Self-Portraits, Cheap Brushes, and Finding My Groove.

Well kids, this has been a revelatory weekend. As I've mentioned in the past (Shaky, for instance), linework has often been a tricky issue for me, particularly if I'm inking with a brush.

So yesterday I sat down to ink a commission for a client, and when I was looking through my brushes I found a cheapie that I picked up at Home Depot a few years back. Well, it turned out to be the best inking brush I've ever used. Put all my Windsor & Newtons to shame.

And armed with this trusty weapon, I cranked out the commission last night, and today I wanted to do more. I wanted something simple, 'cause the main point of the exercise was just to play with ink.

Anyhow, I finally decided upon a self-portrait:

Think I finally found my groove as an inker.

The Sistine Chapel.

You really, really have to check this out. Just amazing.

The Wreckage.

Today, on the advice of my many mentors, I took an old, shitty, unfinished painting and destroyed it.

Fellow artistes, if you haven't tried this yet, you really should. Catharsis on a galactic scale, plus there's one less ugly painting in the world with my name on it.

Dawn Patrol Slideshow.

So in case you're wondering, January was all about the Dawn Patrol triptych. All the base colour work and glazing are done now; the next step will be building up coats of clear.

For you process junkies, this slideshow shows a bunch of macro texture shots:



Thanks.