Currently I'm in the sketch phase for several projects, these include:
A tattoo design commission for a half-sleeve.
Poster for a metal band
Concept art for an independent gaming company's medieval MMORPG
Tattoo design commission for small piece on waist.
As well as a miniatures painting commission for a set of miniatures from the Warhammer 40k tabletop game.
I'm also working on some rough ink designs that are personal work which will be part of some upcoming art shows. Layout for a painting, and developing some rough characters for a webcomic idea.
Busy busy, but nothing is ready to scan and share yet. Will try to keep things updated as I go.
Also, for all you teachers and students, happy summer.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
New Piece for the masses
"Fuck you Nature. Sincerely, the pursuit of Profits", 2010
18" x 24", Acrylic on watercolor paper.
Firstly, let me explain the BC 050510, part of the title. Anyone who has received a business card from me has realized that they are all handcrafted. Basically they are experimental paintings like this one that I then grid out and cut up in order to give each person I meet a piece of actual art. I've been doing this for over a year, although I've not yet uploaded any of the BC images here, until this one. This is my BC 050510, which means 'business cards May 5th 2010', each individual card is always numbered so if someone somehow collected them all at some point they could reassemble them. Will any be? I doubt it, but that isn't really the point, its a physical piece of art for the recipient, and this set is being created for the Artrages 2010 event that I am going to this weekend in Boston.
Now the piece in itself:
This is the image that has been stuck in my mind over the past days since I've learned of the massive oil spill from an off shore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Currently the damage is expected to exceed the Exxon Valdez spill off the coast of Alaska from 21 years ago, an ecosystem which is still not fully recovered. This spill is a death sentence to life in that area, not only the creatures of the ocean but the people who make a living as fishermen, the beaches who cater to tourists, and the business that is brought into communities through the food and recreation of those areas, it is all in extreme danger.
Besides the loss of jobs in an already struggling economy, the loss of lives as food and habitat are poisoned by a fossil fuel that we as a civilization should no longer be reliant on. There are wars fought over this black crud that spews from the ground, people die by the hundreds, yet oil companies still drill at Gaia, our Earth, our mother, in search of this relic of the dinosaurs. Why are we still reliant upon that which kills so many? If the pursuit of oil profits was put aside, we'd have long surpassed the need for crude oil. If companies and the fat cats at the wheel were not so intent on drilling for money, then we would not be stuck in what is at this point a dark aged resources hunt.
In my eyes, allowing this course of action to continue has all of us saying the same thing, and that is "fuck you nature, we'd rather kill the very planet and life beneath our feet and around us, then to change our ways and find alternatives."
I ask that we all, myself included, seek new ways to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel, take a bus, or subway instead of your car, or at least carpool. Ride a bike, walk, flap your arms and fly. Do something, and maybe we can change the overall message that we are allowing to continue. Dont stand by and let this continue, voice your concerns and disagreements, and let us all work toward a better tomorrow, together.
(click img for full view)
18" x 24", Acrylic on watercolor paper.
Firstly, let me explain the BC 050510, part of the title. Anyone who has received a business card from me has realized that they are all handcrafted. Basically they are experimental paintings like this one that I then grid out and cut up in order to give each person I meet a piece of actual art. I've been doing this for over a year, although I've not yet uploaded any of the BC images here, until this one. This is my BC 050510, which means 'business cards May 5th 2010', each individual card is always numbered so if someone somehow collected them all at some point they could reassemble them. Will any be? I doubt it, but that isn't really the point, its a physical piece of art for the recipient, and this set is being created for the Artrages 2010 event that I am going to this weekend in Boston.
Now the piece in itself:
This is the image that has been stuck in my mind over the past days since I've learned of the massive oil spill from an off shore drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Currently the damage is expected to exceed the Exxon Valdez spill off the coast of Alaska from 21 years ago, an ecosystem which is still not fully recovered. This spill is a death sentence to life in that area, not only the creatures of the ocean but the people who make a living as fishermen, the beaches who cater to tourists, and the business that is brought into communities through the food and recreation of those areas, it is all in extreme danger.
Besides the loss of jobs in an already struggling economy, the loss of lives as food and habitat are poisoned by a fossil fuel that we as a civilization should no longer be reliant on. There are wars fought over this black crud that spews from the ground, people die by the hundreds, yet oil companies still drill at Gaia, our Earth, our mother, in search of this relic of the dinosaurs. Why are we still reliant upon that which kills so many? If the pursuit of oil profits was put aside, we'd have long surpassed the need for crude oil. If companies and the fat cats at the wheel were not so intent on drilling for money, then we would not be stuck in what is at this point a dark aged resources hunt.
