SLC Temple Doors revisited

Here's the final product of President Lothaire Bluth's birthday present.    if you ask me its much better than the first Temple doors i made.  why?  because the first was with a graphite based , less manipulatable (is that a word?) media called ebony pencil.  this new one was with charcoal-much more potential there for higher contrast, crisper edges, smoother shading and a more correctable drawing...each  allow for greater realism.  also, the fact that i was making it for someone drove me to greater efforts (and for whom it was for -also a motivation)  

 MEDIA:  charcoal, No 2 pencil, watercolor, 23.5 Karrot gold leafing, Sterling Silver leafing, acrylic paint (black), red pen, Prismacolor colored pencil, mat board, pine and thin particle board (mounting), antique glaze and satin sealer.   

and there they are:  president Lothaire Bluth  and his lovely wife Connie, who  commissioned me for the piece.  awesome people.  extreme art lovers i tell you what!

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updated: Without Roots

thanx again Morgan Tanner.  nice picture taking.

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better quality: Long After the Sandstorm

heres the updated portfolio version of this one.  thanx to Morgan Tanner!

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Mexican Wedding

this one was fun.   ive never drawn a mexican wedding before.

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Madonna de Madera

mother of wood.  or is it my lady of wood?  the trees in the back ground are very much alive.  anything you make using the wood cut from them is alive as well.  they and the mother mourn the destuction of the homes around them.

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Dust Bowl Mamas

im still wondering what it means.  perhaps its on the underappreciated nessesity of motherhood...?  i dont know!  but perhaps if we break it down we'll discover more about it.  the subject in the foregrownd is playing a violin while all the others seem to be working very hard.  notice that no one but the other ladies seem to pay any attention to her.  perhaps it's because they empathize with unappreciated nurturing (?)  every person in  the lines is looking down.  why?  are there not women of startling size right in front of them.  is there not beautifull music playing?  one does notice.  shes the fourth in the forground line to the right.  she's a little ecuadorian woman named guadalupe.  perhaps shes the only one who sees past being accustomed to a commonality anyone outside of this world depicted would consider strange.  why are they taking refuge?  is it the vultures?  anyway, i dont know all what it means but heres the subjects:  motherhood (nurture), work, danger, refuge.

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The Professor

heres a better quality shot of the professor.  click on it to see the details. 

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Zac Beus' Business Card Design

another oil pastel!  I made all but the lettering.  it was diferent! it was fun!  hit zac up some time for anything from "solo to small combos for all occasions" (post edited to remove personal number)   You are welcome. 

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Dust Bowl Mothers I

Made entirely with lines of black Prismacolor marker, Dust Bowl Mothers is done in perhaps my most different style to date.  it was a foriegn road from start to finish for me but its been fun.  i dont know if ill ever make another like this one....so enjoy it.

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burning olympus cd release: going nowhere

 

click to hear/buy their music:  burningolympus.com

here it is! the finished product! thanx to the assignment of the band "Burning Olympus" i now have another peice to share. These people pictured here are asending from, and descending into the water, thus accomplishing the visual of "Going Nowhere," the name of their cd. of course there is a deeper meaning here than a few guys leaving the water to only enter it again. the 6 people on the left are rising up with more vibrant colors and symbols of life and youth. click on the picture to see the first mans breath, the second w a flag ('A' for alpha, or beginning), a baby, a hiker-for travel and adventure, a green dress and a candle, and a fishing pole. notice also the leaves and birds on the left. The man in the middle is holding a light, whos significance we will discuss hereafter. to his left you will find six symbols of death and or aging. notice the darker duller colors, the beard and gun, the grey hair and cane, the pipe, their reluctance to move foreward, the red flag "Omega" or end, the dark hooded robe, and the last breath of life. on this side there are no leaves, no birds, and look at that setting sun! The middle figure is the seventh from either end, seven being a greek symbol for completion, directing us to where we are complete- not in the past, not in the future, but in the moment. the message is altered slightly to explain the importance of this present time, but not nesisaraly to the completeness found in the middle of ones life we call the prime. it may appear that way...? sorry for the confusion. The light is a symbol of the present. Continue Reading »

Our aniversary picture: untitled

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Ashley Stott is the most amazing beautiful thing in the world.  i am a  very lucky man to have her.  i cant believe its been a year weve been married!  last night we were talking about our life together in categories, the funniest moments, the most awkward moments, happiest, saddest, funnest, weirdest, most romantic and "favorite".  talking about all this with her got me thinking about how happy i am, not just TO BE with her, but BEING with  her.  theres a difference between just  feeling lucky and thriving. Ashley "thrives" me.  she inspired a drawing that ive wanted to make ever since she pointed out her favorite picture of us, courteousy of Taryn Beus, for our engagement.  i knew i wanted to make it for her, but you cant jump into a 40 hour peice of art in the middle of school , work, and personal life (wherein hiding the peice is crucial), without it being for a very special occasion. for that occasion ive had to wait. 
and here it is, finally.  ive been working on it for a couple months now and at last it is complete.  Ashley had no idea i was working on this- ive been very sneeky (sir).  about every other day of february and march ive been carefully crafting, making it just right.  The difference between this one and the other mixed medias (particularly a drawing with watercolor over top) is this one is made of charcoal.  i have decided to use charcoal from now on, other than the peices that are already in motion (2).  charcoal, i have discovered, allows you to achieve a greater range of values, that is your darks are darker and your whites are whiter (whiter due to its stark contrast to  the now darker darks.)  it also makes a more real, almost photographic, quality to the subjects depicted.   Continue Reading »

naked old men and still lifes

yes he was missing his thumb.  sorry for this one...believe it or not, it is edited!

these were from my art class w ted wolter. 

