Juxtapoz exhibition and my YouTube Channel

I forgot in my last post to tell you about another huge show going on.  20 YEARS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF JUXTAPOZ is happening right now, alongside the SLANG AESTHETICS! exhibit by Robert Williams at Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. Tons of great artists showing.  You can check out the line up below...
 

Today at 2pm they will be hosting a free special talk with Andrew Hosner (exhibition co-curator / Thinkspace Gallery), Gary Pressman (exhibition co-curator / Copro Gallery), Greg Escalante (Juxtapoz co-founder / Copro Gallery owner), Robert Williams (Juxtapoz co-founder / featured artist), Gwynn Vitello (Juxtapoz’s current President + Publisher).

I also wanted to share that I've started a YouTube channel.  I really love watching other artists' process videos.  Whether it's a time lapse of them working on a piece or a tutorial with tips on certain techniques...I'm a bona fide YouTube art nerd.  I figured I'd share some videos of my own with anyone who wants to learn more about my process.  I'm still working out the kinks, so please subscribe and the filming will get better along the way ; )  

You can check out my first process video below...


Feel free to comment or message me with anything specific you might like to see in my YouTube videos. 

~ eye should figure out a better recording set up...my collapsible easel rigged with my iPhone is seeming just a bit ridiculous, ha!

Current Contemporary Art Exhibits in the LA Area

Lots of exhibits to check out in the next few weeks...

A bunch of great artists are showing in DREAMLANDS, opening at Corey Helford Gallery on Saturday March 14th...Amy Sol, Herakut, Hannah Yata, and Kazuki Takamatsu to name just a few.  Takamatsu uses depth graphing for a cool 3-D effect in his work.  I stumbled across his art about a year ago and was hooked by his unique process.  More info on the DREAMLANDS exhibit here.

Kazuki Takamatsu

The Hive has a group show opening tonight from 8-11pm.  Lara Dann and Scott Holloway are a few of the artists showing, and this one runs through the 28th.

Lara Dann - Lovesong of Vengeance

LALUZAPALOOZA opened last night at La Luz De Jesus Gallery.  This is their huge annual no-theme group show, which runs through the 29th.

Thinkspace's BEAUTY IN THE BREAKDOWN exhibit with Sarah Joncas and Camilla d'Errico will be up through March 21st.  Anthony Clarkson's work will be in the project room as a sweet bonus.  I'm really digging the new direction Sarah Joncas is going in lately, mixing in lots of graphic elements with her figures.

And one more to check out...Gallery 1988 (East) has a Meg Majewski exhibit going on now through the 21st. 

~ eye should convince the kiddo to have an art day with me :D

Some art exhibits in the LA area

Some great exhibits are going on during the next few weeks...

Tonight I'll be heading over to a sweet opening in my neck of the woods at Flower Pepper Gallery.  Ania Tomicka, Susanne Apgar, and Graham Curran are among some of the artists showing. 
 

 

Ekundayo has an exhibit that started last week and will be going on through February 21st...

Another really cool show to look forward to is opening on Saturday the 14th, over at Corey Helford Gallery.  Both Richard J. Oliver and Redd Walitzki (two of my current favorites) will be showing new work.  I'm really hoping I'll be able to check this one out...





Richard J. Oliver also has a pretty cool new interview on YouTube by SullenTV (a channel worth checking out if you're into tattoos and art in general)...



~ eye should squeeze some drawing time in before heading out tonight...maybe I can talk the kiddo into an art day ;)

new year's goals and progress on a colored pencil series

It's a new year and I have tons of new ideas to try to implement to progress further with my art.  I'm sure a lot of you also have that beginning-of-the-year-I'm-going-to-finally-get-my-shit-together-and-work-quickly-toward-my-goals kind of attitude.  Well, it's nice that the new year prompts that kind of thinking, but it's so easily forgotten by February, haha.  I'm making a month-by-month type of action plan and I'm pretty confident that it will hold me accountable a bit more throughout the year.  This month I'm focused on simply putting the action plan together...yeah, I know, maybe that should have happened before January, but hey it's better late than never.

Life is so fast-paced, it's kind of strange that most of us have to make an effort to stay focused on what we truly love to do or we might not make the time for it.  Regardless of how busy things are, I figure even if you can only find 15 minutes a day...all those minutes add up in the end and get you closer to where you want to be.

I'm determined to make some quicker progress on this colored pencil series I'm working on.  I have 4 girls sketched out and have started on paper with the first.  Yesterday I spent a whole 15 or 20 minutes drawing...but at least I picked her up and made a bit of progress. 

Today I'll commit to at least 15 minutes again, and hopefully I'll get in a flow that makes me forget to stop and take care of everything else for a while longer.  It's too easy to get sucked into the whole mindset of having to get all of the day to day stuff done that we put off the things that feed our soul.  But you know what, my house can be 15 minutes less clean, so I can spend that time doing what I love.  Eff it ; )  Happy New Year!

