting study.
Did you ever have one of those times when you didn't quit while you were ahead? Yeah, I know.
I pretty much had the colors and values dialed in about halfway through, but I kept going. Pretty soon, I was trying to correct what I had done to the original sketch...
There is a point where you don't go back in and 'fix' things, or you'll spend more time fixing your 'fixes' - this is one of those times.
Still, it came out okay in the end, I got to exercise my color and value-matching skills, and I learned from the experience.With a color study, it's not about producing a finished piece, it's about learning and honing the skills of perception and execution.

The Lady In White-Revisited

2011-12-02T17:24:00.000-08:00

12/02/11:
You know how some ideas sit around for a long time? I had the initial inspiration for this painting The Lady In White a couple years ago. I liked the idea, but it needed something more, in order for it to really come alive. So I have been sitting on it (like a bird on an egg,) waiting for the right inspiration and ideas.
Lately I have been gathering ideas to continue my series of paintings of (costumed) figures in nature, and percolating on the concept for The Lady In White. The one thing that the piece needed was the right environment/setting. Last night while watching a documentary movie, I saw a background that had just the right 'feel' that I was looking for. I really liked the quality of the light, and the way it filtered through the forest. I knew the light in the forest would compliment the light on the figure, and the stream was just the right extra element to bring it all together.
So this morning, I spent some time gathering reference material, and by this afternoon had enough to begin the sketches. I started with thumbnail sketches of the composition, but quickly realized that I needed to get a feel for the colors, the quality of the light; then I could make better decisions about the composition. Plus, it was the colors and the light that had me excited, and I needed to follow through and tune into that while the inspiration was fresh.
I did this little color study.

Acrylic, 5x7"
The idea of the study was to work out some of the details of the working process. For instance, to set the sky color, and the foliage behind everything, then build toward the front in layers.
This took a couple passes, and I completely painted over it and started again with a better running start.
The most important thing I learned from the color study is the color choices when progressing from the background forward. In the early stages, I had to reach for the neutral colors when mixing: Raw Umber for yellows, Black for cools, Burnt Umber for reds. That way, as I moved forward, I had plenty of 'room' to move into more earthy tones, browns and greens, reaching for the Yellow Ochre, Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna, without getting too saturated. I still have a focal point - the figure - to place into the composition.
Now, to figure out where and how to place that figure!
Here is the drawing of the figure:

For the back-story on the piece, check out the blog post HERE.

POE

2011-11-30T18:36:00.001-08:00

11/30/11:

I'm loving my lunch hour.
Spent my lunch hour today playing with Edgar Allen Poe's face.
Here's the rub: there are only a few images of Poe available. It is apparent that a percentage of them are flip-flopped left-to-right. The problem is, there is no way of telling which ones are correct, and which ones are backwards.
Which is weird, because he had a very unusual head shape, and his two eyebrows went totally different ways.
So the only thing to do is to play with the face until it 'looks right' - or until I laugh so hard that chocolate milk comes out my nose. Either way is good.

MO KEEF!!!

2011-11-29T22:03:00.000-08:00

11/29/11:

I took my sketchbook with me to the DMV today, to pass the time while waiting. For about an hour, I was the hit of the DMV! People were watching and we were all talking and it turned out to be quite an enjoyable couple of hours. One of the gals noticed some older sketches of Keef and commented that she liked them, so I sketched some more Keef.
In the process, I came up with a drawing that I really liked.
I had started the Keef painting, and I liked the lighting in it, but I'm thinking of starting it over, cuz this drawing is just....
Mo' KEEF-Y.
To see more of the Keef sketches, click HERE.
To see the painting WIP of Keef (up to today) click HERE .

BEATLES...GEORGE!

2011-11-27T12:52:00.000-08:00

11/27/11:
From the sketchbook... regular, exaggerated, even more exaggerated...

George had GREAT eyes and eyebrows.

...and that smile was priceless... (when he was smiling.)

The page:

RENFIELD (Tom Waits) Work-In-Progress

2011-11-25T11:23:00.001-08:00

11/25/11:
I've had this one sitting around for awhile, thought I'd scan it and post it.
(At 11x14", the canvas just barely fits on the scanner, and crops out a couple inches all around...lol but it's still better than nothing.)
A very rough and messy Tom Waits as Renfield -
Acrylic painting with palette knife, drips, spatters, and resist... to get that turbulent, unsettled, chaotic feeling of the Renfield character (how appropriate.)

FACES

2011-11-25T00:29:00.000-08:00

Work-In-Progress:

11/26/11:

11/25/11:

Work-In-Progress
Prismacolor and Graphite, 11x17"
Reference

CREATURE SKETCHES!

2011-11-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

11/23/11:
The CheetOwl, a close relative of the Gryphon:

Reptiles and birds are fun to mash-up!

11/22/11:
Persian Owl Kitten:

Cheetahs:

Hammerhead Croc:

Some sketches from my lunch break at work:
1
1/20/11:

A juvenile TurtOwl stretches his wings for his first flight.

A baby TurtOwl waiting for dinner.

11/19/11:
I'm getting back to the drawing board and loving every minute of it!!!
Here are some Creature sketches:

I've been following the muse lately. I have been enjoying drawing birds, particularly raptors; Peregrine Falcons, Harris Hawks, and the like.
Today I had a wild urge to look up reference photos of tree frogs. They have such interesting faces.
Later, I was looking at some of Bobby Chiu's incredible artwork. The guy is simply amazing! I started thinking of the tree frogs, and it seemed to me that their nose would be perfect for a beak. Next thing you know, I'm scribbling away, and having fun! I took the face of a tree frog, and added bits and pieces from a Peregrine Falcon. The result was a couple creatures with a decidedly 'baby-dragon'-esque look to them.
What FUN!
Thanks for the inspiration, Bobby!
btw, here is one of my all-time favorite pieces by Bobby Chiu: check it out!

BIRDS_Sketches

2011-11-19T22:25:00.001-08:00

Some pencil sketches for a series I'm working on:

MIKEYZART STORE!

2011-11-17T22:15:00.000-08:00

Order your very own Limited Edition Fine Art Giclee Prints!

These are Limited Edition Giclee Fine Art Prints, same size as the original painting, signed by the artist.
These beautiful unframed Prints are Fine Art Reproductions on Elegance Velvet Platinum Edition paper, an acid- and lingin-free, archival vellum surface (lightly textured) Fine Art Paper designed for luxurious Fine Art Reproduction.
Note: The text on the display images below is for information only. These prints contain the only painted image - there is no text on the final print. Copyright information is for web use only and will not appear on final print.

JIMI - 16x16" Fine Art Print - Limited Edition of 50 S/N -
$75.00 USD

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The Man In Black - 16x16" Fine Art Print - Limited Edition of 50 S/N -
$75.00 USD

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FRANK - 16x16" Fine Art Print - Limited Edition of 50 S/N
$75.00 USD

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$45.00 USD
Shipping $5.00 within the Continental US. (Please email me at mkloep@hotmail.com for orders outside the Continental US.)

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2011-11-17T20:52:00.001-08:00

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2011-11-17T20:45:00.001-08:00

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2011-11-17T20:40:00.001-08:00

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"The Man In Black"

2011-11-08T20:26:00.000-08:00

Here is the finished piece "The Man In Black."
Original: Acrylic on canvas, 16x16"
I donated one of the Fine Art Print/Artist's Proofs to the silent auction for the 1st Annual CD Relief Concert, to raise money for the Colorado chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. There was a small bidding war, which was won by Sean Pound.
Here I am with Sean and Johnny:

The event was a rousing success, with a phenomenal collection of talent, both musical and artistic. The auction alone raised over a thousand dollars for the LLS.
Here is a link to video highlights from the concert:
1st Annual CD Relief Concert Highlights
For more on "The Man In Black," go HERE.

ART SHOW: Studio Works by The Artists of LOL Caricature Company

2011-11-03T22:40:00.001-07:00

This is my first gallery show since I moved back to Colorado!
Come to the Opening Reception at The Other Side Arts in downtown Denver this Friday, Nov. 4 from 6-9 pm.
My newest paintings will be there, featuring Frank, Johnny, and JIMI and others!

Also included are awesome studio pieces by Brooke Howell, Ben Bloss, and the other amazing artists of *LOL* Caricature Company!
This is a unique perspective on the art of caricature - don't miss it!

