Process: Painting "Alone in the Dark"

Monkey here today, for a quick run-down of my process while painting a very recent piece, which I call "Alone in the Dark." In the photo above, the weird blue light coming diagonally across the upper left is just a lens flare.

So for a figurative piece where I want to really convey a specific emotion, I shoot reference. While others might be masters of expressions without reference, I am not, so I got our digital camera, a little work lamp, a sheet of blue acetate, some masking tape, a black cloth, and asked for the assistance of an awesome model, Seal.

If you don't have someone else you can ask to model, you can always do it yourself. I must admit, it is much easier to work with someone else. If you can't afford to pay someone, ask other artists if they might need a model of their own, and do a trade-sie.


So the above photo is primarily the one I worked off of. I like the hand positions in this photo, but I wasn't completely sold on her head position. I skimmed through some other photos I had snapped in our little 10-minute photo shoot, and after doing some Photoshop work, adjusting the levels, adding a very transparent gradient of aqua, I ended up with this:

With this as my reference, I started to paint. I paint with acrylics, and I like using Liquitex Heavy Body acrylics. For this painting, I used my usual palette set-up, which consists of:

titanium white, unbleached titanium (lazy painter's warm white), mars black, yellow oxide, cadmium yellow light hue, burnt umber, cadmium red medium hue, alizarin crimson hue permanent, cerulean blue, ultramarine blue (green shade), veridian hue permanent, and dioxazine purple. I will sometimes add extra colors to the palette if I need a large quantity of a certain color that I don't want to mix (I also keep a tube of magenta and an aqua handy), but usually I just stick with these colors and mix everything.

I also got a tube of ivory black to warm up the black since I was doing a cool light, but you can just as well mix some alizarin into your black to warm it up a bit if you stick with mars black.

I did a direct drawing onto the canvas using watered-down burnt umber. I mainly went for general proportions and gesture at this point. So you can see, I didn't quite hit that target on my first go, but since acrylics dry fast and you can paint over stuff, I decided to fix it later and just start painting.

I laid in a dark black for the shadowy background and mixed up a nice green to really push the creepy atmosphere and emphasize the unearthly lighting situation (which is also coming from below, which you don't see very often and adds to the creep-factor).

I also laid in a green underpainting where the flesh would be. Why? Because I like the effect of laying down a blue-green in my portraits and then layering fleshtones on top, especially if you're putting them in green light.

I then blocked in the lights and darks of the shirt, using a thin black wash to fill in the shirt, as I didn't want to lose the form of the shirt too early, while I was still figuring out the folds and construction and form. If I was a crazier painter, I could probably have gone with some opaque black, but I didn't want to push it, so I took it easy. I hit the light parts with green, since that's the color of the light.

The next step was to paint over the green with some unbleached titanium mixed with a bit of cad red light and yellow oxide. I also added the shadows on the skin, and took a bit of time to carve out the shape of the hand.


So the above photo is taken after about 3 hours of work. I paint fairly fast, thanks to a Quick Studies class I took at Academy, but I had to slow down a bit since I hadn't attempted to do anything even remotely realistic in a while, and sort of forgot what I had learned.

Tthis next photo was taken after about another 3 hours of work. What did I do in these three hours to go from weird chalk-lady to a decent approximation of a scared Eve?


Well, I spent a good two hours or so really studying the folds and buttons on her shirt. For some reason, I get a kick out of painting collared shirts on people, so I ended up devoting a bit too much time to the clothing, but it turned out pretty swell.

I also slowly painted, and repainted, and repainted again Eve's face, working to smoothly blend and capture all the subtle colors that are in her face in the reference photo. I also had a bunch of facial proportions all wrong, so I repainted her nose about three times. The first time it was too small, then it was too low and big, and then it was too high, and then I figured it wasn't worth it to go for a perfect likeness and decided that the nose looked proportional and real to the painting and that was that.

I also took time to start painting the hands. I then realized, while painting, that something seemed funny, and somehow during the painting process I stopped using the photo reference, and fudged the hands quite a bit. After carving a bit away, repositioning some fingers, and generally undoing a lot of the preliminary mistakes I had made, I repainted the fingers.

