STONES ART

Flower Power 2

2011-12-12T01:40:00.001-08:00

"Ruby's Flowers" Pastel, 8.5x11

These are the same flowers from my mom's garden that I did a watercolor of back in May. This time they are in pastels and for a sick friend. Hope she likes it!

Farragut West Twisted Tree

2011-12-11T12:48:00.001-08:00

"Twisted Tree" Watercolor, 10x6

I painted this after a sketch I did in the park I cross on my way from my office to the metro. The funny thing was that a couple weeks later after I sketched it it was cut down. Just like that. I have to admit that I was a little shocked. I always enjoyed passing this tree. The way it twisted over reminded me of a bent over dancer with her arms over her head. It was just a unique and beautiful tree I'm glad that I got the courage to stop for a minute and capture this tree in my sketchbook. Now that it is gone it makes this painting a little more special.

Pencil Sketch of Twisted Tree in Farragut West Park.

Finding a Purpose

2011-12-07T01:54:00.000-08:00

"Waiting" Pastel, 18x24

Have you ever felt that somewhere in you life you found yourself on a routine and it's no where near the goals/dreams that you once had? You start wondering when and where did it take a turn? You felt like you were waiting for something but didn't know what? Well lately I've been doing a lot of thinking. Thinking about the things I used to dream about. This got me thinking about the current state of my life and how I got here. I admit I have it pretty good. I have found and married my soul mate. I have a beautiful two year old daughter (who loves to paint!). We're working on building our dream house. I'm surrounded by loving family and friends. I have a steady good paying job and yet I felt that something was lacking but didn't know what.

It felt like I was on a life loop. I would wake up, go to work, come home, hang out with the family, go to bed, and repeat. During the little free time I did have I would scour the internet reading about things that others have done/accomplished. This in turn made me want to accomplish something. So I would draw, strum the guitar, or sit down and code. Sometimes the drive, passion, fire, whatever you call it was there and I would get a cool idea of doing something. This would make me get pumped up to do something incredible. But looking back now I see now that I wasn't really doing anything. I was more than less reading about it and experiencing it through others. Then the fire would die down and I would get depressed that I didn't really accomplish anything. Then this cycle would start over.

So a couple of months ago I started asking myself "why can't I focus?". This question eventually led me to meditation and this led me to researching Buddhism. This in turn led me to some of the answers that I sought. The main understanding that I took away from it was that the route of suffering, unhappiness was through our attachments to everything. And I logically agree with this statement. We get sad, angry, jealous because we don't get/have what we want. The majority of us are too attached to material things. So I have learned to let go of most of my material attachments. I have learned to simplify my life. And it has done wonders for me. Buddhism also mentions that the road to happiness is showing compassion to others. So I started thinking about how I can provide happiness to others through the talents that I currently posses. I know that I wanted to do it through my art. And while this was a very good start I still felt that I still lacked some direction.

So I did some more self discovery, reading a lot of motivational, get out there and do it type of stuff. And after landing on and reading through Steve Pavalina's blog and Barbara Sher's book WishCraft I felt that I have finally found what I've been lacking for a long time. I have found my purpose. I have found a way to make my life fulfilling. Something that motivates/guides me in every action I take. What it boils down to is that I love helping others and even more I love helping others help themselves.

I used to feel that my "purpose" was to make the most amount of money that I can, in the fastest way possible to support my family. I was attached to money. I thought I needed it to make me happy. To make my family happy. But I realized now that money doesn't really create happiness. And it took me a while to figure this out. It happens that I have found the fastest way for me to make the most amount of money that I can, but it had left me feeling unsatisfied. Looking back I believe that this path stemmed from the FEAR of not finding a job out of college.

During the last four months or so of college I got an internship at a hospital doing flash programming. And since I had been searching the prior six months looking for an internship I would take just about anything. It was a two and half hour commute non paying internship. It sucked. But the promise of being employed straight out of college kept me going. I was learning a lot on the fly. I didn't know a lick of programming so I had to learn as the projects rolled in. It felt strange that I was doing a job that wasn't what I studied and paid(still paying) four years of college for. But liked I told myself and others, "DC is not the best place to get a degree in Media Arts and Animation. You got to take what you can get". So I did the internship dutifully and come graduation they delivered and I got the job.