My Latest Finished Pieces

2011-10-27T17:58:00.001-07:00

Thumbnails:

New finished piece: "The Man In Black"

2011-10-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

"The Man In Black"

Acrylic, 16x16"
See the full story HERE.

Great books! From the Aristides Classcial Atelier.

2011-09-24T00:18:00.001-07:00

I finally picked up the second book from my mentor and instructor Juliette Aristides:

This book covers the painting part of the curriculum at the Aristides Atelier where I studied.

I feel honored to have been one of the charter students in the program, and I treasure the time I spent there; the knowledge and skills I gained, and the friendships created.

The first half of the curriculum - drawing - is covered in her first book, which includes some of my artwork:

Value Step Scales!

2011-09-24T00:02:00.000-07:00

The next step in my continuing education is to hone my skills in determining - and executing - values, this time in paint.

I had an idea last night to create a grid for mixing gradations between two colors, then mixing tints with white and shades with black. This way, as I go along I am creating an ever-growing catalog of color mixing charts, that will fit into a binder for easy access and handy reference. All the while, I will be honing my ability to see, evaluate, and mix accurate values.
I created this; along the way I also realized the the best starting point is with a simple value scale, so I also created a grid for the three stages of making a 9-value scale.

Value Scales in Bone Black and Titanium White; Acrylic, 8.5 x 11"

Now, to create the value scales themselves.
First I create a 3-step value scale. Starting with Black and White, I mix a middle tone, attempting to make the gray halfway between the black and white. This will be useful for creating 'Notan' studies using a simple black/white/gray division.
Next, I create a 5-step value scale by mixing intermediate grays between the middle value and white, and between the middle value and black, adjusting each as I go. Again, the aim is to create even steps between the values. This will be useful for doing 'Poster Studies' with a limited-value palette.
Finally, I mix intermediate values between each of the 5 steps to create a 9-step value scale. This results in adjusting the initial value steps, to create even gradations between the 9 steps. This will be useful for doing full-value black-and-white studies.

More quick studies - practice, practice, practice!

2011-06-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

12/03/11:

6/27/11:
Time to get some mileage on the ol' brushes. What I am going for here is a quick study, seeing values accurately, simplifying form, and improving my brush control; an accurate, abbreviated statement.
No finished masterpieces here - but these will help toward that end.
The hardest thing I am finding is to not get sidetracked with rendering, but stick to seeing and describing masses of value and color. (It's so tempting to get carried away with the fiddly bits!)
06/27/11:

Acrylic on gessoed Bristol, ~6x9"; 55 min.
Picked up some silk flowers that went on sale at work... I was excited to paint a floral from life, play with the lighting, etc
Again, I started great, blocking in abstract shapes of value and color. Again, I got carried away creating a painting... not a study!
That being said, I was pleased with - and enjoyed the process of - choosing and adjusting the value and color in the shadows - especially on the yellow leaves. I wound up using colors that didn't seem to make sense - until I put them on the canvas. But I trusted my instincts and knowledge, and went ahead. Then I was able to adjust the value and hue this way or that from what was on the board.
This time, it was the areas receiving direct light that I felt were less successful.

Still learning...
The photo is kinda crummy. this camera is a nice one, but I'm still figuring out how to take good photos with it.

06/27/11:

Acrylic on gessoed bristol, 5x7" 55 min

I liked this scene of a rock jutting out of the ocean. Reminded me of a painting I had seen that really had that something that grabbed me. So, it was a good subject for a study.
Once again, the temptation was to develop the study into a painting. The point of the study is to capture the likeness in form, in masses of simple, quick, confident brush strokes (again, an abbreviated statement.)
What I kept aiming for was the sense of being there - to convey the feeling as if you were standing right there. It was elusive, kept coming in and out, appearing and fading away.
I had all I needed at about 30 minutes. I should have left well enough alone, but I continued developing bits and pieces.
It's amazing how even a study will go through stages: first you capture the likeness, and as you develop to the next step, you begin to lose the likeness (temporarily, one hopes) before you capture it again, more developed.
It took me a while, but in the end, I got it back to some degree. I am fairly happy with the end result; I am more happy with what I learned in the process.
.

06/25/11: I liked this scene, especially the shadow side of the trees.

Acrylic on gessoed bristol, 4x5", 35 min.

06/23/11: I couldn't believe it. I got home from work and sat down to paint, and I couldn't think of anything to paint! Totally blank. So after doing some other stuff, I came back and set up a lily that I had in a vase. I really like the way the light plays off the inside of the flower and the shadow on the outside, and I had this idea bouncing around in my head for quite some time, so it's time to begin playing with it using paint.

Acrylic, ~6x9", 50 min.

06/14/11:
I've been going CRAZY, I haven't painted in weeks. Work, work, work, and the band has been busy... blah blah blah, excuses excuses!!!
So I got the brushes out and continued with the value scales, which is an important part of my ongoing study and growth... but I just need to paint ... some... THING!
I saw some great photos of sea turtles, and have had the urge to paint them lately. I love the warm, earthy colors of the shell against the turquoise water.
So I figured this would be a perfect subject for a quick painting study.

Acrylic, 8x10, ~45 min.
The main thing I was aiming for is delineating the light vs. dark shapes, and then a bit of color and form within those shapes.
I also wanted to see if I could convey the sense of buoyancy, floating just below the water's surface, while only using large brushes and abstract shapes.
This was fun! I'll do it again!

Quick Study GALLERY

2011-06-27T21:03:00.001-07:00

Quick Painting Study: Sea Turtle.

2011-06-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

I've been going CRAZY, I haven't painted in weeks. Work, work, work, and the band has been busy... blah blah blah, excuses excuses!!!
So I got the brushes out and continued with the value scales, which is an important part of my ongoing study and growth... but I just need to paint ... some... THING!
I saw some great photos of sea turtles, and have had the urge to paint them lately. I love the warm, earthy colors of the shell against the turquoise water.
So I figured this would be a perfect subject for a quick painting study.

Acrylic, 8x10, ~45 min.
The main thing I was aiming for is delineating the light vs. dark shapes, and then a bit of color and form within those shapes.
I also wanted to see if I could convey the sense of buoyancy, floating just below the water's surface, while only using large brushes and abstract shapes.
This was fun! I'll do it again!

New course!

2011-03-07T22:03:00.001-08:00

I am so excited!
Debating how best to spend my tax refund, I decided to invest into my future, and into my artistic development. (That, and a new light for the studio/easel.)
I investigated several options, and made a decision. I committed to a 3-year online self-study painting course. I looked over the course materials, and while some of the foundation stuff will be (well-deserved) review, I think this course will 'fill in the gaps' nicely, helping to 'round out' my knowledge and skills. There are some topics that have similarities to my previous training, but come at it from a slightly different angle. The sections on color look awesome, and I can always use help with color.
A lot of the course materials deal with learning how to 'see' - and how to better understand what you see - more accurately. Brilliant!
The added benefit of daily discipline will help to gain some forward momentum.
I started on some basic 'notan' (b&w value pattern) studies this evening, and I'm liking it already. I am looking at paintings by masters like Sargent, and seeing how brilliantly the values are organized, and realizing how a well-constructed value pattern really has an impact on a painting, really pulls it all together.
More to come as things develop...

Still life

2011-02-25T13:17:00.001-08:00

Testing out some new brushes:

It was a great opportunity to test out my new Princeton 6300 series brushes. They are recommended in the book Brushwork Essentials by Mark Christopher Weber. He uses water-soluble oils, and he mentions in his book that these synthetic bristle brushes are preferable to natural-hair bristle brushes:
"All the natural hairs absorb water, which reduces their strength and spring to varying degrees... For this reason they become more difficult to use with water-soluble oils if you thin with too much water or rinse as you paint. Bristles in particular swell up and become unmanageable mops."
"The synthetics are nonabsorbent, so their spring and shape are little affected by water when thinning water-soluble oils."
"The Princeton 6300 series is an exceptional brush, having the strength and durability of a good bristle and at the same time coming to a point as fine as many a sable. "

This may explain some of the problems I have been having with the painting process. I work mainly in acrylic, but I am striving for a more traditional oil-painting look, feel and finish.
Acrylic presents the same problem with natural-hair bristle brushes as with water-soluble oils. My bristle brushes have swelled up and are unable to get a fine point. No wonder I have been struggling!
The idea was sound: to get results similar to oils, use similar techniques and similar brushes. The problem was with the way the natural bristles absorb the water and eventually become unusable for anything but scrubbing.
I may be able to get the desired results with Acrylic, but I will need to adjust some of the painting process to take advantage of its inherent capabilities, and to avoid struggling to try to make Acrylic behave in ways it isn't designed to.
The lesson?
Know your materials and adjust the working process to attain the desired results.
So far, I am pleased with the way these brushes handle and their capabilities. I am excited to continue using them and see if this helps resolve at least one of the difficulties I have been encountering with painting.

