Trackers, Part Two

And by popular demand, the entire Trackers' issue one has been posted to the web. And since it was so large, I decided to give it its own blog. You can find it here.

It certainly was a lot of fun finishing up the book. I hope everyone enjoys reading it as much as I did finishing it. It may be a little (okay very) cheezy, but I am certain it will make you laugh. Enjoy.

Florida Panther

Another pencil sketch, back in the day where I was all about cross-hatching. I blame Frank Miller and his graphic novel Ronin for this phase in my artistic career. I still uses hatching, but not nearly as much. Then again, I really do not sketch or doodle as much as I used to do.

This piece probably took me a day or two to complete as I never really finish anything in one sitting. Along with "Cheetah after the kill", this is probably one of my more favorite pencil pieces. I think the face and muzzle came out perfectly. Truly. Would not change a thing.

Florida Panther
9x12, pencil on paper 

Ibiza

A good friend of mine sat on that white wall and watched the sunrise. I can just imagine how that must have felt. As I completed the painting, I often imagined sitting there myself, watching the sunrise, basking in the warm Mediterranean air. Hmm. . .I need to take vacations to places like Ibiza.

Ibiza
12x16, pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes 

Midnight Run

The piece that started my own personal renaissance was also the larges pastel painting that I had ever done. But I had become inspired. I was watching a special on Van Gogh and learned that he did not always cover the canvas; that he would sometimes just pile the oil painting on in sections to build his textures while leave other parts of the canvas exposed. That night I started this. Much of the grey paper shows through. Most people think the horse is running on water but in actuality it is snow.

This is also the piece that educated me to the high price of framing art. Custom framing, especially whilst I was in grad school, was cost prohibitive. Finding a local art supply store that has premium ready made frames was such good fortune that I now use them for all my work. I had always worried about my art becoming damaged because I was too poor to frame them. Now, I no longer have to worry.

Midnight Run
19x24, pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes 

Regency Oaks

This was the view out of the bedroom in my first college apartment. The Regency Oaks (or “Ogency Reeks” as some called it) Complex sat nearly on the busy corner of Archer Road and 34th Street. After dinner we would sit on our stairs drinking beers watching the frequent car accidents and near misses. Such a strange time it was.

This piece was completely done freehand in pen and ink with no pencil “under-drawing.” I used a Speedball pen and brush. Normally, I do an under-drawing in pencil and ink the picture with a rapidograph and brush. The Speedball allows for much greater control in the width of the lines. Unfortunately, I no longer have most of the pictures like this. I simply gave them away.

Regency Oaks
9x12, pen and ink on paper 

Lil’ Miss Madison Biddy

I am not a cat person, any of my friends will tell you that. But this lil’ miss weaseled her way into my affections. Okay, I do admit to trying to flatten her with a pillow early one morning. But this was only after she jumped up and bit the toe I left dangling off of the bed while I was sleeping. After that, we did come to a mutual agreement.

Sort of.

Sometimes I wonder where she.

Lil� Miss Madison Biddy
9x12, pastel on Canson Mi-Teintes 

Pencil Sketches

I was overjoyed to discover these old drawings while going through my storage. Drawing, sketching, is my true love. The ability to weight a line, to use cross-hatch or the many other techniques I employed. I can still remember the rush I felt when I finished "The Cheetah after the Kill", even though it was a lifetime ago.

Besides these, there are a host of other sketches and drawings that I have found, most of which will see the light of day on this blog.

Cheetah after the kill
9x12, pencil on paper 

Madonna
9x12, pencil on paper
I believe this picture was the cover to one of her albums.