Little Guys on Cardboard

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Been experimenting--trying out some glazing techniques I want to use on a project this coming spring. These two fellows are painted on some cardboard rolls I'd stashed under the table in my studio.

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Painted the cylinders with a mixture of ochre and sienna, drew the guys with a brush and black acrylic, then painted them in grey monochrome.

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Followed that up by using tinted glazes to add subtle color variations. 

I have a few more I want to work on--good thing because it's pretty fun.

Thanks for checking it out!

Some Plein Air, and an Experiment, cont'd

Been working on many projects in the studio, but also taking some time to do a bit of on-location drawing and painting with some fellow DIS members. This study is of a garden off an alley in my neighborhood. The place has always fascinated me. I finished this at around 12:30 pm. It is 5" x 7".

Yeah it's November in Denver and there's still green grass and living plants. That's creepy. 

I took this photo around 10:00 am, before I began the pen drawing which I then filled in with watercolor. Then we got hungry and left for lunch.

Here are a couple more, done a few weeks earlier. Both studies are approx. 3" x 4".

An update from the last two posts: I'm still completely off of Facebook (outside of checking on events) and

 only occasionally looking at Instagram.

 

What I've noticed in 20 days since the beginning of An Experiment :

 

1. Still feeling better mentally; much lighter and more content.

 

2. I'm now sleeping through the night, every night. 

(Prior to bailing on social media I'd gotten used to waking around two or three am and not being able to fall back asleep for an hour or so. Previously, I seldom looked at screens late in the evening and never checked my phone during the night, so the new sleep habits have nothing to do with that. Maybe it's just a coincidence, but I don't think so.)

 

3. I'm reading a ton, compared to the last 6 months. That's no coincidence.

 

4. Still really don't want to jump back onto social media--it sounds less and less inviting.

I must be incredibly sensitive to Facebook. Oh well.

 

And that's about it--thanks for the visit!

 

Angry Goblin Process

A bit of a sequence to this artwork with some less-than-steller iPhone photos.

The drawing began with red colored pencil--Verithin Poppy in this case. White highlights added with a Signo white gel pen. Crosshatching was next.

The finished ink drawing is lightly sprayed with acrylic gloss coating, then color added with transparent acrylic inks.

I like the way the red pencil shows in the final work, and also how the acrylic washes 

soften the india ink lines.

(A follow-up to last week's post: Still experimenting with zero Facebook (outside of keeping up with local events). Continue to feel much lighter and have slept incredibly well this past week. That may be a coincidence, but nonetheless I have no desire to go back to Fb. Not posting on Instagram, but am keeping up with those I follow. IG doesn't seem to bug me as much as other social media, maybe because it's mostly photos of art.)

Thanks for the visit!

My Art Book (and a Sticker Pack)!

My artwork from the past three years, compiled in a really nice, 96 page volume!

This past year brought a solo exhibition for me at Helikon Gallery. Along with the show, the gallery director and illustrator, Cayce Goldberg, designed this 96 page book.

I got to watch--and add my thoughts--as he worked on laying out the covers and pages. It was a fascinating process, and I've nothing but admiration for Cayce's skills as a writer and designer.

 

 Many of the page layouts feature the finished work along with the initial sketch and process photos...

 

...along with pages that show close-up details of my drawings and paintings (with my short commentaries about technique, or process, or thoughts about influences).

 

There are even great layouts of my sketches (and a few "portraits" of my friends) designed consistently by theme...

...including pages that deal with my fascination with Alice's Adventures.

It's a volume that pretty much covers my work and process, and I'm very proud of it.

 

The gallery even created a companion sticker pack to go along with the book and exhibition!

If what I create happens to resonate for you, both book and sticker pack are available here:

My shop

 

Your purchase helps me continue to make art, 

and I very much appreciate your interest and support--thank you!

Afterword at Helikon Gallery--Opening this Week!

Above is one of the posters for Afterword. A Tribute to Literature.

It's the completed piece from my previous post,

Macbeth and a Ghost

Here's the line-up of all invited artists for an easier read :)

Many of my friends are showing works in this show. If they have a website, it's listed below. Click on their names for more of their works--you'll be amazed!

