I just heard that the Corpse Flower is (hopefully) blooming this week!
I've seen it once before and it smells awful but it's such a beautiful flower!
It's at the Huntington Library http://www.huntington.org/thehuntington_full.aspx?id=4132&terms=titan+arum
I hope I can make it :)

I did a Ponting workshop again - 3rd year. It's a 3 day workshop and I'm not the only one returning lol. It was great catching up with everyone :)

This was what I did. Well, the entire class worked on the same still life lol:


Finally set up video chat so I can talk to my parents! I love it :)

It's been overcast lately but it's wonderful

I had soooooooooo much fun at the workshop this past weekend. It was at the same place as
last year, the San Clemente Art Supply http://www.scartsupply.com/
There isn't one art supply store in Los Angeles like this place. I love it!!
I worked on my painting the full 3 days - it was definitely a challenge :)
Here's my finished painting 9 x 12 (ish) (a little blurry *sigh*):



I learned a lot and re-learned some things lol. Dianna Ponting is a wonderful teacher
and so cool and personable :)

While looking at the innards of the decaying pineapple,
i flipped it over and decided to paint the skin/rind because
of the great texture and the wonderful pattern. After doing
the seeds for the kiwi, i vowed to watch out for the "seed
factor" because it can get REALLY monotonous! BUT, it didn't
happen with the pineapple because each bulbous area was unique
in its own way. i will paint the soft, decaying innards next :)
This is 9 1/2 x 12 1/2 Pastel on LaCarte paper

Here's my rip of Tracey Allyn Greene's cat paintings.
This is for an EBSQ show. Since she loves animals and
i noticed a couple cats in her portfolio, *wink*, i decided
it would be fun to rip-off her "Cat Tails - Exclamation
Point" and "Cat Lust - Talk to the Butt"

Here's what i did: "Kitty Butt" (9 1/2 x 12 1/2 pastel on lacarte paper)
***click on the photo to get a better look :)


These were my inspiration: "Cat Tails - Exclamation Point"


and

"Cat Lust - Talk to the Butt"


here's Tracey's LJ : http://tagscats.livejournal.com/

And i'm soooooooo happy with it :)
I'm calling it "Grapefruit Expanding" since, well, that's
what it did after sitting outside for 3-5 days.
Soft pastels on 18x24 Wallis museum grade paper.

here it is - it's called Kiwi Disintegrating. 19x25 soft
pastels on LaCarte paper.
i have to remind myself to watch for the "seed factor" for future paintings.
nothing like monotony while working - hehe.

*the kiwi is on its way to being done :) still have a bit to do but
it's getting there.


*here's a little guy i drew for a project called "Honor with Art" that my
friend Shawn Marie has assembled. http://www.honorwithart.com/
i saw him in mammoth lakes, ca sitting on an old stump. he's drawn on
8 1/2 x 11 bristol with colored pencils. edit: i have to sharpen the
area of the stump on the right....
i wanted to do something that children might like to look at :)

*read a couple books this weekend one of which is called "blink". i couldn't
put the thing down - my eyes hurt now - lol.
http://www.gladwell.com/blink/

I have 3 works-in-progress because i couldn't start
on just one :) all of these have general layouts and
a base coat of pastel. these are 'rotting fruit' except
for the plum.

Here's a grapefruit on 18x24 Wallis museum grade paper
i LOVE this paper!! the pastels blend sooooo nicely -
well, there is one thing that i'm trying to get used to:
there IS a grain on this sanded paper. sometimes while
blending, my finger will "skip", don't know if that makes
sense - lol (wallis museum grade is approx $10.50/sheet)


Here's a kiwi on 19x25 LaCarte paper
i'm not really thrilled with this paper. i go through A LOT
of pastel on this paper and the pastels don't quite blend nice.
i'll keep plugging away, it'll probably get better now that i
have a base coat.
(lacarte paper is approx $12.00/sheet)


Here's a plum on 18x24 Canson MiTientes paper
i've been experimenting with Terry Ludwig pastels - these are
incredibly soft. almost too soft, for me - lol. i'm going to
keep playing with them though :) also have some Unison pastels
going on here. the really messy areas, are the base coat with
Nupastels and Rembrandts.

this is the last pastel painting i'm doing for the "leaves
with holes" series - at least for now. what i like about
this one is the abstractness of the leaf and the fuzzy,
thread-like pieces inside some of the holes. this is
18x24 on mi-tientes paper.



detail:


( WIP BEHIND HERE )

thanks for looking :)

Just thought i'd post the work in progress of the holiest
leaf that i've ever done :)
beautiful, huh?
LOL! oh yes - ugly! but it will get better - hehe.

