William Fiesterman One Painting or Drawing Per Day

Quick self portrait / caricature

2012-02-09T22:17:00.000-08:00

I am the art subject of last resort.... This was a very quick digital doodle, a self portrait or caricature.

Old Oregon Barn

2012-02-08T22:34:00.001-08:00

A few miles north of Newberg, Oregon, in Oregon's wine country area, is an old barn that looks much like this along the road. This is digital and was done from memory of a recent drive I took through the area. The sketch took about 30 minutes and was my sketch of the day on Facebook.

Profile of a Young Woman

2012-02-07T21:51:00.001-08:00

This was watercolor washes on thick 8.5 x 11.5 inch watercolor paper. I worked from memory on this one. It took about 25 min.

Watercolor Doodle of a Female Face

2012-02-06T21:59:00.001-08:00

I have been sick with a flu like bug for several days and I haven't posted my daily sketches for awhile. I'll start up again now since I'm starting to feel better. This was a doodle out of my head of a female face done with watercolors.

Sour Note

2012-01-16T23:45:00.001-08:00

A quick digital sketch this evening: I usually go to my reference files to find an interesting face/expression/subject to sketch when I'm at a loss for something to tackle for my daily sketch exercise.

Depression Era Boy

2012-01-14T00:11:00.001-08:00

I sketched this tonight around 11:50 and missed the 12pm cut off for it to be posted on the day it was sketched. hehe. I used a large calligraphy brush for everything except the signature. It took about 30 minutes and was done with watercolor on paper.

Daniel Webster

2012-01-12T16:33:00.000-08:00

Today I spent 30 minutes on a watercolor of Daniel Webster, (see middle picture), and I hated it when I was done with it. So instead of that one, I'm using a very quick study I did that isn't as good a likeness but has more energy as a piece than my first finished one. The monochrome sketch is watercolor - 6 x 9 inches and it took about 7 minutes to sketch.

New Orleans Street Musician

2012-01-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

Today I pulled up a reference photo of a black street musician from New Orleans. I displayed the image on my computer screen and drew or sketched it in watercolors in my watercolor sketch book. One of the things about watercolor is that there is an unpredictable quality about it sometimes. When I paint in watercolors I know that each attempt I do of a subject will simply be unique and different from all the others because of all the accidental things that happen that I have no control over. This is on heavy water color 5.5 x 8.5" paper and it took me about 30 minutes to paint. I didn't do any prelim pencil drawing. I sketched it all with one Japanese calligraphy brush in watercolor.

"Marilyn"

2012-01-10T14:16:00.001-08:00

Today as an experiment, I attached a long 18 inch extender onto the handle of my watercolor brush. I immediately noticed that it was harder to paint tightly. (I'm working on ways I can loosen up my brush strokes, bigger brushes, longer handles, etc.) The brush sometimes went places I didn't want it to go so there was some chaos in today's sketch. I also didn't do a preliminary drawing. If I had, I'm sure it would have been a better likeness and there wouldn't have been as much variance or distortion. I jumped in and started painting without any drawing in pencil. I like to draw with my brush, just when I do, I find that its very difficult to correct things I want to change or do over. What I need is some erasable watercolors! hehe

Vladimir Putin

2012-01-09T23:48:00.001-08:00

Today I simply put a reference photo of Putin up on the screen and sketched it onto watercolor paper with watercolors. 15 min. 5.5X8.5 "

Lady watching a Parade

2012-01-06T23:58:00.001-08:00

Self Portrait as a Varmint

2012-01-05T23:07:00.000-08:00

This is one of the doodles I did today while learning how to paint with a new Japanese calligraphy brush. It is watercolor on paper.

A Feminine Face

2012-01-04T23:39:00.001-08:00

Only a doodle today. This was a watercolor sketch that took 10 min. It is small, about 5x8 inches. This is a sketch that I was interrupted while painting... a phone call or something. I never got back to finishing it. But even though it is unfinished it has an engaging look about it. I think it is what happens when you look up and see someone staring at you... it is hard to unlock your gaze.

