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Call me a slacker for not writing over the weekend. I deserve it. Every around 2 or 3 in the morning, I thought, I should get up and do my blog, right now. Instead, I made myself a hot cocoa and climbed into bed, reveling in my sloth.
So, let me give you a quick update of what occurred on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
On Saturday, I woke up and from what I recall I started painting around 10. That could have been purely my intention, it may have been more like noon. I worked on the large painting that has set me WAY back on my general timeline of 2 paintings a week. So, to make myself stress out less, I started a new one and I worked on it until about five.
Although I couldn't make it to Kim Ye's show in Los Angeles, I heard it went really, really well. I debated about whether I could do it up until the very last minute and then decided that driving in LA traffic for about 2 hours straight (there and back) would cause me way too much stress on a night that was to be potentially FUN. (I don't really get out that much, when I do, it's kind of a big deal.)
So, I went to my opening for UnScene in Costa Mesa at the Box Gallery, where it is still hanging amongst work from other artists.
The opening was really great, as I was greeted by Johnny Sampson with shots of Jaeger, and immediately saw tons of familiar faces. I used to work at the Gypsy Den in Santa Ana, where I got to know the local crowd around there pretty well. Surprisingly (maybe I shouldn't have been THAT surprised) I was able to catch up with some people who I truly enjoy. The music was really great too. I didn't sell anything, but c'est la vie. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
I'm excited also because Johnny asked me to be in another show in May or June or July. I forget. The important thing is that it is an underwater show. He asked me if I have any more Koi fish. Uh, yeah. I have fish up the wazoo. Koi fish, goldfish, I'm planning on about 12 jellyfish, but for this show, I have something special that I have been scheming about since Saturday night. I am doing a mermaid painting, specifically for this show. BUT it won't be ANY mermaid, but a TOTALLY ORIGINAL MERMAID. A koi fish femme fatale hybrid. I'm always a little weary of painting scantily clad, idealized women in some kind of strange alternate reality (Atlantis) because I think that it is in danger then of rubbing elbows with low brow art. (I know, I know, low brow art is so hot right now. But it's not for me.) Still, if I take enough time and care with said Mermaid, I think I'll be able to make her one classy broad. We'll see.
So after that show, I went to Boscoe's in Lake Forest and played with the Art Stars, my awesome band. It was a lot of fun, and Andre totally owned it on drums. Again. He keeps bringing his Mom to the shows and I can't help but feel bad about the sex and drug references I make on stage. I want to tell her, "Really, the whole lesbian junkie schtick is completely tongue in cheek, don't judge me!" but let's face it, that would be awkward and she wouldn't believe me.
So I saw my old childhood friend John Randolph, and his wife, Vylet. They came to our show, and missed us. Met some guys after the show who actually looked up my paintings on their iphones when I was shamelessy self promoting. It was one of the first times when I felt really stoked to have a legit website. Needless to say, John and Vylet were horrible influences and the night ended in a haze. There was Karaoke, dancing, vodka, and ultimately throwing up in the bushes outside my house. A big thanks to Tom for driving and holding my hair back.
So, inevitably, Sunday was a day of reckoning. Hangover city. I ate McDonalds for breakfast, which Tom insists is the best thing for a hangover,
It made me want to die.
I spent all day walking to my easel, painting for five minutes, and then crawling into bed. I also took 3 showers, which was the only thing that made me feel better.
So today, I only painted. I seriously worked for about 12 hours. Maybe less, maybe more. I mostly finished a painting. Here it is:
I need to figure a way to make her look more benevolent and less scowling. Also I need to fix the butterflies behind the curtain. They just aren't right. First, I will wait for the painting to dry and I'll go in with medium to unflatten the image a little and fix some problems. It was really challenging to paint this because the photo reference I had was pretty small, and pixelated. I had to invent a lot what was happening in the dark areas on the painting. I find that when using a photo reference as a painter, it is so important not to simply paint a someone's arm black, even if it appears black in the photo. You have to give everything a shape, and if you can't see the shape, you have to make up a shape. I've done that a little bit already in this painting on her arm and her blouse, but I really can't wait to flesh it out with linseed oil after it dries. I think that this will be a really nice painting. Right now its a little cartoony. But with work...all things are possible.
I realize that I am way behind so tomorrow I plan on working on the big painting for a couple hours, and then starting another one that I can quickly produce.
