Samson and His Bride...

Today I had the pleasure of a photo session with an incredibly attractive couple.

A handsome, powerful Samson...


And his precious bride... an arrestingly beautiful woman, who definitely has nothing but her beauty in common with infamous Delilah.


Together they make a stunning couple. Visually and otherwise. You two rock!

Nothing is Ruined

After playing with parts of the face in my work for the last session, this sketchbook cover seemed appropriate...
We focused on printmaking this time. I hastily carved this boy's face during one session to be used in exploring a number of techniques:
Here he is printed on a patterned background which we stamped in a previous session. I know, the colors aren't true to life, but doesn't this color scheme epitomize childhood fun?
Here we explored printing on a patterned background, then adding color and hatching to enhance the design. See, I can do more a more representational color scheme...
Then we were introduced to cross-hatching...
And once home, I experimented adding charcoal and pastels to the same print for an entirely different feel... And all this with only one stamp. I have enough inspiration with my archived photos to devote years to stamp making alone.

But we moved on to techniques with Shiva Oil Sticks the next day. We were instructed to bring out one of our "disaster" acrylic experiments (I had a difficult time choosing from my extensive collection) to transform. Here is my final choice...
After the application of the Shiva Sticks, I could see this woman wanting to come out of the paper. So I pulled out the pens to help her show herself.
I will share the astounding lessons learned from this process:

1. Don't be afraid to experiment, even if you think your final product is hideous! Mistakes are a vital part of the learning process, so don't fear the ugly outcomes...
2. Art (and life) is a process. It isn't usually completed in a single sitting or with a single process. It is built up in layers and in reaction to what has come before..
3. Patience and fearless determination may sound (and be) painful, but can yield surprising rewards that make the process worthwhile. Remember childbirth? Art can be just like that...
4. And finally, nothing is a total disaster. There's always Shiva!
   

Inspired by Photos Long Past

Before returning to class this time Imade up all he unfinished work. What follows are samples...Inspired by this photo, taken in 2003
I carved a stamp from which I made this rough print. Hm-m-m... I wonder if any of my past clients would find this type of transformation of their favorite photo of interest... as wall art or small stamp or digital print? A great Christmas idea, if I do say so myself. Perhaps the grand kids would like a stencil of themselves on a tee-shirt...
Also inspired by the above photo...
Then I found a picture from Melissa's graduation and used her eye for inspiration in these drawings...

And this stencil. Okay, not bad for a first try, I think...
And this series of cut-outs...