weekend wip

"O Fortuna: The One Who Kissed the Heart of the Earth", in progress. from my phone.

i guess that is it. i think i am finally making it the way i wanted. :)

in progress: O Fortuna: The One Who Looks at the Mirror of Time

as expected, i rejected the former version and started another one, more carefully rendered. more focus on the pencil work. i think i like this version best.

finally... almost there...

the muses are temperamental and like to play. they deny you inspiration for days, weeks, even months, and when they finally decide to grant you with their grace, they do things like depriving you from your sleep, for instance. that's no fun when you don't have to luxury to stay in bed until late in the morning.

but after a lot of blood, sweat and tears (and a lot of wasted paint) i suspect i finally found what i wanted for "O Fortuna".










this is called "The One Who Looks at the Mirror of Time". the pieces would initially have more simple, determining names, like "The Trickster", "The Temptress", since the idea is to create something like tarot cards. but the miscellaneous of colors is asking for more poetry, and i obey.

In progress: Yemanjá [or how to be near a heart attack]

she was supposed to be in a exhibition that will open next month in Virginia, called "The Power of the Orishas" [model is my beautiful friend Iara]. when i got the invitation, i couldn't help but nearly scream with excitement. after all, this is part of the culture in which i grew up - the Afro-Brazilian culture, with all its magic and beauty. how could i get out? simple: by MISSING THE DEADLINE.

i think i have to buy a neon sign and hang it on my wall next time. it could save me a trip to the hospital in case of a heart attack.

+

still busy as hell. doing what i have to do. the design agency will be finally launched next week if i can finish all the website in time. and then i will be able to organize myself better and paint more (so i hope.) don't leave me, people. i'll buy you candy.

About "Materia"

Materia is a series of 4 paintings I am creating for the next Energy Art Movement Salon, on July, which theme will be "Energizing Radiance". I immediately thought about exploring something more "scientific" while transmitting a sense of energy (read more here), which is one of the main directions of this exhibit. I really love when I have the opportunity to work with science and (meta)physical concepts. And since I am fortunate enough to have a respectable scientist who is also a lover of art as a friend (hey there, Roy!), i had a precious help and idea to create the concept, which was not easy at first. My basic ideas: including mandala art, since the mandala in my opinion is a perfect link between science and spirituality. The mandalas should appear behind or integrated to the heads of the figures, just like the images in Byzantine art; representing the link between humans and Nature, and how we contain the macrocosm as the macrocosm contains us, all in a big energetic network; making four pictures, each one representing one element - Fire, Earth, Air, and Water - since they are seen as the essential parts of everything, as stated by the hermetic philosophies; representing the bodies with certain parts "disintegrating" in energy or molecules that would float upwards, to the ether. It sounded like a whole bunch of things, each one with its own richness, which synthesis in a pictorial solution sounded like a cosmic pain in the butt.

Roy came to my rescue introducing me to a little thing called ferritin. Ferritins are proteins that store and release iron, and that exist in almost all living organisms. I couldn't help but get blown away with how the ferritin molecules look like:

Exactly. A beautiful, intricate, gloriously designed mandala. Added to that, the little thing stores iron, which is absolutely necessary to life since it helps produce the energy that will move you. Iron is attributed to Mars, the archetype that symbolizes the raw forces of nature, energy, and drive. I immediately knew that it was the glue that would put all my ideas together. Isn't great to know we have such a wonderful source of inspiration in nature, in our own bodies?

My first experience was not very satisfactory (pics here and here) and I decided to start it over -- typical me. I had chosen to represent the molecules of ferritin as the disintegrating parts of the body, but in the end it didn't work because it was incredible time consuming (the pattern is too intricate), and I didn't achieve the sense of unity I was seeking for. Then I had the idea of transforming the mandalas in the heads of the figures as big molecules of ferritin! Actually I would just copy the main structure, which should be a common element to all 4 paintings, and make use of my artistic license to add other elements freely according to the nature of each one.

 My copycat of the Divine's design. He/She is indeed a terrific mandala maker.

The main structure of the ferritin molecule after my creative intervention, forming the "Byzantine" mandala. 

Remake of Earth, penciling and underpainting. Notice the parts of the body disintegrating in circles (another allusion to the mandalas) I chose to represent the element Earth through the leaves forming the bottom part of the figure, the horns in the mandala, and the color green.

Back to underpainting first. Absorbing the vibration of the green actually helped me with the drawing. The mandala design afterwards came pretty spontaneously. I am going to repeat the process with the other three paintings. 

