23 Nov 2011
by Alexanderin Uncategorized
So I have a job. After 9 long months, I get to stop freaking out about being a completely useless individual. Not that I actually believed I was completely useless, but there was that nagging voice in the back of my head that whispered such things to me.
It is my hope that I will somehow work myself into more of a schedule and that can only add my writing here. Also, it is my hope that being “forced” to actually take an hour for lunch might lead to sketching at lunch again. Sketching at lunch might lead to painting during the weekend. Both might lead to more posts here.
13 Sep 2011
by Alexanderin Uncategorized
So I’ve done it. I’ve gesso’d two canvases. I guess I have found two images with the proper color and motivation to get me going. It has been a long time since I have really had the ability to rouse myself, artistically.
A great deal of this has to do with daily life, beating me down. I went to a job seeker’s group, yesterday. Of the seven unemployed people there, six were actively talking about depression, and the seventh had only been unemployed for 5 months. No wonder I am having problems fueling my fire.
It seems I have a choice: Fail or succeed. It is really that simple. I was recently given that choice with my marriage itself. We had gone to a really dark and hopeless space. In the middle of a pretty hefty pool of despair, I just changed my mind. I told myself that I will not give in. I will love, I will rise and I will make this work. At least for today, I limited online distractions. I started “work” a little before 8am. I am not going to be able to spend as much time today painting as I would like, but I refuse to let these roadblocks halt all progress. I will not tune out and enable pouting. If all I do is gesso today, then fine. Every step beyond that is a statement to myself.
I am greatly encouraged. See? I made it myself.
11 Apr 2011
by Alexanderin memorial art, painting
There was a point where I had a spate of commissions for memorial art. Most of these were drawings, but the one painting of the bunch was a memorial portrait of Joe the Goat. I was originally taken aback by how much I appreciated that portrait. When I was first asked to paint a goat, I did not have a high expectations for the project. A goat? Really? I was supposed to make myself enthusiastic about this?
Well, when I saw the actual photo I was to be working from, it all fell in to place. Not only was the goat interesting, but the whole photo was so well done I found myself wanting to make the picture larger, so as to be able to better sink my teeth into the project. Fast forward a couple of years and I had enjoyed the title of memorial goat portrait artist. To more firmly cement my status, I decided to look for another goat. After failing with several attempts to get appropriate photos of goats, another Tribe.net personage came to my rescue. Lisa raises goats and had 40 someodd pictures, within an hour of my asking. So here is Zulu. There was obviously some bitterness about a vet who might or might not have properly taken care of Zulu. So here is hoping I can help, in a limited fashion.
I will say I took a real bad bout of self doubt. Right when it is supposed to normally show up, I started to seriously wonder if I could pull this portrait off. I had very few colors to play with and I was just blocking off shadows. I did remember that I was going through what I always did, but it was still a fierce battle to continue painting. So instead of ditching everything and find distractions, I made it work. I think it will help if I don’t wait so long between this and my next piece. Only 5 ways to find out for sure, as I always say.
23 Mar 2011
by Alexanderin painting Tags: jellyfish, painting
So I really finished the last frog painting. I put in about 45 minutes of touchups, yesterday. I then started a new painting. Here is hoping tomorrow sees even more painting. In other news, I have contacted The Jellyfish gallery about showing my work. I have no idea if I can pull it off, but I figure if I can finish 2 more pieces to my satisfaction, I’ll have enough to hang up. I will need to start looking for frames, however. I am hoping that between thrift stores and Urban Ore, I’ll be able to frame my collection without breaking the bank.
Here is hoping for bigger and better.
05 Mar 2011
by Alexanderin painting Tags: art, frogs, memorial art
What? I painted a frog? How strange. How utterly unlike at least half the artwork I ever do. Actually, I feel this is unlike most of the painting I ever do. Normally, I’m a color guy. I love finding colors. I love seeing a hint of a color and featuring it. Some of my favorite colors have been those that I don’t see on a photo, but a printer adds on the printout. Mixing paint to find that perfect color is very zen for me.
If you look at the frogs I do, you will generally see red eyed tree frogs or poison dart frogs. This guy has no vibrant color range. In fact, he is pretty monotone. As it was, I transformed the mostly tan frog using orange. It was still more about shaping and shading as opposed to playing with colors. The Brass Frog was a bit of an exercise. Images usually call to me and are painted without thought of growth. I think I will not be content to paint an image for its own sake for a while. There will be more of a technical reason for the next painting or three. I have had a lot of fun, but I’d like to perhaps work on refining technique. Don’t get me wrong; I am proud to have developed my technique and to have let it evolve naturally, but I think it is time to look into new ways to learn.
27 Feb 2011
by Alexanderin memorial art, painting Tags: art, memorial art, painting, tribe
As some may know, I have taken the title of “preeminent goat memorial portrait artist of the greater United States.” Obviously, I don’t have much of a handle on the art scenes in Hawaii or Alaska, so I leave thos out. OK OK, it is (mostly) a joke. I am damn proud of the memorial portrait I did of Joe The Amazing Technicolor Dream Goat. The only thing being that I really only did one. By default, that still puts me pretty high on the list, because, really do you know any other memorial goat portrait artists? Thought as much. Not one to rest on my artistic laurels, I’ve decided to hunt down another memorial goat photo. Anything for fame, right?
