A little side note about life and the art world

This is not the typical post I intended for my art blog. But I found this short little video clip so moving and refreshing I felt compelled to share it. Take 15 minutes out of your day and watch this great video--You won't regret it.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn87-mcnoVc

(sorry about the commercials on YouTube)

Now to relate this video to me.
A professional artist (meaning one who makes his/her living from their art) as seen from the outside appears to be the embodiment of freedom and liberation. A causal day where you follow your creative spirit and then have wine and chess at the end of the day as you watch the sunset. 

Now for a dose of reality, it's nothing like that, that's an illusion...a fairy tale. I'm not one to shy away from hard work and I certainly understand that to make a success of yourself, especially in the arts, you have to work very, very hard and wear many hats. Exactly what I've done in my career. I did what I though I was suppose to do. But somewhere along the way, in the daily fray of battle, I lost "me" my art spirit seems to have taken a holiday without me knowing it, and I don't know where it's gone.

I'm sorry, if you're waiting for a profound answer at this post, I have none, it's simply a question. It's where I find myself  these days. Perhaps an answer will come someday, or maybe not, and I'll head off to go skating and I'll leave the rat race that is the contemporary art scene of today behind.

"Keep the cheese, I just want out of the trap"

Class Portrait Demo: Shapes and simplification

Short demo for my class at Salt Lake Community College

 1 hr. to this stage.
I made slow progress because I talked through what I was doing, along with answering questions. The main idea I wanted to impart to the students was to simplify. It's not the details that make a likeness, it's the big shapes.
"My palette was very basic: titanium white, ivory black, cad. yellow lt., cad red lt., perylene red, ultramarine blue, yellow ochre, burnt sienna and raw umber.

 Stage 2
I began again after I turned the students loose on their self portraits. At this point I was able to concentrate a bit better as I didn't have to talk. I took a few minutes to redraw and fix some of the proportions and shapes that were off. I paid particular attention to the widths vs the heights and where features lined up on the vertical.

Stage 3

As you can see my drawing lines are still on the face. I knew I didn't have enough time to get into working on the face, so I spent the time working the surrounding areas. I took a photo of the model and figured I would have to work from that if I want to finish it. The camera image will give me the shape information and my painting as it is will give me the color and value information. I believe I spent about 2 hours total. I'll try to find some time to finish this portrait from the photo and then I'll post another image.