Rough Justice

This week, I picked up a copy of "Rough Justice: The Comics Sketches of Alex Ross." It is a visual feast! As I mentioned before, I love books where I can see the artist's construction lines and thumbnails. This book is loaded with these types of images. I love having the pencil roughs and color tests to pour over. The light and shadow work alone would have been enough to make me buy the book.

One of the things that I like about Ross' style is his use of edges. They really make his work feel solid. Also, how he make his characters appear "real," but still retain that "painterly" quality.

Another plus is you get Ross' commentary. It really enhances the book to be able read about the thought process that goes into some of the works.

In case you couldn't tell, I really like "Rough Justice" and hope to learn a few things from it as well as enjoying Ross' works.

Slipping the Bonds of Gravity

This is another old painting that I started years ago, but never finished. Well, this one is done now. I won't go into what this painting represents to me. I think that it would be better for you to interpret it for yourself.

I'm glad that I finally found the time to finish it. This was another painting that I felt needed to be seen rather than languish on my hard drive.

Wanda Maximoff - The Scarlet Witch

This painting of the Scarlet Witch has probably sat around unfinished for 3 or 4 years. I decided to finally finish it. The hardest part of completing this painting was to try to be faithful to where my skill level was at the time. I felt that adding too much refinement would probably unbalance the image. I think that I was able to true to my original vision for the piece.

I always liked this pose and I think that it should be seen, not hidden on my hard drive. It felt good to finally get it off of the unfinished pile.

Deep in the Baila (Dance)

I had a little free time and decided to do a quick painting. I chose a music / dance theme. I played a lot of Salsa and Merengue in the background while I worked on the painting. I wanted to capture a glimpse of that "lost in the music" place that I go to when I'm really into a dance.

Unfortunately dance classes and practice take away time from painting. Hopefully, I'll find a good balance between the two soon.

Jungle Elf

This painting started out as a warm up sketch, then it evolved into a value study. I wound up pushing it a bit more by adding a background. I decided to try working out a depth of field effect. Then I played with giving the environment a a sense of temperature, to portray hot and steamy.

The general idea of the figure was that if, if elves lived in the forests of the world, they'd probably be found in the jungles, too. I wanted her to be both primal and elegant. I leave it to you to decide how much I succeeded in what I was trying to accomplish.

Catching Up - Santa's Elf

I haven't posted to my blog in quite a while. I'm going to try to be more regular.

This was done for Christmas, obviously. I consider it one of my best attempts at portraiture. All the pieces came together for me on this one. From the skin tones to the hair to the texture of the fur, I was very satisfied with the results.

This painting raises my personal bar, which is a good thing. I don't think that you can maintain status quo. You're either moving ahead or falling behind.