paintbook (TAD dump September 5)

[Jska]

I cleaned this up a little ... If you want to see more recent work and more sketch work, jump to the last page

(edit: My intro got eaten when I edited this entry, so here goes again...)

My name is Jska, I as of September of 2007 I quit my job in retail and decided to go for it as a freelance illustrator and painter. I have a long ways to go though, and I am trying to improve my work ethic and technique... its a daily effort for me, that's for sure! I have a lot of reasons why I've decided to take art seriously, which are very personal, and if you'd like to know, just ask. This is what I want to do, it is my passion, and hopefully I'll get good enough to land a job in the industry some day.

I am a local artist in Las Vegas, Nevada, and I participate in the local art scene as much as I can. I have been showing since June of 2007, and hope to keep going

Your thoughts and comments and visits are much appreciated!!

-jska

[Jska]

This is a 36" x 48" canvas I intend on covering with something by the time of my show. I've already completed the base washes of color I want to use as my underpainting in acrylic, and I covered that with clear gesso. I intend to do a combination of acrylic and oils on most of these pieces.


some more backgrounds...

line work on an acrylic underpainting for my piece "Deathess" - 22" x 28" mixed media

another in prog shot... so hard to photograph well!

where she is now...


I've also been helping my friend Leah for her upcoming solo photography show at the Caramel Lounge in the Bellagio. I'm framing and matting all of her limited edition prints AND teaching her how to do it herself. (Every photographer should know how to frame and mount their own work! Any artist really.)



And finally here's the show flyer I mustered up for our upcoming show in October. I'm super excited and scared and all that crap, but really I just hope it goes well.

[Jska]

Thought I'd get a start on messing around with creatures before I dive into the 100 COW activity...

Just a doodle before bed

[Nistarn]

Wow inspiring, great work

[MeTaL-Mike]

Very nice. love the paintings

[Jska]

A warm up from this morning, quickie in painter

More later!!

[Diphallia]

I'm just wondering how that creature sounds like.
Your "analogue" paintings are looking good so far.
I'm gonna check back on this sketchbook later on, it seems nice so far

[BohemianChaos]

damn lady, it's about effing time you resurrected your sb! Tho I gotta say, I didn't realize how much had happened between last December and now to get you to where you are. What a way to take a tragic event and not only create something awesome in your friend's honor, but to also let it shape the way you view your own life and future as an artist, as well as the way it has pushed you to be incredibly productive... it's truly inspiring.

Those paintings are looking good so far as well. Nice stuff. I can't wait to see more... I'm faving you.

[Jska]

Alrighty kiddies, just a few random shots taken today... there will be more later tonight (or morning - whatever) as we just (!) did a coffee and redbull run. Living next to a 7-11 is dangerous... (in more ways than one really!)

Anyway!

This is the 2 panel piece I'm working on. His face has been bothering me all freaking day, and I just now think I've got it going where I want it to. The tightest parts of my pieces are all the facial expressions, and that's where the light and focus needs to be - so its important for me to get it down just right before proceeding to the oils stage. I will probably be knocking out the entire linework stage tonight. I'll post that stuff later.

Annnnd there's a studio shot of my little area I've been working in. The entire bottom floor of our house is entirely studio space. When its clean(er) I will post more pics. We've got a pretty good little studio running!

Getting housemates/artists to clean is a whole 'nother story.

I leave you with some NEWS - I have a solo art show at the TAO nightclub here in Vegas for November 28th... I will be showing 12 new paintings total as well as LIVE PAINTING (eep!) in front of locals and tourists alike. Should be pretty interesting and hopefully it will open up other opportunities for me and my friends.

Until later...

[Jska]

So I got into the line work a bit more but couldn't resist fixing the damn FACE - but now I am satisfied so I'll probably go back to the line work tomorrow. Just a few shots of where I left off for tonight:

A skewed shot...

A dead on shot...

A face detail!

And last but not least we have my amazing Genesis Oil palette. Genesis oils are heat set oils - which means I can do a bazillion layers a day without having to wait. I just ZAP it with a heat gun and voila! Ready to work over! They handle differently than traditional oils, but for time issues these oils are my paint of choice

Until tomorrow... which is also when I'll get back to the replies!

For now.. sleep

[Jska]

Did someone say cute and fuzzy?