It was low paying but I figured it was OK since I was right out college and it was better than nothing. Do it for the experience. This experience lasted about three weeks. I was very miserable and decided that I needed to move up the pay scale and closer to home. Since I saw the potential of this programming career path I have kept with it.

Five years later I'm still with it and I am glad that I am. This path has served me well in supporting my family and me. I even discovered the creative side to computer programming and have come to think of it as a form of art. I found it very easy to be employed as a programmer. I get job offers daily from recruiters and looking at their requirements I can see exactly where I need to go to get to the next pay level.

But what I lacked was real passion for it. Sometimes there was a spark and it would ignite but then it would fizzle out sooner or later. This career had given me the tools to survive in this world and I'm grateful. But I had lost my purpose in life on this money hungry course and I found that this had made me miserable.

I even decided at one point to stop doing art (something I've been doing naturally since I was child and excelled at in school) on the thought that it wouldn't help me financially so I didn't need it. But what I realized is that I really did need it. Not to help me financially but mentally. It was a release.

When I started applying my new purpose of helping others to my life a whole new way of thinking opened up. I started looking at the situations occurring in my life and figured out how I could express them through my art and actions. Hopefully with the aim to encourage and inspire others to help/understand one another and themselves.

So come today I have a purpose. I have life-goals. I have broken them down into reachable logical tasks. I have broken the life loop that once ruled my life and, I have started a new journey for myself. One of my favorite quotes from Barbara Sher was "Success happens regardless of how we feel". I now have the determination and plan for getting stuff done regardless of how I feel. I have set my self up for for a successful and fulfilling life and, it would be hard for me to fail with the plan that I have in place.

I will still keep on my current programming career path as it is a good source of survival. I look at it as a way to support my art and my purpose. It helps me buy supplies and live comfortably with my family. It allows me to work on art when I'm at home. What I don't want is to start seeing my art as a job. Because once that happens it would indeed make me miserable. I need it to be fun and inspiring not something I dread doing. Something I have always found problems with is having someone telling me what to draw. It's hard for me to get inspired when that happens and it doesn't produce the best results from me. I know what I want how to get it and, how to fulfill my purpose.

Before I end this post I have a quick little story about the image posted at the beginning.

I painted this a long time ago and it was just sitting in my closet collecting dust. This year during spring cleaning I decided to donate it to Good Will. Well a couple months later my wife came home from an antique store adventure and excitedly told me that this painting was on sell there. I laughed. It was going for $35. When my wife went back to the store she said that she didn't see it. I would like to think that someone bought it and that I have sold my first painting and it's funny that I did it without making a dime.

So in closing I hope after reading this you will start looking for if you haven't it yet found your life purpose. It can do wonders for you life. I know it has for mine. This kind of thinking can kick start your brain and life back in gear. Looking at the motivation behind everything you do and aligning it to your life purpose can really help you live a fulfilling life. I have found my purpose. I hope you find yours.

Links:

Steve Pavlinas Blog

Barbara Sher's book Wishcraft

Good Will

Snake Study

2011-12-01T02:34:00.000-08:00

Snake Study for an up coming painting.

DC ZOO GREVY'S ZEBRA

2011-11-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

These are Grevy's Zebra from the National Zoo in DC. The intricate design of the two zebra's stripes interacting with each other caught my eye. It was a very good exercise in patience and concentration when drawing them. Learn more about the zebras here.

Mashup-WhiteNinja

2011-10-05T03:41:00.000-07:00

I do these every now and then in my sketchbook to help loosen up my mind. I start with one image ( in this case the guy with his fingers to his mouth ) and then I use the contour of that image to create a new one. It's pretty fun to see what your mind can come up with. After I was done I felt like there could be some type of story to this and, I decided to put the focus on the white ninja.

The main story I thought of was that the white ninja has to destroy the creature in the tank before it gets out of hibernation. And there's lots of weird a crazy characters he has to face before he gets there.

Metro Portrait No.1 - Velma

2011-09-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

MetroPortrait No.1 -Velma
Watercolor 12x16

I don't really know her name but she reminds me of Velma from Scooby Doo for some reason.

Tried out my new watercolor brush that I bought today. A 3/4 flat and I also got a rigger but didn't use it for this painting. I tried to use more bigger strokes and work my way down to a smaller round brush only when I needed to.