And after another hour or two, I decided I was finished. During those last few hours, I pulled out some highlights on her hair, softened a lot of the cast shadows on her face, sculpted the eyes a bit more, rendered the lips, added a bit of detail to the hands, and repainted her neck so that the anatomy worked a bit better.



Ta-da! So after about 50 minutes of reference shooting and prep work, and about 9-11 hours of painting, the finished product is here. I saw the painting starting to take a pulp-horror paperback book look early on, and decided that I would try to keep it in that vein as opposed to going for ultra-realism (which I find I just don't have the patience for).

Oh yeah! By the way, I also use Golden brand Acrylic Glazing Liquid (Satin) to thin my paints if I want to sort of glaze over dried paint to smooth transitions or tint parts certain colors. I used a lot of medium while painting the hands and face, due to the high concentration of blood vessels close to the surface of the skin. Due to the green light literally going through the skin, hitting the red blood, and bouncing back, you get this weird mixture of cool pinks and warm greens, with strange transitions in-between.

I hope you learned something from this process post, and feel free to ask any specific questions in the comments. While this isn't the style I'm currently working in, it is nice to bust out a creepy painting that flexes some of my classical realism training that I got in school, and also balances my work so it's also more fun to bust out and do my regular sweaty monsters. Woo!

Why Logic Does Matter

If you missed the post on Monday about logic, please check it out here. After you've caught up, or if you simply are someone who like logic, please read on:

As an artist, we are often bombarded by the urges to do what is logical and obvious to people who are not artists. The world, as a whole, doesn't encourage artists, it doesn't (really) encourage following your dreams, and it sure as heck doesn't encourage artists following their dreams. By all "normal" standards, following your artist dreams isn't logical - it's pretty stupid, or at least that's how it used to be.

You see, it made "logical" sense to stay at some job you were probably lukewarm about (at best), for 30-40 years, because once you retire, your company will take care of you. It's easy street in retirement, with your pension taking care of you and your 401k making life fun. No longer. Large companies don't care about their employees and smaller companies might not last. Besides making yourself indispensable for your company's success, there is no such thing as job security.

Our economy is not what it was, and with a growing number of graduates with Bachelor's degrees, jobs are more and more competitive. There are no guarantees anymore, and it makes people crazy. Especially people who are from the time where life was a little bit simpler, and hardwork, determination, and drive were the only things that you needed to get by. Now, not only do you have to work hard, be determined, and feel that inner drive, you also need to be passionate, creative, and remarkable. Yet, people still think that the traditional way of doing things is what is logical. Ridiculous, we say.

If your parents want you to become a lawyer or a doctor because these professions were in high regard (ie they paid well), that's no longer the case, unfortunately. There are tons of lawyers and doctors who are finding it's suddenly hard to find employment. So then if there is no real security, if there is no real sure-fire way to make it, why not follow your dreams and pursue what you really love? In our mind, that's the only logical choice to make.

Now we're not saying that you should quit your day job tomorrow and go off and be an artist full-time. What we are saying is that you need to cherish your art. Cherish that inner drive and the burn to create. Make a plan to slowly create income from your art before you quit that job that drives you crazy. Do things logically - do research, create a plan, create a back-up plan, and then go follow your dream.

We tend to think that you have to either follow your head or your heart. We think that when you can strike that perfect balance between the two that the real magic begins. What wonders are you going to create today?

Why Logic Doesn't Matter

I was over at Chris Guillebeau's blog reading his latest post and he mentions that while traveling, not everyone's logic works the same way. This insight has led us to write a 2-part series on logic. This is the first one, stay tuned for Wednesday's post for the next part!

While the idea of logic is that it is based on facts and universal truths, Chris brings up an interesting and important point - logic is based on subjective truths and facts that are available. What we mean by this is that although some choices may seem obvious and clear and logical to outsiders, often the facts aren't so clear.

If you're an artist, or even a closeted artist, chances are you burn with the desire to create. Whether that is creating a painting, an expression through dance, or a new melody, there is that itch in the base of your brain that is telling you to make something. We would guess that most "non-artists" are all actually closeted artists in some sense or another - some have buried that inner artist so deep they'll never find them again, and others are artists in manners that most people don't get, like creating an art out of using Excel, or being a financial forecasting wizard. If you're creating with your soul behind it, you're an artist.

