June Portrait Challenge

Hello everyone! Its been a while since I last posted, a million apologies for neglecting this platform. A lot of things have happened since my last post. I've graduated from graduate school (Minneapolis College of Art and Design) and have my MFA in visual studies in painting and drawing. It's been a whirlwind since graduating which is the reason why I've been absent from posting so much. 

After graduating I was burned out from all the hard work with my thesis (I will post my thesis paintings on the next one). I hadn't drawn much through my thesis and only painted for the most part. I wanted to get back to drawing and was thinking of ways to do it other than just doodling in my sketchbook. I decided to set a challenge for myself, one that I didn't think would be possible, to draw thirty portraits in the month of June all done in ballpoint pen. Essentially drawing one portrait a day, no matter how bad it was by the end of the day I had to be done and ready to post it. I asked all my followers from my social media community to submit their pictures, from there I was able to start the challenge. I wanted to get to know my online community better and see how this challenge brought us closer. It's a step in the right direction post-thesis work, I want to see how far I can push this idea of an online community and how we can know each other better rather than just clicking a thumbs up button. Still a work in progress but I have the wheels turning and that's important.

The drawings you see in this post is from all the portraits I completed in the month of June. Again completed only using a ballpoint pen in sketchbook paper. This challenge has taught me so much, I challenge everyone who reads this to push yourself with your work. Create challenges to make you feel uncomfortable, it's a very good thing to not feel sure what the hell you're doing. I can go on and on and on about everything I learned and why you should set goals for yourself, I think the work speaks for itself. 

Thanks for stopping by and viewing my work!

Leonardo

Leonardo

2018

Ball Point Pen on Paper

4" x 5"

Hi everyone! I've been super busy with being a new dad and a second/final year of graduate school. It's been a wild ride but one that I've enjoyed more than I would have expected. I have been posting more on Instagram, you can follow my account by clicking here. I have this ballpoint pen drawing up for sale. You can bid on it by leaving a comment on the post. Bidding will end on 2/22 at 5pm CST.  You guys can also see new paintings I have been working on that talks about identity and the Latin community.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Poseidon

Click here to purchase through my Etsy store

"Poseidon"

3 x 3 in

Ball Point Pen Drawing

The last time I was in Miami, FL I went with my wife, sister in law and her fiancee to a museum that had this sculpture. The lighting of it and design really grabbed me. The light hitting it was so natural and dramatic. I also loved the design of the face and beard, I knew when I saw it I had to draw it. This drawing is not an alla prima painting or drawing, it was definitely not done in one sitting. 

With this drawing I tried a different approach in the beginning stages. I started with placing the important markings of the subject stating each height and width to each section. I keep the lines light since I'll render over the lines and do not want them to show in later stages. Here is where the change comes in with the process, I start stating all the values at once very lightly and keeping the edges soft. What this does it shows me how the final value scheme will look, also it gives me a clearer path to take each section to a finished look. Then I take the top half of the portrait to a finish. I do the same with the bottom half.

Thank you for stopping by, happy Holidays everyone!

Saint Paul the Hermit

"Saint Paul the Hermit"

11 x 14 in

Graphite on Paper

It's been a long time since I last posted and apologize for the absence. I have been producing a lot of paintings and drawings which I'll share with you guys soon. I created this drawing for my show at Ciel. Excited to show at this wonderful venue. The show opens with an artist reception from 6 - 8 pm on August 28, 2014.

It was fun breaking this process down which was a little different from my previous process. The left picture shows the initial drawing with key points. These key points consist of width, height, length and shadow placements. The picture on the top right is where my process changed a bit. In this stage I would just go ahead and do big form modeling, instead I skipped that stage and just "roughed" in where the middle, light and darker values are in those key areas. Doing this allows me to get closer to the look I am going for with the whole drawing, kind of a rough draft of what the final should look. It's important to understand though I keep this stage light and not go too dark with my values as they may shift. Just because it is the "rough" in stage does not mean you give up the quality of the drawing, I am still going for subtle transitions and values turning with the form. The third picture, the bottom left, I start working on the smaller forms and bring the first top half to a finish. I shorten my strokes in this stage to get a nice subtle transition in the areas that need them. I keep going from darker to lighter values making sure each form is corresponding to its value relationships. The picture on the bottom right shows the same procedure applied to the beard. Once the beard is complete I look at the drawing as a whole and evaluate my values again. At this stage I put the final touches and call it done!