Watercolor Wash Portrait of Andre The Giant

2012-01-03T23:12:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to try a quick watercolor, mostly to test drive a new Japanese calligraphy brush I got for Christmas. I didn't spend much time on this. I know that Andre has a great face for a caricature, but I felt perverse and idealized him a bit. :-)

Tired & Exhausted

2012-01-02T23:33:00.001-08:00

I have had an exhausting day! This is how I feel tonight. Well this would be how I looked if I were a handsome fashion model or something. This is a big brush painting or what I jokingly call "Thumbnailism". I love to paint quick sketches with giant sized brushes. It is impossible to paint details so one has to suggest them with carefully calculated blobs.

A Tired Obama

2012-01-01T23:59:00.001-08:00

A Beautiful Face

2011-12-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

Another big brush painting. What makes a beautiful face beautiful?

Old St. Nick

2011-12-22T14:46:00.001-08:00

One more installment of my large brush series that I've been jokingly calling "Thumbnailism". This is digital and it took 30 minutes.

A Small Aramaic boy named Jesus

2011-12-21T13:13:00.000-08:00

I used various photos from my image reference library for this one. I combined about 3 or 4 various images of little boys faces from the Middle East. This is digital and it took 30 minutes.

Christmas Shopper Crossing Street

2011-12-20T18:52:00.001-08:00

This is my latest installment of "Thumbnailistic" painting. I am forcing myself to use a giant brush which prevents me from rendering all the little details. This was digital - 30 min.

Father Christmas

2011-12-19T21:05:00.001-08:00

This isn't a particularly exciting composition. I feel I need to start thinking more about the layout and design of my daily pieces before I start doing a lot of rendering of details. I have a direction! For the next week or so, I'm only going to use big brushes until I master the art of thumbnailism. lol

Portrait of Mecho Art

2011-12-17T00:00:00.001-08:00

Today I did a straight portrait of a Facebook friend. This for me was an exercise in basic shapes and modeling . I used a really big brush, which keeps me from fussing about details. This was digital and took about 30 minutes.

Bad Santa

2011-12-15T23:34:00.001-08:00

digital - 25 min.

Frankensnowman

2011-12-14T23:48:00.001-08:00

This was a quick sketch before going to bed this evening. It's just another example of why I never worked for Hallmark. digital - 15 min.

Alastair Sim as Scrooge

2011-12-13T23:19:00.001-08:00

To my mind, Alastair Sim was the best "Scrooge" ever in any film made so far. He starred in the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. This is digital and it took about 20 min.

The Grinch

2011-12-12T21:18:00.001-08:00

Today for my daily sketch I went digital and painted one of my favorite Dr. Seuss characters, The Grinch. I have been painting more paintings with real paints lately and when I come back to digital, it is like eating candy! It is so easy compared to painting with real paints. This took about 10-15 mintues and was done with a small wacom bamboo graphics tablet in Photoshop CS5. I used one custom brush originally created by Chris Wahl for painting in photoshop.

John Lennon

2011-12-09T17:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the 31st anniversary of John Lennon's murder. So on Facebook for my sketch of the day, I sketched a portrait of Mr. Lennon. I didn't have time to finish it. Today as my sketch of the day I spent an additional 20 min.-half hour finishing it up more. This is acrylic on paper. It is 8.5x11".
This week this piece is up for auction at Daily Paintworks.com. Click here to look at the painting in more detail or a portfolio of my recently sold work.

2011-11-22T21:17:00.000-08:00

This evening I spent about 30 minutes sketching turkey skeletal structures. This is more an intellectual exercise than a piece of fine art. Watercolor on paper.

