Through the Eyes of a Painter

The last year has been one wild ride. I have spent the majority of my free time developing some new "to me" techniques. I have focused a lot of energy at learning the the craft of Spray Paint art and how I can incorporate it into my own style. Early on I was satisfied with using store bought canvas and  supports but as I grow, I am learning that you become limited to standard size and designs. For the piece below which is 24" x 48" I challenged myself to build my support from ground up. I can honestly say the process was very rewarding. I used 2"x"2 to create a Mitered Cradle frame, which I then fastened the Masonite board to. In order to get that ultra smooth surface I had to apply 6 coats of Gesso (sanding between each coat). There is a lot more labor involved in creating the final work this way. Yet as an artist I find it more rewarding to say this entire work is mine. ©TCDART 2014 ** All fan art is copyright to the original creators of th...

I Know it's been a while since I've posted anything to my blog. I apologize for that. I have been very focused on learning a new technique that involves spray paint. Below are a couple of my favorite images that I've done. If you like these check out my other items on my Society 6 profile . For a limited time you can order Prints and Totes with Free Shipping. Autumn Moon Celestial Triad ©TCDART 2013 ** All fan art is copyright to the original creators of the characters. Use of the subject in my work is to display my skill set exclusively. All other original art is copyright to myself or to the intent of creation.

I picked up a few of the new PrismaColor Brush tip markers I have to say that I'm extremely Happy. I've always sketched with pencil even when I'm planning out an idea for a painting. Then I have to figure out the colors. I did the above sketch all in marker. In much the same way I would have painted it. This one was done on a sketch card 3.5" x 2.5" so it will be a handy reference size. ©TCDART 2013 ** All fan art is copyright to the original creators of the characters. Use of the subject in my work is to display my skill set exclusively. All other original art is copyright to myself or to the intent of creation.

I finished this one earlier this week. Salicious Crumb from Star Wars (Return of the Jedi) ©TCDART 2013 ** All fan art is copyright to the original creators of the characters. Use of the subject in my work is to display my skill set exclusively. All other original art is copyright to myself or to the intent of creation.

A coworker asked me if I would do a sketch for a young man at her church who is autistic. He recently went through an operation and was having some difficulty. She was hoping to give him something to get his mind off the procedures he was going through. I asked what type of things he liked and she told me he was a huge Disney Fan and Donald Duck was his favorite character. So I started kicking ideas around in my head of what type of drawing to do. I pulled some old animation references for Donald's Facial expressions and remembered how angry He was and just how many funny situations that put him in. He was always yelling incoherently... Don't ask how but some how I pictured Donald in the Christian Bale Batman role. I guess it was his voice or something. One thing led to another and you have Donald "The Duck Night". I wanted to team him up and figured if Donald was Batman... then Mickey had to be Superman. Plus looking at all the old school Mickey reference just...

I had my 6 month check up today at the Hershey Cancer institute (clean and clear!! By the way) So while I was waiting between appointments I took advantage of the down time to do this sketch of Johnny Depp. Anyone out the got some pointers on Glasses? The sunglasses were the worst... trying to get the reflective glare down is a lot harder than I thought it would be.  ©TCDART 2013

Ok I have to be honest here I didn't sketch today ... but that was because I spent most of my time in front of my easel painting. So I'm cheating a little here. The sketch below was done just before the end of the year I know it doesn't count but I did want to post something :0) ... To make up for it I will post two tomorrow. ©TCDART 2013

I began under painting with acrylics. I like to keep a photo copy of my original sketch handy as reference because I know I will end up painting over most of my lines. Plus i use it to help me figure out where I want my shadows. I normally don't like to share a painting during this phase because there is always a moment during the Under-painting of any picture when I get extremely concerned. I mean good god! Bilbo is looking more like an an alien than a Hobbit. But I know that this will all work out when I get to the Oils. Yet it is still scary. You just have to remember that during this stage your just laying in the dark for the shadows and that this will add more depth as you go. I wanted to share this in case you are a new artist and like me teaching yourself as you go. Don't be afraid of what you see now. Look past it and keep going. In many ways this is like life. Inevitably you will hit an ugly spot yet its those ugly or rather ...

Started working a new Painting.  My Hobbit buddy below. I have toned my canvas (18" x 24") with a white and burnt sienna and re sketched the major parts of the sketch I posted the other day ( Sketch book Day 1 ). Next step is to start blocking in the under painting in acrylic. ©TCDART 2013

Its day 4 (1/4/2013) Still working out details from my Family Tree Idea... here are my first Pass on Mamma and Pappa Tree. They are still a work in progress (WIP) Mamma turned out a little more diva than Mamma but I think I can work with this. Mamma Tree Pappa Tree ©TCDART 2013

Got some brush practice in today as well..Worked a little on a desert background. It feels kinda empty at the moment. ©TCDART 2013

