Journey of an Absolute Rookie: Paintings and Sketches

[Victor B]

Wow such good/bad news great news taht pantura's moving to europe for those who can go , sucks that their leaving thou! The still life's looking very nice I just wish I could see it in person I feel i'm missing alot of color and edge work, maybe you could post a larger version? I was actually going to ask you what you thought of the comp. it seemed rather "centered" I wait to hear your personal critique of it! still great stuff, hope you get a "good" digi-cam shop around before you choose one. I'll shoot you an email later this week.
see you around campus

[AndreasM]

Oh my, this is great news!!! I have been frustrated with the lack of good education up here in the north, and suddenly, an atelier of this caliber suddenly moves up to Sweden! Just had to get that out of the system

MCM, I just have to thank you again (umm, did I ever thank you?) for your love for art and the efforts you share. I don't think I would even have considered attending to an atelier if it wasn't for you. I'm sorry to hear that you had to stop your studies at the studio, tho. Do you plan to attending to another one, or will you work more on your own? I'll enjoy watching your progress either way.

Andreas

[MindCandyMan]

Pantura - Hey! Glad to see you guys made it on here! I was wondering if it worked for you but I see you are creating quite a presence your yourself on here already. Hahah...yeah the dirty laundry...haha...It's definitely good to see my progress just painful to see those earlier images hehe. I don't look at the beginning of this thread for the same reason hehe. You guys are gonna be rockin the stockholm scene and I've seen a bunch of swedish users on here talkin about it. So looks like the Stockholm school will fill up soon!

tristanr - Hey...thanks for the comments. I really appreciate it. Well there are a bunch of places to buy casts... http://www.statue.com (in the drawing cast section) is a good one...although some people have been unhappy with their casts but I have ordered two and have liked both...both of mine were small though. If you want the best but the expensive ones go here http://www.giustgallery.com/ That one is good as well. That's the extent of my knowledge hehe. Yeah local places don't even know what they are hehe.

vctr - Thanks yeah...composition sucks. Live and learn though right hehe. Yeah I need to get a good camera...badly hehe. Other things come first though...like paint hehe. Pantura leaving is good for them bad for us. But they will do well in Sweden I think...and they will be near family so that's a good thing...besides who wouldn't want to be in europe hehe.

that fat kid - hehe...thanks...it's definitely a painting...many many flaws hehe. You can't ever stop growing...not in the beginning...not in the end. When you live in an isolated world (can be easy in a studio) you start to think your stuff is awesome but if you venture out you start realizing you lack a TON of things that other people are offering...That's why I constantly talk to other artists, etc... because the respect for others' work keeps you in check and shows you the gaping holes in your own skills. I am like swiss cheese haha.

nofish - Awesome! Yeah contact them about going to school you will learn a ton. I am gonna be attending a buttload of workshops over the next 2 years...William whitakers is first in february...have a bunch next year as well. Buying dvds of david leffel working...schmid working...getting books, etc.. And, of course, painting and drawing like a madman. That's my goal over the next couple years...we will see what happens hehe. Don't thank me man...I should be thanking you guys. You know how I found out about ateliers at all...Jason Manley posting a link to the one in Canada. It's how it works in the community we are all here pulling for each other. It's hard enough being an artist on your own...we gotta work together!

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Well I'm calling this done only because I touch it anymore I will probably ruin it even more than it already is heheh. Ok here are the self critiques I have on this:

The bottle doesn't turn as much as I wanted it too and part of the reason is because the value relationships needed to be adjusted and weren't...the values of everything else needed to be darker to compensate for how dark the bottle was so that when the highlight was placed it would look a lot brighter. I did lighten the area around the bottle which made it look darker but it wasn't to my liking. Also the lighting setup should have been different to create more interesting reflections on the bottle.

The grape stem used to be more straight up so it would lead the eye into the bottle a little more...the stem fell and I left it...should have fixed it.

I think the paint application was a little too contrived as well. I need to be more direct and intentional with the amoun tof paint, etc... So that caused some of the textures to suffer I think. The stems were painted in literally 15 minutes. I felt very comfortable about the texture and color I was putting down. Some may not like them I guess but I was tapping into something when I did them.

My number one gripe with this is that the composition is BO - RING . The triangle thing isn't working for me. Lame lame lame...too much empty space. But that's what learned when you paint. I won't make that mistake again (hopefully heheh). I felt rushed on this one because I hadn't painted for a couple weeks and I was going crazy so hopefully the next one will have more thought in it hehe.

Sorry for the crappy pictures...









My bridgman copies are officially starting right now! So give me three days to copy the whole book hehe.

[Profil]

It's still a nice painting though
Are you serious about the whole bridgman book in three days?
Good luck

[blacky]

bridgman copies are officially starting right now! So give me three days to copy the whole book hehe.

