I have reached the 30% mark for my giant 6x4 piece (not 7x5, as I have previously mentioned. The progress has been pretty fast except for the last 2 days because it is a weekend and I have to tend to my marriage, our family's needs and a little R & R with friends. So while it's been fast before the weekend, the distractions have slowed me down.
I am growing to like painting and drawing in acrylic, but it does not remove my love watercolors and pen and ink. The latest work actually involves all 3 media - with a little Gouache thrown in for good measure. The base and many parts of the artwork is in vibrant acrylics, the details in pen and ink, while the highlights and finishing touches come in watercolors and Gouache. I am growing to like my personal Taj Mahal by the day because I get more excited when I see my work progress, and when I am that much closer to the finish line, I work even faster and burn the midnight oil. Such is life for an artist.
While I do not bask in the glow of recognition just yet and I live the feast or famine life with my finances, I think I have made the better choice as far as my sanity is concerned, and as far as my abilities will take me knowing full well that recognition will come only in time and prolific painting as well as my death. Should I be fortunate enough to be recognized for my so-called talent after my death, if I should be so fortunate, then so be it.
You get recognized for your skills only after you're dead anyway.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Shock and Awe
The 'mother of all paintings' ( my version of the biggest artwork I've ever done) is now 20% complete. Right on course for the March finish. It's got everything - acrylics, watercolor, pen & ink, gouache, and pencil. The ultimate mix media. It will be the crowning achievement once done. I'm giddy and excited, looking forward to landing this on my site, which, after my web designer showed me the progress today, leads me to believe that I will have the launch sometime in late February.
This is all part of a massive undertaking - the complete overhaul of my career, and the full time devotion to painting as if it were a job. I now wake up daily treating this as a FT job - eight hours a day, breaks taken, and my full and undivided attention to painting. This allows for the speed which the artwork is being done. I am confident, unless something major happens that this piece will find its' way to the framer's shop by the first week of March. Sure, the framing costs will be unprecedented, but so is the painting, and it's quality.
I do feel a sense of gratitude to the social networks for the sales I have garnered in the last 4 weeks - 2 commissions and 2 pieces sold in the US, and another 2 locally. Still cheap by international standards, I prefer this approach than to come out with a bang and start charging the moon. Not in my nature, but it is a must. Like wall street, almost all stocks start priced low, while slowly moving up as the quantity increases, and the demand perks up.
And so it goes on. 20% done with another 80 to go. This is actually the most challenging portion of the painting because it is easy to quit, but I actually feel energized. This is my shock and awe piece, the piece where people who look at it will be mesmerized looking, get sucked in, and be staring at it indefinitely. I'm going to submit other pieces, which will not have the same detail or size as this one takes the cake. This one will hog the attention of it's 4 smaller cousins.
Bring it on.
This is all part of a massive undertaking - the complete overhaul of my career, and the full time devotion to painting as if it were a job. I now wake up daily treating this as a FT job - eight hours a day, breaks taken, and my full and undivided attention to painting. This allows for the speed which the artwork is being done. I am confident, unless something major happens that this piece will find its' way to the framer's shop by the first week of March. Sure, the framing costs will be unprecedented, but so is the painting, and it's quality.
I do feel a sense of gratitude to the social networks for the sales I have garnered in the last 4 weeks - 2 commissions and 2 pieces sold in the US, and another 2 locally. Still cheap by international standards, I prefer this approach than to come out with a bang and start charging the moon. Not in my nature, but it is a must. Like wall street, almost all stocks start priced low, while slowly moving up as the quantity increases, and the demand perks up.
And so it goes on. 20% done with another 80 to go. This is actually the most challenging portion of the painting because it is easy to quit, but I actually feel energized. This is my shock and awe piece, the piece where people who look at it will be mesmerized looking, get sucked in, and be staring at it indefinitely. I'm going to submit other pieces, which will not have the same detail or size as this one takes the cake. This one will hog the attention of it's 4 smaller cousins.
Bring it on.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
10%
The full throttle scaling of my version of Mount Everest continues unabated as I now have complimented 10% of my huge 7'x5' acrylic, watercolor, pen & ink, and pencil piece. So many media, so many strokes - I wonder what the viewers are going to say once they feast their eyes on this. I've got a long ways to go before this is completed, but it's easy to get excited over this piece.
