Friday, December 30, 2011

Portrait sketches

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.  This week I have been busy gearing up for what will hopefully be a greatly productive 2012.  I happily received 24 blank canvases for Christmas, and I am looking forward to using all of them in the coming year.  The painting sketches below are the two I worked on this week. 

Portrait of a Woman
oil on canvas
20x16 inches
2011

Portrait Figure Sketch
oil on canvas
20x16 inches
2011

I also finally got my copy of Lessons in Classical Drawing by the great Juliette Aristides.  I haven't gotten too far into the reading yet, but I have watched the dvd and it is a great resource for those interested in drawing.  She makes a great point in it by saying that ANYONE can learn to draw.  Like writing or playing an instrument, it's just a skill that takes a lot of work as opposed to a gift that only certain people are born with. 



I will be the first to admit that sometimes my drawings and paintings truly suck (I'm not that particularly fond of the two paintings I posted above).  The problem is that I, like other artists, have typically waited for inspiration to hit me before I start to work on a drawing or a painting.  But if inspiration is even that important, then it needs to be sought out by the artist.  If we simply wait for it to come to us, then we won't ever get anywhere.  Art is not meant to ever be a passive task in any way whatsoever.  The best way to be inspired is to simply work.  The best way to become a master at drawing and painting is to consistently keep drawing and painting.  So if you are an artist that depends on inspiration in order to work, allow me to share with you my greatest artistic revelation this year:  Forget about inspiration.  Just gather your materials together and get to work.  The act of creating will itself become all the inspiration you need.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Paintings, updates, and thoughts for 2012

I just hate that feeling of having left something behind, and making people wonder, "Whatever happened to... ?"  Well, rest assured I have not given up on painting things, even though it has been a while since you've seen any from me.  As we speak there are new things drying... one of which I will show you now, and the other you'll see after Christmas.  The one you see here is the latest of my Holy Land-inspired works.  This one is from Egypt again.  It is a canopy located in the gardens at Montazah Palace in Alexandria, Egypt.  A very beautiful place it most certainly was.

Canopy at Montazah Palace
oil on canvas
16x20 inches
2011
$300
And of course, the other project I've been working on will be revealed after Christmas.  At this point, since that particular project is finished, I am happy to have the pressure off for a little bit to move on to some other projects.  I still have some Holy Land ideas in mind, and those will certainly come after the new year.  I've given some thought to the Lenten season as well.  This year's 40 Days of Artists seemed to be a pretty good hit for a number of folks.  I really enjoyed it, and was happy to give my two cents on the greatest masters in art's history.  It was a challenge, and I hope that next year's Lenten season presents something equally challenging for me (if not more), and will be just as interesting (if not more).  I'll be announcing my idea for Lent in a later post.  I'm just hoping the idea I have in mind will be feasible!  Other than that, I'm looking forward to 2012 being a very productive year.