strokes & planes

Work in progress: my first "city scape"

2011-11-17T21:29:00.001-08:00

They say there is always a first for everything, or something like that. This is my first attempt to paint a place. I am really enjoying it so far, I'll keep you guys posted on the progress. I hope you like it.

My contribution to "Stroke of Genius 3"

2011-11-04T08:34:00.000-07:00

I have been featured in the book "Stroke of Genius 3". Stroke of Genius is a series of books that displays the best in drawing. The book is available for purchasing, feel free to get your copy ;)

Show Coming Up in Spain.

2011-10-31T22:28:00.000-07:00

Hello guys!

I will be showing one painting in Zaragoza (Spain) on November 19th. The show looks awesome, so many talented artists!

If you are close by, go check it out.

What's on the easel...

2011-10-22T22:31:00.000-07:00

Working on this right now...

I need to finish it soon, deadline is approaching.

About My Process

2011-08-08T23:24:00.000-07:00

People often ask me about my process. The truth is I don't have one, the process changes depending on the painting. I have a couple steps I never skip. After I have a clear idea of what I want and I have acquired a reference shot, or a model I can rely on to stay put for several sessions, I compose my image and draw it on the canvas with graphite. Then I start painting. And that is all I can tell you about my process.
Since this is not a clear answer to the question, I thought I post a step by step animated .gif to illustrate how I approached my last "head study."
I hope you enjoy it.

Sharing the Good News

2011-08-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share my joy with you, guys. My drawing "Herminio Cortes" (a portrait of my late grandfather) is a finalist at the Art Renewal Center 2010-2011 ARC Salon Competition, you can visit the ARC website here.
Since part of the drawing is the header of this blog, I thought it would be appropriate to share the news.
I will be updating again soon. Stay tuned, and thanks for stopping by.

Block-in Done

2011-07-20T22:52:00.000-07:00

After spending the last couple of weeks working on other stuff, finally I got to tackle this one again. As you can see, the block-in stage is done. Now I can move to the fun part where I get to adjust value patterns, add temperature shifts, work on form and detail and, in other words, finish the painting. Let's hope this time I don't get side-tracked again and I can actually focus on this one... What am I talking about?! I will get side-tracked again and I will jump from project to project, just because that's the way I am.

I hope you guys enjoy this stage, although it's far away from finished.

Organizing Chaos

2011-07-05T23:06:00.000-07:00

I don't have much to say today. I believe I am getting closer to consolidate what my next move will be, I like that feeling.

For now I leave you with the first stages of a painting I am working. I posted the drawing a couple of weeks ago, I figured it would be nice to show some progress. So far I have some values here and there, and I am getting to add more color to it. I still have to work on the color harmony and strengthen the value pattern to improve the rhythm, slowly but surely. I hope you enjoy it.

A Change of Direction

2011-06-25T22:45:00.000-07:00

As some of you already know, I am a graduate student at the AAU. In order to finish my M.F.A. I need a consistent body of work, a thesis. My first idea was to embrace my martial artist background, I like the idea but sometimes the execution doesn't go as one hopes. This is one of those times, I am stuck and I can't seem to advance so, for the sake of advancing and getting things done in time, I am changing the direction of my thesis. I will update you on that when the time comes, for now here you have a couple of "work in progress" that will be in the storage room for about a year.

Fresh Start

2011-06-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

I believe every one realizes at some point that one's life needs a change. I have no idea where I am going with my paintings right now but what I do know is that whatever worked in the past is no longer working for me.
From now on I will try to explore the possibilities that painting and drawing have to offer me, in terms of technique and concept. This is the first post regarding my exploration, no more purposeless entries.

For this, my first post, I would like to share the first stage of a painting I will be working on soon. It's been a while since I approached the still life as a subject, perhaps because I didn't feel it had anything to offer me, but after studying Dynamic Symmetry under John Wentz's tutelage I saw a different angle, or should I say angles?, and I had to give Still Life another chance.

Rhythm is my main focus for this painting, I will let you now how this develops as the painting progresses.