I can't wait to get my jellyfish pictures, which my mom is holding hostage for some reason. I really want to start on those pictures right away.
So, let me give you a quick update of what occurred on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
On Saturday, I woke up and from what I recall I started painting around 10. That could have been purely my intention, it may have been more like noon. I worked on the large painting that has set me WAY back on my general timeline of 2 paintings a week. So, to make myself stress out less, I started a new one and I worked on it until about five.
Although I couldn't make it to Kim Ye's show in Los Angeles, I heard it went really, really well. I debated about whether I could do it up until the very last minute and then decided that driving in LA traffic for about 2 hours straight (there and back) would cause me way too much stress on a night that was to be potentially FUN. (I don't really get out that much, when I do, it's kind of a big deal.)
So, I went to my opening for UnScene in Costa Mesa at the Box Gallery, where it is still hanging amongst work from other artists.
The opening was really great, as I was greeted by Johnny Sampson with shots of Jaeger, and immediately saw tons of familiar faces. I used to work at the Gypsy Den in Santa Ana, where I got to know the local crowd around there pretty well. Surprisingly (maybe I shouldn't have been THAT surprised) I was able to catch up with some people who I truly enjoy. The music was really great too. I didn't sell anything, but c'est la vie. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I'm excited also because Johnny asked me to be in another show in May or June or July. I forget. The important thing is that it is an underwater show. He asked me if I have any more Koi fish. Uh, yeah. I have fish up the wazoo. Koi fish, goldfish, I'm planning on about 12 jellyfish, but for this show, I have something special that I have been scheming about since Saturday night. I am doing a mermaid painting, specifically for this show. BUT it won't be ANY mermaid, but a TOTALLY ORIGINAL MERMAID. A koi fish femme fatale hybrid. I'm always a little weary of painting scantily clad, idealized women in some kind of strange alternate reality (Atlantis) because I think that it is in danger then of rubbing elbows with low brow art. (I know, I know, low brow art is so hot right now. But it's not for me.) Still, if I take enough time and care with said Mermaid, I think I'll be able to make her one classy broad. We'll see.
So after that show, I went to Boscoe's in Lake Forest and played with the Art Stars, my awesome band. It was a lot of fun, and Andre totally owned it on drums. Again. He keeps bringing his Mom to the shows and I can't help but feel bad about the sex and drug references I make on stage. I want to tell her, "Really, the whole lesbian junkie schtick is completely tongue in cheek, don't judge me!" but let's face it, that would be awkward and she wouldn't believe me.
So I saw my old childhood friend John Randolph, and his wife, Vylet. They came to our show, and missed us. Met some guys after the show who actually looked up my paintings on their iphones when I was shamelessy self promoting. It was one of the first times when I felt really stoked to have a legit website. Needless to say, John and Vylet were horrible influences and the night ended in a haze. There was Karaoke, dancing, vodka, and ultimately throwing up in the bushes outside my house. A big thanks to Tom for driving and holding my hair back.
So, inevitably, Sunday was a day of reckoning. Hangover city. I ate McDonalds for breakfast, which Tom insists is the best thing for a hangover,
It made me want to die.
I spent all day walking to my easel, painting for five minutes, and then crawling into bed. I also took 3 showers, which was the only thing that made me feel better.
So today, I only painted. I seriously worked for about 12 hours. Maybe less, maybe more. I mostly finished a painting. Here it is:
I need to figure a way to make her look more benevolent and less scowling. Also I need to fix the butterflies behind the curtain. They just aren't right. First, I will wait for the painting to dry and I'll go in with medium to unflatten the image a little and fix some problems. It was really challenging to paint this because the photo reference I had was pretty small, and pixelated. I had to invent a lot what was happening in the dark areas on the painting. I find that when using a photo reference as a painter, it is so important not to simply paint a someone's arm black, even if it appears black in the photo. You have to give everything a shape, and if you can't see the shape, you have to make up a shape. I've done that a little bit already in this painting on her arm and her blouse, but I really can't wait to flesh it out with linseed oil after it dries. I think that this will be a really nice painting. Right now its a little cartoony. But with work...all things are possible.
I realize that I am way behind so tomorrow I plan on working on the big painting for a couple hours, and then starting another one that I can quickly produce.
I can't wait to get my jellyfish pictures, which my mom is holding hostage for some reason. I really want to start on those pictures right away.