Below is the image with a threshold adjustment layer added in Photoshop. It reduces the image down to just black and white. It's very good to see how readable your image is in just two values. I found the results interesting (and readable) so I decided to throw it up here.

Here is the sketch that I drew on the bus on my way to work. I later added watercolor when I got home. Her coat wasn't originally pink and her hair wasn't orange but I thought they looked cooler. So there you go.

Beach Week

2011-09-19T18:12:00.000-07:00

Went to the Outer Banks last week for some beach fun. Here's a quick sketch of a dad and his daughter mesmerized by the waves.

And here below is an attempt at a cloud study while at the beach.

I've always have been fascinated with clouds and wanted to paint them. This has been the first time that I had really made an effort to capture what I see.

The colors they take on and the way they show form are very intriguing to me and they are definitely harder to paint than I realized.

I don't get much time to sit around and paint clouds all day like I want to. So I'll have to come up with a way to take good pictures and quickly make value/color notes with pencil/pen. I hope to do more in the future.

RedDie No.1

2011-09-01T18:35:00.000-07:00

At long last here's my latest piece. And it's all digital.

I had a lot of fun creating this piece. While painting in Photoshop I kept a black and white adjustment layer on the very top and painted with it on. I found that this really helped with the value relationships. I would also toggle off this layer to check to make sure that my colors didn't strike out too much.

Originally this was piece was intended to be a cover for a painting series. It involved a femme fatale in Las Vegas and an lucky/unlucky gambler. And I had plans ( and still do ) to her in the background. But I liked the way the die looked by itself and decided to pause here and take a snapshot.

To the left and below are some of the thumbnails I drew up.

below is a study of a model from Robert A Maguire's gallery. I was inspired a lot by his work while coming up with this series concept.

And here's an image with a testing title placement.

June Sketch Dump

2011-06-28T16:58:00.000-07:00

Here's a big ole sketch dump from my current sketchbook. Getting back into the habit. Word.

Flower Power

2011-05-25T19:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a little watercolor I just finished up for my mom. Took a reference photo from her little flower garden outside of her kitchen. Hopes she likes it!

Practice Practice Practice!

2011-05-07T14:34:00.000-07:00

Still consider my self a beginner at watercolor. But Practice makes perfect. I painted this from a photo I took of my wife. On to the next one.

REVENGE OF THE NERD!

2011-04-22T19:12:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest. Inspired by Lupe Fiasco's Mixtapes. Pencil, Watercolor, Digital.
He's going to teach this town a lesson that they won't forget. Never make a nerd ANGRY.

Got a new Wacom tablet today and its awesomeness.

Some thumbnail sketches that I added some watercolor to.

Contrast Study

2011-04-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

After reading James Gurney post about how to eliminate the middle value I decided to try it out for myself. I very much enjoyed just breaking down everything to just black and white. It really helped me see the bigger shapes and get a better sense of light direction. And I love applying it to watercolor it just makes everything easier. I'll put this tool in my bag of tricks when I'm out drawing from now on. Rock on.

Here are a couple of pages from my sketchbook where I tried the technique. Some parts I cheated and added some middle value but for the most part I stayed true.

Life Drawing 4-09-2011

2011-04-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

More drawings from my sketchbook. Don't worry I'm doing more stuff than my life drawings and I'll be posting them up soon!

And here are more studies.

Life Drawing 3-24-2011

2011-03-24T18:06:00.000-07:00

Had a little fun making up the colors here. Its Christmas Time in Washington! Not really, but this week it feels cold enough to be. Hurry up warm weather!

Life Drawing 3-23-2011

2011-03-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

Ignore the robo sale sign it was a concept for another idea that I just drew around. I really wanted to let the water play here but keeping in mind the values and lighting . It was raining when I sketched this and letting the water have more freedom seemed fitting.

SHARKS!

2011-03-22T03:31:00.000-07:00

Every year my wife's family goes down to outer banks NC for a week of beach fun. Last year my wife, me and baby Yvette went to the NC aquarium while down there .

It was pretty good and I took lots of photos. The shark tank they had was huge and filled with big sharks. I painted this from one of the photos I took. The sharks had an eerie green glow to them due to the lighting in the tank that made them look extra cool.

