They're coming...really.

"Sushi's Inquisition" ACEO can be bid on here.

Hello dear reader (I ran out of foreign/ inventive greetings, please suggest some if you know of any).
So I know you were expecting VanGogh-esque sketches...and I have them. But I got creative today when I started another work and I feel that VanGogh is starting to pry into my brain and into my works...at least for this month anyway. As a result I'm going to share this WIP with you and tomorrow I'll have the sketches, I promise. I just had to share this with you and the explanation...

Okay, so I know what you're thinking: "Holy technicolour, Donny Osmond!" (Yes, I saw him and the infamous coat in "Joseph..." and he is cute, in a Brad Pitt/ chipmunk sort of way). Below are some of the close-ups of this work, the nose and the shoulder area:


Gosh darnit, I wanted to avoid doing a horse!! Now I'd like to make note of one of the things I hoped to accomplish in this project which is that I wanted to be bolder with my colour. For myself, not many people are privy to watching me start on a project or watch me work in general, I know through and through that the above was a huge jump for me and I'm just tickled about it!
This piece wasn't meant to be part of "the Project" but it may, by default, be included just for the heck of it. I was keeping VanGogh in mind as I was working on this and his penchant for colour as well as his short, thick brushstrokes. In this case it's cp (coloured pencil) strokes but you get the idea, I'm sure. I was also trying to remember that he liked placing complementary colours next to each other to create depth in his work. I haven't really adhered to that in this piece with the exception of the forelock where I've placed black cherry next to a combination of cream, sand and some other yellow colour that I've forgotten now. Again, this wasn't outwardly intentional, but happened as a result of just thinking about wacky, ear-lobbing , paint eating, old VG as I was working on the piece. As I work more on this piece (and if I'm feeling brave) I may push this whole complimetary colour exploration further.

As a side note to my thoughts on VanGogh and his person I should note that technically most of his works are horrible. Despite having a good grasp on perspective, form, value and all sorts of good (but boring) artistic stuff he time and time again disregarded them. What I'm sure is obvious to many artists, and what warrants being mentioned here yet again, is that VanGogh (IMHO) wasn't about executing a technically excellent piece but rather about conveying an emotion through his work. While this could be expressed with a dynamic perspective and dramatic lighting he opted to convey it through colour and shapes. I won't go into elaborate detail here ( that's what tomorrow's post can be for, natch ;) ) but it's worth contemplation at the very least.
Tomorrow..those sketches are coming!