Posts

Drawing and Painting the Horse

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I'm creating an instructional Youtube series on drawing and painting the horse. I recently took on a project that involved painting a dragon and I wanted to improve my understanding of animal anatomy. I think horses are a good gateway to this subject because they are extremely bony and muscular and their coats generally don't conceal their anatomy. 

Vermeer's Girl with the Flute

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I put together this video discussion of a topic that is super important to me. The authorship of this painting, The Girl with a Flute  has recently come under serious question. I don't know whether or not it is a genuine Vermeer, but I offer some thoughts on the basis of stylistic analysis and thematic comparison to a similar painting, Vermeer's Girl with the Red Hat . 

Acrylic Painting for SAFEWORD 2023

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I completed this acrylic painting in January for the SAFEWORD art show at Squirrel Haus Arts in Minneapolis. The theme of the show was sex positivity, and there were a lot of talented artists involved. The show was arranged by Other Worldly Arts Collective .  Acrylic on canvas, 2023 SOLD

Landscapes 2022

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I wanted to share these landscapes I painted this year. This one depicts the view from my car during a cross-country trip. I like the idea of a "modern landscape," with traditional subject matter but from a 21st Century perspective. I also like the idea of situating the viewer inside the car because it sort of makes them a part of the painting These watercolors were all painted by setting down the background sky color first. Once it was dry I painted over it with the most opaque black I could mix. I like how the silhouettes make the skies really sing. This one is a little different. I used ink instead of watercolor, and a pen for the trees instead of a brush. Here the silhouette of the black trees suggests not a lack of light, but the blinding light of the sky. The indelible marks of the ink made for a more expressive piece and I approached it much more improvisationally than the paintings above.

What It's Like to Attend a Figure Drawing Group

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I wanted to post about my recent figure drawing sessions and describe what figure drawing studios are like. I attend the weekly figure drawing co-op at a local art  college near me. For 7 dollars you get 4 hours in the studio. You and usually about twelve other people surround a dais where the figure model poses.  The poses start off quick. These ones were only 1 minute long. The model does big action poses, and you have to draw really fast. Today we did ten of these.   This time is for quick gestural drawings. Gesture drawings are loose sketches that are meant to get down the most crucial information in the short time you have. These are helpful in warming up, getting used to the proportions of the model, and because the poses are dramatic and the limbs and legs are extended from the body it is easy to get used to the model's proportions.  Then the model slows down the pose to anywhere from 2 to 5 minutes. Today we went to 5 minute poses. The poses are less exciting, because the m

Inktober 2022

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"Match" Inktober Day 8  ($75) It's October again, so I've been doing Inktober, an annual artist challenge to make one drawing a day everyday of October using the official "Inktober" prompts. I haven't been using ink every day but I have been creating every day, which is the spirit and purpose of the challenge. Today I made the above acrylic painting. "Scallop" This type of edge design is called a scallop, presumably after the scallop shell.  "Scurry" I was at my local figure drawing co-op this day for 3 hours, hoping the model  would do something like a scurry pose. But I liked her poses anyway. They were very restful.  "Gargoyle"  I learned in college that a gargoyle is technically the statue connected to a gutter, made to spit the rain water out of its mouth (though that's not really how we use the term anymore). I was thinking about the sad existence of a gargoyle come to life, never able to speak because he is always

New Portrait Website

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 I am now selling portraits at HandPaintedPortraits.com This is a new opportunity for me to make money selling paintings that are tailor made for the buyer. Please visit the new website and consider buying a custom portrait.