This is our idealistic view on the world. However, many people who don't believe themselves to be artists (whether or not they actually are is beside the point), will often tell you that your art is just a hobby, or maybe they told you it wasn't any good, or maybe they just ignored it. Either way, because art isn't valued nearly enough as it should, people often try to tear down our dreams.

They tell us that only a very small percentage of artists actually can live off their art. They reinforce the stereotype of the starving artist. They tell us to "get a real job." Why? Because in their mind, it's the only logical way of dealing with this.

If you have not embraced your inner artist, it makes logical sense to base your life off what is going to provide you with food and shelter. If you have high student loans, it makes sense to try and get a high-paying job. If you can get a job as an engineer or a doctor or a lawyer, or anything that pays well, it makes logical sense to keep the job because it pays well, and money (for good or for bad) is what provides us with food and shelter (and other cool stuff like computers, paint, brushes, canvas, etc. etc.). However, if you have not embraced your inner artist, you don't take into the consideration the burning desire to follow your artistic vision and that need to create.

As an artist, even though it may seem risky, it may seem stupid, it may seem illogical, chasing your dreams is almost as vital as food or shelter. The burning desire to do something more than just survive and consume, but to actually create - this is a need that cannot go unfulfilled.

That's why in some ways, it may seem illogical to be an artist. It may seem illogical to try and make it as a painter, or as a musician, or a dancer, or a photographer, or whatever, but if you feel that inner fire that calls out to you and shouts "CREATE" - then all you can do is listen and create.

Stay tuned for Wednesday's post on why logic does matter.

Dear Artist, Say "Yes" to Life

When Winter turns to Spring

Say "yes" to life.

The life of an artist can be long and arduous. Are you prepared? It can be discouraging at times, because the odds are often stacked against you. But for a moment, let's not think rationally. Let's be wild and dream the "impossible."

So you live. You breathe. You eat. You go to work. But what sustains you on the inside when all else falls away? Although we live, most of us had not said "yes" to life. With all it's pain, struggles, heartaches, and triumphs.

It seems that at every craft show, Seal encounters an artist, who had "given up on being an artist." "Isn't it hard?" they would ask, "isn't it painful?" Deep in my heart, I want to ask them, "Isn't it painful NOT to make art?" Who would be happy throwing away their dreams? I see their eyes full of past regrets and potential for what could be. "It's never too late," I counter, searching their eyes. For a moment, they glimmer with hope and they look twenty times younger. This is the moment between life and death. I watch quietly. They are tormented on the balance. They weigh the odds. Unfortunately, most people resign and the tiny flame I saw was quickly self-extinguished. But thankfully for some, although it is hard . . . they say "yes" to life.

I don't think anyone could ever forget their dreams. Even the people I met, they were there at the craft show for a reason. Their love of art pulled them towards other artists, even though they claimed to have abandon their dreams.

Dear Artist, Although you have lost so much, as long as you never abandon your dreams, it is never too late. Though it is hard and at times discouraging, though it is painful, you can still reach out for them, even now. Though it should already be enough, and you have done so much, and though you are tired, say "yes!" To live. To create.

The answer is to concentrate on what you can do in front of you.

The Myth of Multitasking

First off, happy belated V-day everyone! Sorry we missed Monday's post. To be perfectly honest, we have no good excuse for missing the post besides the two of us decided to let ourselves recover a bit (we're both fighting off colds, or the flu, or something) and to rest and spend some quality time together. We have to practice what we preach (ie. sustainability) sometimes. Sorry again!

And now to your regularly scheduled blog post:

As much as our society might seem to value people who can multitask well, it actually turns out that multitasking isn't really all what it's cracked up to be. As told by Jon Hamilton on NPR, researchers from the University of Michigan have found that humans cannot truly multitask - that is, we cannot actually focus on more than one thing at a time.

