New Paintings for a show.

Hello everyone!

I'm working on this new series of paintings for a show that is coming up. The opening is December 18th and I have about 2 and a half weeks to work on about 2 dozen paintings. It's a pretty ambitious project, but what can I say?
This series picks up on a few old paintings that date back to 2005. At that time I was fascinated with color and light abstraction within an environment. I was primarily looking at the works of J.M.W. Turner and loved how he accomplished massive space and depth with a somewhat limited palette.
This is the first painting of the series. I took a picture of my palette and my desk. And yes, I like to keep my area clean and organized.

The city. The rooftop view, light and color studies

I've been wanting to draw the incredible rooftop view from my tiny New York City 1-bedroom apartment. Or should I say sardine can?
I took some photos for detail references but this was drawn while sitting by the window.
The penciling is almost done, then the inking will happen.
After that it's a matter of studying color and light. The plan is to do three exact copies each one with a different light according to time of day, early morning, afternoon and sunset wIth a possible fourth for late night. A bit of 'a la Monet,' plein-air landscape painting.






Graphite, 24 x 14 inches

Big Painting. Many years later, uncovered.

I've been working on this painting for years..no joke!
I made this canvas originally when I was an undergrad during my junior year. I made the painting after 4 months of painstakingly looking at every inch of the reference. I wanted this painting to have a Philip Pearlstein look and feel. Well, after completing the painting, it turned out to be pretty awful. In my own disappointment I decided to cover it with white gesso and start anew.
Except that I didn't touch the canvas for 3 years. It was covered with sheets, cobwebs and tucked away inside the depths of my closet.
Last fall around October I finally came around to it and started this drawing which is almost complete. Hopefully, it won't take me as long to paint it.
I took a picture of my sketchbook to show my process, notes and who I look for references. I'm pretty methodical when it comes to planning and gathering references for a piece. Oh, and that's the stencil I made for the wallpaper of the back wall in the painting. I saw this cool shape on the side of a building across the street from my apartment. I liked it so much, I made it my wallpaper.
ps. I'm such a dog person, I added Aloo in the mirror reflection...:)






graphite and charcoal on canvas, (will be painted in oils) 6 x 4 feet

I'm so excited to finally have started a blog. Actually, this would be my second blog but lets not dwell in the past.

Looking through my old figure portfolio I found a handful of drawings that to this day I can proudly claim as mine.
I'll post the drawing and two close up shots.





black ink on bristol paper, 14 x 14 inches