I had not really thought through just how busy I would be around the holidays and now the early part of this year. There was the Screaming Hand 30th Anniversary Show, while continuing to work on commissions and art for my February show at The Arsenal. This month, Seeing Things Gallery also contacted me to see if I wanted to show the last of my 100 Day Project art at their new space. Of course I said yes. Both shows will be opening next Saturday, February 6th.
I'm in the process of changing some things on the blog. I am going to change up some of the categories and the way I use it. I think there will be a lot more studio shots, sketches and work in progress on here. I'm playing around with the title of this weekly post to Weekend since I usually post it on Fridays.
Eating
I've been on the Whole 30 again. This means only eating real food and no commercially processed food. That means no alcohol, croissants, cheese, desserts. I am a little over halfway through. I feel great and I think everyone should try it once. You don't realize how much processed crap is in the things we eat. And I'm not even talking about typical junk food. Crackers, dips, salad dressings, pasta sauces can have long ingredient lists when you read the labels. Soybean this, extra sodium, hidden sugars and unpronounceable ingredients. I do feel a little over-disciplined right now between this cleanse and working on art.
Sketching
Bryan at one with the couch:)
Lately, I am just trying to draw and paint as much as I can. I feel like the more I work the easier it is to make work and the happier I am with the results. I am trying to work really loosely and quickly. I am also trying to experiment more stylistically.
Heads and some fruit
I like the process of painting people with a shade of gray first and then adding line detail later. This is something I am working on for my show.
Pets! Some sketches for recent pet commissions
Monday blues
I painted these blue people while at a coffee shop on Martin Luther King Day. It was busier than usual for a Monday so I had plenty of subjects to work from.
SoFA Sketch
A table of artists sketching
A sketch by Genevieve Santos - illustrator extraordinaire. Her style is so unique!
My art from the night. I felt like I was more on a roll than usual.
I had a lot of fun at this month's SoFA Sketch. I didn't end up taking too many pictures, but here are some from the night. I hope to take more pictures and blog separately about it in the future.
Watching
I have been really interested in artist interviews lately. I have been going through weird emotions about my art so it's nice to hear what other's have to say.
I watched this great talk with illustrator Christoph Niemann. It's exactly what I go through as an artist. Hilarious and awesome.
I can't believe how inspiring this interview was with Molly Crabapple. She has strong words to describe what she does and how she feels about art. Here are some highlights from Molly:
"My big wisdom to impart with drawing is that it's better to do the wrong line with confidence and style than it is to do the right line with hesitation and tentativeness."
"I like art because it shows that care was bestowed on something."
"There's always this really boring model for artists which is that you just stay in your studio and you create increasingly exquisite objects for rich people until you die."