My main goal here was to get that same eerie glow feeling. Some parts are hit and miss. I probably should of took my time more and added more dark layers around the shark to make him/her? pop out. I started out good but was kind of rushing at the end.

But this attempt was better than my first which I rushed through the whole thing and forgot about values.

Oh well it was fun to paint and I learned something from it so I call it a win for me.

Life Drawing 03-18-2011

2011-03-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

Another painted page from my sketchbook.

Life Drawing 3-16-2011

2011-03-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

My daughter Yvette Has about 4 phases before she finally goes to sleep.

This is phase 3 in the back of the car (my lovely and beautiful wife was driving). This phase includes thumb sucking ear grabbing and various moaning noise.

She was out 10 min later and deep into phase 4. (usually mouth open drooling and rag doll like physics).

Life Drawing 3-15-2011

2011-03-16T00:58:00.000-07:00

Did this one on the bus yesterday.

Looking for the overall shapes and adding some watercolor at home. The only problem I have with this sketch is that I cut the guy's nose off a little short. I have to pay more attention to my angles and measurements.

I like that I was able to paint this one inside my sketchbook. It kept it looking fresh and I really hate the transfer process. I just loose some excitement over a piece if I have to keep drawing it over and over again.

My sketchbook held up pretty well taking all the washes I did. The paper did buckle quite a bit but smoothed out in the end. It feels good adding some color to my sketchbook finally.

I noticed one thing with drawing with the pen is that sometimes if you draw for a while the ink blobs up at the end and will leave pools of ink on the paper. Notice the blots around the main guy's collar. Going to have to carry a paper towel with me to wipe the excess off the pen or find a better one cause those pools smear and it can get everywhere.

Life Drawing 03-14-2011

2011-03-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

Hey folks! Its been a while since my last post (over a month yikes!) well never fear I'm still here.

Its been a little hard trying to figure out the best time to get some productive art done but I think I've found a routine to get things done and so far so good. I'm working on a big painting (well big for me 12 by 16) and taking my time with it so I get the results I want. I found before with my other paintings that I felt I was rushing to meet my own crazy made up deadlines and I think my work hurt a little bit as the result. Soooo I'm taking a step back, honing in on my skills and letting a painting be done when its done. With that said a little about the image above.

Riding the DC Metro I see a lot of DC business suits. And yesterday there was a bunch of them on my train going in. I was studying the hands holding the rails (looking at light patterns and what not) and I noticed one of the suits had on a shiny gold watch. Focusing on the watch I noticed that it happen to have Mickey Mouse in the center. I thought it was funny. Here was a bunch of suits with their brief cases and most with what looked like silver Rolexes and this one had a Disney watch (mind you an expensive looking one).

It made me imagine that all he can think about is his vacation coming up to go to Disney World. Which lead me to my next painting idea (that is now stored on my idea bucket).

I see a lot of interesting characters on the metro. And everyone has a story to tell. This painting took about 15 minutes and was done in watercolor and pen. I'm going to try to start capturing more of their stories and post them up.

Happy Sketching everyone!

Piano Man

2011-02-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

Pen

Sketched this while waiting for my wife to finish looking around the store in the mall. One of the few reasons that I agree to go to the mall with her is that I can bring my sketchbook and sketch while she's busy in the store. The mall is an excellent source for some life drawing.

Our mall has multiple stories and its interesting to see people from above or from below. It also has a glass ceiling so with the sun shining through it creates beautiful patterns along the interior. I just wanted to draw it all. And that's something I need to work on is drawing backgrounds to place my figures in. This is a good place to practice it.

Pen

In the Macy's store there is a piano guy that I always enjoy sketching and listening to. He plays a lot of Beatles tunes and its awesome. I was sketching him yesterday and found it interesting that here we are two people doing art and doing it in public. It was interesting because people would come and listen to him and I had a couple of people look over my shoulder to see that I was drawing him. I love art.

Weather Sacrifices

2011-02-06T13:17:00.000-08:00

Pencil, Digital

Noticed some DC Gals on my commute have this mentality.

Oh Dandelion.

2011-02-05T19:11:00.000-08:00

Pencil and Digital

Came up with this idea after brain storming on the Illustration Friday topic REVERSE. Going to try to paint this up in watercolor. But for now just some pencil and simple Photoshop coloring. Thoughts and Critiques most welcomed!