In my eyes, allowing this course of action to continue has all of us saying the same thing, and that is "fuck you nature, we'd rather kill the very planet and life beneath our feet and around us, then to change our ways and find alternatives."
I ask that we all, myself included, seek new ways to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel, take a bus, or subway instead of your car, or at least carpool. Ride a bike, walk, flap your arms and fly. Do something, and maybe we can change the overall message that we are allowing to continue. Dont stand by and let this continue, voice your concerns and disagreements, and let us all work toward a better tomorrow, together.
(click img for full view)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
slackin
been doing lots of ink work and some painting as well as trying to market to galleries and companies, so far little to no response. Not seeing it as a negative, I see it as if I don't get replies now I'll just crank more work and send again. I'm stubborn/persistent, however you choose to say it, and at this point I've no longer got the option of sitting and waiting for companies to see my stuff and get in touch. Its a mission of developing my work and getting it out there.
Back to painting tonight, working on a commissioned poster for a band. Will share the images once I'm done with the piece, sketch phase now.
Also adding more images as well as the in progress of the LTSE set.
annnnd, setting up my Etsy account finally, just got to update my paypal info before I start selling prints of my work online. All links will be up this week.
Back to painting tonight, working on a commissioned poster for a band. Will share the images once I'm done with the piece, sketch phase now.
Also adding more images as well as the in progress of the LTSE set.
annnnd, setting up my Etsy account finally, just got to update my paypal info before I start selling prints of my work online. All links will be up this week.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Art Craziness
This month is definitely going to involve a number of sleepless nights and weekends spent working. I've got a dozen shows I'm interested in participating in over the next few months and at least half of those require new pieces of artwork. Also have several illustration projects that I'll be working on (sketch phases) during the same time.
Probably take a break not this week, but def next week, during which I'll post the 'how it went down' for the "A Lifetime Shared Through an Embrace" (LTSE) set of four 4" x 6" panels.
Probably also link a couple past images and update with some recently completed work that I've not yet been able to upload. My scanner should be working with my newly upgraded computer by next week so I'm very happy that I'll have functional hardware once again (iTunes here I come!) After the artwork for these shows is done I'll be sharing the links to galleries and events on here as well. Some of the same pieces will be on display in multiple shows, but will def be working on getting as much new stuff involved as well.
Also, since the comp will be usable for digital work and editing, I'm finally going to be able to work on setting up the website the way I want it which means I'll actually update it again (note: this is going to take time, so lets shoot for a mid summer re-launch and a party to go with it)
All the best to everyone, see you on the other side of midnight.
Probably take a break not this week, but def next week, during which I'll post the 'how it went down' for the "A Lifetime Shared Through an Embrace" (LTSE) set of four 4" x 6" panels.
Probably also link a couple past images and update with some recently completed work that I've not yet been able to upload. My scanner should be working with my newly upgraded computer by next week so I'm very happy that I'll have functional hardware once again (iTunes here I come!) After the artwork for these shows is done I'll be sharing the links to galleries and events on here as well. Some of the same pieces will be on display in multiple shows, but will def be working on getting as much new stuff involved as well.
Also, since the comp will be usable for digital work and editing, I'm finally going to be able to work on setting up the website the way I want it which means I'll actually update it again (note: this is going to take time, so lets shoot for a mid summer re-launch and a party to go with it)
All the best to everyone, see you on the other side of midnight.
Monday, March 1, 2010
"Of Dreams and Death" - How it went down
This year I decided to take a slightly different approach to my personal paintings, and finally turned an idea that has been milling around in my head for some time into an actuality. This method basically involves me coming up with an image that I want to create, breaking it down into panels, and then making each one of those separate panels into in image on its own. Each of the panels relates a variation of the same idea or concept, carrying itself as a series of ideas that are parts of one idea (the larger image). At the moment I dont know the technical term for this approach to painting, and I havent actually seen it done elsewhere in this way, although I wouldn't be surprised if it has already been done. However if you happen to know what this is called please let me know (with a link if possible) as I'd love to have something to call what I'm doing.
After seeing this painting, and the following set which I completed in Feb (coming next), I was asked by a number of people how I made the images,.... so..... heres a number of images that I took while I was working on the piece, these are not every little new details, but give an idea of how it got put together. This is also the first time I'm showing this kind of step-by-step of any of my work, so hope it gives a sense of what happens to turn a white board into a very fun entertaining (to me at least) painting.
