PhotoHog

I am not a good photographer.

And by saying that I don't mean that I crop heads out of the picture, or fail to focus properly, or skew the horizon, I mean that I don't take photos with pure intentions (and sometimes I do skew the horizons...) And in this facebookian world, perhaps few people are pure of camera anymore. But I've almost always plotted and schemed my digital images with the idea that I will use each pretty picture as a reference for a painting. The photos I take are a means to an end. A jumping off point. If I do take a picture for the sake of it, then I put much less thought into the composition and the lighting, etc.

Photos are so easy to take though--whereas time to paint is incomprehensible most of the time. Especially this week. And next week will likely feel the same.

But sometimes I do manage to get from vista to click to upload to composition to actual paint on actual canvass.... like here:

Here is a photo I took of some rowboats in southern Europe.

Much more fun, right? Once I plotted their position I barely looked at the original picture again. Real life colors don't interest me too much. I experimented with the sea floor and waves with impunity and was mostly pleased with all the strange bits. The water is much less realistic than the boats (which is saying something) and there is a lot of texture that this photo doesn't really capture. 

I really like how the shadows turned out 

Without shadows, a painting is anchor-less

Each boat had to have its own personality.

(I do not enjoy taking photos of paintings based on my photos)

Captain Kirk's Girlfriend

Muses come in many forms. An obvious lair is the art museum, where we aspiring artists miss the paintings for the brush strokes. I peer into the corner section of an Ensor, eyes agog to take in the technique. I often leave art museums with an idiotic sense of shared ability. Then I take up my brush and stand staring stupidly into the nonchalant canvas for an hour. 

But I'm frequently visited by the Muse of the commercially cerebral Victoria's Secret catalog. The girls are voluptuous and pouty and pose in semi-natural  positions (as compared to high fashion modeling). Also they wear very little clothes, so it's a nearly nude study of catalog-perfect bodies. I'm a product of western consumerism so while I will paint a good chunky lady with pleasure, I gravitate to the typical hip-to-breast hourglass that is the archetype feminine silhouette. 

The top painting is the first draft of a sexy green lady I painted in 2009 and here is the finished product:

I attempted many versions of the face; struggling with something that was understated but not too weird. Obviously the face is the least interesting part of the work. This is one of the few pieces that I bothered naming. I liked the uber-nerd reference as well as an attempt to explain why she is green. To be honest (and that is what this blog is all about), I was experimenting with form and using an atypical color to highlight the importance of form. I think I meant to make her many colors, but the green just flowed so well. Regardless, she is one of my favorites. Acrylic on a found piece of particle board.