Monday, August 30, 2010

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Mural

Teaser!! More pics up soon! (photo credit: Loren Webb)

Phil and Kayley's Wedding Portrait

P & K, August 27th (9x12" acrylic on canvas)

Yo!! Wow, what a busy couple weeks for me, lots of work got done, including this wedding portrait, a garage mural inspired by the iconic Scottish artist and architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and a bunch of work on R.O.C. #5! This is the portrait I did for my cousin Phil's wedding - this was my second attempt at a portrait in acrylic, the first being earlier this month for my cousin Kevin's wedding (see a few posts back). I didn't have any of my own photos of both Phil and his wife Kayley together, so I decided to snoop on Facebook and see what I could find. I don't think I'll use that approach again because the quality of the photos just isn't high enough to convey the level of detail I'd like to include. It was definitely a big challenge to try to create something expressive and realistic from a pretty grainy and pixelated photo, and I ended up spending about 30 hours on this piece. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the results, but I feel that I still have a lot of work to do and tons more to learn.
I included a few symbols within the painting, something I've been doing more and more, and I'll share a few. The dove represents the people from our family who couldn't be there and are watching from above - Phil's Papa Ken just recently passed away (RIP), and it was a huge loss for the family. The dove is presenting interlocked wedding rings to show that Phil and Kayley's union is being blessed by all those who couldn't be there. I painted the background a calm blue to represent the clear blue skies I wish for their future, and I lined the banner in gold to signify the prosperity I hope they have together. Like in Kevin and Maria's painting, I chose to change a few minor elements to aid the composition - for example I took the pattern off of Phil's shirt, 'trimmed' his hair a bit, abstracted some portions of Kayley's hair, and made a few small changes to the folds in Phil's collar.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Fo Yo Sorrows

Fo Yo Sorrows (40x30", Aerosol, Acrylic, Houspaint, Krink, 2010)

Fo Yo Sorrows (detail)

Fo Yo Sorrows (detail)

Fo Yo Sorrows (detail)

Ayo! Here are a few pics of my latest project 'Fo Yo Sorrows', inspired by a Big Boi song of the same name off of the "Sir Lucious Left Foot the Son of Chico Dusty" album. The song features the legendary George Clinton and one of his layered, funky, grinding analog basslines, as well as a verse from Too Short and some bumpin' Organized Noize production. I tried to do something new and take a few risks with this piece because what inspired me about the album was how Big Boi bridged diverse sounds from new and old schools to create a unique blend that referenced his work with Outkast but still stood on its own as a solo album, and to me was an instant classic.
Although I'm happy with this piece and the direction it represents, if I had to redo it I would definitely go at least 50% bigger - working on this small of a scale made the aerosol portrait part of it unnecessarily difficult, especially considering the level of detail I was looking to reproduce. Big Boi - "Fo Yo Sorrows" video feat. George Clinton, Too Short, and Sam Chris after the jump!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

The ROC is back!


Research on Control 3 (18x24" mixed media, 2010)


Research on Control 3 (detail)


Research on Control 4 (20x16", mixed media, 2010)


Research on Control 4 (detail)


Research on Control 3 (detail)



The ROC is back!! Here are two more additions to the Research on Control series as well as some detail shots, a couple process photos, and a pair of quick sketches that got things started. Back to school for me in September! J. Cole knows what I'm talkin about, hit the link and check him out...

The figures throughout this series were done entirely without models or photo references, which proved to be a challenge in some cases more than others, and although I'm happy with the results, I think my work will benefit from the classes I'm taking in the fall - especially the model studies in my upcoming drawing class. Knowledge is the key and we gotta be the locksmiths!

Monday, August 9, 2010

OctoDon: Roll Out!





Photo credit: Leah Erickson

Whattup! Sorry for the wait, it's been a crazy busy week and a half! I've been working on tons of stuff, including not two but three more additions to the Research on Control series, a portrait for my cousin Kev and his new wife Maria who's wedding I just attended (check the last post), sketches and concept for an upcoming Charles Rennie Mackintosh-inspired garage mural, and in between all that I took a hot second to bust out the Octodon on my friend Johndog's old car - aerosol cephalopod mafia roll out!!

Kevin and Maria's Wedding Portrait


Kevin and Maria (9x12" Acrylic on wood panel, 2010)



Yo! This is a portrait that I did for my cousin Kev and his new bride Maria to commemorate their recent wedding - Big up! Big up! It was a great time, and the afterparty was crazy like only a Jamaican-Filipino afterparty could be, word is bond!! The piece was a challenge for sure, I haven't done too many portraits, and this was my first one in acrylic, but I learned a ton and I'm looking forward to stepping it up again for the next one. The music and dance was a definite highlight, the whole party just mash it up - hit the link and check the vibe!