Portrait of a Gentle Stranger

2011-11-18T23:10:00.001-08:00

Nothing special. I didn't feel like sketching all day and around 10:30 this evening I forced myself to sit down and doodle something. I really enjoy drawing with a brush so after a few minutes I got into the zen of it and started to enjoy the process. This is watercolor on heavy watercolor paper. It took less than 30 min.

An Unraveling Life

2011-11-17T09:54:00.001-08:00

I won't have much time today to do a 30 min. sketch so I dashed off a really fast one instead.

Uma Thurman caricature-001

2011-11-16T23:31:00.000-08:00

This was my first attempt at a caricature of Uma Thurman. I'll try a more detailed sketch tomorrow...maybe.

Birth Nightmare

2011-11-15T22:10:00.001-08:00

Once again I found myself late at night and still not having done a sketch of the day. One advantage to working in digital, is that there is no prep no mess no clean up afterwords... your work can still smell though hehe. This was a stream of consciousness drawing. I didn't have any set ideas before I started it and this evolved. When working from my head sometimes other artists' paintings that I've seen or grew up with come out. There is a little bit of Bosch here I suppose.

Her Majesty

2011-11-14T22:46:00.001-08:00

This was a quick sketch before going to bed tonight. I don't have any oil painting at a stage where it would be interesting to post them yet. So I went digital for today's sketch of the day.

Devil Face-001

2011-11-11T20:56:00.001-08:00

Today I went back to painting in oil paints ... but with a twist. I want to paint with oils on paper! To do this safely so it is archival I have been devising a way to prepare the paper so it doesn't actually come into contact with the oil paint. I first blocked out an area with gesso on paper. Then started painting with oils on top of the gesso. This is about 7x9 inches and its on a larger 8.5x11 heavy stock craft paper. It took about 30 minutes to get this sketch together. But the whole painting may take days to complete.

Shark Attack-002b

2011-11-10T11:56:00.001-08:00

If I keep this up, I'll never become a successful calendar artist. Oh well. My wife told me I can't hang this in our living room. Oh well. lol This is a 7x10" acrylic painting on heavy card stock paper. I have been working on this for about two days. I'll try to do something more pretty tomorrow. :-)

Shark Attack-002a

2011-11-09T17:50:00.001-08:00

I started an acrylic painting of the digital painting I did yesterday. Unfortunately I'm very slow when I paint with real paints and I couldn't finish it today. Here is a teaser of a small detail of the painting. I will try to finish it tomorrow.

Shark Attack-001

2011-11-08T18:24:00.001-08:00

This is a quick digital study for an acrylic painting I plan to start tomorrow. My goal was to make a bucolically beautiful seascape that when you examined it closely was full of bloody violence.

Vincent Price-004

2011-11-07T21:24:00.001-08:00

Today for my sketch of the day, I finished a commissioned piece that I did for a person who bid on a similar earlier version I put up for auction but lost the bidding on it. It is done in a similar style but it is far from identical to the first one. This is a 5x7" acrylic painting on an 8.5x11" piece of orange toned paper. I coat the paper with massive amounts of acrylic medium before I start the painting to put a barrier between the painting and the paper. If the paper ever deteriorates, there will be enough acrylic surface that it will still hold together as a piece.

Monkey Eyes

2011-11-06T23:43:00.001-08:00

This was a quick sketch before turning in for the night. I love money faces, especially their eyes!

Michael C. Hall as "Dexter"

2011-11-05T14:04:00.001-07:00

Today's sketch of the day was digital instead of acrylic. It took about 30 minutes to do.

Bones-001

2011-11-04T23:04:00.001-07:00

This was a quick doodle before going to bed tonight. I didn't feel like painting or drawing today. But I forced myself to put in some time doing it anyway. Tomorrow will be better.