Of course, the whole intent is to make it the first painting people see when they come to my 5-piece exhibit. Probably not the 4 smaller ones, thats for sure, but this biggest art piece I've ever done in my life. Too bad the gallery is never gonna get a cent out of this - it's for my wife. Her name appears in animated form 21 times, to signal the 21 years of marriage. I know it's corny, but it matters that only I know about this.
I feel giddy moving forward, but I'm even more excited my web designer would be seeing it because, the last time she was here, she only saw the penciling of the artwork, and it wasn't even done yet. Now, the rendering and the painting is done, and even my own domestic helper is saying it's a masterpiece - of course, that's something I would never admit, but painting of this proportion is exactly that because I probably can never make another one at this size. I'm pricing this out of buyer's range - 600K to be exact. Plus, a limited print edition of maybe 10 pieces, framed, at a naturally much lower price.
I'm pumped
Of course, the whole intent is to make it the first painting people see when they come to my 5-piece exhibit. Probably not the 4 smaller ones, thats for sure, but this biggest art piece I've ever done in my life. Too bad the gallery is never gonna get a cent out of this - it's for my wife. Her name appears in animated form 21 times, to signal the 21 years of marriage. I know it's corny, but it matters that only I know about this.
I feel giddy moving forward, but I'm even more excited my web designer would be seeing it because, the last time she was here, she only saw the penciling of the artwork, and it wasn't even done yet. Now, the rendering and the painting is done, and even my own domestic helper is saying it's a masterpiece - of course, that's something I would never admit, but painting of this proportion is exactly that because I probably can never make another one at this size. I'm pricing this out of buyer's range - 600K to be exact. Plus, a limited print edition of maybe 10 pieces, framed, at a naturally much lower price.
I'm pumped
Monday, February 7, 2011
Snowball
It's taken me a while to get another blog posted because the last few days has seen a flurry of sales on my so-called art. Nothing to complain - If I count the orders from the US, along with the orders locally, they number around 6 now, and all that a mere 5 weeks after the Facebook bombardment of my watercolor, acrylic, and pen & ink pieces. My site isn't even up yet, but the orders are beginning to snowball.
I need to get back to painting right after I finish this blog as the 7x5 piece awaits me. It is now 2/3 complete with pencil. The fun and actually, the hardest, part in all this is painting and inking it out. This is by far the biggest piece I have ever made in my entire life. I used to say I would never ever be able to make another one, but just yesterday, my son made the off-handed comment of doing another piece in the same size but only in blue. Hence, another challenge.
This one belongs to Ana and is priced not to sell. No fool will buy it for 600K, even though the effort to complete this masterpiece can only be done (I like to think) by me. It will serve as a barometer against which my other pieces are judged and valued. And, as a final piece of satisfaction - it will jump in value once my demise comes.
That's all for now.
I need to get back to painting right after I finish this blog as the 7x5 piece awaits me. It is now 2/3 complete with pencil. The fun and actually, the hardest, part in all this is painting and inking it out. This is by far the biggest piece I have ever made in my entire life. I used to say I would never ever be able to make another one, but just yesterday, my son made the off-handed comment of doing another piece in the same size but only in blue. Hence, another challenge.
This one belongs to Ana and is priced not to sell. No fool will buy it for 600K, even though the effort to complete this masterpiece can only be done (I like to think) by me. It will serve as a barometer against which my other pieces are judged and valued. And, as a final piece of satisfaction - it will jump in value once my demise comes.
That's all for now.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Closer
Today marked a big step towards making a web 2.0 site for my art ever so closer. Even though there were some problems with the copy I personally wrote (I hate writing about myself), it felt like site's launching was but a few days, if not a week and change, away. Then, the fun begins when I start plugging it in the social networks.
Exciting stuff.
My web designer did a pretty good job in picking out the colors, the art, and site layout that would help keep me painting, hopefully for the rest of my life. Judging from the reactions I've gotten from the steady stream of pen and ink drawings, acrylic paintings, and watercolor pieces with mix media in Facebook, I should be able to claim my own niche in the art world in no time at all.
The satisfaction is doubled when you stop and think that just months ago, I was still toiling away for my brother in a employer-employee relationship that saw me dabble in blogs and do work in the seedy underworld of Adult sites. Maybe it was titillating at the beginning, but eventually that material inevitably turns old with the occasional curiousness on my part on watching and writing about that type of material. It came as no surprise that my brother closed shop and decided to cut bait because he was losing his pants to some guy in Canada who defrauded him of money and oversold the profitability of these sites with hundreds, if not thousands, of these sites proliferating in the web.