Well, maybe cute in an ugly way...

Ok now... sleep for real.

[Puck]

You have beautiful work, and thank you heaps for showing us the process and photos of your work area, it's very cool to see the creation of a painting. Love the paintings progression and your little COW's, keep up the good work, and good luck with all your goals.

[Jska]

A few more shots today, mostly of the studio because I had to clean and organize it a little before tackling a few more projects ...

Re-arrangey!

A pic of my palette of golden acrylics - my fave brand. Their pigment load is amazing and they aren't gummy like liquitex (imho) ... these are what i make my backgrounds with mostly. A lot of transparent colors in my selection, I don't use opaque colors too often... probably because I tend to work in glazes.

This is my cat Sebastian, one of the studio mascots. He's a smug bastard.

This is my roomie's kitten Opeth, the other studio mascot!

And just so this post isn't completely artless, a doodle before bed of some grouchy guy smoking a cigarette.

Oh and replies!

Nistarn - thank you!

Metal Mike - thank you as well!

Diphallia - I was actually going to name him "squawker" - its prolly more of a honk really

Janae! Thank you lady! I still think we should start an SSG of some sort. Also: Seattle is gonna effing rock this year! pld:

Puck: Thank you sir! I plan to post more progressives. I'm self taught so documenting how I get somewhere is important to me... so I'm glad you appreciate the pics!

Thanks guys! Hope you dig!

[Jska]

Started linework for a new piece today - the 36" x 48" (i think i typo'd that above) ... The title is The Fiends Set Upon Him; To Tear to Pieces, Him Heart to Hide (from the Skinny Puppy album "Bites")

The brief sketch, from ref. No pre-sketch, I get pretty ballsy and just go for it on the canvas most times. Especially if I know where I'm going with it in my head before I start.

Starting the acrylic linework and some shading washes...

Body complete!

Added the "Y" incision, which is (usually) the first incision of an autopsy. Honestly I just wanted to paint/render the splitting tissue from an incision on this piece. In the final the incision will be pretty tightly rendered, while the rest of the body (except the face) will remain pretty loose.

More later!!

[AmontilladoAg]

Whew, diggin' this hardcore art studio action 8)

Lookin' great -- and cute cats to boot? Score!

Can't wait to see more

[Jska]

This painting is driving me nutso!!

But I am making *some* progress. The face is still bugging me, but atleast the eyes are bit more where I want them which is important.

Only one pic for tonight... more after sleep!

[BohemianChaos]

I do think we need to start an SSG.

Your paintings are coming along nicely... and I love your studio setup. Plus Sebastian and Opeth (I luvvvv that band!) are adorable.

Your posts make me feel like I'm not productive enough... and I'm probably not. Blah.

[Jska]

Some more progress on Slow Descending; So Slow to Drown...

Mostly tightening up the face and glazing to establish some interesting colors in the shadows

More later, I want to finish this thing!!

[JesArt]

Wow your paintngs are so inspiring, your style is flawless

[Jska]

some pics from earlier today... more to come, of course

Only 6 more days for me to finish my stuff!! I can't believe how fast the time has gone! ACK!

At any rate...

A progress pic of Waving Her; A Cold Rabies Whir - starting to glaze in the face...

More glazey action...

A new background I messed with today... the top panel is 28" x 24", the bottom is 8" x 24"

Messing around with a composition. This one is titled Crazy World of Weary Thought; So Receive Me Had Enough (again from the same Skinny Puppy album)... Embedded in his brain splatter will be a whole collage of images that symbolize one's journey from birth to death - a crying baby, some toys from childhood, sexual imagery, etc.

Lots more to go!! I will get to replies later I promise!

[Jska]

Here's a few more pics I've taken of the work from the past few days... lots of crap to do still! I landed 2 more gallery shows in the past 2 days... freaking CRAZY! I will be having one at the Epicenter in Las Vegas in March and at the MTZC in Vegas in spring 2007 (not sure of exact dates yet)... which means lots and lots of painting to do!

Anyways - to the artzzzz

This is where the The Fiends Set Upon Him; To Tear to Pieces; Him Heart to Hide piece is at... starting to tighten up the rendering of the incision!

And that's where its at right now... More work on the face and this thing will be DONE! (hopefully tonight!)

This is where the other painting is at after some midtones between glazes...