I was really busy through the holidays and i finally
managed to finish this pastel painting yesterday.
it's 18x24 pastel on mi-tientes paper.
again - thank you winjimir for the
ref. photo :)
i'm starting a new one today. i think it's going to
be my last painting of leaves with holes - and it's
going to be a doozy! lol! it's going to be more abstract
than the others - you won't be able to see a leaf - just
holes!! i think i might lose my mind working on it - lol!

for lack of a title - this is what i'm calling
it right now :)
the part at the left is the closest to being done.
but i still have a long way to go. this is from a
reference photo from winjimir
thank you windi :)

I finally finished this - lol!! it didn't really take me this
long to actually paint it - just had a lot going on :)
this is called: "soon to be dust"
it's 20x26 painted with pastels (soft) on mi-tientes
paper.
i'm now starting a new painting from a ref. photo from
winjimir - i have already started laying in
the pinks and reds!! yes, pink and red - lol.

so, i'm a little tired of green - lol! i planned
this one a couple months ago and i'm finally able to
start it :)
the orange that you see is only a base color :) this
is a dried, crackly brown leaf with some nice dark areas.

i adjusted some things on 'blue leaf simulacrum'
so, it's officially done. probably looks the same -
lol - but i see a difference.

also just found out that a movie i worked on has
come out in limited release. did some serious ageing
in the warehouse - i'm curious how it looks :)
the art director, chris jones, is the best guy to
work with! he's the one that told me it was playing
and that the scenery looks really good. i don't think
i'm credited - i KNOW in IMDB i'm not credited but that
website isn't accurate anyway. i've worked on numerous
things and my name isn't anywhere to be found - lol!
well, except for one movie (Gideon)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450340/

blue leaf simulacrum


and here's something humorous a friend sent me :)

"simulacrum" - i LIKE that word - lol!
anyway, here's the final of the blue leaf.
it's 18x24 pastel on paper.
i enhanced the blue that i saw in this
particular holey leaf and i emphasized
the veins. i really like the abstract feel
to this :)
EDIT: I've added to this painting. i will have to
wait for a day that i can photograph :)



tomorrow, i'll be working on a Pirelli tire commercial.
it's going to be 8 MINUTES long and it has the beautiful
uma thurman in it. it must be an internet commercial if it's
8 minutes. i'm sure they'll have a shortened version for tv.

here are 2 more playstation spots:
in this spot, the eggs are in a 1/3 scale set and the
birds are in the regular sized set. there was only one raven
on set, btw.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QBZOKgj_tgc

this was shot in one of the 1/2 scale sets.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_U7vFkZYriQ

well, i'm off to start another painting :)

so, my bird flew over to one of my cats. i think
he tries to commit suicide every once in a while - lol.
amazingly, the cats don't bother with him.

one of my cats got out of the house this morning. they're
all indoor cats but this one (mina) has a goal everyday to
sneak out.

i'm working on another pastel of a leaf with holes. i still
have a LONG way to go - here's a photo:


i found this sign on the web the other day - thinking of
getting it:


i'm one of the "featured artists" this month on EBSQ. the photo of me
is blurry because i cropped it from a larger photo since i don't have
many photos of myself.
http://www.ebsqart.com/Artists/cmd_2161_profile_Interview.htm

i can officially update my website again! i thought i'd never be
able to get to it - EVER. of course, it'll take a little bit
of time for me to update since i'm not super computer savvy.

here's one of the spots from the Playstation commercial i worked
on. found it on youtube, of course - along with some imitations - lol.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=n_893pvEFzE

well, that's it for now :)

so she's finished and i'm quite happy with
her. i don't think she looks "realistic" and
that's a good thing :)
thank you for looking :)
18x24 pastel on strathmore paper





below is a close-up of lower right of painting


i think i need a rack of some sort for these pastels! lol!

we have a little holly bush (this one
doesn't produce berries) and i particularly
like this leaf because of the blemishes
and the way the light hits it.
the left side (and the lower right part of
the leaf)is finished and i'm progressing across
the middle to the right. i'm hoping to have this
finito this week so i can start another painting :)
18x24 pastel on strathmore paper

i don't know why but i couldn't get that title out
of my head for this painting! - lol! well, it's better than
what i was calling it for a while - "dead leaf with snail shell"
this is a 20x26 pastel on canson mi-teintes paper



and here's a close up:



and for a description of why: http://www.ebsqart.com/Artists/cmd_2161_profile_portfolio__1_1_G.htm
thank you for looking :)