Isn't it interesting..............

.........what difference a few hours and glasses of wine make. Balanced the helmet tones, and almost completed the jacket - sunglasses and safety glass are the order of the day today - sure beats sitting in front of a computer........which is kind of ironic..............

A plastic plate, a hole punch, and a Sharpie

Well, the wall's pretty much finished, so I began detailing the items inside the case. The final piece will have fire safety glass as the case door, so I wanted to begin detailing to a level that would complement this - i.e. low. The thing about super realism, is that it takes a long time. The thing about super realism on a piece that's 48" x 80" is that it takes a REALLY long time. So, I have to learn to cut corners, and not spend too much time on elements that aren't the main focus of the piece, such as breeze blocks and peg board. So, I basically found a section of pegboard (my daughter's toy tool set), and used it as a dot template - notice I say "dot" not "hole" - I then had to punch a hole in a plastic plate, and Sharpie in every hole individually (this method proved to work the best) - onto the helmet and jacket now...........

Falling Goat

A few years ago, I completed a piece for a friend's brother. It was entitled "Bombat Helicopcop Dead", after a dream that the brother's son had had. A few weeks ago, he contacted me again, asking for another painting, this time entitled "Falling Goat". The facts is, his daughter and his other son were to be in the painting, and the "falling goat" is a password she uses around the house - it's a very entailed description, but if one client ever pushes me from the world of Realism, to that of Surrealism, it'll be this guy...............

Captain America Update

Who'd have thought that the most labour intensive part of the painting would be breeze block walls? So simple in theory, but not so in practice - so many subtle pinholes and shading variances in the mortar will make this a long haul. I have found in the past that this monotony can translate into a magical backdrop, on which the real subject is displayed - that's why I figured I'd get it finished before completing any more of the painting...........I just need to remain sane.

Captain America update

Friday at last, and managed to get a full day, (i.e. no architecture), on the painting. Completed the security case for the items, and began mapping in their shadows. As I had the jacket, sunglasses, and miniature toy helmet in my possession, I simply shone a flashlight on each piece individually, and used the resulting shadows as reference - the sunglasses were the most surprising - I didn't realise they sat so far off the canvas. Either way, it's starting to look convincing, and that's really all that keeps me going. Otherwise, I'd probably be designing a bedroom addition instead.........

Captain America update

Managed to get another few hours in on the Captain America Emergency Kit painting today - using my own abused Indian motorcycle jacket as reference, I began working into the coat, in order to try and acheive the worn, old look. I figured the coat is better with some battle scars (and possibly the helmet), as it was at the end of the movie - plus, no one wants to look at a NEW motorcycle jacket - let alone wear one - anyway, still plenty of work left on it, so off I go..........

Guest Appearance at Dunbar EuroSports

Saturday was a busy day. I visited Dunbar Eurosports, a local Ducati and BMW dealership as a "guest painter", where I finished off the Casey Stoner helmet, as part of the Customer Appreciation Day. I had some good feedback, as well as some print orders of the Ducati in Styrofoam! It was an all day session, from about 10:30 to 3:30, and got to meet a lot of great people, including a few members of The Yankee Beemers, the New England BMW Club.

In between Tacos and painting, I got a chance to chat with Roy Bertalotto, the Club President, and we discussed a possible BMW painting, so stay tuned for updates.

All in all, the attendees consisted of very knowledgeable and big time riders, obviously full of the riding passion. The atmosphere was great, and I made some great contacts.

One of the highlights, as far as bikes goes, was the already infamous Ducati Desmosedici RR, the $72,000, 200 HP Race Replica. Full Carbon Fiber panels and tip top components and 1 of only 45 imported to the US, it really was a pleasant surprise to see it in the flesh.

Now, off to finish Captain America.............