May 2009 Archives

Yesterday I had a really great day in the studio. Which is surprising, since the only reason I went in was because I hadn't been in all week and I felt, hey, if I'm paying for it, I should go.

A couple of things happened that never happen: To start with, I was the first one in the studio. This virtually never occurs, because the others I share the space with are actually getting paid for their work. I'm the only one fucking around. So I was in very early for me. Second, I saw Ulises Farinas. I've been sharing the studio with him for the past six or eight months -- I'm not sure how long because this was the first time I'd met him. As far as I knew, he was an invisible presence leaving cups filled with inky water around the place. Our studio time had never overlapped because he only comes in at night and I'm only around during the day -- kind of like the lovers in Ladyhawke. Only much, much less attractive.

What those things mean is that yesterday I was in the studio earlier and I stayed later than I always do. Which means things must have been going well. And they were.

I did something I haven't tried before. I'd underpainted the pennies for this painting I've been working on and I'd reached the point where they needed the final layer, the detail work. The trouble is I'm not very good at detail painting on an easel. It's really hard for me to work upright like that.

The good news, however, was that our studio has a really big old drafting table in it. And the usual denizen of that table, the talkative comic historian, inker, and model painter (among other things) Chris Irving, was away in Virginia delivering models and visiting people. Which meant I could lay my painting flat -- also now that the background paint had dried -- and do the detail work in the way I'm most comfortable.

I also took an idea from Mike Cavallaro -- an idea I'm sure isn't original with him, but of which I'd never thought or seen. Last week I'd watched him doing some detailed background inking while resting his hand on a wooden ruler to which he'd glued some rubber washers or erasers or something, so the ruler wouldn't touch the paper and smear the ink. A painter's bridge, he called it. So I borrowed some rubber bands and a couple of gum erasers from Chris and a piece of scrap wood and made my own bridge and it worked wonderfully.

The final result: An aching back after ten hours of painting but some lovely pennies. I can't wait until I can varnish this baby. (These photos were taken with my crappy mobile phone camera, so the colors are off -- trust me, they look better in person.)

Last month we were given the opportunity to move the studio to one with windows. No one who'd spent a summer in our windowless room would turn down such a chance, so even though it costs a little more per month, we all hauled our crap to the other end of the floor to our new space. This is a view of my corner here. It looks a little cramped, but it's not. I'm under the loft helpfully built by the previous occupant; given the twelve-foot ceilings, putting a floor over your head is an excellent way to use space more efficiently. Also, it gives me a place to clamp some lights.

In the second photo you can see the indefatigable Reilly Brown beavering away at some upcoming Hercules comic he's been working on. The bastard, he stole the good spot next to the window. Something about his name being on the lease and whatnot. Hey, I brought the minifridge!

Anyway, I haven't lost any time getting to work in the new space. I've been trying to make it in at least twice a week, although life keeps getting in the way. Also, I need to make some new panels. But still I've gotten some things done, as you can see here. The first painting is pretty much along the lines of what I've been doing.

The second painting, Cover Up, is a little odd because I painted it over another painting, one of the abstract squiggle things I'd done that I didn't like. I really ladled the paint on with a knife, and then painted back into it very quickly. I expect this will most likely fall right off the panel one day.

Then things got odd. I had this panel I'd started a figure painting on, but something had gone wrong with it. So while I was in a mood of slathering paint over things, I knifed up some paints I had lying around from some other things and put it down, expecting to make a background I could paint over. Then I got carried away with how the paint looked. I like something about this. I guess Steve LaRose has gotten into my head with his brilliant, beautiful, amazing abstracts; I'm not up to his level, but I kind of like this anyway. My wife really really liked it, and I think she has a good eye -- I trust her, anyway -- so maybe it actually is okay.

Since I'm out of panels, I bought some big paper and did some sumi inks.

And finally, this is what's been consuming my time lately. This is a big panel, about four feet wide. I had this idea for a painting about...I'm not sure, but maybe 15 years ago. I have painting ideas that hang around a long time. Over the past few years I've gotten away from painting that way -- of starting with an idea that clear and trying to realize it. That was kind of a Surrealist style I had, very sort of illustration. I've moved away from that but recently I thought again of these friends Dawn and I have in Florida, and I was thinking I've been meaning to send them a painting for years, and this was one I thought they'd like, so I just decided, you know, now's the time. So I've been working on it. The background went through three revisions. It's darker now than it was in my head, but I like it and think it gets the idea across. Now I'm doing the pennies. Do you know how hard it is to figure out what color a new penny really is? It's very hard. This here is about two layers of underpainting into the pennies. I'm going to see where it goes.