I am pretty happy now with the result and very excited to start working on the other elements. This is indeed being a fun project. My deadline is now super tight so I'd better go!

pencil pencil pencil

i have tried different methods of starting a painting, but at the moment the one that seems to best suit my needs is doing the penciling first. i am primarily a penciller and that has always been my favorite medium, either for the texture or for the ease of control. it is time consuming, but as a technique, in my opinion there's nothing more impressive than a good pencil work. it shows all the artist's craftsmanship. I've been doing some pencil work before applying the underpainting, which have helped me to have more control over the values and the overall mood of the painting.



Materia: Earth
(yeah, I have horrible finger nails. besides being an incurable nail biter, they are usually dirty with graphite. never seen any point in nail polishing either. but i almost always had the boys i wanted. :P)


Materia: Water (detail of the mandala)


Portrait of Angie

good news and next projects

I've been in a family trip in the last few days. zero internet, what is not all bad since i don't get so distracted and can focus on reading and sketching. but it was extra good to come home and find out that Duality was accepted into the Masquerade group show, which will happen at the Gallery 101, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. that will be my first group show in an actual gallery, and I am pretty excited about it.

and after several days attempting to put ideas together, i have finally started sketching the works that will be part of the next Energy Art Movement salon, in July. it's a group of 4 paintings entitled "Materia" (Latin word for matter), each one portraying  one of the 4 elements. the works will deal with the notion of chemical structure of the human body and its relation with the circular forms of the sacred geometry (mandalas), while attempting to transmit a sense of energetic nurturing through colors and symbolic images related to each one of the elements. i will be incorporating a bit of mandala art into the paintings.

talking about mandalas, i am really itching to come back to teaching. i have already started looking for classroom space in the area i live in for some classes and workshops. also starting to have the energy back for online classes, but still not much available time to prepare written material. must think!

what's going on...

Duality, work in progress

I'm dying to start painting for my new project but still have stuff on the top of the list to be completed. besides a current commission, I've got to produce 2 or 3 paintings for the next EAM salon , on July. I'm pretty excited for that will be my first salon since I was invited to join the group, last year, and I am very concentrated in doing my best. the theme will be "Energy Radiance", which gives margin to a lot of interesting interpretations. my plan is to work with the concept of light and energy creating matter, and that takes me to wave patterns of energy and the own concept of mandalas and the shapes of sacred geometry... a lot of complex stuff that i need to "dissect" in order to don't get lost while creating....

yesterday i got started in a work for a juried show (above). deadline is a bit tight right now but i believe i can finish it in time. the theme for this show is "Masquerade", and since the mask is one of the elements of my personal iconography, i just have to participate! here i am working with the concept of the duality in us, in how we are all shadow and light, masculine and feminine, all at the same time, and it won't work to hide them behind any mask, social or not, they will always be part of what we are ( and somehow come to the surface -- even if it's in the form of a little neurosis!) I am working again with twin figures, which is a lot of labor, but the results are pretty effective aesthetically.

in progress: portrait commission

that took a little more time than expected to be completed, since I had to redo it... didn't get satisfied with the flat background, but now that i made it more translucent i'm much happier. :)

in Progress: Untitled

this one came to me while doodling on my sketchbook the other day. i wanted something sweet and light to release me from the heavy impression of Lilith. it is about how only what we do can truly reveal what's in our hearts. in other words, you know the tree by the fruit it bears.

i am attempting to bring more looseness to it, without losing the graphic, design-ish style. that has been my aim forever, but i didn't think I quite got it yet.

in progress: Lilith

preparatory sketch:





penciling and first washes:







background and first glazings:









model is my new "stunner", Belinda Leopold (besides being a talented photographer, she is also a true beauty!)

In progress: Vali

trying to redeem myself from the Tree of Life fiasco, i decided to forget it for a while and catch up with my list of projects. there was something disturbing me a couple nights ago and that just let me sleep after I grabbed my sketchbook and filled up a page with an almost mediumistic sketch. that was Vali Myers.



this preparatory sketch was made yesterday morning, and during all day long I dedicated myself to the labor of attempting to represent that mesmerizing woman. when Julia Inglis introduced me to her, some time ago, I was preparing material for my workshop "The Sun's Pathway" and recognized the synchronicity, because Vali was the perfect representation of the Sun in its full force (not mentioning that she was a Leo, sign ruled by the Sun.) leaving the comforts of her homeland to follow a remarkable trajectory, she was a true hero and left us lessons on freedom and living according to what our spirit inspires us. this has always been my philosophy of life, and this is the main reason why Vali 's figure touched me so deeply.









i used acrylics for the initial washes. the first idea was to put a mask with stylized sun rays above her head (Vali was a performing artist), but the mask was gradually transforming in the Sun itself. i love this stage showed in the 5th picture, with only the thin washes and the face rendered in graphite.







i felt so energized by that painting that i could get into the night doing it until having it completed. never worked so fast in a 15 x 20 painting before. before going to bed, at almost 1am, I still stayed for many minutes only looking at her, in a silent talk to her eyes. for a while, Vali was myself.