And a skewed shot of where she presently lies... Lots more hair to paint on this beyotch! haha

More to come of course... getting down to the last few precious moments and we still have so much OTHER crap to do!!

[Jska]

We had to get a pic taken of some of the work for the show yesterday... because we are getting a little blurb about our studio in the local weekly free paper! Anyway I figured I'd post the picture... hope this isn't spam. It probably is.

I've also made a commitment to doing the 100 Creature C.O.W. this month... 100 creatures in 30 days! Check out the thread here!

I will most likely be posting my daily sketches, but the rendered versions will be kept secret until the due date

MORE LATER! Only a few more days before the show... I will be posting a ton of painting pics later.

[Jska]

A progression of a quick acrylic piece I'm putting in the show ...

Golden acrylics on 16" x 20" watercolor canvas

"Ruffles"

More later!

[Roell]

mindblowing :o what else can i say?

[Jska]

I purchased a few frames yesterday and decided to float mount some watercolor pieces for small "sellables" at the show. A lot of people don't want to throw down major bucks for an original, and like to buy buy smaller things. So keeping this in mind, I am putting together a few 8"x10" watercolor and ink pieces to sell. Here's the first of the few from this morning, pre-framing. I hope to finish them all today!

the linework - no pencils first, just a prismacolor liner on 140lb cold press paper


added color with watercolor pencils and a little bit of watercolors


framed! although the bottom corner popped up a little

Its kinda nice to break from the other medium for a day, I was kinda losing my mind and losing my creative "fuel" so to speak... these are getting me regenerated for the last few days of intense work before the big day...!

[Jska]

Just some more watercolor and ink stuff ...

I. am. a. zombie. (Anyone listen to Meat Beat Manifesto? haha)

More later...

[BohemianChaos]

shit, woman... you busy enough?? I'm in shock at how much you've produced! Way to go!

Take lots of pics at the show. GOOD LUCK!!

[Jska]

Started hanging at the space today.... lots and lots of work to do tomorrow, but here's more quick acrylic pieces I spat out this evening in an hour or two... and a shot of one of two of the walls I have. Tomorrow I'm hanging all of my mixed media pieces!! AAAAGGHHHH!

Sleep? What's that? No seriously.

Replies later

[Jska]

I am still completely worn out!! I finally scored some pictures from the show. These are NOT with the huge crowds of people that were present - I unfortunately lost my camera the night before and could not document the insanity. But, at least I have pics of the art I will post others when they filter in to me.

First, a few shots of my stuff and how it was set-up...

My watercolor and acrylic work...


A close-up of the ink/watercolor shadowboxes


Going down the mixed media wall...


More mixed media pieces...


IMPOSSIBLE to get this photographed well... SOMEDAY!! "The Huntress"


Another hard one to photograph - "Rot and Assimilate"


A shot of "The Mother" alongside artist Nikki Devine's "Pain & Panic"


Work by Brandon Lin


Work by Brandon Lin


Work by Brandon Lin


A few panels by Kandyce D.K.


Works by Nikki Devine, "Zombie" by Laszlo Kristof


the "Bog Wa" set up by Laszlo Kristof


Another shot of the "Bog Wa" (this thing is awesome to see in person. It was in my living room for a good while! haha)


"Three-Headed Monster" work by Danny Roberts


Work by Luke Sandoval - the small framed one is an etched plate. RIP Luke!


Various works by Nikki Devine, Casey Diskin, and Rob Brown


"Blood Wall" courtesy Adam Wilson (fyi, you CAN paint with a bug sprayer!), assorted artwork by Adam Wilson, Noelle Narsessian, Nikki Devine, Caesar Garcia, OZ, and Magaly Chavarria


Work by Kevin Willrick


Work by Luke Sandoval, Adam Wilson, and OZ

...

LOTS of art. LOTS of work. pld: But in the end it all went really well together and it was overall pretty successful. I learned A LOT. A good experience for my first show... now I can put that into use for the upcoming ones! EEP!

And YEAH I am still doing to 100 COW thing. Its killing me but I'm doing it. And I have yet to (have to?) get a job... still doing a few art projects here and there and I hope to scrape by. Its kinda fun and kinda scary at the same time

ALSO: Seattle - totally going. YAY!

[Moogle]

Gorgeous work! Fantastic colors!