Studio Hartig Artist Booth at Art on the Rocks 2007 in Marquette, MI

I wanted to have a painting finished by Monday night but was way too tired. So, Tuesday night I completed one painting (sorry about the bad photo...again) and would have had another painting finished but we are down to the very last bit of wax (which you may be able to determine on your own due to the selective color palate and repeated use of muddy colors) . Anyways, I have no white, or clear, wax which I need to complete the piece below. To give you an idea of what the finished piece will potentially look like, I made an example. I really like how the wood looks and I am very tempted to clean it up and leave it showing. But, I want to break this one up a lot more and I think that the wood grain doesn't do that as much as the white/off-white will.

"Current"

"Potential"

I had these all ready to upload this morning but I, for some reason, never posted them. These were mostly done at Art on the Rocks in Marquette, MI. Anyways, I plan on painting tonight so expect pictures of the art festival as well as a new painting to be posted later on.

This sketch is from last night. I have been a day behind schedule, where I am typically posting sketches from the previous day. I am going to try to be more on top of posting my daily sketches on the day they are done while additionally start painting again. Hopefully, by Monday I will have a new painting to talk about.

July 25th and 26th

July 23-25

Here are some recent sketches done in New York and Iron Mountain. The figure in the lower right is my attempt to draw Bill Maher during his stand up special last night on HBO. The woman to the left of him is a woman I saw in Central Park outside of the SummerStage concert last Sunday.

Neighborhoodies' Promo Booth at Siren Music Festival 2007

"Gonzo the Art" copyright Ralph Steadman

Today, Kyle and I worked for Neighborhoodies at their promo booth, printing custom t-shirts and promoting the business. Aside from this one day of work, I have been mostly wandering around New York, drawing, and reading although I did make it to the MOMA yesterday. I finished Ralph Steadman's book "Gonzo the Art" which is basically a collection of the illustrators drawings, paintings, poems, diary entries, songs, and other artistic gonzo endeavors, most of it in relation to the life and work of Hunter S. Thompson. Finally, my sketches from the past two days. Like the last sketch posted, I have been developing them more, trying to put several figures on a single page, and diversifying my figures which are typically male and middle-aged.

July 15th

July 15th - July 16th

Here are some sketches from a few days ago. I started putting more figures on a page because I am nearly at the end of my sketch book. Someone recommended that I draw something other than skinny men between the ages of 18-40. So, I am going to start trying that out. The "thicker" woman was my first effort since the suggestion.

Wow. It has been a whole week since I have shown the world my progress. I have been drawing quite a bit since I have been in Grand Rapids for the past week and am currently in New York. I will try to keep posting while I am here but I don't know how much I will accomplish this week. Anyways, the painting I did above was done this past May. If it looks crooked, it is because it is. The board was a weird shape but I didn't realize how weird until I was finished. I am not sure if it should be hung with the top or bottom parallel to the wall. Any opinions are, as always, greatly appreciated. Also, here are a couple sketches from the first half of this month.

This month hosted Friday the 13th

The figure on the right is Bill from the television series "Freaks and Geeks"

Here are some more sketches from June.


The figure on the left is one of the few drawings in my sketchbook that is not a weird, stylized cartoon. The other, a wierd, stylized cartoon.

Alright...I tried to post these last night but my internet was down. Here are two t-shirts I made over the past couple days. The one on the left depicts a goose at my old apartment complex who we called "ugly" and the one on the right is from a sketch I posted a couple days ago. Circumvent is purposely misspelled. It's an obscure reference to a certain amazing TV show that ran for three years then, unfortunately cancelled. I think I am going to make some with circumvent spelled correctly because not a lot of people will get the joke.

Here are some drawings from June 22nd and 23rd. Just me trying to work different issues with the figure. Also, I had been playing with different ideas for t-shirt designs.

Today's painting is a good example of me deciding that the piece was finished before I had carried out all of my initial plans. Initial, I planned on incorporating a bright green into the composition but I didn't think the composition I had in mind would still work after I had started it. Plus, I think doing an achromatic painting from time to time can be a really good thing. All in all, I am learning more and more about encaustic painting every day and I think it is starting to show.

Here are some more drawings from June 17th. The figure on the left is wearing a t-shirt I am designing. I might submit it to Threadless.com or maybe I'll make a screen of it. The figure on the left is also a self-portrait.

This photograph is a little grainy but I'm okay with it. I feel like this piece may be a little to representational, especially, after my last post about attempting landscapes. I am really trying to find some sort of balance between representational and nonrepresentational painting. Other than that I really like the piece. It reminds me of play-doh and legos.

Alright, another sketch from June. I really like the hands on the guy on the left and the left hand on the guy on the right.

Finally a complete work at a decent hour. I am attempting to form a body of encaustic landscapes. The previous painting loosely fits into this body, as do a few other older ones that I will post on my website when it finally gets made. I did not think that I this one was going to turn out but I am very happy with it. This one was loosely inspired by "Breakfast of Champions" and also the urban landscapes by Renée Hartig.

Here is a sketch from the middle of June. I like drawing skinny jeans and tight shirts but that is not how everyone likes to dress. So I have been exploring baggy jeans and shirts like the figure on the left.

Better late than never. I started working on a couple encaustic pieces late Friday night so I am just getting to post this now. The first piece is done for now. Maybe a fresh look when I wake up will change my mind. Also included are some pieces I am working on and a picture of my makeshift studio in my parents basement.

Work in progress. I am in the process of destroying and reworking this piece Brian Cook and I did for a MAEA event at Barnes and Nobel. Sorry Brian.

Work in progress. Eventually it will be separated as a diptych.

Makeshift Studio.

Alright. Another sketch from June. I thought for a little while I might want to create some characters for a medieval storybook but I haven't took it any further than this king. I keep drawing these characters with no ultimate goal in mind. I just like drawing them.

"Breakfast of Champions" copyright Kurt Vonnegut

Alright, so today was not as productive as I would like. I managed to sketch a bit after finishing "Breakfast of Champions" by Kurt Vonnegut. It was a wonderful book with a great ending. I was very pleased. It was my first Vonnegut book and, from what I understand, one of his most personal works. It was so well written and seemed so relevant to contemporary issues that I kept having to remind myself it was written nearly 30 years ago.

Here are more sketches from June. The on the left was also inspired by the Democratic debate. I am not sure exactly who I wanted it to look like. I think I was going for John Edwards but, to me, it looks a little more like John Kerry. Well, hopefully today will be productive so I have something awesome to post tonight.

My third post today is about an interactive showcase I made for my close family and friends, most of whom gave me gradation cards. It's basically a simple website I made in Flash to display some of my non-commercial work and help me give it away. The music is by The Six Parts Seven...an amazing band from Ohio. Check the showcase out at:
http://home.comcast.net/~bycracky/family-friends.html

Additionally, I will be posting sketches I did during the month of June. I wanted to start the blog as soon as I graduated but I ended up spending a lot of time teaching English as a second language at GRCC and GVSU. Also, I didn't have immediate access to a scanner. So these are my first sketches from June. The second figure is Senator Obama. Kyle and I watched the Democratic debate that night.

Alright! After procrastinating through the school year and my first month of summer I am finally beginning my blog. To start, I though it would be appropriate to post a piece that was not done by me. My brother found this old screenprint my dad did and we decided to restore it. We built a stretcher for it, cut off the extra canvas, and stretched it. Giving life to old artwork is pretty awesome, especially when it has a lot of sentimental value. Happy Independence Day!