New Painting!

Hey Folks,

I just started a self portrait.



I'm about four hours into it including the drawing (but not the canvas prep...yuck).
Here is the Palette I'll be using.



It's organized and based on a palette that can be found in Parker's "The Painter in Oil". If you don't have a copy of that book, you probably should get one. From left to right the colors are:

Terra Vert
Ivory Black
Cobalt Blue
Burnt Umber
Burnt Sienna
Alizarin Crimson
Cadmium Red Light
Crementz White
Naples Yellow (which I'm going to run out of soon)
Cadmium Lemon
Cadmium Yellow Deep
Yellow Ochre
The two little satellite colors are:
Cadmium Orange and Transparent White (which is to quote Randall Cabe, "Completely useless.")

I'll be using Winsor Newton Oil Medium and Gamblin Galkyd as my mediums. A word to the wise, don't use Liquin for anything. I tried using it in the background on Tommy's portrait and had to use A LOT of varnish to make the paint look even slightly deep and shiny.

Here's hoping this one goes smooth and steady.

High on Medium and Turp,
Phill

Walt Disney

Dear Friends,

Many of you will remember the enthusiasm which I received Walt Disney's explanation of the invention and operation of the multiplane camera from a 1957 episode of The Disneyland TV Show.



In this video Uncle Walt uses incredibly understandable visual language to not only tell us a story but to also break-down the workings of a rather complex machine.

Recently I saw a blog post by an animator which explains the how the Disneyland TV show was planned and filmed. Walt used a specific system of shot planning and storyboarding to make sure his audience understood what he was saying with absolute clarity, without having to pander them with boring, incohesive, step by step illustrations. As was his usual style, Walt took us on a journey with him and we're all able to walk away entertained and, dare I say, slightly more intelligent than we were when we sat down.

Lately I've been a big advocate of artists showing respect for their audience. If you happen to be an artist (or producer of any kind) and you happen to be reading this, please, for all of our sakes, take some time to plan out what you're going to be saying to your viewers and how you're going to say it.

As guilty as I am preachy,
Phill

Concerning Football...

Dear Friends,

I was going to write a long rant about how I lament Football today. But that would be pointless. All I'm going to say is that I think football pools are essentially telling your friends that you're smarter than them and then TAKING THEIR MONEY! If you want to really support a franchise (which is all a team is) buy stock and root (advertise) for a company, at least you'll get returns if they 'win'.

Frugally,
Phill

Sure, why not?

Dear Friends,

Anybody up for a war with Pakistan that we can't afford? No? All the President's men seem to be...and they've been right for the last eight years so I figure we should all jump on board.

Oh! By the way, technically, the President is warmonger. Go look up the definition...try to argue with me. If any of my friends are still proud of voting for George W. or looking forward to voting for John McCain, I recommend they read up on the last 190 years of American policy. At no time in our history have we had more reason to be really ashamed of our leadership than right now! Wars leading young people to die and bankrupting the country, banks failing because of lack of oversight, and one of the major US parties not taking the blame for policies they were once proud of. Aren't you proud of us? AREN'T YOU A PATRIOT?

Angry,
Phill

Finished Painting and Thoughts.

Dear Friends,

Here's the final stage of "Tommy".


I'm surprisingly satisfied with the final look of the painting. I learned a lot about scumbling and glazing, timing, varnishing and charicature while working on this piece. I apologize for the crumby pictures throughout the process but I've been painting in my bedroom and don't even have the proper space for materials never-mind photography. Please let me know what you think.

That said, let's move on to less exciting matters.
Do you know what I really love to do? I love to go out on Friday night. I love it when I get to dance with people, get drunk and wake up naked in a bed full of strangers. I love doing that...most of you knew that already.
But instead of doing that, I'm sitting at home writing a blog entry and watching re-runs of the Daly Show on Hulu. And you know what you're not doing right now? You're not reading this blog entry, because you're out, on a Friday night, dancing, drinking, engaging in casual sex with anonymous strangers and I am jealous.
I hope you've all had fun this Friday, I haven't. I also hope you all take good care of those sweet sweet dancing feet and please everyone, get yourselves tested...those are strangers you're sleeping with for god's sake.

Green with Envy,
Phill

A work in progress.

How I feel about this election.

Dear Friends,

I offer an HONEST AND SINCERE APPEAL TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS; Conservative, Liberal, Democrat and Republican alike.

How on earth do John McCain and Sarah Palin have enough credibility to be running even with Barack Obama and Joe Biden? Call me the most far left person that you know if you must but I'm speaking from a position of COMMON SENSE. John McCain has switched an alarming number of his positions in the last few weeks and all anyone knows about Sarah Palin is that she is a hockey mom who ACTUALLY BELIEVES IN CREATIONISM! I don't care if you like Barack Obama and Joe Biden or not, just listen to what they're saying, not what any news organization is saying about them. They have a consistent message and frankly a repectable set of goals for the country.

Please folks, use your best judgment here. One set of people has decieved us in the past and is showing all the signs that they're going to do it again and the other is showing that they are actually THINKING about what is best for their country, not their party.

Don't be fooled, they're up to their same old tricks again.

With Genuine Concern,
Phill

First Post!

Dear Friends,

On a whim, I started a blog today. And I want to make a promise to any potential readers I might acquire:

I promise that at some point during the course of this blog, I will offer some bit of information that will completely blow your fuckin' mind.

And I'm not talking about giving you a moment of clarity or any of the cake-eater stuff either. I'm promising a total, irreversible, paradigm shifting, Blogasm from which you shall walk away naked and so mentally satisfied that everything you hear, read, see or think about for the next week will seem as insignificant as Michael Bay's movies.

I don't expect myself to fulfil this promise soon, in all honesty, it could take years. But it seems to me that a blog should be a longterm exhibition of thoughts and ideas and eventually some of those ideas will be good...real good and when that happens you're all in for a treat.

I also promise to write a real post in the next few days.

With Great Regard,
Phill