Acrylic, ~4x5"
(This is one of the advantages of working in a place that sells floral supplies. )

Speaking of materials, I also picked up some new mediums and additives, and will be experimenting with them to adjust the drying time, the viscosity, and the transparency of the Acrylic paint.
This is an exciting time to be a painter - there are so many new materials out there to try!!!

Lilith - a 'personality' portrait

2011-02-20T16:05:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to 'get back to basics' and return to what I love to do at the most basic level, which is drawing and portraits.
I chose this photo by JoSchwab on Deviant ART (no longer posted in the gallery) for the excellent top-lighting which reveals the form beautifully, the organic randomness of the hair, and the directness/intensity of the expression; (there is no 'glamour' pretense about this, or any of JoSchwab's photos for that matter. )

I liked the idea of treating the hair as a painter would - not as individual strands and locks, but as masses of form and shape, interacting with light.

02/18/11 Here is the drawing so far:

Graphite and carbon on gray Canson paper, ~6x9"

Daily Drawings

2011-02-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

11/20/11:

11/19/11:

Exploring and developing ideas...

I set a goal to do short drawings regularly; to sharpen my skills, coordination and perception.
Also, to warm up before diving in to my longer, more involved pieces, and to 'get the mojo flowing' so to speak...
02/08/11:

Please forgive the image quality - I am using the webcam on my laptop.

Color Studies... testing it out...

2011-01-04T21:37:00.000-08:00

The main color charts are finished. So I thought I'd take 'em out for a spin.
I perused some of my reference photos, and pics of paintings by artists that I admire, and looked for specific color mixtures on the charts.
The good news?
I could easily find the colors I was searching for on the charts.

So I tried to do some color studies.
The bad news?
Even though I had some initial success, when I tried mixing them, everything came out gray.

What did I learn?
When I mix colors, I have a tendency to 'get too fancy' - in other words, I try to move the hues by adding more and more colors to the pile, rather than by finding the simple color mixture that is closest, and then tweaking that with a simple color.
Everything turns to gray. And not the good type of gray, but the dead, lifeless gray that does not look rich and lifelike.
(I am being a bit harsh on myself. This is at the very least a step in the right direction.)
The other problem that I had was that the paint kept drying out by the time I had the color mixed. Yecch. I realized that I had a fan going, and that was probably adding to the problem.

I did, however, have some fun while looking at a section of a figure study by Jeremy Lipking.

I went back to simple two-color mixtures, tinted slightly with a third.
This section is the heel of the left foot:

(The photos were taken with my laptop web cam, so the colors are hideously inaccurate.)
Honestly, the values here are very close to each other. However, they are given more impact because the focus is on the temperature/hue shifts.
Although it is not a complete success, I am beginning to see the colors taking on the qualities that I had been thinking of... for some reason, Norman Rockwell comes to mind. Don't ask me why. (Probably because he tended to have interesting grays in the flesh tones, and rich reds in the noses, ears, and the other areas where there are more blood vessels.)
Not bad for a first stab.
The lesson to take away from all of this is to keep the color mixtures as simple as possible. think about them first, try to figure out the simple 2-color mixture, get it as close as possible, and then add a hint of a third color (if necessary.)
Really, I found that quite often, the third color is not even necessary if the initial 2-color mixture is done well.
Good to know...
What else did I learn?
That I was still trying to go for value shifts (light/dark), rather than color (hue) shifts; and I have a tendency to overdo it. Looking back over the reference photos again, the majority of the values fall in the middle range. The values of the areas in the light are not that far away from the values of the areas in shadow. I was pushing the values rather than really exploring the color temperature shifts, and the particular differences in hue. It's the same as with the intensely saturated colors - the more contrast, the less effective the value shifts; the closer in value, the more dramatic each shift becomes. (It's almost counter-intuitive, but it works.)
The lesson?
Try to keep the values closer together. Leave room for the lightest lights and the darkest darks. The majority of the action is in the middle range. Still pay attention to what is in light and what is in shadow, but don't push it to such extremes.

Color Charts - An Epiphany; An Adventurous Journey of Discovery in Color.

2011-01-03T22:37:00.000-08:00

So I am working on the last parts of the current color charts. I pull off the tape, and decide to label the color mixtures. However, rather than label them with text, I decide to simply use swatches of the raw tube color.
In other words, instead of using verbal language, I decide to speak in the actual language that I am working in: the language of color.
Smart move. As I put the swatches on, it becomes more and more clear to see how the base colors affect each other.

Now, I am looking at photographs and paintings by artists whom I admire, and seeing where they fall on these new color charts. At first, I thought I would have trouble finding the colors amongst all these neutrals - especially since I am using only five colors - but not so...
and it dawns on me...
The troubles I have had with color in the past are due in part to the fact that I have been using raw colors that are beautiful in themselves, but pretty darn high chroma. In other words, they are saturated color - bright, intense hue and chroma. And they are strong when mixing with each other.
As I look at paintings by artists such as Sargent, Bouguereau, and Alma-Tadema, and contemporary artists like Jeremy Lipking, I am seeing that the majority of colors in these paintings fall into the category of 'tinted neutrals.'
There are very few colors that fall into the intense chroma of Cadmium Red or Cadmium Yellow straight out of the tube, or even Ultramarine, or Burnt Sienna for that matter. Most of the colors are falling in the neutral range, and lean towards one or the other of these colors.
And as I compare the colors in the charts to one another, they appear richer in context of the colors surrounding them, especially the neutral purples and greens. (Harkening back to Charles Emerson: "Color is color only, according to amount, placement, and application." e.g. A color is profoundly affected by the surrounding colors.)
The problem I have been struggling with is that, if all of the colors are intense and high-chroma, then they are all competing with each other for attention, and none of them appear to be as saturated as they should be.
However, when the neutral colors are placed next to each other, they intensify the richness of the hues and it takes much less of a shift to create a dramatic effect. The end result is rich, satisfying color.
At least that's how it looks at this point. The next step is to put it to the test in some color studies...

Color charts - Continuing on...

2011-01-02T01:32:00.000-08:00

Starting the new year right.

Continuing with the color charts, I mix a color with each of the other colors in the palette, keeping the first color dominant. I then take this mixture down to almost-white in 5 steps.
I do this for each of the colors in the palette.
Tonight, I finish up the mixtures with Titanium White. When these dry, I will do the same using Zinc White.
When I am done, I will have a comprehensive color chart showing how the colors in my palette interact.
In these simple mixtures, I can already see some beautiful rich neutrals, the purples and gray-greens are just yummy. And there is an inherent color harmony.
And I have been looking at pictures of paintings by artists I admire, and finding that most of the colors in their paintings can be achieved with the limited palette.

Color Charts: Mixing it up!!!

2010-12-27T22:44:00.000-08:00

Continuing on with the Color Charts...
*(NOTE: The camera is really not picking up the colors very accurately. Trust me on this one...)
First up: Do the same mixtures of the raw colors, only this time using Zinc White.
After the masking tape is pulled, the two mixtures will be side-by-side. The Zinc White is warmer than the Titanium, and more transparent. At this point, I have only mixed the first (raw color) column in both TItanium and Zinc, as the paint needs to dry before I can mask over it.

Next step: mix each base color with each of the other base colors, and down to white - keeping the base color slightly dominant. This means that for each color mixture, there will end up being two versions, one leaning slightly to one color, and one leaning slightly to the other. For instance, in the Red Oxide chart, the Red Oxide/Yellow Ochre mixture is influneced slightly more by the red. On the Yellow Ochre chart, the same mixture will lean slightly to the yellow side.