3 days? You lucky B..., have fun.
Can't wait for you to start lifedrawings. Don't let your imagination catch no rust though, too.
So long...

[Victor B]

fantastic close up shots! best of luck with the workshops/book personal training journey. I thinkyou handled the reflections on the bottle rather nicely. Great to have you posting so much, good luck with the bridgeman copying I bet if you renounced sleep you could do it in 2 days...

[SpiralSpirit]

This is my first time visiting this thread, and going through it I just wanted to congratulate you on your amazing progress. The contrast between the first and latest works is incredible, and you are an inspiration to everyone struggling to progress in making art.

SpiralSpirit

[endregan]

hey jon. nice to see you painting away. awesome rendering for sure.

One thing you already mentioned is the composition, its ass boring. Dead center, I think you could have mixed it up a bit maybe even cropped in closer.

That wood is unreally realistic, really nice attention to detail. You know its all about process, set up something your gonna like painting that is interesting and then go for it like you did with this painting. If you had better compositions the paintings would be that much better...

[Flynt]

MindCandyMan,

I enjoyed seeing this last painting in progress keep up the good work. I look forward to seeing future paintings.

-Flynt

[mitch]

awesome work on the painting. I really like how you showed all the different steps of the process. great job.

[jkior]

hey man, is your email working? could be on my end though. . .

you mentioned that you felt super confident putting in the stems; it really shows in the finished painting. . .my eye is immediately drawn to them whenever I look at it so whatever you "tapped" into was for sure the right place!

[Blackhawk]

Hey Jon, regardless of the problems, I think this one turned out pretty well. The composition is a little boring, but you still did a solid job man. What do you plan on painting next and how much did you reference to your painted square boards to find the right colors? Just interested in knowing how much you've used them thus far.

[Jeff Jaws]

hey jon,
I gotta say I'm stunned by your color work. damn nice paintings you have there. gotta take some time now and read through this huge pile of information on this page.. let me just wish you a merry christmas for now, I hope everything is going well for you..
take care
Jj.

[gmags]

Watching your work is truely inspiring. I'm in awe. Sweet lookin waterlope.

[Magic Man]

Awesome awesome awesome. nothing more to add.

I think you've also inspired me to attend an atlier...dammit, one day I will attend one in Florence baby.

[guggemmaneuver]

wow MCM, you #1 stunna with the outrageous oils! the lighting scheme and colorization is frigging amazing! great work!

joel

[daqu]

wow your progress and the "progress of the students" page on the site...








FREAK ME OUT .......in a REALLY GOOD WAY!

[sydni]

so candy man - painter to painter, you are amazing and serious inspiration. keep posting!! color charts are insane. starting color theory this semester - so i can only imagine the charts i'm about to lose myself in.
cheers.

[shyamshriram]

WOW..that character is great...and the last still life !!!! Man...supercool stuff...thanx for sharing the process...RESPECT !

[Pixeldragoon]

You made it to over 1500 posts. GREAT JOB.

[Robolus]

You´re my heroe!!!!!!!!!

[vigostar]

You are one artist that will never go hungry sir! Phenominal work... Just amazing...

[MindCandyMan]

Profil - Thanks...yeah I'm serious...need to start it though hehehe.

blacky - Thanks...yeah my imagination needs work that's for sure.

vctr - Thanks man...yeah I should probably renounce sleep forever heheh

spiralspirit - Thanks for the kind words...that's my only hope with putting this huge crappy thread up that's for sure.

endregan - Thanks homie...yup...crap composition...someone put me in the stocks.

Flynt - Thanks...ok now I'm nervous...professionals watching me...sheesh

mitch - Thanks...yeah I think showing the "mystery" steps really helps people a lot.

that fat kid - Don't worry you didn't talk to much...can't wait to see the bargue...keep me updated!

jkior - Thanks man...yeah email away hehe

blackhawk - I use those boards all the time. It's like training wheels...I will need them less and less but right now I really need to use them. Takes the mystery out of mixing the colors. Plus you see how your color perception lacks when you try to think of what it is and then look it up and you are sadly mistaken hehe.

Jeff Jaws - Things are going great for me...glad to hear from you man. How are things on your end?

gmags - Thanks so much...that waterlope was fun...uncharted territory for me...for sure

Magic man - Florence is an awesome place...definitely definitely do it if you can! And attend an atelier for sure if you can...it's the only way to go.

guggenmaneuver - Thanks man!

daqu - yeah those pages are hilarious heheh. The hard part is to keep up that progress that's for sure.

sydni - Thanks for the kind words...yeah the color charts have helped me immensely...definitely do them if you can.

shyamshriram - Thanks man hehe. Respect right back at ya!

pixeldragoon - Sheez...are there really that many...that's insane. Weird.

