Sketchbook Tour

This has been a creatively fruitful two months so I thought I’d share my work from 2019 so far. I decided to focus on my sketchbooks these two months because of limited space and my upcoming move. Many of these pieces are studies for larger works I am planning and are in acrylics and watercolor as opposed to oils, which is my favored medium for large works. I have been focusing a lot on anatomy and developing my body of work as a whole for some shows and fairs I have soon. There are way too many pieces in my sketchbook to include in this, so I have only chosen a few of my favorites!

First is this little anatomy study. This was essentially an exercise that I started in pencil. I do anatomy studies like this nearly every day, and they rarely ever go any further than a rough sketch. I do these because practice is absolutely essential to continuing to grow as an artist. With this one though, I decided to then do a quick watercolor of basic warm and cool, showing light and shadow. Once I did the watercolor I decided to use an ink pen to add some definition to this little piece.

Next is this little nude sketch. I have been loving using a bronze acrylic as a quick background and then painting the figure into the bronze while it is still wet. It helps me work on keeping a loose style, which I have been using in my larger works so I am working on it in my sketches as well. This is painted on a postcard and will be going to one of my lovely supporters this week!

I continued with anatomy studies that developed into watercolor sketches with this eye. My process with this one was much the same as with the first anatomy study and was done on cold press watercolor paper. I used a pen to add more shading with this one, making it a little cartoony in the style.

This next one began as an airplane sketch that started because I am missing holding my girlfriend’s hand since she is gone. It was first a graphite sketch and then I added ink because I was still on the plane and very bored! Once I got home, I decided I wanted to add some color to this sketch and began with just a little red to the knuckles and fingertips. It then evolved to the full color sketch you now see.

This is in my sketchbook, but is probably the most refined of the works. It is a study for an expressive oil painting I am starting to be part of my series (more to come on that). It shows a very natural and strong side of female beauty that is often taboo in society. This was created in a very tradition way, with a very light pencil sketch, then with watercolors.

Lastly a little piece I did a few days ago. This was done in the same way as the other work with a bronze base, using the wet on wet technique. It is done on a thin canvas so it is a more texture surface than the paper. I love this little piece and plan on doing a larger interpretation of this figure soon.

So that is what I have been up to in 2019 so far, and I must say, I am very excited for the rest of the year! All of these little works are for sale except for the postcard, so if you are looking for small, affordable, original art then contact me before they’re gone. Also, If you want to see more cool stuff like this, check out my Patreon!