These Traditions Die Hard

Hello,

It sure has been a while! It was a long and hard period in my life, but recently life had made a 180 and it still hasn't quite sunk in yet. Things are definitely looking up, but I guess I'm not sure which direction it's heading. I shouldn't question it so much, but instead embrace the opportunities I've been given. I imagined my life differently, and I'm still hoping it'll be like I've dreamed. In the meantime I'll continue to create art.

Create art I did. My very first exhibition at Jerry's Artarama was nerve wracking! It is a collection of old and many new works in oil and other mediums. It was overwhelming in that I haven't painted traditionally in four years. I'm quite happy with the results, and my exhibition thus far. Images of my paintings will be up right after the end of my exhibition which is October 29th, 2013.

These Traditions for Honour, Oil and gold leaf on panel, 18in x 24in

On view at Jerry's Artarama in Wilmington, DE until October 29th, 2013.

Back Again

I had been working on this on and off, and decided to pick it up again to finish. I wasn't sure at first where this was headed, but slowly and surely I'm starting to see something there. Here's a work in progress.

A New Concentration P2

I have an update from the previous value drawing on canvas board. I've added a matte medium using a palette knife on top of the drawing. I want to give it some texture, and define certain areas of the drawing. I can't wait to work the next step. Stay tuned.

A New Concentration

It's been a while since I've last posted. I've been working on a couple different things, but haven't posted them yet. Nothing major or great. I'm sidetracking a bit to work on a project that consist of 7-9 oil and mixed media paintings. This project will be for the Barefoot Art Show that the martial arts school I'm attending is hosting. Hopefully, it will happen but if not at least I have a nice collection. Here is a value drawing on canvas board for the first painting. I'll delve more into what my concentration for the project is in a later post.

The Walking...Zombieees

I like zombies. Don't judge me. There's a little show called "The Walking Dead" that is inspiring and entertaining. I've been wanting to do a zombie piece for a while. Initially, it was supposed to be painterly but I decided to go for a 2D/comic style instead. It was enjoyable to work on and very different from my other works. Here it is, enjoy!

Zombieees

Water, Water, Everywhere...

This next piece is a speed painting I did based on a thumbnail I did a couple years ago. It was for a project that never took off. But I'm going back and looking at thumbnails that I like and fleshing them out. Here it is and enjoy.

Fountain City

Dirk's Comrade

I wanted the character, Dirk Bartos, to carry a weapon. I chose to design some battle axes, because I felt that it would be a type of weapon he would choose in a post apocalyptic setting. He's a bit of a brute, a hard edge and possibly a heavy drinker. A battle axe is strong and intimidating, a perfect weapon for Dirk. Here's some designs.

Battle Axe Designs

Something Red, Something Ram

The ram character design was something I did a while back. The character has a back story, but I'll delve into it in a later post. I'm adding color and seeing what works best, but I'm sure I want the character to be wearing a red scarf.

Dirk Bartos, Character Design, Graphite and Photoshop

Landing Complete

Here it is folks! Texture and lighting was really enjoyable to paint. After tweaking, making changes, and deciding on which cropped version I like best- this is by far a great learning experience. After some contemplating, I've decided to rename it Accession. Sounds cooler. Enjoy!

Accession

If you happened to see this the day it was posted, I've recently updated Accession with some changes. So it may look slightly different.

Landing 2

The latest work in progress for landing. I've brushed in texture ,and added lighting and shadow. I flipped the image to see if there was anything odd that sticks out. Overall I'm tightening the image now. Stay tuned!

Landing WIP 2