on the drawing board: romance with color and tone

In my previous post I mentioned that I came up with a more sweet and romantic layout for his commission based on the story he told me but later learned he wanted something a little more sensual.  So I reworked my drawing.  Though to retain some of the 'romantic' feel I'm going with a softer palette rather than strong colors and a vivid sunny day.  I'm hoping he'll like it.

on the drawing board: a commissioned boat

A client from Germany has commissioned me to do a piece for him. Above is my sketch for the piece and as with any commission I do, I have to find something about that excites and inspires me.  This one does.

When a client asks for a commission they tell me what they are looking for and I come up with a preliminary layout first that hopefully satisfies most of their request.  This client told me this sweet romantic story of the first time they got to be 'out' and alone together on a vacation to a lake.  He neglected to mention that he wanted the figures naked or that is was to be more sensual and a little less sweet.  Below was my first sketch for him. While it's a good concept, I'm very glad that it ended up being the sexier one above!

New Work: "Wood"

From vulnerable nuts it can grow to stand strong and tall, it can be polished to a slick finish and it certainly can heat us up. It's the simple elegant beauty of Wood.

The original as well as limited edition Gallery and Studio prints are available for purchase at the special day of release pricing through Midnight ET January 14, 2013.

on the drawing board: front to back

With most of the figure done, though I can decide to tweak or make changes at anytime, I've now started on the background.  Other than working from top left to bottom right to limit smudging, I used to always do the face and figure first because I didn't want to spend time on the background if I wasn't able to get the man looking right.  Not sure if it's just become a habit, because after rendering hundreds of figures successfully, you'd think I'd have the confidence to start with the background.  

on the drawing board: au naturel

I always like an outdoorsy guy, and when he's not bashful about going au naturel out in nature, all the better! Here is a cropped pic of my latest endeavor on my drawing board.