Self Portrait in an Anxious Situation

2011-11-03T10:59:00.001-07:00

A quick sketch before I run off to get a medical procedure done today. I'm a little anxious about being put under - I've never had general anesthesia before. This sketch is my self therapy. LOL

Victorian Doggie-001

2011-11-02T14:13:00.001-07:00

Today after doing three straight days of making dog portraits, my brain needed a rest...or a primal scream. I call these sorts of sketches "brain pharts". Usually in one of my brain pharts, I'll combine two very different items to make something different. This is acrylic on paper. The size is 5x7 inches. It took me 20 minutes to do.

"Cassie"

2011-11-01T18:27:00.001-07:00

This is the last of a set of three doggie portraits that I did for a good friend, Lisa Fox. I have never painted dog portraits before and I wanted something like this in my online portfolio. This was 6x6" acrylic painting on letter sized white paper. It took about an hour 15 min.

"Magic"

2011-10-31T22:50:00.001-07:00

Magic is a little Pomeranian dog that is owned by Lisa Fox, who also was the owner of Nibblit which I painted yesterday. Magic is "special" in that she is the only hunchback doggie I've ever met. She also has another quirk in that she can only turn in one direction. Like Zoolander, she is not an ambi-turner. Magic was given a great loving home by Lisa and Vic and Magic is exactly what her name implies. This is acrylic on paper. The painting size is 6x6 inches. And the paper size is 8.5x11". It took about an hour to do.

"Nibblet"

2011-10-30T23:48:00.000-07:00

Nibblet was a Pomeranian dog that belonged to a workmate who used to bring her to work with her. She was adorable and very popular with the other employees. Acrylic on paper. Painting area 6x6" This took about an hour.

Caricature of Vincent Price-003

2011-10-28T18:42:00.001-07:00

Today I went digital and did my daily sketch with my little Wacom Bamboo tablet. This took about 30 minutes.

Caricature of Vincent Price-002a (final)

2011-10-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

I wasn't really happy with how this turned out but its just a sketch and tomorrow I'll be working on a different one. I spent several hours on this piece. I almost got it done in one sitting....almost. I think I'll work on loosening up my brushwork and working with bigger brushes some more.

Caricature of Vincent Price-002 (WIP)

2011-10-27T00:12:00.000-07:00

I really tried hard to do a completed full color sketch today but just couldn't do it. I ran out of time. This is a work in progress and tomorrow I'll finish it up. I plan on working with the mouth and chin more and dealing with some of the facial areas and making the colors go together more and blend better.

Caricature of Vincent Price-001

2011-10-25T22:48:00.000-07:00

This year Vincent Price would be 100 yrs. old had he not died of lung cancer in 1993. Actually he died on this date, Oct 25th in 1993. CS3000 on Facebook has chosen him as their target for this week's caricature challenge. I'm warming up by doing Vincent Price sketches for the rest of the week each day. This is acrylic paint on paper the painted area is 5x7". It took me about 90 minutes to complete this.

Victorian Gentleman-002

2011-10-24T22:18:00.000-07:00

Today I went back to my big brush exercises. I used a victorian photo as reference inspiration because those old pictures are weird and interesting. Notice this guy's little pixie like doo on top of his bean! This is acrylic paint on paper. It took 30 minutes.

Colors of Home

2011-10-23T23:07:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I did a landscape. This was inspired by a recent trip to Yamhill County in Oregon's wine country with some Facebook friends. 8.5"x11" acrylic on paper.

Cocktails at the Benson

2011-10-22T23:19:00.001-07:00

This simple acrylic paint sketch on paper was inspired by a photo taken a few days ago of a Facebook friend who came up to visit Portland, Oregon from Oceanside, California. 8.5"x11".

A Distinguished Gentleman from 1850

2011-10-17T21:41:00.000-07:00

One of the things I use sometimes to get the creative juices flowing is doodling or sketching from really old victorian photos of people all dressed up. I know this isn't an exact copy of the photo but I'm including the photo just to let you see what I used as inspiration. Acrylic paint on toned paper. This took about 30 minutes to sketch.

