What have I been up to?

Hello there and welcome back to my blog. I have quite a few drawings to share along with imagery from a number of great events somehow squeezed into the month of March. I also have a video to show you:)

These photos were taken by the amazing Phil Holland (click on his name to check out his wonderful work) during the CHROMA SXSW party that The Art Department hosted. As you can see Francis and myself were body painting during the event. I had such a great time! We weren't the only artists doing our thing -  there were also several students drawing from 12-16 uniquely outfitted and color coordinated models. The event also brought together many other terrific multi-disciplinary artists that made this event like no other. The photos only show you the body painting room, so make sure to watch the video to see all the terrific energy.

The next night Francis and I received a 10pm phone call from Mr. Scott Richeson (TAD's director of operations). He was chilling with his buddy Chris, founder of MadGods street wear, who wanted some artwork to freshen up his shop. I said as long as I get to paint nude girls I'll do it. Two hours later we had an awesome wall to showcase.  One more great thing about Austin ;)

Approximately a week later I participated in another great event: ART EROTICA. I created a live work of art that would be auctioned off with all the proceeds going to the the Paul Kirby Emergency Fund. The amount of people that showed up to support the cause was huge! I have to tell you though, I usually don't get overwhelmed when I draw in front of crowds (like at CHROMA), but the fact that the drawing was going to be auctioned off, five models, a short amount of time, and no warm-up drawing got my heart really racing!  I loved it!!!

When I am drawing from a model I look to capture the subject's position, gesture, and feeling. As the piece evolves I make an effort to consider the design and composition, as well as really exaggerating the pose to make it my own. The piece above was a pretty standard academic drawing once the model ended her pose. The background and pattern weren't there and some lighting effects were not consistent. I spent an extra 20 minutes fixing subtle value shifts in the figure and thinking about the background. I thought of Barron Storey and his pattern of triangles that he draws everywhere. After putting them down I realized that a triangle was not enhancing the image and that I wanted to push it a bit more. So I drew tiny diamonds instead of other combinations of triangles, stripes, circles, swirls, or other abstract mark making. I was pleasantly surprised on how simple diamond shapes created depth in an otherwise regular figure drawing. That made me realize that not only does the time you spend with the model count, but also the time after the model has left. This is the time when your personal aesthetic shows up and your voice or style really shines.

One more thing be sure to check out my new online store! Thank you for stopping by and have an awesome day!