jbot scream 06282010

New piece (more info below, but this is a blog and I'm gonna rant) Just finished watching this new show on Bravo called Work of Art: The next great artist. At first I was weary of this show, but my best bud Drew Jones told me I should check it out and I trust him. Funny thing is the show is 3 episodes in and each episode makes me want to quit my current job more and more. Don't get me wrong, God has blessed me immensely with my current job and continues to do so in His most graceful way. Great pay, work with people I like and it's not the hardest thing on Earth. Just this last weekend and tonight I've been very reflective of my life so far at the tender age of 28. I know one question that regardless of your views, faith, age, sex or whatever you have to ponder in life is Why am I here? or better yet, What's my purpose? I'm sure for most this question is quite daunting, as well as it should be. I mean, I blame half of my anxiety issues all on these crazy questions that have freaked me out in the past. What I'm getting at is there are facts out there and one for sure is how short this life is. I don't want to have the feeling some day that I didn't do with my time the best I could. More than ever it's super easy to be caught into the isolated-entertain me world we live in and not stop to reflect, think, listen, pray, speak, heal, etc.

So as I think of who I am and what I believe I'm here for, I know in my heart that I'm an artist. The definition of that term artist has been ever changing for me over the years and there's for sure a new shift in that name for me recently. Not sure what it means for my future and I'm trying to be okay with not worrying about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself. I can reflect though and when I see visions of my future I know what must be done to realize some of that vision. This is the point where that nice little slice of life called fear sets in for most and blocks that vision. Even the littlest of steps to get there are covered and now you've become frozen. I've been there and quite honestly I think I am there right now. It's kind of funny because as I look back at this piece now I laugh a little because I almost feel it reflects my torment where I just want to scream through the fear and let go. So, not sure what tomorrow holds but damn sure I'll still be an artist.

Now onto the art itself. Really just wanted to work on a hardboard watercolor surface. It's pretty forgiving and tends to hold up well to abuse. This piece totally came from the doodle (pictured below) which just had something in it that made me take it further. I used cheapo watercolor paint, some acrylic paint, and a touch of color pencil in this. It's 8"x10" which was refreshing that I could finally scan something in one piece. Hope you enjoy and also enjoy my first real "deep thoughts" I've posted on this blog.

j girl 06262010

Finished!! Jammed out to Wolfmother and then some White Stripes to try and get me movin' on this. Guess it worked.

in process

Here is a watercolor piece in progress. I'm getting there and I feel it's maybe 75% of the way there, but it's taking me a while. I keep losing interest in this one for some reason and so when that happens I tend to take my sweet time on those pieces. I just don't like forcing myself to finish pieces I'm not feeling. However, if this were a paid job I'd totally have to force myself. Hope some out there like it so far. Thanks for checking it out.

iPhone 4: sketching in line...

So I joined the madness yesterday and stood in a line for my reserved iPhone 4. While in line I figured I would sketch a little. These 2 pages are what I did while waiting for around 2hrs. The top bottom piece I actually did first. I'm thinking of doing a full wide screen format panel painting from this sketch. I can already see it in my head, so hopefully that means I'll do it! The second sketch (top in picture) was fun because I was licking my fingers and smearing the ink to achieve the tones to sort of fill in the drawing. It was easier to do once Apple gave me a bottled water while waiting in line. Not sure if there is potential in that sketch for any further exploration, but I did get some positive bits and pieces from it. Oh and side note......I'm still freakin' sick! Haven't been 100% for over a month now :(

SICK

So...it's 3:57am and I'm sort of relapsing into a sick state that I've been plagued with for a month now. I tried my best to avoid having to take any antibiotics and let my immune system step up, but I'll go with some web lingo on this and call an EPIC FAIL! Basically since I'm up and waiting for my second dose of NyQuil to kick in (plus the antibiotics I just got from my local pharmacy) I decided to quickly work on my sister's new childcare logo and of course a robot after that. I love India Ink and a brush! Oh and also add in an old toothbrush, pens and any other marking device I can use. The image here shows an in progress stage where I've roughed in a loose jbot form and have started to lay in inks. Since I feel like crap I decided to make this jbot look like how I feel...for now.

I also shot this image with my new LEICA D–LUX 4 digital camera...which I'm barely using yet but already love it.

06132010

Haven't posted in a while, but I have lots of pieces finished and ready to show. This is one I did yesterday and I basically wanted to try some different techniques than my usual. Basically instead of using india ink and watercolor, I used acrylic paints to replace the watercolor. Fun stuff and I hope to do more like this. Oh and the birds are something new I've been playing around with...more of that to come.