In this step, I begin with the base color for the chart. For instance, in the upper left is Red Oxide. The first column is the raw color, mixed down to almost-white with Titanium. Next to it is the same thing with Zinc.
The following columns are Red Oxide mixed with Yellow Ochre; with Burnt Umber; with Payne's Gray; and with Manganese Blue Hue. These are then mixed down to white; first Titanium White on the left side of the column, and when that dries, with Zinc White on the right side of the column.

It may seem tedious, but in the end I will have each color mixed with each of the other colors, with two versions, one dominant in each of the colors; and each of these colors will be mixed down to almost-white with both Titanium White and Zinc White. (Besides, I am a pretty tedious person anyway. lol )
I will have a pretty good idea of what each color in my palette is really cabaple of. And, I will have a handy reference of simple color mixtures and simple, rich neutrals, with a certain degree of built-in color harmony.
In addition, I will be able to look at photos, videos, movies, and TV shows, and decipher how their color schemes work, and how I could mix up similar color schemes with my palette.

For instance, looking at this picture of Loreena McKennit I can already begin to see the simple color combinations of two dominant colors: Payne's Gray and Yellow Ochre; and how the dominant colors can be modulated with Red Oxide, Burnt Umber and Manganese Blue.

And here is what started it all (this time, at least)-

When I saw these scenes from the TV series Merlin, I could immediately identify a cool/warm, Blue/Orange dominant color scheme in which Payne's Gray and Yellow Ochre/Red Oxide could easily be used as the primary colors. Very simple, very powerful color schemes. And they work.

Sweet.

And what a coincidence that I had switched my palette over to these exact colors! (Or is it not coincidence, but the guiding hand of fate...?)

There was another scene in Red/Green, and trying to figure out what colors to mix to get those dominant colors was what started me experimenting, and ultimately led to these color charts.

Hello, my name is Mike, and I am a paint geek.

2010-12-26T20:30:00.001-08:00

I have a problem.
I like to make color charts.

Yes, it's true. I probably get into this stuff way more than I should. I should be making beautiful paintings, not messing around with this stuff.
Blame Tony Ryder. He had us mix every color on our palette with every other color. You know what? It learns ya. Some of the resulting mixtures were surprising. I found out that you can create an exact Yellow Ochre by mixing Chartreuse and Brilliant Pink.
Or blame Richard Schmid. He recommends doing the same thing, and expands on the idea by mixing each color mixture down to almost-white... and I took his advice (see above.)
Or blame my dad. He showed me the value of being a craftsman (as well as an artist.)
Sure it seems crazy. But that's how I get INTO the paint, how I get inside it; it's how I get a feel for what it can do. It's how I get to know my tools. It's like taking a great sports car for a really in-depth test drive. I really enjoy it. It gets me jazzed to see the colors happen right in front of my face.
And it sharpens my ability to mix colors on the palette - simply and cleanly.
And god knows I need that. If left to my own devices, I would throw every color for which I had a tube of paint at any given mixture; and then wonder why it looks mucky. I mean, they're all beautiful colors in their own right, yes? So wouldn't they look GREAT all mixed together?
LOL
That is how my brain works. That's also how I wind up lost in the middle of the "Technicolor Melty Jungle."

And this is my thinking process, how I figure things out; because I have a driving need to figure things out. I am not satisfied to just let things happen by chance; I have to know why they work when they do, and what went wrong when they don't.
So forgive me if I walk out of this support group. You can join me if you want. But I am content with knowing myself, and how I work, and going with that.

So here we go... color charts! ...with my newly concocted 'limited palette'
(Red Oxide, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber, Paynes Gray, and Manganese Blue Hue; from the line of 'Open Acrylics' by Golden.)
First we start with the raw colors of the palette, and mix them with Titanium down to almost-white in five steps...

Sick days don't always suck.

2010-12-18T18:33:00.001-08:00

Stayed at home today, sick as the proverbial dog.
I was vegging and watching some tv (Merlin), and all of a sudden, I could see the exact colors, and the color palette, that they were using. It was as if they pulled the colors right off my newly acquired "limited" palette (Payne's Gray, Red Oxide, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Umber and a touch of Manganese Blue) that I just hand-picked at the art supply store last week.
So I got my new 'limited palette' selection of paints and played around with them. I find that by doing simple mixtures, blends and washes, I can really get a feel for the colors in my palette, their strengths, and what they are capable of.
Plus, since I had already written the day off as a sick day, there was no hurry or agenda (i.e., I didn't feel the need to 'accomplish' something.) That allowed me to just experiment and have fun.
I found that this palette is quite powerful and versatile, and I can create nearly everything I need for the pieces/color schemes I have in mind, while maintaining color harmony. I also am experimenting with the two whites: Titanium and Zinc, and how they affect the colors.
I love the way the colors play off each other. And in the tv show, I could see the way they composed the scenes with color and lighting. It gave me a lot of really cool ideas.
It was quite the extraordinary experience.

In addition, I prepared a couple of sheets of canvas for the next step - the color charts!
I take each color in the palette, and mix it with each of the other colors in the palette. I then take each of these colors and mix them down to almost-white in five steps.
Here are the old color charts from my full, extended palette:

This really gives me a handle on all of the color mixtures and possibilities in my palette.
It also helps when I sit down to create a painting - I can look at a color I need, and find a mixture on the charts; it usually only needs minor tweaking to get the color I want, and helps me to keep my color mixtures simple. (I have a tendency to get carried away, and throw everything under the sun into a color mixture, only to have it come out looking like muck.)
I find that most of the colors I seek fall into the 'subtle grays'/neutrals - and by obtaining simple, clean neutral color mixtures, it makes the few saturated colors really sing!
It doesn't t always have to turn into a full-spectrum color Luau, like "Technicolor melty jungle"in the Burn the Ships cover/poster art!
;)
Fun fun fun!

NEW BRUSHES!!!

2010-12-14T22:48:00.001-08:00

I am LOVIN' these new pin striping brushes!
My friend Jim has been urging me to try my hand at custom bike graphics. So, I bought some supplies; a couple 'sword' brushes by Mack, some One-Shot, a bit of acrylic paint and some poster board for practice.

These things kick a**!! By properly loading the brush, I can get seemingly infinite lines, and I love 'rolling' the brush around curves and making swirls!
I can see this having many applications. Not only for custom bikes, but for guitars :D, snowboards, furniture, who knows what else!
You can see how much fun I'm having just goofing around with them:

The exciting part is the process of learning to control the brush, and the flow of paint, to get an even, consistent line. The challenge is to not get dizzy.

And I can definitely see how this could apply to my fine art paintings. I am really gaining more and more interest in textures and patterns in my paintings. In fact, I have my eye on the deep blue sea background in this 'mermaid' painting that's on my easel, and I'm seein' some subtle, lines swirling all around her. Hmm....

Thanks Jim, for encouraging me into this new venture and all the possibilities that it opens up for me!

New figure painting - Mermaid/Surfacing(?)

2010-12-07T23:12:00.001-08:00

(Finally, a pic. I had to use my webcam on my laptop.)

What is another term for something/someone coming up for air?

I dove back into the figure piece I started the other night. This one is vertical, and has a female figure emerging from the shadows (I am thinking of making it like she is coming up from the depths of the ocean to the surface...perhaps a mermaid?)

After throwing paint at the problem for a while, I stood back and looked at it. The proportions are crap (I should be ashamed of myself - have I thrown all my training, all sense of discipline out the window?), but the drama is there.

Well okay, 1 out of 2 ain't that bad, and I can always go back in and correct the proportions. (My goal is accuracy AND drama together...)

I am liking the drama of the light on this one. I have been really attracted to figures and portraits that are lit from directly above - the shadows are dramatic, and the highlights/drama get more intense as you go up the figure, getting closer and closer to the light source.
The original reference photo really grabbed my attention - hopefully, I can convey that initial spark. That is the beacon that I use to guide the painting process.