Also since this is the first time sharing this, I'll be explaining what is going on in a sentence or paragraph under each image. If at all anything I say gets confusing, please let me know so I can either edit or further explain to those interested. Thank you, and Enjoy
"Of Dreams and Death" - January 2010. Acrylic on Illustration Board.
Start.
Sketching (1)- Already have the glid for the panels laid out, rough sketching of the face image is down very lightly. Defining details at this point, with this image I started with the middle three (left to right) you can already see the girl in the left one, some of the elements in the center, and the man on the right.
Sketching (2) - At this point all the basic elements that define what each image is about have been put into the drawing, some of these will be altered by the time the piece is done, usually while I'm painting. This is pretty much my structure for what I'm going to do in the piece.
Once the sketch is finished, I spray it with a coat of fixative. All that does is put a thin layer over the drawing which protects it from the wet medium of the paint. (no smudging of pencil while I'm painting)
Shading (3) - Since the overall image is going to be broken down, I'm relying on line work and shading to keep if visible to the viewer. This is me laying in some very watered down browns to figure out where I need to keep the image darkest and lightest without losing the face.
Shading (4) - Further developed shading. I now have my panels essentially planned out. For me this means one of the more difficult stages is over and I can now play with colors and brush strokes.
Layin' Paint (5) - At this point I lay a few basic washes of color, just to give myself an idea of what I'm going to be working with in each area. The top right and bottom right corners I also flesh out some details that I didn't want to lay down too darkly with the browns. This is the final touches of groundwork, and next I get into the nitty gritty detail of things.
Detail Paint (6) - Now that I've got my groundwork I start finishing each panel. During this process I occassionally use a piece of cardboard with a 4" x 6" cutout the size of my panels to block out the rest of the image. I do that so I can make sure I like the way the panel looks on its own, especially since this is meant to be a number of strong single images which make 1 large one.
By now I've basically finished the first panel and started laying in the second, as well as some random details elsewhere as I see fit.
Detail Paint (7) -Finish on 2nd and 3rd panels, also rewriting the poem in panel 2 in ink over the acrylic. Simply because my brushes are meant to paint not write, and the pen has a fine tip which makes it easier and neater.
Detail Paint (9) - The 4th panel goes down well, much of the shading was already down, so it was really a matter of laying in the waves, and working up the values of my color.
Detail Painting (10) - Panel 5 is essentially the nexus of the painting. It is both a heavily surrealistic image, as well as a piece that has to show the facial features, while still tying the rest of the images into one another. My first approach at this one I liked,.... until I stepped back from it and realized that the excess amount o white I had in the lower portion of it pulled the bottom too far forward as well as from a distance made the face scary by giving the impression of a tied mouth or teeth or something.
Detail Painting (11) - Softening the contrast in the center panel gave it a look I was more confident with, the face feels softer. Also darkened under the eyes to carry the shading through and give more definition to the facial features. Panel 6 is also done at this point although I will go back into it later to make some adjustments.
Detail Painting (12) - Starting on the firetruck piece I wanted to build the main elements first and try to get everything as accurately laid in as possible. Building up the smoke, and the shadow on the vehicles.
Detail Painting (13) - Added the firefighters and other rescue persons, as well as the lamp post in the foreground. The lamp wasn't part of the original sketch, but I wasn't liking the way that the lighting was, or how flat the piece was starting to feel, so I integrated another element that filled the symbolic need as well as a foreground image. Symbolically the lamp is the brightest part of the scene, and it is also what is position wise, at the center of the action. What unites these men to save lives at the risk of there own? A burning beacon within is this simplest way I can put it. That is why the lamp came to be.
Detail Painting (14) - Once the shadows were darkened and all the paint layers came together on the 7th panel (bottom left) I really liked the way it showed, as well as the tie in to the rest. 8 and 9 were a cakewalk in comparison.
This is where any addition details are touched up, values are adjusted to where I want them if they weren't there 100% before. Its time to bring in the knife.
Making the cut (15) - Yes, that's right, choppin' time. Each panel is cut from the illustration board, taking extra care at this point to not damage the images themselves, or (hopefully) myself. After each is cut out I use a matte varnish over its surface as well as the sides to seal the board. Arrange as necessary on a hand painted black background on watercolor paper. This puppy is now ready for a frame. FIN.
That's the synopsis of how it all went down. This took,.... I'd say about 2 weeks of work to accomplish, and considering at least one of those weeks involved little to no sleep, I'd say its about 3 weeks of a 9-5'ers hours invested. Hope you enjoy the finished piece, I know my back did. A couple days o letting my spine re-align into position and more work.
