Art Lotto Portrait #2

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     Aprox. 24"x 25" Graphite and Carbon Pencil on Rives BFK paper.

This double portrait was for the 2nd Annual, Harrisonburg, VA Art Lotto exhibition.  This year I drew the names of photographers Katie Shmid and Amelia Eliza Shmid of the Pinwheel Collective.

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I had a rough idea for the composition before I took photo references of them together, but as usual, the photo session actually directed the composition to its final arrangement.  In this case, I combined a separate shot of each of them to emphasize their juxtaposed moods and reflected personalities.  Obviously, the candid shots are usually the moments that reveal people's truest selves and are the most sought after in portraits; the shots when subjects stop thinking about "posing".  The image of Katie laughing at my lack of directing ability spawned the idea of pushing their contrasting moods.

Fun, little 9"x 12" commissioned oil painting I completed last month.  The cabin is somewhere in the mountains near Mathias, WV.  I went up and photographed the cabin one evening right before the sun began to set.  There were no sheep or mountains in the background, so I added those at the request of the client.  Good to do a landscape again.  I haven't painted one in a while.  A great exercise in loosening up and letting go, letting the organic nature of the shapes take away some of the control.  Feels great using bigger brushes for a change as well.

Art Lotto Portrait

A blog post is well over due so I'll try to include some back payments in the coming weeks.  Things happen in life and suddenly you run out of time.  Also, sometimes you just can't post certain work.  

Heres a portrait of fellow artist, Kurt Rosenberger, I did for a collaborative "Art Lotto" in which 40 odd artists from the community and abroad drew names out of an old Bingo ball tumbler.  The artist drawing a name then created a portrait in his or her selected medium of the artist they randomly drew to be revealed in a joint show three months down the road.  Everyone created one portrait and had a portrait created of them.  The beautiful brain child of Brandy Somers and Denise Kanter Allen. 

I was lucky to draw my good buddy Kurt's name.  Props to his patience and shoulder endurance while photographing him for this 9"x 14" oil painting.

Brandy and Kyle's Art Show Flyer

 This is a last minute drawing I designed for my friend's camera centric art show flyer.

Killer Queen

 
Here's a sneak peak at some art I'm working on for a collaboration with an SF based design firm.  This is the partially rendered value component in graphite.  There will be additional component surprises added very soon! 

The Folklorist

 

The first version of this oil on masonite was completed at the beginning of my studies.  Those of you who've seen the original know that this is a MASSIVE REWORK without actually "starting over".  Sometimes you just have to white out 75% of your painting to get it right.  Enjoy!

Train Hopping

Sorry for the big delay in posts.  I've been trying to finesse some old works and get a web site together all while packing.  Here's the latest rework of one of my Hobo Journey series.  Oil on board.  Also, be sure to check out the new site and let me know what you think! 

ToddKentonYoder.com