New stuff

2010-12-07T23:06:00.001-08:00

So I got a wild burr under my saddle the other night, and got a few canvases primed and covered with a warm wash.
I am finding that what used to be regular size for me (9x12") is now incredibly small. The smallest canvas I prepared is an 11x14", and that is for a portrait study. The larger ones are 16x20 (which is not as large as I want to get) and the vertical ones are 15x30... which has really piqued my interest lately.
I like the vertical format, it fits the pieces I am visualizing at this point. Most of them deal with flight, or with emerging (from the deep subconscious) - or even with acrobatics, and so the vertical picture plane has my muse all wound up.

Hit the bricks

2010-11-30T22:10:00.000-08:00

Well, finally - after what seems like AGES - tonight I decided to finally pick up the brushes and put some paint onto canvas...
It had actually been so long since I did some serious portrait painting that I was afraid I had forgotten how. And being as how last time I tried painting, I had success one day and utter failure the next. Needless to say, I was a bit discouraged and most definitely daunted at the thought of trying to get something right onto canvas.
However, after a brief but inspiring conversation with my mentor and instructor Juliette, I realized that all I had was excuses; the alternative was to sit down and just do it.
The good news is, I had success, in some ways better than I had expected.
I stumbled across a reference photo that grabbed my attention (whenever I pay attention to that little 'twinge', it always tends to pay off...) Suddenly, I looked at it and I saw the colors, the values made sense, and I knew just what to do...
I pulled out my color mixing/value exercises, and was able to identify some very simple color mixtures that would get me very close to the tones I needed. It all made sense, and was so clear.
Pretty soon, I was laying in areas of color and value simultaneously, and everything was going along well. After a while, things began to look a little muddy, so I referred back to my color scales and evaluated the colors again. I also realized that some areas had been left blank, and that was affecting the appearance of the values as well as the colors. So I made my best estimates, and laid in the remaining colors.
After that, it was a matter of adjusting, pushing and pulling the color and the value. The interesting thing is, I only used about 4 colors, and was able to get everything I needed from them, (plus white.) The shifts in value and in color were very slight.
In the end, I wound up with a color study that is a lot more accurate than I expected, as well as having many qualities that I have been searching for: the warmth of the skin under cool light, and the color shift to reds, a slight 'flush' in certain areas of the face - without overdoing it. (an excellent example of what I am talking about is Malcolm "Skip" Liepke.)
It appears that, even though I haven't been painting, I have been observing and learning.
Sweet.
The lesson I take away from all of this is that, if I remain mindful and aware, I will always be learning, improving and growing as an artist: sometimes the growth is happening below the surface level of awareness.
Now, the next step is to hit the bricks and put all this knowledge to use!

Burn the Ships poster art!

2010-10-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

For all of you who have been patiently waiting, here it is!
I'm taking a brief moment at the end of a hectic and event-packed CD release weekend to post the poster art for the new CD Burn the Ships by Ironwood Rain:

Posters are now available! Contact Toni at ToniB@IronwoodRain.com for more info.

Burn the Ships - front cover!!!!

2010-10-08T21:33:00.001-07:00

We received the CDs for the new Ironwood Rain EP, Burn the Ships CDs from the duplicators, and they are ready for the release party next Friday!
Finally, here is the front cover:

More to come...

Fly To You - the letter!

2010-10-03T18:33:00.001-07:00

Here is the love letter that inspired the song "Fly to You" - as it appears inside the CD cover.

Another teaser from Burn the Ships!

2010-09-23T19:06:00.000-07:00

More sneak peeks of "Burn the Ships" cover art!

2010-09-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

More sneak peeks, for all my pirate friends out there - ships and parrots!!!

Don't forget - in honor of "Talk Like a Pirate Day", for a limited time you can listen to the title track from the CD, as well as the single "Ages" ... CLICK HERE!

Burn The Ships TEASER Images!!!

2010-09-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

Snippets and teasers from the cover art for the new Ironwood Rain CD Burn the Ships!

Click HERE to listen to the band's music, along with two new songs from Burn the Ships!

More progress on Burn the Ships cover art!

2010-09-10T18:52:00.001-07:00

The cover illustration nears completion!
Here it is in the intermediate stages, as I add the various jungle animals and flesh out the composition:

Seriously, I thought "What have I gotten myself into?!?" I had a few moments when I wondered whether or not I had 'painted myself into a corner,' and whether I could pull it all off... I did, after all, make this whole thing up from scratch, off the top of my head - which is a very unusual working method for me. I had to bring a lot of my knowledge and skills from all over the place to execute this painting, and to figure things out while I was in the middle of it.
Fortunately, it all worked out, and I am more and more pleased with it as it progresses.

And here it is as I place final elements, tighten up the environment, and begin final touches:

Burn The Ships WIP 09/08/10
Acrylic on Arches 300 lb. watercolor paper, 20x27"
More to come!

Burn The Ships - cover painting progress

2010-08-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

08/28/10
The painting progresses

Turn down the lights, turn on the moon, light the fires...
Next we begin to add the various woodland creatures.

Thanks to JJ, who stopped by with his digital camera, and snapped this picture of the cover painting as it looked on Wednesday 08/18/10-
(Unfortunately, my camera bit the dust. *sniff*)

Burn The Ships WIP 8/18/10
Acrylic on watercolor paper, 18x24"
I'm painting with acrylics just like a watercolor, but it allows me to build up more layers. Eventually, I will most likely put some opaque paint on the final layers, and then some final glazes. Fun!
Originally, I had envisioned a much more 'monochrome' nighttime scene, layers of midnight blue vanishing into the distance. But this has become quite colorful! I will add more glazes to unify the colors, and to bring the values down to a nighttime scene. this will also make the moon and the fire stand out more.
This will be a front/back spread for the CD cover/booklet, which will crop quite a bit off the top and the bottom, so the piece is being executed as two pieces in one:
1. A cover illustration for the CD, 12" x 24", which will be about 5x10" final size.
2. An 18 x 24" stand alone painting.
While the cover art l will be strong on its own, I think the extra scenery in the full painting will be interesting.
This is turning into a real labor of love. In addition, I am paying homage to some of my early influences: Roger Dean, Frank Frazetta, and Don Andrews.
I'm having fun with the FF/DA 'melty jungle,' and loving the fire effect on the ship!Now to add more wild creatures in the forest!!!

P.S. I wish I could have gotten pictures of the initial drawing stage. I drew out the rebated squares and laid out the armatures for the image areas, and used this to construct the design of the piece. I had to make sure to allow for the title and cover text. Once I got the major elements placed, the image began to speak, and I began to listen. It has been very interesting, through a very technical beginning process, to reach a very organic and fluid interaction with the painting in the middle stages.

THE SHIP IS BORN!!!

2010-07-24T17:55:00.001-07:00

07/21/10::

The ship is born!!!
I did NOT want to just copy a photograph, so I created my own ship from scratch.
In the end, I went with my preferences. I wanted to be a bit further back in history than the East Indiamen from the POTC trilogy and from Master & Commander - they tended to look more like Nelson's ships, and although I love that era (Geoff Hunt is my favorite maritime painter) I wanted something that would harken back to the galleons of the Spanish settlers and Cortez (from whom the title track of the CD was inspired.) I liked the two-masted ships BP and LW, and had a preference for a gaff-rigged spanker. Call me an old softy.

It's an amalgamation from numerous sources, and from my own experiences; The Black Pearl (of course), the Lady Washington (of course), a Dutch East Indiaman called the Gothenberg (also saw it spelled Gottenberg and Gotenborg), The Belona, and a few other sources of inspiration. Also a bit of the Morning Star, Morgan's ship in Cutthroat Island as well, however my DVD drive is on the fritz, so it's probably from memory.

Progress on "Burn The Ships" cover art

2010-07-24T17:10:00.001-07:00

Working on the distribution of darks and lights. Mostly darks. It's a nighttime scene, don'tcha know...

The layout sketch continues to develop. Here, I have laid out the armature of the picture space, and I am mapping the critical points of interest, how they overlap, and how they direct the eye around the composition.

07/22/10
Testing the materials/process:
I get a lot of inspiration from the work of my favorite album-cover illustrator, Roger Dean.
After deciding to work in acrylic on watercolor paper, I'm testing out some of the basic ideas/elements and seeing if the techniques I have in mind will work.
I'm keeping the colors very neutral, so the few spots of saturated color will 'sing.' I'm working with a lot of the band's logo color, which is a kind of midnight blue. Ha, it should work great for a nighttime scene...lol

the test sheet.