Sketch Book Day 3 (1/1/2013) Kit Harrington :Game of Thrones Wanted to work on something a little life like. So today's sketch is Jon Snow (Kit Harrington) from Game of Thrones. I was using a magazine photo as reference for the sketch. There is a lot of detail left to be done on this one though. I have the basic lines in and some shading on the face. but I need to do a lot of work on the hair and cloak. He almost impossible to see but I do have the rough outline of his Wolfe "Ghost" penciled in with a Blue prisma-color. Blue pencil is great for laying in rough lines because they are virtually invisible to a camera or scanner. The worst thing about using a blue pencil is that it is virtual invisible to a camera or scanner! :) Here is a close up on the face so you can see a little more of the detail.  ©TCDART 2013

Here are a couple more sketches for day 2. The first one is very rough but I wanted to get it down on paper. I have to apologize for the image quality... The pencil lines are pretty light and my cell camera was having a hard time.  I spent the better part of the day helping my son set up our old desk top Computer in his room. He wants to use it for games. Well we haven't used that one much lately and after hours of updates it finally is up and running.  So looking at the below you might be thinking how do cows relate to computers?? The layout is a view of a Window looking out into a country setting with Apple Trees and Cows. Some of the cows are munching on apples from the crates below the trees and one rather inquisitive cow is peeking in the window at us.  On the inside of the window we have a desk with various items strewn about.  The Idea here is all about view point. Every element in the picture is a reference to personal comp...

Day 2... Family Tree I have a couple sketches today but the one I like the most is this one. ©TCDART 2013

Sketch Book 2013 - day 1 A Hobbits tale Here is the first Sketch of 2013... The Hobbits tale. Like many people the work of J.R.R. Tolkien inspired me greatly and while I love Peter Jackson's movies I have a slightly different vision of hobbits in my head. I guess   so when I first began this sketch I could have taken a much more realistic approach similar to those images we see in the Major movies, but that wouldn't be me. The halflings I see are a little rounder and more stout and yes a little more cartoonish.  My son and I recently watched Jackson's Fellowship of the ring and that is what most likely inspired this. As I watched the movie I began to think about how I imagined Sauron's Eye when I was a kid. I always pictured it sort of sideways enveloped in smoke and flames.  The Hobbit or There and Back Again By Tolkien, J. R. R. (Google Affiliate Ad) ©TCDART 2013

Wow... seems quite unbelievable that 2012 has come to a close. The year flew by so fast and left me feeling a little out of sorts. Looking back I started out with a great many plans and goals but as happens all too often 'Life' takes over and changes our direction. One regret I have is that I only completed a couple paintings in 2012. I started quite a few but none that I felt were truly complete. I struggled with a lot of self doubt and internal criticism. When you take control of the inner voice you can use it to push yourself further and force yourself to improve. However if you let the voice take control, you can become weighted and even paralyzed with the fear of rejection and criticism. You'll convince yourself to stop trying because your work is crap. Looking forward to the year to come I know I need to focus more. So how do I do that, well one mistake I made in 2012 was not having a solid plan. I am going to change that for this year. Here is my plan to chan...

AAAAARRRRGGHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is how you might feel sometimes...... but you have to let the frustration become fuel for your fire to keep going. If not it will consume you.  For the past couple of weeks I have had an idea burning in my skull for a new painting ... however getting what is up there to come on out, has not been so easy! In fact after looking at my color tests this morning I’m beginning to think selling a glass of water to a drowning man would be easier. No... Wait... that is putting it way too lightly... I could just walk away and shelve the idea... right. Who would know? Who would care? Does it matter? I would know and I care.  So instead of letting the fire of frustration consume me, I have to choose to use it.  Each set back is a new opportunity to learn what did not work. When I was little my dad told me a story about Thomas Edison. After about 1000 failures trying to invent the light bulb someone as...

I put together a slideshow showing the progress on my Tiger painting. I have found that taking photos along the way really helps me to figure out what is working and what isn't in the composition. Plus it is nice to see the progress unfold. 

 Well here are a couple new shots of my pal the Tiger.  As you can see I am still working on the underpainting stage. This first one is from a couple days ago. I am spending a little more time on this stage to build up the layers of shadow. This should pay off when I get to the oil stage. The second picture below was taken earlier tonight. I am still working on the position of his paw. I have moved it a couple times. I think I am finally done moving it.  I like the sense of motion this has now. I've also feathered in some suggestion of grass and weeds. I think he is coming along pretty well.

"Tiger, Tiger burning bright in the forest of the night..." William Blake I know its been a while since I've posted. Life has been kinda crazy but this past weekend I got some time to start working on a new painting. Here is a sneak peak. " The Tiger" by William Blake is one of my favorite poems and for some reason it has been going through my head over and over so I have taken this as cue for my next painting.  This is the very early stages I've got the main features sketched on the canvas and have begun the under painting. To start I have prepped my canvas with a Gray Gesso. I will complete the under painting with black, white acrylics. Once I'm done with this stage I will add the color with Oil. This style of painting works for me and I think it is because I spent so much time drawing with pencil. Starting out in shades of black, white and gray and working with shadows to build the contours. In a lot of ways dry brushing the acrylic on to the ...