Contemplation

Here's an oil painting I did for my Life Painting class.  I had taken a photo of a field that was brightly lit by the sun but had dark clouds in the distance that I really wanted to use for some kind of image. Well, I had the perfect chance with this assignment.  Still, I only had an awesome background but no subject.  I thought  of some different people I might use as models, and I gotta say, my friend Drew came to mind pretty quick. Call it inspiration but it worked out great.   All in all, I think it turned out well and really enjoyed working on it. 

Study of African child

Here's another study I did in Photoshop. I used a reference photo that I got from my friend, who happened to serve as a missionary in Sierra Leone and Liberia. There were a few photos of children that I was interested in, but there was something about this boy that caught my interest. He just has this reserved, but proud expression in his face because of the toy car that he has. 

Mastercopy of Bouguereau

A mastercopy of a self-portrait of William Adolphe Bouguereau. It was painted with oil on canvas. He's an artist that I admire; I've seen a couple of his original paintings in museums and I've done another mastercopy of his work before (the little girl in the blue dress). Unfortunately, his work wasn't really well known til recently because he happened to be a very academic painter during the time that the Impressionists were developing. So, his work has been often overshadowed by the Impressionists, at least in modern times. 

Musketeer... maybe?

I used reference that I took from Advanced Figure Drawing to make this digital painting of a Musketeer-ish man. Turned out pretty good except for the face. The face didn't quite come out the way I wanted. 

Fashion Illustration...

So we have costumed models in our Advanced Figure Drawing class and this week, we happened to have the theme of "high fashion." Naturally, I didn't really think this would be something I'd be interested in and that it'd be "girly." Surprisingly though, it was really fun. It gave me an excuse to be a lot more spontaneous and simple. I also felt like I could exaggerate more than I usually do, which was fun. Who knew there was a little fashionista in me? 

Little Sally's Secret

This is a digital illustration that I did just for fun depicting a little girl getting lost in a magical book. I wanted to create the sense that she's sneaked away from the adults and their "real" world, and has found a quiet sanctuary to get lost in the world of fantasy. The ethereal deer in the background is meant to show that to children, the real and the imaginary are often the one and the same.

Hands of Healing Series

 

These are a series of six oil paintings that I did about Jesus Christ's life as depicted in the New Testament. It originated from an idea I had at the very end of my mission for the church. I had the idea to tell these well-known stories but to focus on His hands, as hands are symbols of power and action. Also, we don't really know what Jesus looked like and I find it distracting at times looking at how one artist's depiction of Him does or does not agree with our own ideas. 

Portraits and Head studies

These are a few commissioned portraits and a few head studies that I've done. 

The Return of the King movie poster

This was for an assignment in my illustration class where we had to create a piece as an advertisement. I chose to do a movie poster and of the multiple concepts and thumbnails, this was the one that I chose to go with. It was really the first time I had created an image from scratch in Photoshop and my first time using a drawing tablet, so there was a bit of a learning curve involved. It was challenging, but I had fun with this one. 

Mastercopy of Bouguereau

For my oil painting class that I took a couple years ago, I decided to do a mastercopy of the great academic painter, William Adolphe Bouguereau. I'd seen his paintings in my classes and had even seen a couple in person in art museums and was blown away by his paintings. I have to say that it was a pretty big challenge to try to emulate a master, but it was a huge learning experience. I put a lot of time into this painting and I think it turned out pretty well. 

Study of the Fab Four

So here's another charcoal study that I did of a great photo of The Beatles. They're one of my favorite bands, so I couldn't resist. I took some photos of the process that I went through, showing each member coming into development. 

Study of Miles Davis

This was a study of a photo of Jazz musician Miles Davis that I did back in 2010. It was good learning experience, but there a some issues with the drawing that are apparent now, but that's just part of learning.