Of course, we'll have to have an Ironwood Tree or two in the illustration. I love the lines of these gnarly trees.

Testing background trees and hills. I bought some artist's masking fluid from work, and you can see the tests on the left hand side.
Oh, and there should be lots of fog. Yeah, fog...

Close up of the smoke test.
I've been looking at photos, movies, and YouTube videos, to get the most dramatic, and the most authentic-looking smoke and fire.
Of course, the watercolor technique lends itself well to this application.

Cover art for "Burn The Ships"

2010-07-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

07/23/10:

More sketches.

07/15/10:
The evolution of an idea.
I have had the same basic idea this whole time, as it develops, but there was something lacking. Then a friend of mine made a comment that unlocked the idea that has been skirting around the corners of my mind. Then I was looking through an old sketchbook and found a sketch of a ship in a harbor, and the silhouette of a figure in the foreground. That got the idea really going. So here is a new concept sketch:

07/14/10:
Study paintings for the cover of my band's latest CD, Burn The Ships. This is just the setting. In the foreground will be a ship on fire (of course.)

Working out ideas with light, color, and composition. In the final piece, the ship will be more in the foreground and will dominate the composition - so the relative scale will have to change.

I tried both daytime and nighttime scenes. I like each one of them for different reasons.
The nighttime scene is more ominous and moody. definitely would be the choice if we were including the pirate song Pursuit - but that song was put on the back burner for now. :(

The daytime scene is beautiful - definitely the type of place I'd like to burn my ships, and reminiscent of how the New World must have looked to the explorers: lush, untamed paradise. But perhaps it's too pretty for a CD by a rock band.

Hm...

NEW PROJECT: JJ’s Mural

2010-06-12T17:07:00.000-07:00

07/02/10:
Begin laying in the sun and the clouds.

06/13/10
Me, a frosty brew, and my trusty crew:

The mural so far:

The crew, mixing, stirring, and helping paint the 'hard-to-get-to' spots, while I set my brain to figurin' out the next steps:

06/12/10:
My friend JJ and I have worked out a trade in services. In exchange for all the work on my car, I am painting him a mural on his living room wall. He wants it to look like there is no wall, and you are looking west to the mountains of the Front Range. We decided that late afternoon/early evening is the most picturesque for a west-facing scheme.

I have spent a lot of time in the past few years observing skies and clouds, making mental notes of colors and the way light behaves in the myriad situations you find in nature. I have also taken many photographs; not only as reference, but as ‘triggers’ for my memory of how the light, the sky, and the cloud forms interact.

Here is the bare wall, prepped, primered and ready to go. Here is a picture of Brandt and Chloe for scale, and to determine where the horizon line/eye level will be placed.

JJ’s line of work allows him the opportunity to salvage many things; fortunately for us, one of those things is house paint. So the first order of business is to take a look at the paint available, decide which type of paint will work best, and see what colors we have at our disposal. I figured acrylic latex would be the easiest for me to work with, would clean up easily and mix together well.

It was a rainy, drizzly day, so we had to work under the shelter of the garage roof. Here is my handy, faithful crew (I feel like Michelangelo! Where's my scaffolding?) we had a good time, and went through dozens of cans of paint. We set aside any that would not work with acrylic latex (I had no idea there was alkyd house paint!) Then we set up an assembly line. Gray opened and stirred the paint, while I painted the sample swatches, and Brandt cleaned and prepped the stir sticks and brushes. JJ directed the tested cans of paint to their proper location: the dumpster, the ‘to be used’ shelf, or the ‘give away’ pile.

At first, I tried to organize the colors into 'families,' but in the end there were so many usable paints that I had to just 'fill in the blank spots.'
Here is the finished swatch board. I was surprised at the palette I have to work with, there are quite a few good colors, and it should allow me to make a nice painting.

Thanks to Brandt, Gray and JJ for their help, the whole thing went so fast! Now I know how come Michelangelo had a crew! (Imagine trying to paint sixteen chapels by yourself! Seriously, I could only paint two or three at the most...)

It’s also funny to see what weird colors people paint their homes…!

Next, to take a look at the colors, and come up with a game plan for laying down the image…

NEW FEATURE: "WALL-O-MATIC" CAM!!! Updated pix from my new sketching station.

2010-06-05T10:43:00.001-07:00

12/14/10:

An idea I have been monkeyin' around with for awhile... combining my two favorite subjects: the female figure and wild animals! I like the idea of doing it with a touch of the whimsical.

07/08/10:

Working on the cover illustration for my band's new CD, Burn The Ships.
LOVE the Wall-O-Matic! I can really work an idea and play around with it!

06/07/10:

06/06/10:

99 Pieces of Art on the Wall

2010-05-30T20:39:00.001-07:00

I entered a painting in the "99 Pieces of Art on the Wall" charity auction for the VSA, the Colorado society for disabled artists.
I was delighted that my new abstract piece sold, and raised money for the charity:

Here I am with Mickey McVey, who invited me to participate in the show:

Here I am with Trish, the proud new owner of the painting:

Trish was excited to acquire the painting, I was happy that the piece sold, and we raised money for the charity. Everybody wins!!!

NEW "Wall-O-Matic" rig!!!

2010-05-30T20:33:00.000-07:00

I had an idea for my new "Wall-o-Matic" (originally named "Wall-o-rama") rig that would allow me to work as large as I want to. The simple materials (inexpensive 'butcher paper' on a continuous roll...) would facilitate working freely without hesitations or intimidation, and just keep the sketches flowing. So I went out to get the materials. FOUR HOURS... later, I came home with the materials. I had no idea that plain old 'butcher paper' was so difficult to find!
But I LOVE it!!! Here is a snapshot of the setup:

New experimental painting!

2010-05-12T15:13:00.001-07:00

I am working on a new experimental painting, inspired by the photographs taken by the Hubble space telescope. It's very exciting, and unlike anything I've done in the past. I am donating the painting to the "99 Pieces of Art on the Wall" charity event at the VSA - Colorado's disabled artists association.
They gave each artist a 10" x 10" panel and told us to do whatever we wanted. So I decided it was a perfect time to try some experiments with glazing that I had been thinking about, and the images from the Hubble Space Telescope were the perfect inspiration. I like to think of it as an image of raw, creative energy. The piece was totally experimental, spontaneous, responding to what was happening on the surface.

Nebula 2010_001
Acrylic on panel, 10x10"

New painting finished!!!

2010-03-05T15:03:00.001-08:00

05/2010:
Here are pix of the final painting. I loved working on this type of panel.

03/05/10:
I just finished a humorous portrait, commissioned by Carla Wright, owner of Carla Wright Gallery in Denver. The painting is of her husband... I hope he likes it!!!
Unfortunately, I misplaced the USB cable for my camera, so I will have to wait to post a picture.

Arvada Fine Arts Guild 51st Annual Membership Show

2010-03-04T13:20:00.000-08:00

Public Reception & Awards Ceremony:
Sat. March 6th, 3-5 pm
Exhibition dates:
Fri. March 5 - Sun. March 26
Artful Things Gallery
3918 Tennyson Street, Denver CO
Map to the gallery
Gallery hours: 11am - 5pm Wed - Sat.
First Fridays 6-9pm

This is my first show as a new member of the Guild. I have two paintings in the exhibit:
Tiger Eyes 01

Acrylic, 9x12"

Red Rocks Afternoon

Acrylic, 11x14"
Stop by the gallery for the reception on Saturday. I'd love to see you there!

Tiger Eyes FINISHED!

2010-02-01T16:31:00.000-08:00

Tiger Eyes 01 (working title)

Acrylic on canvas, 9x12"
I scanned the image before applying the final varnish coat (to reduce the reflection.) Now the varnish coat is on, and it's off to the frame shop!

FYI, I am having a contest to come up with a final title for this piece! Visit my facebook page and submit your suggestion!!!
mikeyzart title contest on Facebook

Updates on works in progress

2010-01-24T20:28:00.000-08:00

Tiger Eyes 01:

[Almost done!!!]
Acrylic, 9x12"

Lady In White:

Graphite, 18x24"

Virgil:

Charcoal, 14x17"

Studio pix

2010-01-19T16:53:00.001-08:00

Is it just me, or is having a floating skull in your studio the coolest thing ever!!!!???!!!

