Tuesday, February 28, 2017

IS IT STILL MONDAY?!

This week’s portrait, Rihanna!
I’ve seen and heard of her so much in the news that I decided why not.

Feeling tired and maybe a little sick today, so I really have nothing to talk about. The art is straight forward.  I just want to crawl in bed now and end the day.


It’s still Monday on the west coast so I’m technically not late in posting this?

Monday, February 20, 2017

ART BASED ON FEELINGS OR TIME TRAVEL

This week’s portrait, Lynette Davis!

I’ve known Lynette for a few years now. She’s an incredible art model that I’ve worked with on numerous occasions.


When I did this portrait of her about a week ago, I had no idea that the end result would come out the way it did. A few people saw the scribbles and random colors happening at a drawing workshop, but like myself they probably were wondering what I was doing. Honestly, I had no idea other than a feeling what I was doing was right for me, you could say I was possessed by the art process.

Lynette’s portrait took a few days to complete and I am glad I had the good sense to scan the image a few times during the process, just so I could see how I got to this.


This past weekend was the Long Beach Comic Expo and the a second time I was invited to introduce Girl Scouts to life drawing and help them earn their badges. What an amazing time I had. Watching the incredible art pieces that were created in the room was inspiring.

The kids had a very natural process in creating their art, with no hesitation in mixing art materials to complete their work. I saw a lot of what I did in this portrait to what they were doing. I wonder if it’s possible I was channeling their effort from this weekend’s future/ past into my current/ past moment in time?

Getting inspiration from the future and bringing it back into the past?

I also got a chance to meet a handful of Late Night and current Conan fans. And did an interview with a celebrity puppet named, Flick! He does a show called “The Nerd Soapbox”. It was a first, and I enjoyed it! I’ll post the link to the video as soon as it’s up.

I woke up today feeling a bit sick, glad I had the day off. But as a result I am posting this late in the afternoon. I really have to try and stay on top of this. Posting something meaningful every week isn’t easy, but I am enjoying it!

Monday, February 13, 2017

EVOLVING ART

This week’s portrait, Ashli Griffin!
Ashli is an art model I started drawing last year. I wish I had known her a few years earlier, I would have loved to had included her in my book. She’s very dynamic and a pleasure to work with.

I think it's no secret that a few of these portraits were done in advance so I would be able to continue posting on Mondays. This portrait of Ashli was done a few months back. It's interesting for me to see how much my work has evolved. The circles in this image are bold and spread out. The colors are very simple.

The skin tone was tone with a metallic copper pen color since at the time I couldn't find good brown ink pens to use. I think someone should make a line of pens with at least 72 or more colors, many of which should be browns and earth tones.

This coming weekend is the Long Beach Comic Expo! Long Beach conventions are so much fun. I get to see a lot of art friends in one place and of course putting on the drawing event with two of my favorite model, Jennifer Fabos Patton and Amina Santana! I will also be hosting life drawing for the Girl Scouts at the convention! “Bringing life drawing to the masses, one event at a time!”

I might do some portraits at the convention again as well but using colored pencils, no inks. Also, the drawings will be done on paper especially designed for use at the Long Beach convention. I think people will love what am planning!

Monday, February 6, 2017

REAL ART IS NOT SCRIPTED!

This week’s portrait, Tamron Hall!
Last weekend I had an amazing time at the Ontario Anime Los Angeles convention. The drawing events I hosted on Saturday and Sunday had great turn out on both mornings.

Another convention that I am excited about is coming up in a couple of weeks, Long Beach Comic Expo! This will be the 7th time hosting life drawing in Long Beach. This convention is so much fun, a lot of great people involved. I am really honored that they have welcomed me back so many times and that the attendees that come, are enjoying it and have a lot of positive things to say. In case you’re wondering, this coming event’s theme will be, “Harry Potter”. And this time around I will be providing images to color if you don’t feel up to drawing the models. So come draw… And color too!

Also at the long beach convention I will once again do a special hour with the Girls Scouts, helping several troops earn their drawing badge!

And thanks to Gina and Rob Nelson, “Themed Costumed Life Drawing” is back as well at Nelson Creative Spaces in the valley!

A lot of life drawing to host in the next few weeks, but I love doing them all. Drawing brings a balance into my life, it centers me, it is almost like meditation.

When I draw I like to have some kind of background noise, whether it’s music or the television. It was a few years ago when I had the tv on in the background that I heard and saw Tamron Hall for the first time. Her voice always carried a certain tone of fun in it, it made me want to stop and listen to what she was talking about. It didn’t hurt that she is beautiful too.

I think NBC agreed with me because Tamron was on just about every show the network had. NBC News, MSNBC, MSNBC Live, Today’s Take, appearances on the Today Show, investigative programs, the list goes on.

So it was a huge surprise to hear last week that NBC decided to let Tamron go and replace her with Megyn Kelly, a former Fox news conservative reporter.

Tamron seemed like she was a huge part of the NBC family and really enjoyed what she was doing, she never felt scripted. She was someone I could relate to given how I approached my art and the many projects I get involved with.

She was a work of art in terms of on air personalities, and she made it all seem fun. Myself, I don't know if I’d consider myself a work of art, yet, but I do hope people can see, and experience with me, the fun I am having when I create my art.

I hope I'll see her back in some form of media!

ps: in case one or two of you are saying, “What, that doesn't look like her, the hair is different!” Look her up, you'll see that I drew her with her natural hair. Her daily hair is part of the network script.

I rarely follow scripts with my art.