Back to the Future

Couple of good things...I got published! Strokes of Genius 2: The Best of Light and Shadow-I'll include an Amazon link. It's fantastic work, a beautiful coffee table book and a real honor. I guess I feel vindicated after being rejected for what seems a century by the Colored Pencil Society of America. The piece in Strokes of Genius is one I sent in to their annual exhibit. Go figure...I guess I'd rather be published.

Also, I feel like a creative Dr. Jeckl(ette) and Mrs. Hyde. I'm giving myself complete creative license. Someone actually gave me a piece of paper that said that. I always like the idea but never really used it. Now I need to. I'm working with white grounds and really hot colors-I've always liked the very bright hues, and so now my color is becoming creative rather than staying local. I was never a photorealist. I'm about shapes and design. So best to use what furthers those ends.

The top photo is a painting I did on Sunday, and the bottom pic is the piece in the book. They look very different, but believe it or not they are based on very similar principles creatively. Working on white with brilliant color is going to take some real practice.

owl

This is the latest done on illustration board. I am continually disappointed with the color reproduction. It just isn't accurate. The original image is so much more subtle, but I guess digital photography doesn't do lots of brushstrokes. Oh well. I still want to get these things posted when I do them. This one has a lot of expression and was successful in terms of painting a subject flat and middletone basically. I used a magazine photo of an owl. I'm going to have to do a good deal more painting before I land, but I like working on white board and I like acrylics. There is a purpose for using toned backgrounds, but for painting like this, pretty much alla prima, the white board shows up color much better. I have moved far away from strict value interpretation.