I'm working on a commissioned portrait of a young girl with a butterfly resting on her wrist. I'm capturing the day by day transformation of the piece. Below is the portrait from initial sketch to underpainting to somewhat more developed painting.
Lara Hoke, portrait in progress
Last night I carved a second stamp for my silhouette coaster project. It's a simple bust of a buck but I'm pleased with how it turned out. I'm still getting the hang of the carving tools which are not as forgiving as I would like. Below is a photo of the new stamp, the impression it makes, the back of my bear stamp, and the tools I used.
As a side note, the coaster in this picture is unfinished, please forgive the inconsistent application of stain...
Some of the work I'm most proud of lives in the pages of my sketchbook. Over the past several years I've tried to recreate the qualities of those drawings in various ways including projecting transparencies on canvas and photo-etching.
Below is my latest attempt, and, in my opinion, my most successful. In these new pieces, I'm working on toned gessoed boards with pen and ink, using paper towels and water to create atmosphere and a feeling of history. The greatest advantage of this medium over my previous attempts is that, like a sketchbook, it's transportable. I can work directly from my subject matter (as I do in my sketchbook) rather than using reference images.
Pen and ink on gessoed board.
