Sexy Beast and the Pomegranate

Music for this session: Beatles, bass solos, Jaco Pastorius

Hey there. Been painting some commissions and I don't want to show them until the waiting patron receives the piece. But here are a couple details.

Yes it is Ghandi. Ever see Ben Kinsley in "Sexy Beast" I mean is that a character as far removed from Ghandi as the current political discourse is from rationality, or what? Kudos to Mr Kingsley for the most delicious cussing ever in a film.

This is not actually a commission.

Pushing space deeper into the picture plane.

 Music for this session: Peter Gabriel


This weekend I organized a 5 hour photo shoot. My friend Shaun Roberts http://shaunroberts.net/ and several others helped and I got some pretty amazing reference. The photos look like crazy steampunk Carravagio paintings.
Here is Toni shooting Alex.http://alexrosmarin.org/

Using glazes to unify the underlying colors. Using glazes to push back the space. Using glazes to make gradations of light. I have gotten this painting about 60% done and it took three weeks. At that pace I will not get enough done to make all my deadlines! #@$%!

I also used the extra paint to cover up some old figure studies. I like the half-glazed and dripping effect.

upside, downside

Music for this painting session: Dangermouse and Sparklehorse, Radiohead, Yes, Buckethead.

Most Sundays I start painting around 7 PM. This is after working out from 11:30 AM till 5:30. First a brutally intense yoga class (www.monkeyyoga.com) Then a worse kick-boxing/wrestling sparring class. I am usually barely able to move or think. However, the vast amounts of endorphins circulating in my blood has positive effects. I makes me feel like I've been smoking very good Indica.

This painting is coming slowly. But it is coming. That is good.

Here is a step by step drawing of a plaster torso, I did to show my class how to proceed in their drawing.

Glazing transparent veils of color

 

Music for this session: Blood music and the whisper of hemoglobin along the inside of my veins. The slow pace of breath. Snatches of memory and sexual fantasy. 

Here I have gone over the B&W figure with a transparent mix of burnt sienna and ultramarine. Its crazy how different it looks than if I had painted the same color in the original underpainting. The old masters called it velatura. Veils of transparent color. See Madeline Von Foesters website for a complete explanation: http://www.madelinevonfoerster.com.

      I worked on the machines behind him as well. I have  painted the other figures head for the past three days, scrapped it all off each time, finally realized I needed to move to another area. Sometimes its best to let go of a problem and come back to it. Discretion is the better part of valor.

fullness of time

Music for this session: Pink Floyd The Wall, Teaching Company Lecture on Hitler's Empire.

Perseverance in the face of anxiety. I felt like ants were crawling under my skin for a couple days. There are too many demands on one's time, others breeze through life, one feels jealousy at their easy passage. They look as happy as people on TV.  Ha. The truth is we are all involved in a great struggle. I am just a local example of the universal.
    Anyway.
  Feel pretty stupid moaning about having to paint! Talked to an old friend who has been sleeping on couches and holding several part-time jobs. He is getting his feet under him and we talked about how much he is anticipating his own place, a place with a key. I am an idiot for not appreciating every aspect of my unbelievable luck!
  Got quite a bit done despite having malaise, ennui, funk, blues, anxiety, etc. I got James Jean's "Rebus" book in the mail and am as always happy to be a human every time I see his work. Stunning. Drank coffee and gazed in respect and admiration for an hour before starting to paint my own stuff.

 

Gotta keep gettin up. Paint more. Paint better. Get on up. Get on uppa.