~ eye should put on some Pandora, light my sweet aloha orchid candle and work on this chick's face some more. 

latest pieces, more big-eye artists, and a series in the works

Hoping to share a lot more new work soon...the wheels are definitely turning.  Here are my two most recent finished pieces...

Valentine - mixed media on wood, 24"x24"

Pride - colored pencils on paper, 11"x14"

I'm in some sort of a transitional spot with my art right now.  I took a lot of time off from shows to try to work on my skills.  That helped me to have the freedom to change things up a bit and I've been leaning towards more realism and detail in my pieces.  I'm finding though, that I'm kind of all over the place with mediums and my whole creative process.  Going with the flow of each piece, I work sometimes in pencil, pastel, colored pencils, mixed media...and I've recently started using the computer more for my sketching process.  Now I feel it's time to get more focused.  I think it would benefit me and my art to stick it out with a specific medium and process for awhile.  A small series would allow me to push the medium while getting a lot more comfortable with whatever it is I choose to use.

I also want to start giving myself some weekly homework to keep up the hand eye coordination since I'm putting initial sketches together on the computer more.

Time to share some work by others :)  Here are a few from some more Big Eye Artist Collective members...

Oswald - Chris Hamer/Urbnpop

Diavolesso - Angelo Barile

Ice Bat Kitty - Jeremiah Ketner

Here's a little rework of my Red Riding Hood "sketch", though I'm not sure when I'll really start on her...

~eye should give myself a few deadlines...I'll narrow down my ideas for a series within two weeks, and homework this week...hmmm, I suppose I'll go with 10-15 anatomy-based sketches.

my process and a new piece in the works

Thought I’d talk shop a bit since I don’t really go into my process much.  I typically use several reference photos along with some lyrics or poetry when building a piece.  I’d quickly sketch out an idea, get bored of sketching, and jump into the real deal.  Just recently I’ve been trying out some new techniques for concepts and “sketching”. 

I’m not very good at using Photoshop or similar programs, but I can make my way around…clumsily.  Man, I’ve been really digging some of the perks a computer can offer…speed, special effects, and...the best-ever “undo” option...ahhh!  Not sure why I didn’t think of it before, but being able to quickly put a detailed composition together and change it up if it’s going south without losing hours and hours of work is a pretty big perk.  

Here’s a pic of a concept for a new painting… 

So, I’m really into duality within people or different facets of people’s personalities and have been trying to figure out how to effectively illustrate that kind of idea in my art.  I went through all sorts of ideas from layering a piece, using glass, plexi, resin, archival plastic sheets…but I wasn’t too thrilled about using any of those ideas at the moment. I just wanted to be able to make more subtle images to put on top of a main figure.  This new process allows me to add the transparency I’m after…and hopefully I can duplicate the effect in my finished piece and be happy with the outcome.

In the painting from 2012 below, I added the second image, and to push her back a bit by adding some static or noise (whatever you want to call it)…I laid my pastel sideways and went for it right over her face.   

15 - pastels on wood, 24" x 24" (available)

While there’s definitely excitement in taking risks when you’re in the moment, it’s also cool (when you’re 20 hours in) to be able to know you can pretty much execute the rest of the piece as you had imagined it in your head. 

~ eye should make a little more time to sketch random things for practice if I'm going to continue using this process to start my pieces. 

social media and some more sweet big eye artists

Well, I've been plugging away at the social media and trying to get my work out there on several sites.  I've recently joined Instagram and put my art up on Pinterest. I have a Society6 and Fine Art America shop and now I'm working on opening an Etsy account.  Sometimes it's a struggle to know which direction to go in, if some of it's a complete waste of time, and how to make my art a full-time gig as quickly as possible.  I'd rather just create and not have to focus so much on the business end of it...but it will make success so much sweeter I suppose. 

On another note, The Big Eye Artist Collective is getting much bigger ;)  Lots more crazy-talented people have joined our group...Colin and Sas Christian, Anarkitty (Emma Geary), and Emma Mount to name just a few.  Here are a few pieces from some more great artists in the collective...

Alysha - Loretta Gonzalez

Loteria - The Art of Sketch (Oscar Navarro)

The Fool - Misty Benson, Morbidly Adorable Creations

We should have more albums uploaded on our page soon :)

Here's a little progress shot of a piece of mine in the works...

Playing with some different techniques on the background with this one.  I took some time this weekend to kind of test out some of my ideas out and I'm pretty happy with where it's going.  Hoping to finish her up soon.

~ eye should try not to get discouraged...I've come a long way with my art in the last few years, and I'm sure I'll someday make a living at it.