I recently discovered the coolest thing in the world, (next to having an ominous floating skull in your studio):

Empty paint tubes. You mix your paint, fill 'em up and crimp 'em.
Then, anytime you need that shade, it's ready to go!!!

Skulls

2010-01-19T16:39:00.000-08:00

Work in progress:

I'm temporarily calling this one Virgil
Charcoal, 14x17"

MORE TIGERS!

2010-01-19T15:48:00.000-08:00

Work in progress:

Tiger Eyes 01
Acrylic, 9x12"

The more closely I look at nature, the more I am in awe at the intelligence of its design. It's all there: drama, tension, composition. Everything about the structure, pattern and coloration is designed to direct the viewer's attention to the tiger's eyes.

Here is a step-by-step of the painting so far:

Easel Cam - what's on the easel at this particular moment? Works In Progress, etc.

2010-01-05T16:52:00.001-08:00

11/25/11:
W.I.P

Prismacolor and graphite, 11x17"
11/20/11:

11/19/11:

09/02/11:

Still WIP...

WIP 02/10/11:

Drawing in progress 02/08/11:

Graphite and Carbon on Canson paper, ~5x7" Reference by JoSchwab on DeviantART
A closer look:

Please forgive the image quality - I am using the webcam on my laptop.

12/27/10 -
Continuing on with Color Charts...

12/26/10 -
Color charts with my newly developed 'limited palette' of colors, beginning with the straight colors:

01/05/09

Works In Progress

2010-01-05T16:50:00.000-08:00

Continuing work on "Lady In White"

2009-12-27T14:49:00.000-08:00

I have resumed work on the piece "Lady In White."

Continuing the figure, and development of the background/environment.
The photo is kind of dark, it's difficult to get a good photo under the lamp on the easel.
For more on this piece, see additions to the original post:
Lady In White

New art - "Burn The Ships" sketch(es)

2009-12-27T14:37:00.000-08:00

Just can't stop myself. Here's another rough sketch:

Charcoal, 9x12"

My band, Ironwood Rain, is working on the music for our second CD.
The title for one of the songs is "Burn The Ships," In reference to Cortez' infamous act, burning his ships, a statement of his resolute focus on his goal.
This inspired artwork, of course. And here is an initial sketch:

"Burn The Ships 09/Sketch 01"
Pencil, 9 x 12"
I wanted to capture the feel of the smoke billowing from the ship, and the intensity of the burning timbers, while keeping the sketch spontaneous and loose.

WILDLIFE Gallery

2009-12-13T19:54:00.000-08:00

FINE ART Gallery

2009-12-13T19:47:00.000-08:00

Pieces from the Aristides Classical Atelier/
Seattle Academy of Fine Art, 1998 - 2004:

HUMOROUS ILLUSTRATION Gallery

2009-12-13T19:43:00.001-08:00

For more, visit my caricatures blog

ANIMALS Gallery

2009-12-13T19:38:00.000-08:00

PORTRAIT Gallery

2009-12-13T19:34:00.000-08:00

SHOWS

2009-12-13T19:32:00.001-08:00

ACES show - Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities-Arvada CO 12/11/09 - 12/20/09:

Bolder Artist's Show - Golden CO 10/09/09:

LANDSCAPE Gallery

2009-12-13T19:31:00.001-08:00

FIGURE Gallery

2009-12-13T19:27:00.001-08:00

Collection, Lev & Linda Ropes

Collection, Christine Lean

Featured in the book Classical Drawing Atelier by Juliette Aristides

THEMED ART Gallery

2009-12-13T19:23:00.000-08:00

Property, Ironwood Rainworks, Inc.

Property, Mr. Robert J. Weber

ILLUSTRATION & DESIGN Gallery - Cover designs, illustrations and layouts

2009-12-13T19:20:00.000-08:00

CD front cover:

Poster art:

Book cover:

CD cover and insert art:

COMMISSIONS Gallery

2009-12-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

STILL LIFE Gallery

2009-12-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

Watercolor, 9x12"

DALI!!! 2

2009-12-13T19:07:00.001-08:00

Acrylic, 8x10"

New Whale painting

2009-12-13T19:05:00.000-08:00

Acrylic, 4x5"

Wildlife - Big Cat Paintings

2009-11-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

11/24/09:

Tiger In the River
Acrylic, 8x10"
Still thinking up a name for this one.
I was thinking of calling this one "Drinking and Fishing," for all of my redneck buddies out there...

Book Cover Illustration & Design: "The Birth of Hope"

2009-10-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

The Birth of Hope, a novel by author Jeane Rhodes.
Front Cover:

Illustration was done with Prismacolor on Strathmore 400 series paper.

Full spread, front and back cover:

Layout and design were done with Adobe Photoshop, InDesign.

CD Cover: Ironwood Rain "TRIO"

2009-10-28T08:49:00.001-07:00

TRIO, the new CD from my band Ironwood Rain.

Front Cover:

6-Panel insert:

For more info, visit: www.IronwoodRain.com

Bolder Artists Show!

2009-10-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, I was invited to participate in the Bolder Artists Show and Sale, which took place in a beautiful private residence in scenic Golden, Colorado.
I displayed 4 of my latest pieces: “Weightless,” “Doll Face,” “Red Rocks; Afternoon,” and “Hope.”
The setting was beautiful and intimate. The food was scrumptious. The conversation flowed, I met many new artist friends, my artwork attracted a lot of interest, and I had a wonderful time.
Here is how my display looked:

And here are the individual pieces:

My special thanks to Lori Gregory for inviting me to participate.

I really like the way 'Doll Face' looks framed. It's even more dramatic and compelling.

SOLD! A gallery of commissions and pieces sold to collectors.

2009-06-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

From the collection of Lev & Linda Ropes.

Private collector.

Private collector.

Corporate collection, Sea World Aviculture Department.

From the collection of Mr. Robert Weber.

Private Commissions:

Hershey

2009-06-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

A commissioned piece for a client; a birthday present for her friend.
Both the horses are named Hershey.
The story of the two 'Hershey's is a fascinating tale of love, loss, and reunion.

Two Hersheys

Charcoal, 14x17"

Here is how the piece progressed.
First, I covered the entire surface with charcoal 'dust' from ground charcoal. Then, I lifted the general highlights out with a kneaded eraser, and laid in the general dark areas with vine charcoal.

Then I began laying in the general details in charcoal and lifting out more highlights with the eraser.

I developed the left side first, then the right, in order to prevent smudging. (I'm right-handed.)

Then I began to develop the right side.

After that, it was a process of push-pull; darken with charcoal, lift out the lights with the eraser. I used a paper stomp, but not to blend; rather, I used it to lift out light areas that were more subtle, where the eraser would be too drastic.

At this point, I began to develop the values in the background.

And finally, laying in the darkest darks and final adjustments of the background values.

RED ROCKS!

2009-05-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

06/22/09

A hot day. Late afternoon, the sun low over the montains... how could it possibly be more beautiful?

Acrylic, 12x16"

06/23/09
Back up to Red Rocks with my friend, this time in the early morning. Same place, different time of day, different mood.

Acrylic, 12x16"

05/27/09
This morning I went to Red Rocks Amphitheater with a friend. While she ran the stairs, I got out my kit and did some sketches. It was a beautiful day, and the colors of the red rock formations were awesome.
Here is a small study sketch:

Watercolor, 9x12"

Goldfish

2009-05-26T15:23:00.000-07:00

05/28/09:
Day 2:

I am really enjoying this one, having fun with the colors, enjoying the process, layering... :D

05/26/09:
A study for a potential large piece.
I enjoy working in watercolor.

Day 1:

Watercolor, 9x12"

Lady In White

2009-05-22T12:32:00.001-07:00

12/27/09
I have resumed work on this piece, and I am fairly happy with the way it is progressing.
I'm proceeding with the figure, and beginning development of the background/environment and atmosphere/light.

Lady In White
Graphite, 18 x 24"
(The photo is fairly dark.)
05/36/09:

I found the Staedtler Mars Lumograph leads - that are less 'shiny' in the blacks - in the softer leads (B/2B) at Art Hardware in Boulder. I like using my drafting pencils. It probably goes back to my days as a technical illustrator - I just like the weight and 'feel' of the metal lead holder, and the ability to grind it to a precise point.

