Martin Luther King Jr drawing

Finally completed a drawing of Martin Luther King Jr that I started in late Jan 2012, this is from a "public domain" image of a still from newsreal of a speech he was making at a university. The Bible verse may not be easy to read(English and Spanish)but it is Act 17: 26-27(KJV "And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:) which I believe speaks of what he aspired. I completed it March 8 and delivered it to a nice young man in my Bible Art Class, who requested a drawing of MLKjr. He was smiling ear to ear when he received it March 8th.

The reason it took so long inbetween was that I had to do some other things and to reset my priorities of enjoying the process more than being concerned about the end product. So I went back to basics and played. Play is an area of my life I let go too easily, then I suffer the distress of too much intensity in my life which shuts me down. God is working a new work in my life and I am so thankful for His guidance through Jesus Christ. I've been able to do more in the last week than I have in the last 9weeks. So I will continue to play. Playing with a new major project that I will not be able to share until mid July since it has to stay "anonymous" until then. I do plan to play in other projects so hopefully I'll be posting some of them between then and now.

Art House Sketchbook 2012 completed & sent

Completed and sent my Art House Sketchbook project Jan 20th. My title is "Writing on the Wall". I thought it was going to be one way but as I progressed doing it with God's guidance it became more than I ever imagined. It is not my regular way of doing my art, lots of experimently techniques and the message in it has so many levels, for me so far God the Father has shown me 4 levels of messages that it could be communicating. I will not mention those because I want God to reach out to whom ever in what ever way He wants to communicate His message. Like I wrote above it is not my traditional way of doing things so it might be a bit shocking, it was for me but I knew I needed to be obedient to the guidance God was giving me as I went along. I would appreciate any comments about what it communicates to you. Thank you

Christmas 2011 painting completed!

Praise Lord God! I completed my Christmas painting! I still need to mount it up onto a wooden frame support and varnish it. I took a photo before the varnish since it seems to photograph better before than afterwards. I was able to order my Christmas postcards tonight too!!! Better late than never! I learned so many new things doing this painting and I learned I have a lot more to learn too, esp about color, color value and relationships of light and shadow. Also learned I do not like to paint small so my 1st try on this painting took 2 months on a smaller version(estimated size: 8 1/2" x 10 1/2")then I dropped it and started over on a much larger version(25" x 32 1/2"), but I learned what works for me so it was very useful having put in the time doing the smaller version. Had to crop some of the edges due to parellex in the photo(still learning, I believe the colors are truer to the original than others I've taken before)but it does not take anything of significance away. This painting is painted all in acrylics. I hope who ever stops by will enjoy it. Thank you.

Stepping out in faith

Ok, I finally did it! I am stepping out in faith establishing that I would like to take commissions for portraits, mainly children's portraits, but I am willing to do teens and adults too. This really is an act of faith for me. I am doing it afraid but trusting God, what ever He has planned is best, whether I ever get a response or a commission through this blog, I know it is helping me to continue trusting God to do what needs doing in my life.

Update on painting progress

2 close ups of the painting I am working 1st undervalue layer. Burnt umber acrylic

Not able to show the entire painting due to not having permission from the parents to make it public, when it is completed then I ask their permission, if they agree then I'll post the entire painting. Until then I'll try to post a small section of each layer.

30 years over 100

Decided to figure out how many portraits I've completed over the past 30 years: over 100. I look at everyone of those as learning experiences, some came out great, some did not, but all were helpful to get me to where I am now. I am presently working on a double portrait, 3 individual Okinawan Eisa dancing children paintings, 1 single portrait and my Christmas card painting, with 5 others waiting to get finished. My goal now over the next 30 years, God the Father through Jesus willing, I will complete 700 - 1000 portraits. I can see that it can be done with the new acrylic classical process I am using now. Hope to have something posted in a couple of weeks(this process does still take time but much faster than the past processes I've used, other than just drawings.

All Acrylic

Ok, here is the 1st of a new way I am painting my portraits now. The owner loved it and so do I. I praise God for teaching me a new way of doing things and I know I have a long way to go but I see a clear direction now, more than I've ever had before! I still do not know how to photograph my paintings so they come out actual colors. Everything in this photo is fine except the background has too much blue when it should be pinkish. I'll get better with it in time. Today I start teaching Good News Art class in my home! I'm so thankful to God for the opportunity!