Thank you for stopping by. Cheers!

"Rubens" Ball Point Pen

Rubens Copy

3 x 5 in

Ball Point Pen

This drawing started as an experiment to try out a new sketchbook I bought.  I used a heavy weight drawing paper sketchbook by Bee Paper Company Professional Series. It was tough trying to get textures with the drawing because the paper was not as smooth as I usually draw on. I welcomed the challenge and enjoyed deciphering it.  I was not to fond of the graininess in the beginning but ended really liking how it meshed with the drawing in the later stages. This drawing is after Peter Paul Rubens "Two Satyrs". The expression Rubens created with this portrait is amazing. He definitely is one of my all time favorite painters I look up to and inspire to paint/draw like.

 Thank you for stopping by!

"Tony" ARC Salon 2013-2014 Finalists

Please email me if interested in purchasing

"Tony"

3 x 5 in

Ball Point Pen

I hope everyone is having a great start to their summer. I have been extremely busy, as usual, and have finally found time to post. Very excited to announce I am a finalists at the ARC Salon 2013-2014 Competition. You can see more of the finalists here.  I have always wanted to apply and finally was able to. The Art Renewal Center is an incredible site to find amazing artist who are trained in the classical method. You can also find accredited ateliers around the world at the ARC.

The story behind this portrait starts with shopping at Trader Joe's. I noticed "Tony" working there and approached him to draw his portrait. He was a little hesitant at first, but after showing him some of my work he agreed to pose for me. There is something unique that attracted me to draw his portrait. You never know when you find your next drawing/painting subject matter, but when you do you have to jump on the opportunity. "Tony" was a blast to draw, looking forward to painting his portrait in the near future.

Gesture drawings

Since revamping my blog I really have not put anything other than my alla prima paintings on here. I want this blog to showcase all the things I like to draw and paint. 

Tonight I went to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and attended their open figure drawing sessions. It's vital for all artist to keep up with drawing no matter how much one paints. Drawing is fundamental to everything. It's obvious when someone is lacking with their drawing no matter how well they can paint. These drawings are one to 10 minute gestures.

Labor Day Weekend

Morning lake view from the cabin.

Finnley.

Last weekend we went to our family friends cabin for Labor Day weekend and the timing couldn't be any better.  To sit back and just relax was exactly what I needed.

Greg doing the one thing the cabin is known for.

Greg and Miles the best co-captains around.

 I was working on a couple commissions up there but in my "down time" I was messing more with Caseins. Caseins are milk based paints that are water soluble, drying time is super quick with these guys.  I bought them before our wedding trip to Europe and messed around with them a little.  I felt last weekend Casein and I became good friends.

Cheers!

Rupert Brooke

Sold

"Rupert Brooke"

9 x 11 in

Ball Point Pen 

I wanted to thank you all for your nice comments from my last post, I really did not expect all your responses. Especially being gone for so long, thank you again everyone!

I did this Ball Point Pen drawing of Rupert Brooke, a famous English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War. Rupert Brooke was not photographed often and there are rare photos of him. He was an amazing poet for his time and even till today. I can't imagine if he would of lived beyond the age of 27 what other masterpieces he would of produced. I usually do ball point pen drawings in a really small format, but this was way out of the ordinary. I wanted to try something different by going bigger. I'm glad I did but it was a lot of work. When building up layers with ball point pen you have to be very careful by not pressing to hard with the pen or you'll get blobs of ink. It was a challenge to build up these subtle layers in such a large format.  I had a lot of fun with this one, not sure if I wanna go this big again but won't turn it down if it came my way.

Drawing and painting are relative, if you know how to draw then you can paint. I approach a painting the same way I do with a ball point pen. Always think about form, and how light wraps around the form.

"Ivan Kramskoy Copy"

Click here to bid

"Copy after Ivan Kramskoy"

10 x 8 in

Oil on Canvas Panel

I hope everyone had a great holiday season, I cannot believe the year is almost over.  This Christmas I had a great time with family and friends.  I was happy to also paint and enjoy the time with everyone, I would sneak in a couple sessions when the ladies were in the kitchen cooking.  I always seem to go back to Kramskoy whenever I need to practice, his portraits are captivating and his technique is breathtaking.  I never regret doing these little studies I learn from them with each session.  I will post other studies I did from Kramskoy in later post.  

I did not take any process pictures other than this one.  This a good description how I develop a portrait.

Happy Holidays everyone and a Happy New Year!