I suppose it's not time to pop the champagne cork just yet, as the fine details still need to be worked out, and some more copy and material added. I cannot deny my excitement and giddiness though, as neither one of my siblings can say they have a personal site of their own with the talent to back it up.
I can't wait.
Exciting stuff.
My web designer did a pretty good job in picking out the colors, the art, and site layout that would help keep me painting, hopefully for the rest of my life. Judging from the reactions I've gotten from the steady stream of pen and ink drawings, acrylic paintings, and watercolor pieces with mix media in Facebook, I should be able to claim my own niche in the art world in no time at all.
The satisfaction is doubled when you stop and think that just months ago, I was still toiling away for my brother in a employer-employee relationship that saw me dabble in blogs and do work in the seedy underworld of Adult sites. Maybe it was titillating at the beginning, but eventually that material inevitably turns old with the occasional curiousness on my part on watching and writing about that type of material. It came as no surprise that my brother closed shop and decided to cut bait because he was losing his pants to some guy in Canada who defrauded him of money and oversold the profitability of these sites with hundreds, if not thousands, of these sites proliferating in the web.
I suppose it's not time to pop the champagne cork just yet, as the fine details still need to be worked out, and some more copy and material added. I cannot deny my excitement and giddiness though, as neither one of my siblings can say they have a personal site of their own with the talent to back it up.
I can't wait.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Friday launch
Seems like Friday will be the day of reckoning - of sorts. My web designer is coming here to take pictures and work on the site some more, and hopefully, be able to launch soon. She may want it earlier because she gets paid sooner the faster it gets done.
Therefore, all the acrylics, the watercolors, the pen & inks, and what have you are finally to go. Minus the 7X5 piece gargantuan art I'm making right now, and all the semi-nudes that I'm planning to add as future art. Add in a few more tabs for transaction buttons, a paypal account, and visa + mastercard, and I should be ready.
Hopefully, the Art that follows the huge piece would be ready as well. I already have them 'done' in my mind, but the hard slog still lies ahead. This is what's frustrating. I can't peel off from the giant piece I'm doing and do the smaller pieces unless I finish the big piece first, which is both an asset as well as a liability. An asset because it makes you finish what you start, and a liability because it shows an inability to 'compartmentalize' and get multiple things done without being distracted by another.
Then, there is the matter of the coming projects of the Xavier Alumni Art Guild and Kids Basix. The latter perhaps leading to more full time work, in addition to the two or three commissioned work I have earned so far from the Facebook bombardment. My 'friends' list have bloated to an unfathomable 425 from a modest 170+ just mere weeks ago. tantamount to my doggedness to find new friends, I suppose, but I may as well eliminate the others - especially those that wouldn't give me the time of day if I ran into them in the middle of the street. It's time to pare down that list to real friends, art lovers, and people who actually follow my Art.
Sounds a bit narcissistic, but it is what it is.
Let the games begin.
www.theruddude.com
Therefore, all the acrylics, the watercolors, the pen & inks, and what have you are finally to go. Minus the 7X5 piece gargantuan art I'm making right now, and all the semi-nudes that I'm planning to add as future art. Add in a few more tabs for transaction buttons, a paypal account, and visa + mastercard, and I should be ready.
Hopefully, the Art that follows the huge piece would be ready as well. I already have them 'done' in my mind, but the hard slog still lies ahead. This is what's frustrating. I can't peel off from the giant piece I'm doing and do the smaller pieces unless I finish the big piece first, which is both an asset as well as a liability. An asset because it makes you finish what you start, and a liability because it shows an inability to 'compartmentalize' and get multiple things done without being distracted by another.
Then, there is the matter of the coming projects of the Xavier Alumni Art Guild and Kids Basix. The latter perhaps leading to more full time work, in addition to the two or three commissioned work I have earned so far from the Facebook bombardment. My 'friends' list have bloated to an unfathomable 425 from a modest 170+ just mere weeks ago. tantamount to my doggedness to find new friends, I suppose, but I may as well eliminate the others - especially those that wouldn't give me the time of day if I ran into them in the middle of the street. It's time to pare down that list to real friends, art lovers, and people who actually follow my Art.
Sounds a bit narcissistic, but it is what it is.
Let the games begin.
www.theruddude.com
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