Airport Stranded

2011-10-16T17:56:00.001-07:00

Funny story behind this sketch: I usually never find myself in a position to paint plein air with a Wacom tablet. But today at about the time we were supposed to board our flight from San Jose to Portland, they announced that there were serious mechanical problems with our airplane and people were rushing to try to get onto other flights- my wife included. I chose to plunk my ass down on the floor and start sketching the crowd of people trying to find other flights out. After I got about 15 minutes into this sketch I heard my name being announced for final call on another flight and my wife and daughter were no where to be found, so I jumped up, threw all my electronics into my bags and went tearing off down the terminal to another gate. I barely made it. hehe. But somehow Myla got us on another direct flight to Portland. -Happy ending. I'm home now.

Mission Street Guardian

2011-10-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

This is sketched from a photo I took yesterday in San Fransisco. I simply laid down strokes every which way until it started to look more and more like the photo. My 30 min. sketch exercise of the day.

Monkeying with a gun

2011-10-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

I sketched this with a small Wacom Bamboo 4x6" drawing tablet and a laptop pc in my hotel room this morning. It took around 30 minutes.

Steve Jobs at 18 yrs.

2011-10-13T13:34:00.001-07:00

Today's sketch of the day was a real quick one. It is more like a doodle with a brush. I was thinking about Steve Jobs. This isn't a caricature so I probably won't bother posting it at the Caricaturama Showdown 3000 page. This week they are targeting Steve Jobs and making it a tribute week and open to past work that had Steve as the subject.

Caricature of Steve Jobs-001

2011-10-12T17:44:00.000-07:00

CS3000 group on Facebook is doing a tribute week with Steve Jobs as the target. There will be no vote nor winners and everyone is submitting caricatures of the late great Steve Jobs. This is my entry this week. It's a simple acrylic sketch on watercolor paper. It is 5.5x8.5 inches.

Caricature of Vincent Van Gogh (in his underwear)

2011-10-11T20:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday Oct 8th through the morning of Monday Oct 10th 2011 I worked on a small 5x7" acrylic painting on Gessobord. I wanted to place Vincent in his iconic bedroom in his shorts painting. I chose to do a distorted fish eye like perspective to give the sense of .... insanity or something not quite right. Facebook friends suggested I put him in boxers with poka dots and I chose to make hearts because Vincent was someone who laid his heart out in the open to everyone he knew. Another suggestion I used that came from my facebook friends was to make the ceiling a "Starry Night". This took about 16 hrs to do.

Skull Doodles-001

2011-10-07T17:22:00.001-07:00

Above is a very small segment of today's sketch or doodle. It it about 1 inch square. Even from a page of seemingly pointless doodles one can sometimes pull out a sketch that has promise.

Today wasn't one of the stellar art days when everything I draw is golden. I spent my usual 30 minutes today working on a page in my private notebook. I doodled and drew/painted skulls with a small brush and watercolor on paper. I like using the brush better than I like using a pencil or pen. I started out with the bigger figures and near the end I was doing the smaller heads and skulls around the edges. I'm slowly getting my brush mojo. It takes practice practice practice.

Caricature of Van Gogh-001

2011-10-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to make some sketches that were a little more focused and serious than yesterday's sketches. Here is one of the small sketchbook studies I did of Van Gogh's mug. The deadline for this contest is in about 3 days, so I need to come up with some good ideas fast.

The Nose Picker

2011-10-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

Today I simply couldn't come up with a good idea for my caricature of Vincent Van Gogh so I sketched this instead. Another brain phart. This is acrylic paint on watercolor paper. It is 5x7 inches in size.

Caricature of Vincent- 1st attempt

2011-10-04T17:32:00.000-07:00

This weeks cs3000 caricature contest is Vincent Van Gogh. I'm still playing around with ideas. This is one of the first sketches I made today. Breakin' the ice. I'll come back to this idea tomorrow and give it another shot.

Frazzled Old Man-001

2011-10-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

Just a very quick warm up sketch. Drawing with the brush. Gouache washes on paper.

