In the beginning...

welcome. first things first...why do a blog?
Well, there are a couple reasons I guess, every now and then I get confronted by the genuine desire for my reasons/perspective on the art that I make. I've always had the opinion that if the artist shares their reasons for the creation of the piece then any other interpretation is gone...not that no other interpretation is valid, just that, the artist's view is all most people will see. It's like finding waldo in the huge pile of craziness. Once you see him that's the first place the eye goes ...Likewise, if a viewer looks at the art knowing the artist intention then they look at the piece from that perspective, and not their own. The mystery is gone.

But, as I said, some people genuinely want to know so that they can have a deeper appreciation of the thing that I consider a part of me.... and well , that's pretty awesome! so this is for those people.

Also, often times I get perceived artistically to be very dark(mostly in my paintings) ...anyone who really knows me understands that that is very far from true. So perhaps for the curious this can provide an insight into why I do what I do.

Lastly, I decided to do this to blatantly copy the artists that inspire me...I've been in this real "get in the head of my influences" kick lately and this is part of it. people like Jeff Gogue, Shawn Barber, Alex Grey,Tanane Whitfield, Greg Crayola Simkins, Gerry Carnelly, and so on use their blogs to do the exact same thing...I always check in to to read their ideas, rants,beliefs, and view their new images and always walk away fired up and ready to create...rejuvenated!
So walking in the footsteps of giants I'm trying to do my part to give back to the art community that I passionately love and care for....I hope you enjoy!

Thigh piece. pretty strait forward as far as subject matter on this one but it had a lot of character and I really liked the process I chose...Beth (the customer)plays fiddle. I had her bring in her instrument and took some time to do photos from different angles in different lighting to get the most interesting non-google image I could come up with. As far as the tattoo its self I wanted a realistic result with as simple of a palette as possible. Just smooth blends and bold lines on a solid drawing. On the background she wanted a cluster of music notes so I played around with a couple different arrangements then decided to try and work in f holes as well...once I got that placed it had a kind of tribal feel which I embellished and really like how it added a motion down the headstock. Seemed to give a balance or support to the image as well. I didn't want the background to compete with the fiddle so I chose color lines and muted tones so it would recede back and and the complimenting cool colors could push the fiddle forward and give the illusion of added intensity to the yellows and oranges. Lastly I took some of the background tones and worked them into the shadows of the fiddle to push the contrast a little further. About 6 hours total in two sittings.
Had a great time on this piece, and it is definitely the most popular one I have put online. I guess what I took away from this is that the more time and thought we can give to each piece/customer the better the result...seems kind of common sense I know but when your art becomes your job it gets really easy to take that for granted...show up day after day and just go through the motions. At the end of the day it's up to me make it exciting...mission accomplished.