I'm Back.

       Hello my friends and I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween. I've got a lot to show you in this blog, including step by step on how I go about a painting up to the underpainting part. On the next painting, we will cover the painting part. First up is the finished scan of the painting I did of Suzi Lorainne, and I can't tell you about the endless letters from friends and fans telling me to keep painting in oils, and I had already made my mind up to do that when I was working on this one.  So here it is.

  Up next is the Halloween painting I just finished in progress step by step.  But first I want to talk about something.  I told all my Facebook friends that I was also going to do a digitally parody and I was really excited about doing it, and then Madison and I had a talk about it. The piece is wonderful and funny, but the subject of the painting is a copyrighted character known the world over. One of my pet peeves is artist taking characters like Godzilla, Elvis, and so on, and do a painting of them, calling it parody and not giving credit to the copyright owners or paying for the licencing rights.  They claim the law protects them from prosecution from the owners because it is either Satire or Parody.  An if you sell prints of them, that don't fall under fan art either. In two cases I did fan art (I painted characters from movies and gave full credit to the movies they appeared in and did not and will not sell prints of them.)
     The whole thing is a ethical issue and it is up to each artist to decide their feelings about it. Mine are this. Just because there is a law that says you can doesn't make it morally right, in my eyes, your still a thief. But that is for each artist to decide, and I have decided not to do work like that, unless I have purchased the rights to do so.  How would you feel to see something you created stole by another artist  and changed it just enough to where they can get away with it and make a ton of money off of your idea? I am in no way or no means picking on anyone here, I am simply making a point from my point of view, and I feel like I owe the 1000's of fans a explanation to why I didn't do the piece I told them I was going to. 
     Madison also pointed out to me that a lot of folks out there look up to me, and I don't want to set a bad example. I'm not saying I will always do the right things, but at least I am trying. I had to start a second FB account last week, because I was having to turn away to many folks from my original one, and it one week, it is close to having 1000 friends already. I am guessing that a NickroseThree and Four are in the near future at this rate.  Something HUGE is going down in December, and at that point I don't know what where going to do to keep up with all the friends we are gaining.
      Now back to art. I am going to show you in step by step photo's how I start a painting all the way to the oil glaze before I paint. So here we go.

Day one:  

   I had Madison take a series of photos of me from different angels and poses to find the one that best suited what I was seeing in my mind. This is the pic I choose.  From there I started sketching.

 First I did the one on the left using my picture, but starting to exaggerate the body pose.  Then from there I started the one on the right. One thing I have found out from experience is that you have to learn to see your idea with the eye of an movie director. You do a sketch, then ask  "How can I improve this"   This is something I have just started doing, but was taught to me by Daniel several years ago. It does make for a much more dynamic picture, and drama is one of the key things you are after.
Day 2:

  So the next morning, after thinking about how I wanted the image to appear, I started over as in the top drawing, and in the second drawing i started adding the details. You can see that the paper is starting to "bubble" on me, but I pressed on so I can get to the 3rd drawing which is where I actually mounted the paper onto  a piece of prepared Masonite using Elmer's glue.  Then let that dry, it took about 2 hours, and applied 2 layers of Matte Medium and let it dry overnight. In the near future I am going to show you how to mount the paper to the Masonite but I am going to have to use a video camera, and I am getting one of those for Christmas.
    Daniel told me how to do it on the phone, and I figured I knew how to do it until I did it.  It was a nightmare, so that is why I want to show you with a video camera so there will be no confusion, or bubbles caught in the paper, and the other problems that can happen until you get the hang of it.
     Also a quick tip for you, if you shop at places like Hobby Lobby  and buy your prepared Masonite from them, you know that a 16" x 20" sheet cost about 7 dollars. You can go to Lowe's and buy a full 4' x 8' sheet of the prepared Masonite with the gesso side for 11.97 and they will cut it to any size you want. I had them cut one for me today into 10 18 x22 pieces and they don't charge to cut it and will do it while you wait. It takes about 5 minutes. If I had bought the panels from the art store it would have cost about 70 bucks plus tax, and they don't even have the size I like to work.  You save 58 bucks and get exactly what you want. You can also buy Orange cleaner there as well. It is the best and cheapest thing out there to keep your brushes nice and soft after putting them in Turpentine all day. You can also find it at Big Lots.
Day 3; the under painting.

To me, The under painting is a way to do a value study.  It is not the way I was taught to do it, but I do what works for me. Catherine Jones told me the other day that she didn't under paint or do a value study. She just puts down a few lines and starts painting. If you have ever seen her work you know it is amazing. Another living Master. I have a few canvases laying around, and I think just for fun one day, I am going to try it her way and see what happens. 
    All of you should remember that art is an adventure, and for each artist it is different. Take the path that works for you. Just because I say to do something a certain way doesn't mean you have to do it like I do, or how another artist does it. As Daniel told me,  "Take what you want and leave the rest." Do what feels right and works for you. You are an individual and what you do is unique just like your art.

  And now I add a glaze of Liquin and Magenta.  I added about a tablespoon of Liquin in a plastic cup and about a quarter inch of paint from the tube and mixed them well to they looked like this

and put one coat over the whole painting. By using the Liquin I know that it will be dry enough for me to get going in the morning.  As I have said, I prefer Linseed oil as my medium and only use Liquin for things like this.  It is also good for putting a layer over the dried painting to make the whole thing shine instead of just parts.  Another note is that on this painting I did the under painting in Acrylics, but you could do it with oils if you wanted. But Acrylics are more particle for the task since they dry so fast.
    Here is a photo of the finished painting. Hopefully by next week I will be able to scan it for you and have the pencil work of the painting I am doing of Dai Green.

 I hope you enjoy this, it will look much better when I am able to scan it, and please remember this, what I say on this blog is in no way intended to insult or point fingers at anyone. That is why I never mention names, but as with todays blog I simply wanted everyone to understand why I didn't do the piece a lot of folks where expecting to see. I have to learn to practice what I preach, and I by no means expect folks to always agree with me. I am very old school and I know the younger folks see life different than the way I do, and that is fine in my book. 
    I hope your week is filled with love, magic and creativity. "May the Darkness Comfort you"