What are you working on?
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stevenD
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No problem at all, I am very lucky that one of the best Print Houses in the US, is nearby. I use their HD Acrylic, which is their top-of-the-line Metallic Paper affixed (not sure how) to a nice thick Acrylic sheet. No need for any framing and it provides a very clean and high tech/fine art look, which (I think) matches very well with my art. I've printed my stuff on Metal (Aluminum) but it does not have the detail that Metallic Paper has. Also with Metallic Paper, any "whites" come out as "silver"...!
Here's a link:
HD Acrylic - Artbeat Studios
www.artbeatstudios.com
Artyczar
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Donna T
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These are so cool and I especially like how you’re doing the people hugging. If you’re using family photos for reference I’m so interested in how you are able to do this because I’ve been wanting to try it for a long time. I don’t want to just copy the photo; I want that personal interpretation that you get with your work, including great design elements. However you accomplish this, it’s very effective!
OliveOyl
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Looking forward to seeing this one too because I like the couple…so far. I don’t know if you’re done with the woman’s hair, but I love it as it is. Those little brown spots in the yellow curls is everything! Also, the purple areas in his face and the little trophy off to the side are nice places for the eyeballs to land. IMO, your color choices are always good and interesting.
So, how do you like working on (I assume) your own family photos? Does it conjure up weird memories or do you stay all objective and professional? I tried doing my own (and the hubs) family pictures but I’ve hated every one I’ve ever done. Not sure why that is except “my people” never look like them. Or maybe, they look just the tiniest amount like them to be…disturbingly unfamiliar. In any case, they’re all hovering on the trash list.
I suppose I prefer painting other people’s people and then distorting them, or commenting on them, according to my own mysterious whims.
So, how do you like working on (I assume) your own family photos? Does it conjure up weird memories or do you stay all objective and professional? I tried doing my own (and the hubs) family pictures but I’ve hated every one I’ve ever done. Not sure why that is except “my people” never look like them. Or maybe, they look just the tiniest amount like them to be…disturbingly unfamiliar. In any case, they’re all hovering on the trash list.
I suppose I prefer painting other people’s people and then distorting them, or commenting on them, according to my own mysterious whims.
C-her
Metamorphosis is happening.
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I am close to be finished with this piece. The framing became important here. It is crocheted and embellished with beads.
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Artyczar
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Brian, I love this drawing. It's good and creepy!View attachment 48850
Mannequin. Pencil sketch, 20 x 15 cm.
Saw this wonderfully creepy clothing mannequin in a local mall, and simply had to take a reference photo for a sketch...
Artyczar
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Thank you so much Donna. Yes, I'm using family photos. I have a show next year where I'd like to show them all, and I had an idea to place the photos next to each painting. The only thing with that, however, is the worry of people (viewers) comparing the reference to the painting. I'm not sure I like that part, so. I have to think about it.
I take the initial photo and get a rough outline of the people and maybe a few other elements I want to keep. Then, I take that (which is a very basic skeleton of the picture and sketch in a little more detail. I'll add certain elements as well, so I can paint everything in. At that point, I scan the drawing into Photoshop and blow it up to the size I need. I transfer that drawing to the surface of the canvas or panel with carbon paper, and then I kinda make it up as I go along--adding weird elements that tell a deeper story, but nothing too spoonfed. The painting process depends on the personal dynamics in the photo.
In this particular photo, it's a very rare image of my parents hugging. I took this picture when I was a kid, and made them pose like this, but it was largely satirical on their part because they didn't like each other much.
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Artyczar
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Thanks for the great compliments, Olive.
You always make me blush a little, which makes me look like I'm sunburned or have a rash of sorts. I understand what you mean about the frustration of people not looking like the actual individuals. I have a couple of paintings where that's occurred. I have to keep messing with it and get it right as best I can. I'm never totally removed from these scenes, and definitely not "professional." LOL. I have to be connected to a point because I want an actual narrative there. The narrative has much to do with how I perceive the scene in the present moment, as an adult, or the child in me who didn't have the courage to speak about some of the aspects that weren't healthy, so there's a sense of sarcasm and humor there. That's always been how I survived everything.
EDIT: Sorry, I forgot the address the yellow and brown hair. Yes, that is staying, but much of it will have some black outlines (last part of the process). The man's face will have less outline, but a few spots of "character" will be there for him.
Ellen Easton
Was Ellen E. on Wet Canvas
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Everyone has been so busy creating wonderful works and here I sit, kind of stuck on stupid with not much to show for myself. I've been recuperating well from my hip replacement and have gotten some really awesome brushes and things from my reviews but even though I tried everything out, I didn't create anything more than trial brush strokes and that sort of thing. Then last week my grand-daughter's husband was killed in a horrible car accident and that set my Muse back on her heels for days. I'm loving catching up here and seeing what you all are producing. You're all doing wonderfully so you're inspiring me.
