Self Portrait Progress

So I usually hate showing people my work before it's completed, but I'm hoping this will motivate me to finish it sooner rather than later.  Here are progression pictures of what I've been working on lately.

Blank face.  Spooky?

Getting some value in there.

Kallisti was keeping me company.

Very cartoony looking at the moment.

 

Wow. When did I turn into Jake Gyllenhaal?

Some notes: I actually started this when I had long-ish hair, which I have recently chopped off and colored blonde.  So Now I'm just kind of making up the hair in the painting because I don't feel like changing it.  I am lazy.  You have no idea.

Also, I wear glasses, which I'm thinking I will add once I'm pretty much done with the face.  More pictures to follow soon!  I will probably paint some more today since there's like 7 inches of snow on the ground and I have the day off.  Who knows, I may even finish it today!  Probably not.  But maybe!

Title My Painting - Win $10 Utrecht Gift Card

I'm so terrible about calling my paintings "Untitled" because I can not come up with anything that really fits.  It seems like I either know right away what to title my piece, or it never comes at all.

This is where you come in.

Comment with a title for my painting below, and if I pick your suggestion, you will receive a $10 gift card to Utrecht.  That's it.  Easy peezy.

Contest runs until January 31st.  I will announce the winner on February 1st.  Thanks, and good luck!

Artist Review: Ryan Allen

Ryan Allen is pretty amazing in my book.  At first glance, you may take him as a sort of bizarre cartoonist from the wide mouthed, oddly shaped characters in his work.  However, after browsing through Allen's collection, his talent and originality shine through. His paintings have a simple quality to them, drawing your eye in with the contrast of solid, bright color and stark black lines. The twisted facial expressions will make you cringe and smile at the same time, while the flat perspective gives you no where to hide.

 

 Check him out at http://ryanallen.com and get your surrealism fix.

The Life of a Painting

I love progression pictures of paintings.  It's like watching it grow up.