What? But you listen to music and drive a car and drink your coffee all at the same time, right? Well, sort of. It turns out that we actually have to switch our attention at super-quick speeds back and forth and back and forth again. We're not actually listening to music and driving and talking all at the same time.

Would you like an experiment? Go put on a radio program like Radiolab, or Snap Judgment, and then try to read a book for 10 minutes or so.

How'd it go? Chances are you probably are either on the same sentence (or at least the same page) that you started on, and you remember all the awesomeness that are Radiolab and Snap Judgment, or you aren't sure what was said on the radio and you're a few pages in.

You've just shown yourself what these researchers have figured out - that we can't actually devote our attention to more than one thing. If we do, we are actually switching our attention back and forth and back and forth rapidly. That's why when we're painting and listening to music, sometimes the music will stop and we won't even notice it because we're so focused on painting and not the music.

So what does this have to do with making art? Well, it comes down to focus. If you've ever talked to Monkey, he seems about the most unfocused person in history. Besides juggling multiple projects (running a gallery, a screenprinting business, his own personal gallery art, school, a part-time job, etc.), he's constantly brainstorming new ideas to innovate current projects and coming up with new projects. And yes, Monkey admits that his biggest problem is his lack of focus on a single thing.

And here we come to the moral of the story - practice focusing. It's fine to be busy and to juggle multiple things, but as our little experiment (and the big one that the University of Michigan researchers did) shows, to really multitask we're constantly jumping back and forth from one thing to another. As good as we might be at this, we're actually being less effective than if we just sat down and tackled each task in turn.

So while learning painting, woodworking, opera singing, and dancing is great (and even encouraged!), we don't advocate trying to handle this all at once. You'll do both of them poorly, and you'll learn much slower than if you took a set amount of time and focused on one skill intensely for a small amount of time.

When we're trying to work, we're constantly jumping back and forth between blogs, and facebook, and emails, and news articles, etc. etc. You'll work much more efficiently and effectively if you just read all the news articles and get it out of your system. Then read your blogs, check FB, write your emails, and then get down to work. Really, if you have to get all that out of the way first, then do so, but handle one task at a time and you'll be better off for it.

Keeping Things Fresh

In-progress painting, ~5 hours

Before we get on with our usual blog fare, we just wanted to remind you about some of the many events coming up in the next week or so.

This Friday, Feb. 11th, both Monkey + Seal will be in Wonderland SF's group show "Just Because.." along with 16 other talented artists. The opening night reception is from 6-10pm at Wonderland SF in the Mission, 2929 24th Street to be exact.

This weekend at Big Umbrella Studios, we'll be having a super duper trunk show! There will be vegan fare and baked goods, along with other awesome vendors on Sunday, from 12-5pm at 906.5 Divisadero St (x McAllister). You should also stop on by on Saturday to see an entirely different slate of vendors and show your support. Same time, same place, different food options.

Monkey here.

I recently started taking classes at City College of San Francisco (CCSF, for those in the know). As you probably know, I already have a (expensive) degree from Academy of Art University. Why would I go back to school?

Three reasons. The first, which is NOT what this post is about, is so that my student loans might be deferred just a little bit longer.

The second, more interesting reason (but still not what this post is about) is that I wanted to get back into printmaking (other than silkscreen), and by taking printmaking classes I'd have access to some presses.

The third, most important reason is that I wanted to keep things fresh. While at the Academy, because I was pressured to paint in the style of classical realism (ie realistic paintings, rendering form, strong light sources, etc.), I ended up feeling confined and frustrated and that's how I ended up going into my current style of looser, outlined, messy-background paintings that I do now, even going so far as to sometimes including text.

However, after painting in this loose manner for the past year, I started to get a bit bored with my current style. Fortunately I had been changing up subject matter over the past year or so, but I still saw things getting a bit stale. Because I had been fortunate to have a fairly filled schedule of shows, most paintings were paintings done under a deadline, and I didn't have a lot of time to experiment.

By taking painting classes at CCSF, I've given myself the permission (and time) to paint in other styles. Instead of drawing sketches on canvas with pencil (or completely making something out of random brush strokes) like I usually do for my current body of work, I've gone back to my Academy training of painting from reference, doing quick underpaintings with paint, and (albeit stylistically) rending form instead of using line to create the image.

