WIP...

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I always look forward to this stage where I just sit back and stare at my painting. Is it done? Do I need to add anything else? Do I need to take anything away? All questions I take way too much time on. Maybe I just need an hour to contemplate these questions and move onto the next painting.

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Triplets

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I'm trying to achieve a few things with this portrait and shying away from others.
1. It's a technical exercise in portraiture. How close can I come to getting a semblance to the model? In this case it's me and i think I'm pretty close in some parts and off on others.
The other part about painting a self portrait specifically is that I find that I could be a bit looser with it. I'm not so precious about get the semblance down and have room to experiment... (yeah, I just contradicted myself). I find when I paint friends, I'm a lot more uptight about getting them to look like them and get a bit upset when it doesn't turn out.
2. The other objective with the triple heads was to bring it closer to my sketchbook layouts. I like the look of my SB spreads where one form flows into another and it's just a mess. I like that look and I'm trying to bring that "messiness" into my paintings.
3. As for the black and white rendering. I suck at colour. I look at other portrait artists and they have a knack for skin colour but also harmonizing the entire painting. I find my colour works are a bit too plastic/artificial. But I guess one way to overcome that is to keep on painting in colour.
4. Lastly, this is my diary. I don't a have written one so these images will remind me of the circumstances surrounding the painting of it.

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A Good Home

Spam and booze. A match made in some people’s heavens. A great spot for my Spam painting in its new home.

The original might be in a new home, but you could still get a copy of the Spam giclée from my store.

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WIP

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Every time I’m faced with a blank canvas the words of my mom come back to me: Just put down something so you have something to work with. Those words were said to me while I was in high school struggling with paper writing, but I think they apply to my painting practice as well. So I’m just putting something down. Thanks, mom.

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Isolation Self Portrait

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Isolation Self portrait, summer 2020
oil on canvas
24x30in.

When I look back at this painting in times to come, it'll always remind me that this was the last major painting I did in the old apartment. It's also the first self portrait that encapsulated the environment I was painting in and the bulk of the painting was done when we hit a heat wave. Hence the shirtless pose.

There's a lot of lessons I learned from painting this. The first being that I really enjoy painting myself in an environment. I also know that I had a vision of what this would look like but came up a bit short. However, that's why I'll probably be painting more portraits of myself to close that gap between reality and the vision I have in my mind.

The painting can be seen here.

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It's a beaut!

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Just returned from the printer and got this Asanoyama giclée which will be headed to Virginia. Does this make me an international artist now? Or maybe just a continental North American artist?
For more details about purchasing, please visit my store, here.

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Home At Last!

I started this commission way back in February. Actually finished it in mid March and then the pandemic hit. So it's been sitting and drying for the last few months until I had a chance to varnish it and get it framed. Looks great hanging in its forever now.

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Next stop…

I feel like a turtle carrying all my art in my shell, going from one venue to the next showing my art. Next stop is Foxley Bistro on Ossington Ave. If you have time, stop by to taste some of Chef Tom’s delicious pan Asian food and check out my paintings.

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Tokushoryu

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I finally finished this portrait of Tokushoryu.
Tokushoryu was the lowest rank rikishi in the January 2020 sumo tournament...and he won it all. With all the craziness going on in the world, I've been making a conscious effort to look for positive things in my life. I've often returned to watching Tokushoryu's Cinderella victory in the January basho for a bit of light in all this gloominess. Here's my ode to his January victory.

Here's his final match when he won it all. Enjoy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slDe-99-Kr8&t=436s

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Self Portrait

Self portraits for some reason allows me to feel a bit more with experimenting with technique. It might not seem so from this portrait but I was playing with using patches of paint to articulate my face versus blending values to render shape.

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Virtual Sittings

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Me. Whenever I do a self portrait, I always get finicky and get sucked into the minutia of the painting. And it usually exceeds the short time limit I usually place on myself to paint it. Anyways…

Me. Whenever I do a self portrait, I always get finicky and get sucked into the minutia of the painting. And it usually exceeds the short time limit I usually place on myself to paint it. Anyways…

I’ve sketched my niece the most during these isolation sketches and I find I am gaining more confidence in asking her for more intentional poses. I’m getting more ambitious when I paint her.

I’ve sketched my niece the most during these isolation sketches and I find I am gaining more confidence in asking her for more intentional poses. I’m getting more ambitious when I paint her.

Akshay. i’m really happy with how this one turned out. A little exaggerated, but I like how I laid the paid down.

Akshay.
i’m really happy with how this one turned out. A little exaggerated, but I like how I laid the paid down.