new website + painting in progress, step by step

so, between commissions, design projects, and weekly 2 and a half hours bus trips to Seattle (this part will finally be over soon), i have been managing to work on some essentials that have been neglected for a while. first, my new website, being completed bit by bit, when i have the time.



graphics on the website are all handmade. (striped curved lines on the left are an effect caused by camera + lighting + computer screen. they do not actually exist.)


drawing the graphics.

second, a new exciting personal painting project. i wanted to start experimenting for a commission on masonite i am working on, and thought that i should develop something personal first, using the same style + technique. my idea was to use an imprimatura underpainting instead of my usual multicolor abstract washes and see what would come out.




i made the imprimatura wash mixing raw sienna and a bit of black. in acrylics, because i had no oils available in that color. the drawing came after. if i hardly follow rules in life, much less in art.




at this point i was wondering if i would be able to do any tonal study, which is one the things an imprimatura is good for. i never do tonal studies of anything. my painting is pretty much instinctual. it is part of the fun, after all. :)



i ended up roughly trying the tonal study (notice the darker areas,) but, no patience. i want to go down the rabbit hole. no pencil rendering this time: my oil paints were smiling at me. part of my visual language is never to render my figures in realistic colors. i like them surreal, unnatural, spectral, in grey scales or showing the hues of my underpainting. i used the paints straight from the tube, without mixing with any vehicle. a bit difficult to work on more delicate details, but possible.




and, because my process is usually chaotic, and because i like to see a bit of each part of the work before finishing others so i can have a glimpse of the final product, i started to study the background before even finishing the face.




i also started applying the flowers, in acrylics and free brushstrokes.




the face here is almost all finished. not bad for a first attempt i guess... oils are a fun, flexible, forgiving media, and a perfect substitute for my traditional pencil rendering in surfaces like masonite, wood, and canvas. the imprimatura worked well in its magic of playing with light absorbency, making the face almost luminescent. good good. more as long as the piece progresses. :)

+

the open edition prints poll is still open. i got samples of papers from the printing service, the prints will come out awesome. i am amazed how Persephone and Duality as disputing the first place in public preference. thanks for your voting, folks!