A Beautiful Couple [From the Sketchbook]

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Joel and Christa

Drawn in pencil. I edited this on my computer to make the lines appear more bold.

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Portrait: Paula K.

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This is the finished version of the painting of my grandma, Paula Kay.

I wanted to give it an unfinished look, as though it were in the process of being colorized. 

The feeling of this painting is much lighter and more "fun" than my previous one, Elma K. I thought that this better fit the era.

Thanks for checking out my artwork!

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Paula K.: Portrait Sneak Peak

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This is the beginnings of a portrait of my grandma, Paula K. She's the daughter of Elma, whose portrait I have already posted on this blog. 

This is a section of the painting, in it's drawing stage--so technically, it's not a painting yet.

Stay tuned for the final version...

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Portrait: Elma K. [The Reveal]

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The final version of this painting:

Elma, my beautiful great-grandma, who is now 97! I think the photo I used as a reference was taken in 1932, and was her high school senior picture. 

This painting is on canvas, and measures 35"x45."

(I cropped this picture a little crookedly.)

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I'm Drawing You. Please Hold Still. [from the sketchbook]

These are a few "candid camera" sketches I've done. I didn't tell them they were my victim--I mean, subjects...

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During class (he was speaking):

Yes, I was listening. 

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At Barnes & Noble:

Books are wonderful; they keep people so still for me.

Waiting in line at the Not-Starbucks coffee place.




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Portrait Sneak Peek #2

Elma, 1932

At this point I've added a wash of watered-down acrylic to the portrait. I'm always surprised at the difference a little shading makes!

To give you a better perspective, this portrait is 35"x45," one of the largest paintings I have ever done. I had to finish this in less than 8 days, so it's also the fastest time in which I have ever completed a portrait.

[I'm only showing you a portion of the canvas; it's actually a vertical composition.]

More to come...

Latest Portrait: Sneak Peek

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Here's a sneak peek of my latest painting:

This is before I added the paint. First I drew the portrait and background with pencil, and this picture was taken when I was going over it with pen. I used pen because I wanted the final painting to have a sketchy (like in a sketch book) quality. I am drawing this from the same 1932 picture of my great-grandma that I posted yesterday. I didn't use a graph because 1) It would take too long, since I had a week to complete this painting (very stressful), 2) After doing several portraits and measuring them carefully until they are "picture perfect," it's a kind of release to freehand this one, and 3) I like how the imperfections add to the sketchiness. 

I did a few preliminary drawings (don't I sound professional?) on a smaller scale to prepare for this one.

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In the Family

Welcome to my art blog! I'm excited to share my sketches, paintings, prints, etc. with you!

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These are my family members, James and his daughter, my great-grandma, Elma.

Cornet player, drawn from a picture taken in 1900.

Drawn from her high school senior picture, class of 1932.