Afternoon Sketch: Self Portrait

Self portrait, 2010 8"x10", oil on canvas board

2pm - original sketch with high-tech mirror set-up.

2:22pm The initial blocks of color always looks pretty crappy.

 

2:43pm Starting to fill out the rest of the face - started to realize that I have a really sad expression on my face. I suppose "concentrated" and "sad" overlap in my arsenal of facial expressions.  Decided that I would not change this at that point, but made a mental note to try and not look depressed the next time I try this exercise. 

3:27pm "Finishing" touches. I'm going to have to try doing this again sometime - what an interesting way to objectify your own face. 

Dog Portrait: Hector

Hector and his tongue, 2010 8"x10" oil on canvas board

Another quick sketch or another small dog. Hector is a black pug - he might be a mix of some kind. He has a tongue too great for his mouth, so it's pretty well always sticking out. He's sweet and funny looking, both excellent qualities in a small dog. 

Here are a few of the steps that brought me to this little sketch:

Drawing 3:46pm. Not much to look at. I don't draw much in terms of details, as my painting style isn't at all like my drawing style, so I don't commit too much time to this. I like to start with a base color that will contrast what I might imagine to be the more interesting of the subject colors. I thought Hector might look good in a blue/purple coat, thus the yellow base coat.  

 First steps: 4:18pm - cover in the background spaces (just happened to be in another kind of yellow, for fun) and started laying down most of the darker stuff.

Middle steps: 4:42pm - more of same, started introducing some layers of color, as the early steps always look so ugly, and this layering gives me some hope that the sketch might look half-decent upon completion.

Finishing touches: 5:31pm - play with lights and darks, revisit background. Voila - little dog sketch. 

Wolf

Wolf 8x10, oil on canvas board

Another morning sketch.

Dog Portrait: Blue Ruby

Blue Ruby 8x8, oil on canvas board, 2010

This one really is Ruby. I hope. 

Dog Portrait: Not Ruby

not Ruby fan art, 2010 8x10 oil on canvas board.

I made this painting based on a photo that I assumed was Ruby, Georgia W. Tush's iconic Boston terrier and the inspiration for the logo to her great new Roller Derby shop Neon Skates (in the back of Local 23, at 23 Bernard, Montreal). I found the image on the store's website, so jumped to conclusions about the model - painted this little guy and clandestinely tacked the painting onto the wall of the shop. It turns out, it's a customer's dog - so I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board and do one of Ruby to make up for this grave error. Man, you can't even make assumptions about dogs. 

Guilty Pleasures: Pet Portraits

Simbad has dainty knuckles, 2008 9X12" oil on canvas.

As a painter, but perhaps more so as a student of "Fine Arts", I feel a certain pressure to focus my attention and creative abilities towards the "deeply symbolic". I do like to tell stories in paintings, often using dream imagery to bring together disparate elements in a seemingly sensical way, as only dreams can. These stories often leave a lot up to interpretation, which is what I feel good art should do. These are my more "serious" works, when they happen - which hasn't been often of late.

When I'm not in a rhythm of painting, which is most of the time, I like to start up with simple sketches and frequently this means portraiture - the bread an butter of painters for centuries. I get a guilty pleasure for capturing someone's likeness in a mess of thick and unrealistically colored brush strokes. It's hardly cutting-edge, but it's fun and challenging, and often bring a smile to someone's face upon completion.  For the last couple years, after having brought a dog in my life, this has also meant pet portraits. I love painting dogs and I'm not too sure why this feels like the equivalent to admitting a taste for Lady Gaga - but it does. Painting pets isn't deep, but it's fun.

Pretty Penny, 2010. oil on canvas board.

When my dog Simbad was sent back to Mira for training as a guide dog, I did nothing but paint him (from pictures) for about three months. It was my way of coping with his massive absence in my life. I loved finding the blues and mauves in his black fur, as well as finding ways to capture his gentle nature in simple lines and shades. As I've recently started painting again, I've again come back to my love of dogs and have again come up against this guilty sense of pleasure in producing these images. I figure I might as well share them as they come along. They are quick and dirty - as they often take less than 3 hours to complete and are mostly done on tiny and cheap canvas board.

Simbad, 2008 8x10" oil on canvas board.