Artyczar
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I got back to the kooky portrait today. It took me taking a picture of it to realize I missed some spots on the right side near the head! I guess I was staring at it too much in real life to notice it. I'm about to fix it.
In any case, I have to wait for this background to dry before working on the face, clothing, and hair, the majority of which are going to be super sloppy (on purpose). I realize the mouth is crooked, but I was making a "face" in the reference picture, and I couldn't quite capture it with the dimples. I had a crooked mouth in the actual photo, but it wasn't exactly like this.
Oh well.
It might wind up as a "monster" when I'm done, so the mouth may not matter.
In any case, I have to wait for this background to dry before working on the face, clothing, and hair, the majority of which are going to be super sloppy (on purpose). I realize the mouth is crooked, but I was making a "face" in the reference picture, and I couldn't quite capture it with the dimples. I had a crooked mouth in the actual photo, but it wasn't exactly like this.
Oh well.
It might wind up as a "monster" when I'm done, so the mouth may not matter.
OliveOyl
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Yikes, Ayin….those black eye holes…!!! I’m scared of that “monster-person” as it stands but in any case, it will be interesting (as always) to see how this develops. The background is very “groovy” too and I wonder…why don’t people use that word anymore? It’s groovy, for god sakes.
Okay. As to my own stuff, I’ve been working on this series since last August. This is the final of 9, all 40x20, with two large faces, a snippet of text, collage and mixed media tidbits, and my (usual) kind of commentary about our demented world.
The text on this (forgot where I found it) will read “like may bugs trapped in a box by a cruel child” and it will go in the center under the “all seeing eye.” I had this paper sample book (forgot where/why/when) and it had pages of textures. So the background is “marble” paper ripped into 1 inch squares. Yes…RIPPED…because I wanted a deckled edge and I’m an obsessive freaktoid. Anyway, it’s supposed to suggest a kind of hard, unyielding infrastructure. The top part was a two page spread in some magazine about something that was being built (maybe it was in France for the Olympics?) and so that was cut apart in such a way that I could get it to span the 40”. The figures are almost done, and there WILL be a few May bugs trapped inside the glass cloche-like things with the faces. She asks, can there ever be an escape to freedom from this much claustrophobia? You get “it,” I’m sure because if nothing else, I’m corny and we all understand the corn.
So, while this series has been fun to do (not usually the case) and as much as I don’t like working smaller…I’m going to force myself to work smaller from here on out. I just can’t stop fretting about storage issues and the “burden factor” of leaving behind all these canvases.
Yeah, I worry about everything.
Obviously.
Okay. As to my own stuff, I’ve been working on this series since last August. This is the final of 9, all 40x20, with two large faces, a snippet of text, collage and mixed media tidbits, and my (usual) kind of commentary about our demented world.
The text on this (forgot where I found it) will read “like may bugs trapped in a box by a cruel child” and it will go in the center under the “all seeing eye.” I had this paper sample book (forgot where/why/when) and it had pages of textures. So the background is “marble” paper ripped into 1 inch squares. Yes…RIPPED…because I wanted a deckled edge and I’m an obsessive freaktoid. Anyway, it’s supposed to suggest a kind of hard, unyielding infrastructure. The top part was a two page spread in some magazine about something that was being built (maybe it was in France for the Olympics?) and so that was cut apart in such a way that I could get it to span the 40”. The figures are almost done, and there WILL be a few May bugs trapped inside the glass cloche-like things with the faces. She asks, can there ever be an escape to freedom from this much claustrophobia? You get “it,” I’m sure because if nothing else, I’m corny and we all understand the corn.
So, while this series has been fun to do (not usually the case) and as much as I don’t like working smaller…I’m going to force myself to work smaller from here on out. I just can’t stop fretting about storage issues and the “burden factor” of leaving behind all these canvases.
Yeah, I worry about everything.
Obviously.
stlukesguild
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Ooh! Olive! I truly love this! 
Artyczar
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Olive! This is truly incredible! I'm blown away (as usual) with your work. Your ideas are so fantastic, and your work is flawless here, as it always is.
This isn't that small. I know you like to work much bigger, but this packs a punch as it is. I love how you have still taken up all of the frame. I do know what it's like to have a storage problem. It's like the albatross for me, personally. I think about working even smaller than I usually do, or just working on paper or something. Yet, I keep making medium-sized pieces.
This isn't that small. I know you like to work much bigger, but this packs a punch as it is. I love how you have still taken up all of the frame. I do know what it's like to have a storage problem. It's like the albatross for me, personally. I think about working even smaller than I usually do, or just working on paper or something. Yet, I keep making medium-sized pieces.
