fernando valenzuela

Finally! after months of it sittin garound after i made the pencil outline, i finished the painting!

I got the idea for it after thinking of what to make for David and Ruchelle, i was originally going to paint them a Batman fanboy looking guy, since i know David is a comic book fan, but it never felt right, The Joker i made for Jaime was perfect for him, it was a character he loved, it had the color orange, i knew he would really enjoy it. But the Batman fanboy thing didn't fit David and Ruchelle (who are married to each other in case anyone is wondering) I really want them to have something that they will really enjoy, something that fits what they both like, so since they are both huge Dodger fans, i knew i didn't have to think that much about it

After deciding on a Dodgers theme, what was i going to make? At one point i was going to paint Dodger Stadium, but i wasn't feeling that one, i kept thinking of players i could paint a portrait of, and not knowing anything about sports, the only one i could think of when i thought about players for the Dodgers was Fernando Valenzuela.

Fernando was the best pitcher for the Dodgers in the 80's, or so i remember, i don't even know if they like him as a player, but the decision has been made, and Fernando V. it is

After doing a few sketches to get familiar with the shapes of the picture i was going to use as reference, i worked on the layout on the panel i was going to use, then when i sat down to paint...nothing, i wasn't feeling it, i couldn't force myself to do it, i let it rest for a few days, then sat back down, i had started painting the face, but it was not going well, i wasn't liking it, it felt wrong, and i washed it all off
It sat aorund for almost 2 months! Everytime i would sit infront of it to get to work, i would go blank and did not know where to start, it was very frustrating, i felt blocked!
i looked up information on how to help myslef snap out of it, all i could find were people describing the exact way i felt, but offered no actual help.

Finally on wednesday March 26, 2008, after taking a nap, i was going to watch a DVD but didn't feel like it, i kept telling myself over and over how much time i had been wasting, so i sat infront of the easel, set the camera up, squeezed out some paint, and started. 5 hours later i had to force myself to stop because i had to go to sleep and wake up early to go to work, but i was very pleased with what i had done, i had blocked in all the major shapes and colors, and had completed the face, i had that "fuck yeah!" feeling, like, "look at that, i made that!"
I don't know if i was really blocked, or i had made myself blocked by over thinking about what i had to do. When i wanted to work on it before, i did not like that empty feeling i kept getting, i hope not to go through it again, but i know i will, next time i'll just try to ignore it and work through it, maybe that's all i had to do the first time i sat down to paint it, just start working and move through it

I had to work the next couple of days after i had started it, and finishing it was all i could think of, i didn't want to work on it and sleep for a few hours, i knew i would pay for it the next day, so i let it sit for 2 days, and finished it on saturday night

I love this piece, i know David and Ruchelle will enjoy it.

Up next, i'm going to work on a painting for my older brother, he wants a painting of a Savannah Sunset that he would like to hang in the living room which has sort of a safari theme, it's going to be on a canvas that is 24 x 48, which is the largest canvas i will have worked on to date, but it should be easy, it's a landscape, which has more longer similar shapes, and a sunset which is primarily in orange, yellows, blues, greens and dark silhouttes, this should be fun

the 40/4 challenge

I received a video from Janeczka that was titled "40/4"
it was a surreal video, with a text over it, it was a poem that was both in english and french, it talked about snow and the night, it was very random and artsy, and cool!
after watching the video, i noticed it said it was a reply to the video "The 40/4 Challenge" by SilentDilemma, i remembered i had seen seen another video with this title the previous week from another user named Nezoone, which was also kind of weird, she was sitting on a park bench, and there was snow all around her, there were words under her on the snow.

I had to see what this was all about, so i checked out SilentDilemma's video called "The 40/4 Challenge" in the description he wrote

"40 seconds. 4 lines. That's all it takes. Just create a 40 second video, with 4 lines of text. It could be anything: poetry, or just some random thoughts. Then post the video as response to this one. I'll create some compilation videos soon!"

so this was what their videos had been about!
At the risk of being unpopular and because it sounded like a good idea, i brought out my camera once again, and put together some sounds i had in my collection and put this creepy 40 second video together

The tough part was coming up with the 4 lines
i wanted to create something that would easily explain how i felt at the moment
i hadn't painted anything for almost 2 months, and felt blocked, the more i thought about creating something the more i didn't do anything, like there was an invisible force stopping me, and i was feeding it more and more with my fear of wanting to create but not knowing what to do, or that i didn't feel like doing it

this project was extremely entertaining and fun to work on, this was a great idea SilentDilemma!
can't wait to see the compilation!

tagged!

i was tagged!
the tag game had been the craze on YouTube for a while a few months back, i was surprised to find an email from "Tesapie" (as she calls herself) she's one of the many artists whose videos i like to watch.