Caricature of Tom Waits - day3

2011-10-02T18:25:00.000-07:00

Today I finished my caricature of Tom Waits... I think. There are so many things I would change. But I also feel like I've looked at this picture enough and I want to move on to other subjects.

Caricature of Tom Waits - day2

2011-10-01T18:22:00.000-07:00

Well I still have a ways to go. I'm learning a lot. To blend and soften edges I've been scumbling with a dry brush (basically rubbing a brush over recently applied paint to diffuse the area and create a gradation or soft edge) I've also been applying glazes. (Thin areas of paint that let the paint below it show through. Glazing is a way to keep your original shapes but slightly change the color and the contrast. As you glaze the contrast decreases a bit.

Caricature of Tom Waits - day 1

2011-09-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

Today I've been working on an acrylic painting of a caricature of Tom Waits the musician. Its for this week's contest at the cs3000 caricature challenge group. So far I have about 6 hours into it. I'll continue tomorrow.

Head Study

2011-09-29T13:28:00.000-07:00

Okay this was supposed to be Tom Waits but there are some drawing accuracy issues so I'm callin' it "Head Study". If that camera right eye had been sketched any lower this would have been called Quasi Moto head study.

Tom Waits as Hellboy

2011-09-28T16:19:00.001-07:00

Today I went digital for my daily sketch. I'm working on a concept for my entry to the contest at CS3000 this week. I want to do a morph between Hellboy and Tom Waits the musician and songwriter. Waits has similar facial features as Ron Pearlman, the actor who plays Hellboy in the movies. Other than that there isn't any connection at all. This is a classic brain phart. Mixing two or more ideas that little to do with each other together to make something ...different. I may have offended the fans of both Hellboy and Tom Waits. Oh well. :-)

Stressed Out Face

2011-09-28T00:35:00.001-07:00

I did this at the last minute tonight before going to bed.

You can purchase this original gouache sketch at my auction site at www.dailypaintworks.com.

David Suchet

2011-09-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

Today's sketch was a quick wash with gouache of actor David Suchet. It is challenging for me to switch to non digital sketches because I had grown used to being able to make last minute adjustments to make a better image or likeness. It is very easy to move an ear or change the shape of the head even after you have finished the major part of the sketch in digital. But in watercolor or gouache wash drawings, once you lay the paint down, it is there. You can cover it with white gouache but that is messy. So watercolor artists really get good at making a good solid drawing first thing or else they get better at sketching with the brush. I like to just dive in and not use a pencil very much. I like the process of painting with a brush more than cross hatching or drawing with a pencil. In the 30 years or more I've been a professional artist, I have started many drawing sketch books but always I have abandoned them after a few sketches. My goal with this new series of sketches on Facebook is to fill sketchbooks with sketches. This little sketchbook has about 200 pages.

This sketch is available for purchase at: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/buy/auction/16161

The Hipster

2011-09-25T16:56:00.001-07:00

Today I drew in my small pocket sized moleskin sketchbook. This was done with a pencil and gouache paint. Gouache is very much like watercolor only it is finely ground tempra paint or poster paint. You can paint transparently like with watercolors or very opaquely like with acrylics so it is a very versatile medium to work with.

This piece is available for purchase at www.dailypaintworks.com.

Self Portrait as a Frog

2011-09-23T20:27:00.000-07:00

No comment. LOL

Caricature of Novak Djokovic-001

2011-09-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

This was just a quick sketch exploring Novak Djokovic's face. The tennis star is this week's subject at CS3000 caricature competition.

Distant Badlands-001 (cropped to painted area)

2011-09-19T14:17:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if my water mixable oil paints are triggering migraine headaches. I have had several lately that corresponded with my use of the paint. I will work in gouache for awhile until I work out a better way to ventilate my workspace. This is a small 5x7" gouache painting on 8.5x11" dark card stock. It was inspired by a series of photos I took out my car window as I was on a Boise Idaho road trip from my home in Portland, Oregon.