So now, I can work into the darks a bit more-

Day 2:

Graphite, F/B, 18x24"

05/22/09:

The other night, I found a reference photo that struck a chord. That 'little inner voice' always brings about interesting things, good things. So I skteched the photo, and as I did, I was thinking about an old song from an old bandmate of mine, about the apparition of a woman who wanders the hills at night.
The next day I was visiting with one of my best friends, and I had brought my sketchbook to share with her.
As we were talking, she mentioned - quite unsolicited - a figure that she sees in her apartment from time to time. As she described her, I listened, without commenting. The figure she described just happened to be uncannily identical to the sketch I had brought to show her.
I got up, grabbed the sketchbook and said "Does she look like this?"

Her jaw dropped.
That was when I knew I was on to something. So I started a large-scale drawing.
Here is the first day's effort:

Graphite - Staedtler Mars Lumograph/F, 18x24"

The photographer is faestock on deviantART, and the model is Ana.
http://faestock.deviantart.com/

Teaching 'Introduction to Caricature.'

2009-03-05T18:01:00.000-08:00

This summer I am teaching my Introduction to Caricature class at the Arvada Center for the Arts & Humanities.
The Arvada Center is a wonderful arts facility, and I am really looking forward to being a member of the faculty.

Here is the link to the course:
http://mjk-artinstruction.blogspot.com/2009/02/introduction-to-caricature.html

To find out more about my other classes, go to my Art Instruction blog:
http://mjk-artinstruction.blogspot.com/

Watch this fascinating 3-minute video clip on YouTube: John Cleese as a Caricature - Human Face, The
It is an excellent clip about the art of caricature - and how it relates to the way the human brain works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j0XRj8soYI

Artwork On Display at Bella Notte in Golden, CO

2009-03-05T15:31:00.001-08:00

06/29/09
Noble Stallion has been sold to a private collector! Thanks so much to Nicco from Bella Notte.

03/05/09

My piece "Noble Stallion" is now framed, on display and for sale at Bella Notte in beautful Golden, CO. Along with the framed piece, a small selection of greeting cards featuring "Cupid" are also for sale, along with brochures promoting portrait commissions.
The piece had suffered damage in transit from Florida, and had to be almost completely reworked. No matter, I am very happy with the final product.
Bella Notte is a beautiful shop, smack-dab in the middle of downtown Golden, a great location. The piece goes on display just in time for the March 'first Friday' art walk.
This is my first piece on display since moving to Colorado; a good step forward for me in the local marketplace, the first of many to come.
The owner is a delightful woman, very enthusiastic about carrying my artwork, and promoting my portrait skills.
Here is a picture of the finished piece:

Noble Stallion;
Charcoal, 11" x 14"

And, in case you haven't seen it, here is Cupid:

And here is the flyer:

Spirit Takes Flight

2008-11-07T21:19:00.000-08:00

Continuing work on this piece.

I'm fond of this one. It has some real potential.
The other day I was exploring different possibilities for the egret. Possibly more than one? Who knows what will happen....

New daily sketches and studies

2008-11-07T21:08:00.000-08:00

Check out the daily sketches:
Colorado: Daily Sketches!

W.I.P. - Up For Air

2008-11-07T21:06:00.000-08:00

The initial inspiration came when I caught a glimpse of one of the dolphins going up for air, and the way the light was shining was just too good. The idea has been sitting in the back of my mind for a while.
The other day, I ran across the initial sketch, and to my delight, i can recall the whole scene vividly.
The initial Block-in:

Acrylic on canvas board, 11x14"

Digital Art!

2008-11-07T20:45:00.001-08:00

A quick foray into digital illustration:

Listening to jazz at a local coffee shop on a Friday night. Very nice.
The model is LockStock:
http://lockstock.deviantart.com/

Weightless

2008-10-23T18:39:00.001-07:00

This one just kinda jumped out at me, and I'm glad it did.
While searching through reference material, I kept coming back to this one time and again. I love the pose. The model is the lovely and remarkable Cordula, photographed by Marcus J. Ranum:
http://mjranum-stock.deviantart.com/art/Cordula-Relaxing-53724215
Then I accidentally rotated the image...and immediately I thought she looked like she was flying, or rather, just hovering in the air, weightless.

I was enjoying myself so much, I stayed up through the night and into the morning.
As I was working, a thought process began:
The gesture is nearly perfect. The most important thing is the space. She needs to be in a different space from the clouds.
"Why?"
It needs to not just look like a picture turned sideways. It has to be convincing...compelling.
"Why? What's the point?"
She needs to look not like she is flying, and not like she is suspended, but floating -weightless - of her own free will and under her own power.
"Why?"
This is about the sensation of weightlessness.
"Why weightlessness?"
It's about the desire to float free from all constraints.
"Why is she floating?"
Because she wants to.
"Why does she want to?"
Because she can...

This went on for hours. It was very interesting. At times I felt like a spectator to my own internal dialogue.

I still have quite a bit of work to do on this, and I'm loving every minute of it. Stay tuned for updates.

New Color Studies

2008-10-23T18:30:00.001-07:00

Check it out:
Colorado: Daily Sketches!

New Caricatures Blog!

2008-10-22T19:52:00.000-07:00

I created a separate blog for caricatures:
http://mikeyzcaricatures.blogspot.com/

The Ranch!!!

2008-10-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

Peggy, a friend and fellow artist from high school, owns and operates a ranch just north of Denver. She has 20+ horses and teaches 'Dressage', which is a very old European riding style.

She has been so very generous to invite me to come out and sketch to my hear's content. And let me tell you, it is a phenomenal experience!!!

The ranch is in a beautiful location, and very, VERY picturesque:

I would have to be unconscious NOT to be inspired.

And the experience of sketching these beautiful animals, the surroundings, the light, the sky....
WOW!!!

Peggy, you ROCK!

Stay tuned for sketches and more from this amazing experience.

Colorado: Daily Sketches!

2008-10-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

05/28/09:

Watercolor, 9x12"

05/27/09:

Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO.
Watercolor, 9x12"

05/22/09:

Graphite, 11x14"

11/07/08:
Portrait Studies:

Acrylic, 11x14"

Ship sketches:

Charcoal, approx. 18x24" total

10/23/08:
Here are some recent study paintings:
A seascape:

A landscape:

10/01/08:
Another visit to Peggy's ranch:

COLORADO 09/29/08:
I finally have time to do some much needed 'ketchup' and upload some recent sketches and color studies. The inspiration here is phenomenal, and I am doing my best to take it all in, and translate as much of that as possible to the paper/canvas.

Daily sketch of a face, I liked the the expression:

The first two visits to Peggy's ranch:

After visiting with my good friend and former climbing buddy Aaron, I did this sketch of Mt. Potosi, a beautiful mountain in the San Juans, one of my favorite and very picturesque:

About a year ago, I saw a couple of dolphins doing what appeared to be a game of hide and seek around the large outcropping of rock. I really liked the idea. So here are some more sketches exploring the concept:

Some figure study sketches, exploring the figure and various kinds of drapery and robes:

Exploring the clothed figure:

Other Figure Studies:

My friend Kathy practicing her guitar:

I was fascinated by the smoke patterns of a small candle. This started off a three-day-long exploration of smoke patterns:

Here is the initial block-in for a Work-in-Progress: a full length figure, approx. 18"x24"

Coming home from work one evening, I ran up to the railroad tracks to watch the sun set, and this scene struck me. Looking at the hazy distant mountains, the pale blue, orange and yellow of the sky, the middle-ground trees and hills in dark silhouette, with the glow of the street lights and the headlights and tail lights of the cars, it all came to me. "I know how I'll paint this." So I watched, absorbed the scene, and let it all sink in. I went home and did a quick (ha! I was up late...) color study:

This one might turn into a painting, or perhaps spark off a series. I have made it my new personal mission to find as many cool places for sunsets as possible, and then to take the time to watch the sun set.

A bird:

Dolphins:

This is where I will post daily sketches since I moved to Colorado.
For previous sketches, check out:
Daily Sketches/Studies

New daily sketches and color studies!

2008-09-29T14:36:00.001-07:00

I finally have a moment to insert a couple recent sketches. Check the daily sketches links for updates, or follow this link:
Colorado: Daily Sketches!