Feel free to share any comments, critiques, interests, or ask any questions. Thanks.
~James Groeling
After seeing this painting, and the following set which I completed in Feb (coming next), I was asked by a number of people how I made the images,.... so..... heres a number of images that I took while I was working on the piece, these are not every little new details, but give an idea of how it got put together. This is also the first time I'm showing this kind of step-by-step of any of my work, so hope it gives a sense of what happens to turn a white board into a very fun entertaining (to me at least) painting.
Also since this is the first time sharing this, I'll be explaining what is going on in a sentence or paragraph under each image. If at all anything I say gets confusing, please let me know so I can either edit or further explain to those interested. Thank you, and Enjoy
"Of Dreams and Death" - January 2010. Acrylic on Illustration Board.
Start.Sketching (1)- Already have the glid for the panels laid out, rough sketching of the face image is down very lightly. Defining details at this point, with this image I started with the middle three (left to right) you can already see the girl in the left one, some of the elements in the center, and the man on the right.
Sketching (2) - At this point all the basic elements that define what each image is about have been put into the drawing, some of these will be altered by the time the piece is done, usually while I'm painting. This is pretty much my structure for what I'm going to do in the piece.Once the sketch is finished, I spray it with a coat of fixative. All that does is put a thin layer over the drawing which protects it from the wet medium of the paint. (no smudging of pencil while I'm painting)
Shading (3) - Since the overall image is going to be broken down, I'm relying on line work and shading to keep if visible to the viewer. This is me laying in some very watered down browns to figure out where I need to keep the image darkest and lightest without losing the face.Shading (4) - Further developed shading. I now have my panels essentially planned out. For me this means one of the more difficult stages is over and I can now play with colors and brush strokes.Layin' Paint (5) - At this point I lay a few basic washes of color, just to give myself an idea of what I'm going to be working with in each area. The top right and bottom right corners I also flesh out some details that I didn't want to lay down too darkly with the browns. This is the final touches of groundwork, and next I get into the nitty gritty detail of things.Detail Paint (6) - Now that I've got my groundwork I start finishing each panel. During this process I occassionally use a piece of cardboard with a 4" x 6" cutout the size of my panels to block out the rest of the image. I do that so I can make sure I like the way the panel looks on its own, especially since this is meant to be a number of strong single images which make 1 large one.By now I've basically finished the first panel and started laying in the second, as well as some random details elsewhere as I see fit.
Detail Paint (7) -Finish on 2nd and 3rd panels, also rewriting the poem in panel 2 in ink over the acrylic. Simply because my brushes are meant to paint not write, and the pen has a fine tip which makes it easier and neater.Detail Paint (9) - The 4th panel goes down well, much of the shading was already down, so it was really a matter of laying in the waves, and working up the values of my color.Detail Painting (10) - Panel 5 is essentially the nexus of the painting. It is both a heavily surrealistic image, as well as a piece that has to show the facial features, while still tying the rest of the images into one another. My first approach at this one I liked,.... until I stepped back from it and realized that the excess amount o white I had in the lower portion of it pulled the bottom too far forward as well as from a distance made the face scary by giving the impression of a tied mouth or teeth or something.Detail Painting (11) - Softening the contrast in the center panel gave it a look I was more confident with, the face feels softer. Also darkened under the eyes to carry the shading through and give more definition to the facial features. Panel 6 is also done at this point although I will go back into it later to make some adjustments.Detail Painting (12) - Starting on the firetruck piece I wanted to build the main elements first and try to get everything as accurately laid in as possible. Building up the smoke, and the shadow on the vehicles.Detail Painting (13) - Added the firefighters and other rescue persons, as well as the lamp post in the foreground. The lamp wasn't part of the original sketch, but I wasn't liking the way that the lighting was, or how flat the piece was starting to feel, so I integrated another element that filled the symbolic need as well as a foreground image. Symbolically the lamp is the brightest part of the scene, and it is also what is position wise, at the center of the action. What unites these men to save lives at the risk of there own? A burning beacon within is this simplest way I can put it. That is why the lamp came to be.Detail Painting (14) - Once the shadows were darkened and all the paint layers came together on the 7th panel (bottom left) I really liked the way it showed, as well as the tie in to the rest. 8 and 9 were a cakewalk in comparison.This is where any addition details are touched up, values are adjusted to where I want them if they weren't there 100% before. Its time to bring in the knife.
