A Musing #16

While working on Mike Brown and Sandra Bland I realized I need to work on a portrait of someone I knew personally. I even wrote about it a couple posts back. So I’ve taken on the large than life subject of my dad. After being in the art game for over a decade now if we’re counting the days I was painting after hours in high school, I feel it’s time.

He’s a such a huge character to say the least who has lived an incredible life. Painting a portrait of someone I’m so close with is refreshing and pressuring at the same time. I know my father very well and it’s going to come out in the painting. The pressure comes from the fact when I paint someone I know, they read these posts (hi dad) and tend to critique the visuals concerning likeness (it’s only the first stage, I know) as I go along.

In between portraits, I have been doing little projects here and there. One of the things I do from time to time and also encourage artists of all ages to do is go back to the classics. When I feel a bit restless, I grab one of my casts and spend a couple hours working from life. Keeps the eye fresh. There really isn’t much to say about it conceptually. Cast drawings/paintings are scales like in music. At the end of the day it’s practice.

Described with a very small word count, that’s my life right now. I’m happily painting in my space and feel closer and closer to the city with each passing day. There was a brief period of frustration and doubt, but it’s all sunshine and lollipops again. People are still strolling in and out of the gallery and now I’m seeing some familiar faces. The atelier is home.