The rules of the game were to give 5 facts about yourself, then tag 5 people at the end so they could do the same

Coming up with 5 facts about myself was very hard, i couldn't think of that many!
a few came to mind very quick, but other than that i was blank.
I looked around and checked out other people who had done their 5 fact videos already. There were so many, and they all had such interesting facts, i wasn't even half as interesting as these other people were

After thinking about it over and over i came up wit my 5 facts and worked on the video.
The video was fun to make, i hadn't really used my camera like an actual portable camera since i had bought it, and once i started using it, everything fell into place

then came another tough part choosing 5 people to tag. I wanted to tag 5 people who hadn't been tagged before and who i had some sort of interaction with on the site, i didn't want to choose 5 random users! so i looked in my contacts and subscribers pages, and checked out hose who had regular comment interaction with me and the choices were easy from there

overall this was a fun project to work on, i want to thank Tesapie for tagging me, otherwise i would have never done it.

this was my heater

My heater had stopped working a few months ago, i had used it every night for about 2 months non stop, i guess after so much use they give out

I didn't want to throw it in the garbage can, i didn't know how to get rid of it, so i put it away in a corner of the room and let it collect dust for a while, finally when i decided to just throw it in with the rest of the trash, i got an idea to take it apart and see what i could build with it

I wanted to make a robot, i knew that. I had sort of an idea of what i wanted to do, but when i opened it, it didn't have as many wires or parts as i had imagined, i slowly took ever piece apart seperated them into piles and looked around to see how i could make something out of this mess.

I found some pieces for the head right away, and i knew the fan part was going to be the upper torso, with the fan as some sort of wings, but the rest was difficult, i wanted to use every single piece the heater had to offer, and the only external things i wanted to use were wires and glue.

It sat around for a day as i kept studying the left over pieces and trying to figure out how to put it together, once i got the base figured out, it all fit together like a puzzle, i finished it in a few hours after that.

now it sits on a shelf collecting dust like it was doing before i took it apart, but now it's a work of art...or so i'd like to think

long beach museum of art

I got a phone call from my friend Tommy, he invited me to check out a painting demonstration featuring Sean Cheetham, Jeremy Lipking and F. Scott Hess

After thinking about it alot, like i always do, i finally decided to go, i figured if i wasn't liking it, i could just leave.
It wasn't bad, when i got there it wasn't crowded, the artists had just started painting, and i was able to walk around and get some pictures, plus i got to hang out with Tommy, who i hadn't seen in like 6 months!
Watching them work was very inspiring, i got to see how they started, what they looked for, and it was 3 different artists using the same model, so it was 3 separate points of view of the same subject, and 3 different styles of painting and techniques
the one thing i kept thinking and i know i wasn't alone, is how slow they were all working, I'm not the best in the world, but they were taking too long!
After a while of sitting out in the sun, more people started showing up, and like i always feel in a huge crowd, i started to get my anxiety feeling, and began feeling very self conscious around all those people, so i asked Tommy if he wanted to check out the inside of the museum
The portraits inside were amazing, they had a special exhibit on portraiture by a ton of current artists including the ones outside painting, i took as many pictures as i could, while i was taking some pictures a woman began talking to me, she had some problems with her camera, and we were talking on how old our cameras feel now, even though they were only a few years old, once her camera began working, we were going to take some pictures but were approached by someone from the museum staff who told us picture taking was not allowed inside, oh well, i had a whole bunch already!
I figured i should leave, i had seen enough for one day, the crowd outside was too much for me to handle, so i said goodbye to Tommy, and took off.
I'm glad i went out and checked it out, it was cool while i was there, i got to see something i would have regretted not seeing, and it wasn't bad.

The Stare

due to the popular demand of my Make Art video, and because i've been lazy with the current painting i've been working on, i decided to make another stopmotion drawing using my favorite Koh-I-Noor sketch pen..enjoy!