Robolus - I should get some spandex to wear like all great heroes!

vigostar - Thanks man...although my wife and I had to eat lentils for weeks one time in south dakota hahahah.

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Hey guys so I'm back after the holidays...where I did NOTHING and loved every minute of it. I didn't draw...didn't move...just ate and rested and read...and played video games (which I hadn't done in a long time). So nothing to update from over the holidays cause I did nothing hehe. But there is some good news...I am no longer a starving artist...I am now just a poor artist. I have four students that I am teaching private lessons to now...that just started at the beginning of this year so that is going well. I am also going to talk to a place down here about hosting a painting workshop. I am just going to introduce people to oil painting...painting an apple or something. Maybe I will just do a drawing one...people need to learn drawing I think. But at any rate there is a lot of stuff going on right now and I am drawing and painting all day. Just to give you guys some perspective on how valuable conceptart.org is...I charge 50 bucks an hour to teach these students... you guys get critiques for free. It takes about 15-20 minutes for someone to type a critique for you...would you pay about 15 bucks for that critique? Think about that.


These are drawings using the information from Scott Robertson's matte surface gnomon drawing dvds...they are fantastic. I can't say enough good things about them...they help you categorize how light works and really use it to your advantage. It's amazing what just a little knowledge can do for you. A lot of these have a ton of mistakes in them...they don't read quite right...but that's part of the process of learning it...it's a really cool system he talks about in those dvds.









Started a new painting yesterday...gonna try to finish this one in two days. I am really trying to push myself with time limits because it won't be financially feasible for me to spend 3 weeks on a painting like this...cause I would probably sell it for about 1800-3000 bucks and once the gallery takes half and taxes cut into that...you aren't making that much...so I should be able to do these quickly and I am trying to learn to do that.



Did a quick sketch in painter before dinner...hadn't been back in painter for a while heheh...was really fun.

[Victor B]

Hey jon, great update! good to hear you took some time off, got to recharge those batteries! Thats great you're teaching art. Those images from the Scott Robertson DVD's makes me want to get them even MOORE for now they'll have to wait!have you seen the Ian Mccaig dvd's ? they'll do wonders for you're concept work. The new still life set up looks great very intersting, and can't wait to see where you take it in two days, lastly the painter sketch looks nice figure has a nice slouch to him. Oh and great point about the critiques we get here! thats why ca.org is soo special!

[MindCandyMan]

vctr - So you would recommend those ian mccaig dvds huh? I was wondering about them. I will have to look into getting those. Glad the new still life looks interesting hehe...the last was a yawner hehe. Thanks man.

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Ok so I lied...I will finish it by the end of tomorrow heheh. Don't want to abandon it like this of course...want to put some kind of finish on it

[jkior]

saweeeet man! really liking the way you set up this still life. . .the items seem to relate to one another perfectly. . .most 'modern' still lifes don't really seem to achieve this - imo of course - so it's a real pleasure to see one like this that's really well stated.

hehe yeah training for deadlines. . .that's high on my list of priorities after feb. . .but behind skill in drawing and painting of course. Good to see someone really working toward finishing solid work within a set period of time - the need for that was certainly obvious after that scholarship disaster!

[Victor B]

Hey, an update! great stuff I love seeing the painting at different stages like this, its really informative. Oh and how did the bridgeman conquering go?I second what jkior said its great to see someone put deadlines into practice too often I forget that after training its about getting the good result in less time! I'm far from that but its definetely on my list this year to start practicing. About the Ian Mccaig dvds, they're fantastic if you're interested in Storytelling, which is their primary focus, he's a really great teacher and I would highly HIGHLY recommend them as he goes over character design as well their's four out right now but theirs supposed to be a fifth although I don't know when that one comes out! Great as always to see you posting Jon. its the inspiration for motivation!

[metalwinds]

dude, its ridiculous how good youre getting. its been a while since ive checked the sketchbook section, so im seeing the progression all at once and ive gotta say.. .its pretty amazing. the paintings are looking really nice. .. .about how many hours do you spend on them? also, i see that youre doing a lot of very academic painting.. ..what do you plan on painting in the future? do you want to continue on your path of photorealism? anyway, just curious.

thanks for the inspiration, jon

danny

[Capprotti]

My GOD Jon! It's been about 2 years since I've been to the first page of this thread. I just shit myself. Your progress is TRULY mindblowing. I don't know how much you sold your soul to the devil for, but it was WORTH it. Ha ha. Really, this is probably the most inspiring documentation of an artists progress ever. Keep it up man, you are blazing a trail toward master artist!!!

[shyamshriram]

Just saw ur SB from first page to last....Man....im totally speechless...WHAT A MINDBLOWING PROGRESS YOU DID....WITHIN SUCH SHORT PERIOD....HARD TO BELIEVE...

THANX FOR THE POSITIVE ENERGY BROTHER !

RESPECT !

Keep inspiring !