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Phoebe and Bob

these are old-from high school days.   phoebe is my sis and i just thought id do an old fashioned childhood portrait of her.  Bob was for my friend Jessica, i cant remember why she wanted it. 
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Burning Olympus- unfinished

my friend chris cooper is having me draw this picture for his bands album cover.  "Burning Olympus"  is their name and ....music    is   their    game (?)  anyway ive already discovered a considerable ammount of what this means to me, but ill wait for it to be complete before i post.

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The Most Beautiful Woman In The World

this is what gave my new style (pencil, water color and gld leaf) momentum.  i wanted to present it as an antique, and yet contemporary gem.  Its my wife, yes i know-hot huh?  I drew it for her birthday last October.  It shares the same high gloss quality as the mayors home and the temple doors.  my school (MCC) sent this to Phoenix to appear in an art show where it receved many compliments and interested buyers...if only i hadn't priced it at $20,000.  Ha! are you kidding me? sell my wifes Birthday present?  Nope.  i guess my attitude was a mix of repelling buyers from taking this special peice, proping myself as a 'hard to get' painter whos stuff is way too expensive for most people, and the famous Jack-in-the-Box saying "All I need is one [buyer to make me rich]!"  Ash loved it!

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On Land or at Sea, or in the Sky are the Sheep?

i just came up with the title...you like it?  its another piece of questions.  where is the boat?  where are the sheep headed?  because the stairs portion of this freaky apparatus are on the floor, does this mean that it is on land?  or how about the destination of the boat?  is it drifting toward an island at sea...or a clowd in the sky? is it even drifting (or firmly planted)?  The telephone poles receding toward the horizon shows with certainty the first placement of the subject matter.  But then the trees in the clowds?  does that show that there's perhaps a peice of land up there?  but the connecting point of the stairs and the boat (with the clowds far behind them) show that they are up in the sky.  it makes sense if you divide this work in half or in thirds, but as it stands i guess its rather confusing.  Why sheep?  i dont know, I like sheep i guess.  I know it seems a bit unfinished, well it is.   I got so darn tired of drawing it! 

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Mayor John Lewis' Home - Details

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Home Portraits: my new thing

I start with an few pictures: one main one, and a few essential details 

fill in the details

begin to shade and fill in shrubbery

apply where you want the red base coat, this will show throught the cracks of the gold leafing

apply special adhesive, let dry, then apply gold leafing

add needed details and antiqueing.  Then add water color paint over top. 

let dry, mask w/ tape wher you want to put trimming (black).  also age the paper w/ drawn-in cracks.  mount with spray mounting glue onto 1/4 inch MDF and add wooden trim.  paint black.

then glaze and let dry.

Mayor of Gilbert, John Lewis', home.  They were so happy with how it turned out.  they had Ash and us over for dinner for "The Unveiling."  but i forgot my curtain  ):

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If you step on THIS crack youll have to pay me back! ha!

this

On my way to my art class a few months ago i saw this inspiring crack in the sidewalk!  i had to take a picture of it w my cell phone and then sketch it.  its a charcoal piece.  criticism: its too neat for real life!  there should be more texture in the highlighted portions of the crack...and debris and texture on the flat surface.    

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paper bag detail

heres a detail.

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The Crinkley (sp) Paper Bag!

why is this signifigant?  well 1st off its really good!  secondly, its really really good!  thirdly, its really...and so on.  please enjoy.  this charcoal peice took hours and was formed under the wing (mcc teaching aid) of Uncle Dan Fogal! 

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Laundry-Day Visions

not quite sure what this means yet...give me a few weeks.

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"the professor" details

And here are the details.
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The Professor

this is the wisdom of the world and the bondage and burden therefrom.  look at the details and you may notice what i mean.  Threre are some popular ideas today that are truely evil (in other words: contrary to true happiness and progression), and if they are adopted one can expect nothing less than darkness, destruction and bondage.  notice the prison like bars (there are 4 of them accross the whole piece) that presents all of the subject matter in their appropriate setting: prison.  The philosopher (in the forefront-mid left) is pointing outward toward the world around him.  this indicates his idea that truth comes not from God but from the world around him.  he represents "philosophy" as a whole.  on his shoulders there is a city, showing that the popular world rests on, and is founded upon such ideas.  to his right we see the professor who stands alone (in this piece) in the midst of the misleading ways of the world.  he stands in his conviction that truth, though it may be discovered in the world around us, is manifested to men in its fullness and clarity by God (notice he points up).  in his right hand (if you can find it, you will see a book with the title "ABC" indicating that Truth is basic, elementary even.  to the right of the professor is a few homes...on his shoulders-you know what that means?  the strength of homes and familys are dependant on True principles.

in Rafaels painting "School of Athens" (or "Philosophy") plato and arostotle stand in the center of the school making these same gestures (pointing) representing their conviction of mans axess to truth.  plato: from Godaround us; Arostotle: from the world around us. 

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