My initial queries yielded a suggestion to ask a company that raises goats for meat. That was my fallback plan. Technically, that qualifies more as dinner than memorial. I am not sure any of those goats were named, nor had adorable photos taken of them.
I was then pointed towards a facebook goat rescue group. That looked more like what I wanted. I even got a reply from a moderator, who sounded excited at the prospect of sending me pics of the dearly departed. No has actually gotten back to me, but it has only been a day yet, there is still time.
And then I was reminded of Lisa (from Tribe.net) who raises goats. As far as sounding excited about my project? She almost immediately sent me a flickr set with about 40 pictures of goats in it. I already have a favorite of that set.
So here I am. Ready to go. Canvas prepped. Goat picture acquired. I think I will wait for the facebook group to pony up some goats. A little extra competition is never a bad thing. I am still leaning towards the idea of painting Lisa’s goat as well as the best picture that is sent from the New Moon Farm Goat Rescue & Sanctuary. Assuming, of course, that they actually send me something that compares favorably.
27 Feb 2011
by Alexanderin Uncategorized Tags: art, painting, process
I am done! Maybe. Maybe I am only almost done. Either way, at least I painted today. I like to think I got a good deal of motivation from Icky Bob. I hauled my Agents of Chaos to dinner at his place on Friday. After a bit of wine we started talking painting. When an artist who you really respect gives you advice and encouragement, the ideal strategy is to let it sink in. To roll it all about your artistic … parts. So I am taking a good deal of his advice to heart. After this softball season ends for the lil AOC , I want to enroll in a painting class. I’ve also decided not to wait to see if I am done with my portrait of “Fredrick.” I have put gesso down on a canvas, but laid down a light tan, instead of the pure white I usually use. I am more than a little tempted to delay starting my next piece until I have another piece I can alternate working on. That, I’ll have to still think on.
22 Feb 2011
by Alexanderin painting Tags: painting, process
There is a strange phenomenon that happens when I paint. Usually, about 25% into a painting, I’ll start to get a serious case of self doubt. It has become pretty dependable. I know I will start feeling like I wont be able to make a worthwhile piece, but I still wont be able to shake it. When I am about three fourths of the way finished, I always seem to get settled into the piece and I can finally calm down.
Guess where I am, right now? I’m just started a frog painting. It has been a good while since I painted a frog. The image I chose is a little unlike my normal works. Generally, I am a color guy. I like mixing colors, shaping with colors and generally playing with them. Colors just make me a happy painter. So now I am painting a frog which has various tans and browns, with some black markings on it. Color me nervous. Again. Now I do not get to rely on my crutch of pretty color. I have to make this beast take shape with subtle tones and shading. I always seem to have a good reason to doubt my abilities, when the anxiety strikes. I like to think I have a good record for pulling through, anyway. So I’ll try not to procrastinate today. A little house work (I’ve already completed job hunting duties due diligence) then I’ll dig in. Nothing to fear but fear itself, right?
I think Danny Said it well: Nothing to fear
17 Feb 2011
by Alexanderin Art appreciation, Drawing Tags: art, pencil, portrait, tribe
This portrait was a bit of a turning point for me. Mostly, until then, I had tried to stay away from drawing portraits of friends, especially pretty friends. I was more than happy to draw some stranger, without a care if the drawing was flattering or not. As a matter of fact, I often made my portraits where the subject looked at least a little crazed. Part of this was simply my choice of photos. I appreciated the off beat moment, captured on film and let the crazy seep through the pencils. This worked best when using my usual method of grabbing random photos from strangers.
Than I decided to draw Sushila. Another Tribe.net friend, I was quite fond of her and thus attached to how my drawing reflected on her. A bad outcome was more probable, since I was judging on a more strict interpretation of the original image. It was not enough to make something that was interesting alone.
I am reasonably pleased with the outcome. I like how I captured the feel of Shushila in the moment. The one big safety net of surprising people with art is that I am able to simply not tell anyone if I do not like my finished product. I’m glad I was able to show this one.
17 Feb 2011
by Alexanderin Commision, Drawing, memorial art Tags: art, memorial art, pencil
As tranquil a picture as “Qatdad” was, “Qatmom” had an edge. Here I was, looking at this scowling stern looking photo of this venerable woman, packing down her cigarettes. Do I keep the scowl? Do I even keep the pack of smokes? I thought about this a while before starting this portrait. Eventually, I decided that this was a treasured family photo. Obviously, smoking was not a major factor in her passing. Plus, if you have an 80+ year old woman who poses for photos with her smokes, I assume that is a part of what everyone remembers about her. I talked to the friend who commissioned the portraits and he agreed. I still felt trepidation about my decisions until I got feedback after the delivery of both drawings. It seems I was right to trust my instincts.