Vinni Alfonso

Dymond Starr Austin

Clay Brooks

Laura Imbler

Rob Jordan

Mike Kloepfer

Jeremy Aaron Moore

Ryan Morse

Valerie Savarie

Kelsi Jo Silva

Tony Steck

John Van Horn

Kaitlin Ziesmer

Here's the direct link to the show:

Afterword at Helikon Gallery

In addition to Afterword, Helikon Gallery is presenting

Muses V 

and
Goodnight Sweet Prince--The Artwork of John Van Horn

So much stunning artwork to enjoy--so please come out this Wednesday or First Friday and support the arts, working Denver artists, and a great gallery!

Macbeth and a Ghost: Afterword at Helikon Gallery

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Macbeth and Macduff (preliminary sketch). Ink with watercolor, approx. 3" x 5"

Over and over again, Helikon Gallery presents unique and amazing shows. This November I'm pleased to be part of Afterword: A Tribute to Literature 

Shakespeare's Macbeth is a favorite. The sketch above was a preliminary for the piece I was planning on submitting.

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Macbeth Sees Banquo's Ghost (preliminary sketch) Red pencil and ink, approx. 4" x 5"

I was fascinated by the witches in Macbeth, but terrified by the ghost of Banquo, so instead of my initial idea of Macbeth and Macduff's final battle or a painting with the witches, I ended up thinking about a composition that included Banquo's ghost. I did three or four different thumbnail compositions for the piece, but liked this one best.

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This is the initial pencil drawing on brown paper, enhanced so you can see the lines, which were actually drawn pretty lightly. The finished piece is 8" x 10".

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/

The crosshatching followed the establishment of the first white highlights and a good tweaking of the figures. The biggest challenge was making Banquo's Ghost transparent, but with the good suggestions of some fellow illustrators, I did it!

You can see the finished, full-color piece by clicking on the link to the show and scrolling down:

Afterword: A Tribute to Literature

I'm excited to be exhibiting my work alongside some gloriously amazing works by other artists and illustrators--please check out all their pieces on Helikon's site!

Hope you can come to the show either for the Opening Reception on November 1, 2017, or on First Friday the following Friday, November 3rd.

Thanks for checking this out, and for your support of the arts!

DIY Artwork Bags

Recently read about a company that made carrying bags for artwork, and they sounded great.

Especially because this photo illustrates my usual method for carting artwork to galleries and conventions.

I struggle philosophically with using petroleum-based plastics, and bubble-wrap and foam cost a lot too. After one or two wraps, it's torn and fit only for the trash. And that's a tough one for me to justify. Plus it takes copious amounts of time to wrap, unwrap, and re-wrap artworks.

 

Unfortunately, when I checked out the pre-made art-bags, I found them very expensive--upwards from $20 per bag. I figured making them myself would be easy and cheaper. And it was both.

 

Luckily, awhile back I took a sewing-machine class in order to make cloth goblins.

So I bought $30 worth of thick felt (made from recycled plastic bottles) and made 30 carry bags of different sizes. It took 6 yards of fabric.

I'm not fast at sewing, and it still only took me 5 hours to make all the bags. They work great! I'm sure a crafty-er person could add string-ties or other fasteners and make these even better. But for now, all I have to do is slip the artworks in, fold the top, put them in boxes, and take them away.

Still have to depend on bubble wrap and foam for shipping artworks, but these bags are great for a more ecological, quick, and safe way to deliver paintings to their destinations.

Thanks for reading!

 

Death gets a lot of Idea-Help

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Death might run out of ideas from time to time, but people always manage to assist him with new and effective ways of killing their brothers and sisters. Poison gas? Sure! Automatic weapons aimed at concert-goers? Why not?

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Couldn't keep reading the repetitious news full of lame politician's "thoughts and prayers", so I drew instead.

This one, like most of my sketches, began with a red Verithin pencil on toned paper. (I like Kona Classic best because I can use wet media on it if I choose.) Beginning a drawing with red pencil rather than graphite seems to keep my initial gestures looser, and I like the original red lines still visible in the finished art.

http://www.tomsarmo.com

The red gestural sketch is then tightened up with either a Pentel brushpen or a brush and India ink. Then, most often, I add the white highlights, before the shading begins--in this case, a fine-point white Signo pen was used for the white. The cross-hatching follows; I like Maica brand Hi-Tek-C pens if a crow quill and ink bottle isn't handy.

http://www.tomsarmo.com

This drawing is small--4" x 6". It's the third work of October--or "Inktober". The previous two were sort of humorous. Who knows what the news will bring in the coming days.