Pancho Villa

Oil on Panel 14 x 18

SOLD

the joker

Oil on Panel 14 x 18

SOLD

Make Art

This drawing was made as a response video on YouTube
I had been wondering for a while why YouTube had no "Art" category on their site
there's a category for Pets, Cars, Animation, Film, How-to, Etc.
but no art, why not!

A user by the name of "cheeckychen" had been bothered by it as well, as many users probably were too, and did something about it, he made a video asking for all the artists on YouTube to join in a collaboration to make videos displaying artwork with the words "Make Art" incorporated in it, he's probably planning on putting all these videos together in a massive video and show it to YouTube.

At the moment there is still no "Art" category on the site, but hopefully this collaboration will change their mind

is it wrong for us to ask for an art section?
it would make it much easier for people to find art and artists on YouTube
we shall see

oscar goes outside - the hive gallery

I visit The Hive Gallery in Los Angeles

At the request of a friend, who suggested i get my lazy butt out of the house and to a gallery, i decided to go to the one gallery i was dying to go to, The Hive Gallery!

I was not disappointed
all of the artwork was amazing!
the poeple there were super nice and friendly!
there was parking conviniently across the street from the place!
And, they were filming a scene for the new Knightrider TV show, and i got to see the new car they're using...i should go out more often!

thank you Amanda!

music by:
Craig Ventresco & David Boeddinghaus - Won't You Fondle Me Medley, from Crumb (Original Soundtrack)

Pancho Villa

Doroteo Arango Arámbula better known as Francisco or "Pancho" Villa, was a Mexican Revolutionary general.
His charisma and effectiveness gave him great popularity, he was provisional Governor of Chihuahua in 1913 and 1914.
Villa and his supporters, known as Villistas, employed tactics such as propaganda and firing squads against his enemies, and expropriated hacienda land for distribution to peasants and soldiers. He robbed and commandeered trains, and, like the other Revolutionary generals, printed fiat money to pay for his cause.
While his violence and ambition prevented him from being accepted into the "pantheon" of national heroes until some twenty years after his death, today his memory is honored by many Mexicans.

This painting is for my brother, he loves Pancho Villa, he collects old photographs and memorabilia of his favorite historical figure. So even though it's not authentic memorabilia, i hope he enjoys it...he better!!!

I really love this piece, it was my third attempt at Pancho Villa, i just wasn't getting his likeness right at all, it was bothering me so much, i did sketch after sketch, and those cam out great, but when i put brush to canvas, it got lost, i would go on painting, and get to a certain point, hate it, and get some turpentine and completely erase it!
Finally i figured the third time's a charm, i did a light form and shape sketch, nothing detailed, and began sketching it with my brush instead, the result was this beautiful piece that has become one of my most favorite pieces, i did it n 2 days (work got in the way)

I did use a refernce picture, and i wanted to give it an old fashioned, antique look, it came out great!

the joker

I started this painting at the very end of last year, and finished it within the first week, it took me a while to finish mainly due to my lazyness, i still can't et over being lazy, it's so much easier to just not do anyhting!
I chose the Joker as a subject for two reasons
1. It's a gift for a friend, i was thinkng what i could do for them, i didn't get them a gift for christmas, and wanted to do something, before that i had been strugling a bit to figure out what i could do, and thinking of what the person would like, i remembered the Joker was one of their favorite characters, so i decided to go with it

reason 2. The Joker to me, represents the ultimate drive of human achieveness and awakeness (as i like to call it) Here is someone who is no longer connected to the great hive mentality, they figured it out, sure the Joker is a fictional character, but what it implies is brilliant! He sees that he could truly be whatever he wants to be, it manifests itself in the form of a criminally insane person, who knows that life is nothing but a joke, and a game, not to be taken so seriously, and that in order to be what you want to be in life, you must become it, otherwise it will not be..does that make sense, it does to me...moving on

When i started painting this i began shooting timelapse footage of it through my computer, after a while of painting, it was probably like 45 minutes, i checked to see how the timelapse was going, and it haad stopped on it's own due to lack of space on my computer, it took up so much space!! and i had a bunch of movies taking up hard drive time as well, so instead of going through all the movies and deleteing them and then getting back to the painting, i did nothing for a few days, then began painting but took pictures instead until i finished

Overall, i like this piece, it's my first piece where i didn't use any reference, it came completely from my imagination, and i love it!