Some more hasty dragon drawings. I am leaving town soon so I am trying to post new art before leaving...The character is Gromlet, a character I actually daydreamed up in an English class way back in highschool.

A quick sketch of a Dragon. Well sort of. This needs to be painted for the gallery...

The model is Nils Vidstand, one of my favorite models of all time. He was one of the first models who invited me to come up and check out his weapons and props, to feel an old gun that he made and explained to me the history of cowboys; why they wore what they did, how they lived. He could act as well as pose and had great presence in his modeling. He looked like he had just walked right out of the Old West and into the studio.

These were done before I left Disney in Bob Kato's class during lunch hour. I need to redraw the left model; I love her Art Deco pose.

The right one is after I gave birth to my daughter and was so out of it; (it would take three years before I got my drawing sensibility back; I think it was the unbalanced hormones and total lack of sleep). It literally felt like I had never held a pencil in my life and when I sat down and observed the model was afraid to make the first stroke. But oddly enough, I nailed it. Even tho, I was not lucid or "myself" I still had the ability to draw just out of the practice of drawing for so many years. Because this drawing re-affirmed that I still "had it" it remains one of my favorite drawings.

Little Brushworks
Greg framed the Lepardine miniature and another small foal painting. The Lepardine painting was not a great work of art, but it sure looked smart after Greg put it in a black frame. They all go to New Mexico in a few days for the x-mas rush.

I am crushed with freelance right now, but will try to post new stuff...

Constructions lines for a new painting. These are small; 4"x4". I may leave the top painting of LeoPardine almost as is since I like the brush strokes. She may have the look of native american.

15 minutes later...it is too bad you cannot see all the fun little nuances of the flesh tones. Again, this is the same pallette I used for the yellow horse!

A small work in progress: While I had laid out this nice pallette of browns, I quickly sketched this one out in minutes.

A close up to see the brush strokes. I love the way the strokes came out on the left eye. This painting is the same size as the red brown horse; 7"x 5".

colors were: raw umber, some burnt umber, sienna, red oxide, a touch of cadmium orange medium, a touch of black, titanium white, naples yellow and chromium oxide green. I threw in variations of green on the left side of the face, but the base brown was raw umber, a yellow brown.

Fini

Working simulatenously on both paintings...It is too bad the subtle colors do not show up in the photo. This one I will probably keep. LeoPardine will be painted in this style, "pushing the paint" around. By practicing with the horses, I am flexing my painting skills for the figure.

I am using real cheap bristle brushes which give me little or no control on cold press board. The paint slides around on this substrate--you will either love it or hate it's unpredictability and randomness. It is like painting with watercolors that way, but it can give you a clarity with the paints that canvas cannot seem to deliver. You just have to let the paint do what it wants to do and take advantage of it.

An hour later...Even tho the green background looks better in the photo, the sand background gave the painting fresher surface look. Paint has a "buttery" look that i love. This painting is by no means done; i just need to adjust a few things. When it is done, I will throw 2 coats of a gloss or matte medium on it to seal the paint for all prosperity and viewers will swear it is oil.

Little Brushworks
The first horse is for a friend; it is a red brown horse with black accents. It is a "showy" painting because i had the opportunity to give it vertical strokes. I pushed the paint around--much like Dean Cornwell did with oils. Even tho the first one photographs better, has better "sculpting" and is more faceted, I actually like the second one better, which is based with umber colors--yellow browns, not reds. I never use yellow browns, but have come up with wonderful values and shades of yellow browns. This painting has less opportunity for long brushstrokes, but i love the color.

Archer revisited. Barbara Bradley wrote: "WHAT FUN. HOW DELIGHTFUL AND SPIRITED. YOUR ENERGY IS AMAZING. ( My energy in the olden days when my kids were small amazes me when I reflect on it... last minutes sewing of pearls on the bride doll's dress at Midnight Christmas eve, etc. I remember doing three more sketches for a Borden's billboard before heading to the hospital after my water broke. ) Produce while you've got the steam." Barbara, I will cherish these words forever. Your support, enthusiasm, your generosity lifts me.

I bought her book on line: Drawing People How to portray the clothed figure, by Barbara Bradley. Check it out! A must for your figure drawing library.

I had done a comp of one in an earlier post and came back to it. Mentor Barbara Bradley suggested i plant that foot; sorry Barbara; i will when i get some time! Holidays coming up, lots of freelance, multitasking like a monkey, no time to paint horses or sketch for LeoPardine! Meager offerings, I know. (anguished scream right here)

bottom drawing, a quick concept. Love the body calligraphy, this one needs to be finished. Archers have such wonderful gestures; must investigate more...

Horsin' around...These were done a few years ago when I was getting familar with painting in Photoshop. I love the fact that if I had a nice drawing; I did not have to touch it with color.

Here is a pencil sketch from fellow artist, Vince M. Please take a look at his work. Vince has a lot of years in the illustration industry, quite a history and a great guy.

Flight Revisited. This was the original concept; I just now was able to put the bees in.

These were done a few years ago before i had my daughter. I used to love to figure draw. Infact, I drew so many naked people, it took my awhile to get used to drawing the figure with clothes! To actually be able to leave my house and go to a workshop would be a dream come true these days...sigh

this was done for a potential client found on Craiglist. He wanted a blood hound to be attacked by rottweilers. this could have been a real fun and complicated illustration; i could have really gone to town on this. however, the "client" soon disappeared, as they all do from Craigslist. Greg keeps emailing to this website for me and i keep telling him it is a waste of time! these people want quality stuff for nothing!

I love lion dancers. They are magical, mystical creatures, fun to draw. One of these days I will develope this character better. And create an entire world of these animals!

these were done a few years ago for Rich Tuzon (see blog) at Disney. they were a real challenge because it was "tangents R us". I did some of the concept drawings here and they were airbrushed by Steve Andrews, or Brad Andrews or a freelancer.

What the finished product will look like. I have a lot of freelance coming in, so bear with me...

Little Brushworks

Was out of town for a few days. These are minatures that will fit in small picture frames for a gallery. They do need to be "retooled" a little, with a fresh paint of gloss, as they are acrylic. I banged these out in three hours in one afternoon while my blessed mother-in-law played with her grandkids...These little paintings are acrylic on cold press illustration board.

Been doing some ditial inking freelance; have not had time to paint but will today!! These are kids at my daughter's kindergarten class in the morning when i drop her off. The only way to handle these subjects is pure gesture.

this is a painting in progress. A friend back home (Bay Area) told me to start documenting my paintings so he could see how i work. he is a painter and fellow commercial artist and we had met at Stormfront studios.

yes, yes, i overworked the damn thing...will get better..i promise

On a more somber note, my condolences go out to Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter, and his family. May he be found still wrestling crocodiles in Heaven. We'll miss you, Steve, the planet will never be the same without you.

this one was Greg's concept.

Flight

drawing some fairies. i used to draw this way naturally, but have been "tainted" by the animation industry, so to go back to this style was a bit of a shock. still acclimating. will try to get out another rough sketch of fairies...soon...i hope...