Painting in this way helps me to keep my speed up and is just a great way of practicing my skill set. Regardless of the finished product, I'm practicing more, which is one of the keys to success. After all, practice makes perfect with art, and it's really all about mileage. While it might not be obvious how painting in different styles helps, there are a lot of things that I can practice regardless of the style. How to get my paint to the consistency I want. Brush control. Color mixing. No matter the task, creating with paint on a daily basis is super helpful if you want to improve your craft.

All in all, I think that it is really important to keep things fresh here and there, in order to make sure that you're not getting tired of the same thing. Experimentation and trying new (or older) styles or themes can be really helpful as even if you don't learn something new that directly applies to your current style, you'll be rehearsing the basics, which will just make you stronger.

Whether taking classes at a community college or going to art school (if you haven't yet), by changing stuff up and making time for a change of pace, you'll be able to keep things fresh and, most importantly, keep art fun. After all, when art stops being fun, then it's just a job.

The Secret to Surviving a Crazy Deadline

Chronos, King of Deadlines and Missed Buses

As professional artist, you will have deadlines. That is a truth that cannot really be escaped, unless you are so famous that people are willing to wait however long it takes (ala one of Seal's heroes, Yuri Norstein and his wife). But for most of us, we face deadlines, either by having to get work delivered by a certain date for a gallery show, or overnight deadlines for newspaper illustrations, etc. etc. How to survive?

Well, let's rule out avoiding the crazy deadline in the first place. Whether you procrastinated too much, or life happened, or your client is sorta nuts and expects miracles, you're in this situation and that's that.

So, what do we do? First things first is to figure out a plan. While it may seem counter-intuitive to take a quick breather and map out a game plan, this step is crucial. Seal is great at this, which makes Monkey very grateful to have her, since he tends to take action before thinking at times. Planning your course of action is very important, since time is not on your side, you want to be as efficient as possible.

By figuring out all the steps you have to take, you can figure out your priorities, and create a flowchart of action items. For something like silkscreen, figuring out a proper flowchart can save you hours of time. Since the bottlenecks in the printing process usually revolve around waiting for the screens to dry, you have to constantly jump back and forth in the process to maximize your time. If there is a part of the process that can't be sped up (ie. paint drying, etc.) try to do other things that might take you a long time that can be done in any order while that's happening (ie. going out and buying a frame, or writing up price sheets, etc.).

At the top of your priority list should be any extra materials you might need. If you can make sure that you won't run out of some crucial supply ("Nooooo, I'm out of cyan ink and it's 3am!!"), you'll save yourself crazy amounts of stress. Also, it'll help you overall as you won't get distracted with a sudden stop due to lack of materials. You want to make getting the work done as streamlined as possible.

Now that you've got your plan of action, Monkey + Seal recommend grabbing a quick snack. Monkey prefers Cliff Bars (the Blueberry ones are pretty awesome). Carbs or sugars are generally a great way to go, as you want to make sure that your blood sugar is high. You're going to probably be working harder and faster than usual, so you want to make sure that you have some readily accessible energy. Nothing is worse than going at it and then suddenly have your energy just tank on you. Also, in order to keep from crashing, it's a good idea to snack here and there if time permits to keep that blood sugar as stable as possible. Make sure you're staying hydrated - it'll help to prevent headaches and will aid in digestion.

Next - make sure that you can get rid of as many distractions as possible. If you can, turn off the phone. Close all the extraneous blog windows and social media sites. Get off twitter and facebook. Turn on some music (if you work well with music) or turn it off (if you need silence) and get some earplugs. The least amount of stuff you have vying for your attention the easier it'll be to stay focused and work more efficiently.

Finally, (here comes the hard part,) you get down to work.

There. You've somehow managed to survive another crazy deadline, and it's time for some well-deserved rest (hopefully). Now you can use the knowledge gained from this experience to make next time a bit easier. The more knowledge you have about your working habits (how long it takes to paint a 16x20 landscape, or how much ink you need to make 50 prints, etc.) the better you can plan for the future. Congratulations!