Making the cut (15) - Yes, that's right, choppin' time. Each panel is cut from the illustration board, taking extra care at this point to not damage the images themselves, or (hopefully) myself. After each is cut out I use a matte varnish over its surface as well as the sides to seal the board. Arrange as necessary on a hand painted black background on watercolor paper. This puppy is now ready for a frame. FIN. That's the synopsis of how it all went down. This took,.... I'd say about 2 weeks of work to accomplish, and considering at least one of those weeks involved little to no sleep, I'd say its about 3 weeks of a 9-5'ers hours invested. Hope you enjoy the finished piece, I know my back did. A couple days o letting my spine re-align into position and more work.
Feel free to share any comments, critiques, interests, or ask any questions. Thanks.
~James Groeling
New Blog,.... first shot at this
Hello,
I've tried the blog thing in the past, meant it as more of a personal thing, but I'm a fairly private person with my own life happenings,.... so that didn't really pan out at all. This however is not going to be a purely personal attempt, this will be my way of sharing my artistic happenings, new shows, events, pieces and works in progress. Obviously as an artist this means there will be many posts about the crazy wild parties I'm showing my pieces at and the keg stands, beer bongs and go-go dancers, etc..... (*sarcasm, get used to it if your going to keep on reading)
Really though, I'll be posting step by step images of works as I complete them, and definitely be sharing not only my own artwork through here, but the art of friends and other artists who I meet throughout the course of this experiment. The experiment is the online sharing of what I encounter, great shows and art as well as not so great stuff. Acceptances, rejections, criticisms of my own work, as well as the critiquing of what I see. My eyes have yet to fail me as much as my ears, so I think I can do this fairly well.
I will be counting on some readers to post comments and share insight and even arguments (in a civil manner I hope) Basically as a way to keep this more interesting and to keep me more invested in it by having fans who show their support. Also, I would like to take this moment to thank all my family, friends and fans who have been so supportive in attending events where my art has been displayed, shows and exhibitions, as well as purchasing the prints of my work and helping to spread the visuals and get more people interested in my work. Honestly, you have no idea how grateful I am that I have people who appreciate my art enough to take the time and effort to help it get out into the world. Because of you (whose names I will not unleash on the internet without your express say-so, but you know who you are) this is the year that I've really started to get my work into a marketable format and am driven to expand my online presence and make my name known. Thank you so much.
Keep watching and I promise at least (and by at least, I really mean more then that unless I'm ill or on a long vacation) one posting per week containing some new imagery, event, show, or anything I feel is suitable to share with the masses.
All the best to each of you, and may this year be great for us all as a new starting point in following our dreams.
James Groeling.
I've tried the blog thing in the past, meant it as more of a personal thing, but I'm a fairly private person with my own life happenings,.... so that didn't really pan out at all. This however is not going to be a purely personal attempt, this will be my way of sharing my artistic happenings, new shows, events, pieces and works in progress. Obviously as an artist this means there will be many posts about the crazy wild parties I'm showing my pieces at and the keg stands, beer bongs and go-go dancers, etc..... (*sarcasm, get used to it if your going to keep on reading)
Really though, I'll be posting step by step images of works as I complete them, and definitely be sharing not only my own artwork through here, but the art of friends and other artists who I meet throughout the course of this experiment. The experiment is the online sharing of what I encounter, great shows and art as well as not so great stuff. Acceptances, rejections, criticisms of my own work, as well as the critiquing of what I see. My eyes have yet to fail me as much as my ears, so I think I can do this fairly well.
I will be counting on some readers to post comments and share insight and even arguments (in a civil manner I hope) Basically as a way to keep this more interesting and to keep me more invested in it by having fans who show their support. Also, I would like to take this moment to thank all my family, friends and fans who have been so supportive in attending events where my art has been displayed, shows and exhibitions, as well as purchasing the prints of my work and helping to spread the visuals and get more people interested in my work. Honestly, you have no idea how grateful I am that I have people who appreciate my art enough to take the time and effort to help it get out into the world. Because of you (whose names I will not unleash on the internet without your express say-so, but you know who you are) this is the year that I've really started to get my work into a marketable format and am driven to expand my online presence and make my name known. Thank you so much.
Keep watching and I promise at least (and by at least, I really mean more then that unless I'm ill or on a long vacation) one posting per week containing some new imagery, event, show, or anything I feel is suitable to share with the masses.
All the best to each of you, and may this year be great for us all as a new starting point in following our dreams.
James Groeling.
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