Thanks for the visit--I wish you peace.

Animal Parameters at Valkarie Gallery!

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For the third year in a row, I'm excited to be part of a fall show at Valkarie Gallery!

Animal Parameters is coming soon, and my works will join the amazing art of

http://karrieyorkart.com/

Karrie York

http://www.mikiharderart.com/

and Miki Harder 

Please click on their names for links to their sites and more of their art!

Here's a little preview of a few of my works which will be in the show:

http://www.tomsarmo.com

For folks who like fantastic creatures, here's a Lava Monster! A few illustrators and I were discussing how to create a stone creature who oozed lava from cracks in its hide, so I tried my hand at this fellow.

http://www.tomsarmo.com

I love owning sketches by artists, so I make many of mine available to collectors. And I gotta have a few Cranky Birds in every show.

http://www.tomsarmo.com

My animal works are most often images that spring from real animals but end up imaginary creatures.

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And dragons are animals, right?

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So I hope you will join us for Animal Parameters!

Here are the particulars:

 And be sure to check out Valkarie Gallery's current show Elements and Curiosities, featuring the works of Valerie Savarie and Sharon Eisley!

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Also, Innate Tapestries: The Endless Stage--a 96 page book full of my paintings and sketches--will be available for purchase at Animal Parameters. I hope you will grab a copy!

 Thanks for reading, and for supporting us artists!

Origins and Processes

 

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 A Meeting, detail crop. 

Toned paper, plus (in order of use) Verithin colored pencil, Pentel Brushpen, Uni-Ball Signo white pen, Maica Pilot Hi-TEC-C pen, transparent acrylic inks).

Visitors to my studio often ask from where my ideas come. They come from many sources; books I have read or am reading, past and current experiences, conversations with fellow illustrators, and dreams. This one definitely came from a faceless voice--in a otherwise forgotten dream--that exclaimed "We meet ourselves!" Kept hearing that in my head all the next day

 so I started sketching the alligator-like creature, and the rest of the drawing emerged. And yes, I know that the image is weird as all get-out.

http://www.tomsarmo.com

Didn't take the time to take many in-process shots, but you can see

 the red Verithin pencil under-drawing here. At that point I put the drawing away.

http://www.tomsarmo.com

Had a bunch of acrylic paint that I'd used for a previous painting. Not wanting to waste it, I sketched out a similar image onto a cradled hardboard using charcoal. Refined that using a brush and black acrylic, then painted this version (detail crop).

But the previous drawing kept calling to me, so I returned to it and finished it after a lot of cross-hatching :)

http://www.tomsarmo.com

Here are both artworks for comparison. Other than creating pieces based upon a dream-exclamation, I'd wanted to explore the effect of light shining from within. In this case it was coming from within the creature-tail. 

They're each 8" x 10", and will be among many works for of a three-person show at Valkarie Gallery this October! More about that soon.

Thanks for reading!

Alice on Stage

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Detail crop from the painting, Alice on Stage.

 

Alice Liddell was Lewis Carroll's muse for the two "Alice" books that he wrote. I've done many works based upon Carroll's other characters, but finally chose Alice as the subject. 

 

A photograph of Alice Liddell.

 

 While I used the dark hair and hairstyle of Alice Liddell as a jumping off point (I am no portrait artist) there was probably a bit of Ramona Quimby and Lucy Van Pelt in my mind as well.

Interestingly, Carroll wanted Alice Liddell's personality in his heroine, but chose Mary Hilton Badcock as the model for her looks. 

 

 He sent this photo of her to Sir John Tenniel, who firmly rejected using any model for his drawings.

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Before I began to paint Alice on Stage, I sketched many Alices. This is the one I finally chose for reference, and then decided to break with traditional Victorian-children's fashion and make Alice's coat very fancy for the painting.

Been resting up from a hard push and many paintings over the past six months. After some sculpting and other "relaxing" forms of art, I'm back at it--and enjoying the evolution of the new work. I will post some soon.

Thanks for checking out my blog!