Idea sketch

Drawing/study

Drawing placed on canvas

Placement of darks

Start of first pass

Still early on

2nd pass on figures and early background development

Detail of 2nd pass

More passes on figures and background work

Pushing towards a finish

Final: Mother and Daughter, 2009, Oil on linen, 42 x 50 in.

Sorry for the last minute post this month. I’ve been tied up with The Human Eclectic group exhibition I curated at Merry Karnowsky Gallery. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, and you haven’t seen the show yet, get over there! The exhibition runs till November 7th.

So, in lieu of drawings from my sketchbook this month, I’ve decided to show you photos of the progression of my latest larger painting, Mother and Daughter, starting from idea sketch (which I posted last month) to final painting. The work measures 42 x 50 inches and is oil on linen. And if you’re interested, I’m offering this painting as a signed limited edition print at my online store.

Idea sketch for a new 42″ x 50″ painting. If all goes well with it, it’ll be included in the October group exhibition I’m curating at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery. I’ll be posting more about this show later this month on my studio blog.

Sorry for the delay! It’s been a very busy three plus weeks; Peter, generally no, I don’t carry white paint with me. The white (and other colors) is usually gouache, applied before on the page or added afterward. I’ve used brush ink markers in the past, but not recently. I’ve done the occasional demo with discussion in university settings, but since I’m currently teaching a couple of classes at Art Center in Pasadena, CA, I get in all the demo/workshop activity I have time for. Jamie, no apprenticeship with anyone in the past, but had a handful of amazing draftsmen as teachers such as Dave Passalacqua, Gerry Contreras (both who studied under Rico LeBrun, and passed so much of his teachings on to their students!), and Barron Storey (who studied under the great Robert Weaver!). A.J., 5″ x 8″ sketchbooks recently. The “drawing on the other side of the page” is on the same side of the page, just painted over and drawn on top of. David, too many variables to go into detail here. Sometimes the drawings are solid enough to transfer them straight to canvas, and other times I’ll do more realized drawings from looser sketches before committing to painting.

One last note, if you haven’t noticed yet, ASFA just published At Random Too, a 24 page black and white catalogue of a handful of my drawings and sketchbook pages (some of the ones you’ve seen here and others). If interested, it’s only $20 and you can order through my online store!

Thanks for the comments everyone! To answer a few of your questions; James, I try to carry a sketchbook everywhere I go, though I don’t always. But certainly when I’m out having coffee or drinks, or if I’m out having dinner alone – And always when I travel. Deocliciano, no plans for a DVD on drawing or painting – Just not my sort of thing. Dave, what you’ve seen so far are from Moleskin sketchbooks. But it seems like they’ve changed their paper stock recently and it doesn’t take some of the ink I use that well. Maybe it’s just temporary, I’m not sure. If not, I may be switching to another brand next. Pablo, playing around with a couple of project ideas, but nothing concrete to report as of yet.

Thought I would start this new blog dedicated to just my sketchbook drawings – Simple and straightforward. I’ll try to post at least one or more drawings a week.