This painting is currently for sale at my online gallery at www.dailypaintworks.com.

Caricature of John Krasinski (The Office )

2011-09-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

Today I tried a caricature of John Krasinski as my sketch of the day. CS3000 on Facebook is focused on him this week for their weekly caricature contest. I tried something different and sketched this on 5x7" colored cardstock then painted in highlights with gouache.

This piece is available for sale at my online gallery at www.dailypaintworks.com.

Joshua Tree Rocks-001

2011-09-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

Today I'm painting with real paint! This is work in progress. It is 5x7" in size. I hope to finish it by tomorrow. I'm using water mixable oil paint (windsor newton Artisan brand) This is real oil paint in every sense. It has been chemically altered to mix with water. If you use mineral spirits with it, it reverts to typical oil paint and loses that water mixing bond. I love it because it has no odor! No fumes.

I went back and finished up today's sketch so I could start a new one tomorrow for my sketch of the day. My goal is to do an oil painting a day.

Idaho Haystack-001

2011-09-13T17:03:00.001-07:00

Today I went back to the snapshots I took out the window on a recent road trip to Boise Idaho. This is stack of hay bails I saw along the side of highway I84.

Quick caricature of Sting-004

2011-09-12T10:32:00.001-07:00

Today I was looking at the sting caricature I finished and submitted to CS3000 and after a few days of letting the sketch cool, I hate it. It doesn't really look like him. I didn't have much time this morning to do a sketch but I tried another stab at the guy's mug. No time left to finish this or submit it. But it is a good example of why putting something up and then coming back to it with fresh eyes can help sometimes. This time I just ran out of time.

Self Portrait

2011-09-11T21:45:00.001-07:00

I've been telling myself that I have the weekends off as far as the daily sketches go, but sometimes I simply feel like doing one. This was a quickie before I went to bed. This is my sketching style after drinking a little beer on a hot summer evening. hehe

Idaho Landscape Study-001

2011-09-10T16:46:00.001-07:00

Today I sketched a landscape inspired by a snapshot I took out my car window of an old metal silo while I was on a road trip to Boise Idaho recently. This is all digital and it took about 30 minutes to sketch.

Caricature of Sting-003

2011-09-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

This is my final version of "Sting" for the cs3000 caricature contest on Facebook. After awhile, I simply want to move on and sketch other things. For some reason, Sting's face was a struggle for me this week.

Caricature of Sting-002

2011-09-08T15:53:00.000-07:00

Today I spent another half hour working on a caricature for the CS3000 weekly contest on Facebook. This is still work in progress. I have spent an hour on it so far. I'll pick it up again tomorrow.

Caricature of Sting-001

2011-09-07T10:29:00.000-07:00

This week's target over at the CS3000 contest group is Sting. This is my first stab at caricaturing his face. This is work in progress. It is digital and took about 30 minutes.

Patricia Arquette-002

2011-09-01T18:10:00.001-07:00

I'm going to go on a vacation starting tomorrow morning so this will be my last post until I come back in the middle of next week. I spent more time on this sketch today than I usually do, to compensate for the five days or so I'll be slacking off from my daily postings.

Patricia Arquette-001

2011-08-31T17:57:00.001-07:00

This weeks' caricaturing contest at CS3000 is actress Patricia Arquette. I'm thinking of doing a watercolor for the contest. This is a underdrawing done in light graphite on watercolor paper.

Aug30th - Aboriginal Face-001

2011-08-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today I am sticking to my plan to switch over my daily sketches to conventional media. I've grown very comfortable using digital painting over the last few years and I have actually forgotten a bit about painting with real paints. So I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and for a while at least I will be posting actual drawings done with pencils or ink and paintings done with paint. One of the first things I notice about the difference between sketching digitally and sketching with conventional drawing materials is that I've sort of gotten rusty calculating the correct values and colors as I mix paint. Both paintings I worked on yesterday (the wild pink bridge) and today (the aboriginal face) have value and chroma problems. As I continue with my daily sketches hopefully those issues will fade away as I get more comfortable with the media.

Aug29th -Hawthorn Bridge - Gouache sketch

2011-08-30T20:25:00.000-07:00

Monday, Aug29th 2011: This morning I got up early and went out to the Willamette River near OMSI and the Hawthorn Bridge and took about 400 photos between 5:10am and 7:00am. It was fun watching the sun come up but ... the magic golden moment where the sun hits the skyline and illuminates the buildings never happened. It was overcast and cloudy that morning. Oh well... I'll try it another day soon. For my daily sketch I made a rather bizarre little gouache painting with which I tried to recreate that magic moment as I remember seeing it a few times in the past. I think I will be able to paint a much more convincing and realistic painting if I can carefully observe the morning light longer than I have been able to in the past. Just on this morning it wasn't in the cards.

Aug28th - Hawthorn Bridge- digital sketch

2011-08-30T20:21:00.003-07:00

I have been forgetful and not updated this blog for a few days. I did this digital sketch of the Hawthorn Bridge in Portland, Oregon on Sunday August 28, 2011.

Christopher Walken as African Mask

2011-08-27T08:46:00.001-07:00

Today I'm super busy: But there is always time to make a drawing. My drawing a day exercise has proven that to me over and over again. Today's sketch is a super fast brain phart. It was fun.

(Final) Caricature of Christopher Walken-03

2011-08-26T12:22:00.001-07:00

Today I went back to yesterday's sketch and I tweaked it a bit to make a better likeness. Altogether this sketch took about an hour and its all digital. Sometimes it is easier for me to see what needs to be changed or tweaked in a caricature if I walk away from it for awhile then finish it later.

Christopher Walken-02

2011-08-25T12:55:00.001-07:00

Today I'm working on Mr. Walken again. This time I am pushing myself more to caricature instead of make a portrait. This is work in progress. It is digital. It took about 30 minutes.

straight sketch of Christopher Walken-01

2011-08-24T20:45:00.001-07:00

This is simply a very quick sketch I did today exploring Christopher Walken's face. He is this week's subject for the Caricaturama Showdown 3000 challenge on Facebook. This is all digital and it took about 20 minutes.

Caricature of Moammar Gadhafi-02

2011-08-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

I did a caricature of Gadhafi earlier this year. But just watching the news and seeing what was happening today in Libya inspired this "brain phart". This is all digital - done in less than half an hour using a pc running photoshop and drawn with a wacom bamboo digital tablet.

Final Jodie Foster caricature

2011-08-22T11:44:00.001-07:00

I spent a few minutes this morning simply tweaking and adjusting a previous sketch to enter into this week's caricaturama showdown 3000 contest on Facebook. This is all digital and it took less than 90 minutes. The previous sketch was done a few days ago so it is not an older sketch revamped but one that I did for this contest.

Evil Hairless Cat

2011-08-21T13:42:00.001-07:00

Screaming Red Man-01

2011-08-20T17:23:00.001-07:00

I felt like painting today so I painted another screaming face. I know this sounds perverse but I really enjoy painting these screaming faces! Go figure. This is all digital and it took about 30 minutes.

Screaming Black Man-01

2011-08-19T18:28:00.001-07:00

Today I wanted to paint something fun. For me that is sketching a gerning or a contorted face with an extreme expression. I love working on twisted faces! This is all digital and it took about 30 minutes to do.

Jodie Foster -004

2011-08-18T13:50:00.001-07:00

Today I tried a totally different approach to my Jodie Foster caricature. Probably her best known work is that of agent Clarice Starling in the "Silence of the Lambs". I know that a bunch of other artists will be sketching the exact same pose as this, so as a result this will have to be astounding to stand out. It isn't astounding yet, darn it. LOL