Wild Libra - Art Process

The Spirit's Notes: This artwork was completed in October 2006. I suppose I find it refreshing to talk about art from my recent history if one could call 2006 recent. However, as I see different phases evolve in my art, this one is from a more recent phase, rather than from my early history in this genre. Wild Libra was posed by Darla and Veronica, with Darla being the central focus. This piece evokes a far more romantic and sensual emotion, as apposed to evoking humor (like many of my other works). The conveyance of emotion in art can be channelled through varying drawing and painting techniques. We always start with a concept and pencil drawing, and as I lay in my inks and then color, it is through those mediums which I hope to convey the emotions that I desire. From intricate line work, shapes which visually-utter different levels of surface planes, softer contrasts, and atmospheric color are some of my methods. The inking in Darla's hair is painstakingly detailed and had evolved somewhat from my pencil stage to the stage of completed artwork. Art like this can be very experimental and rewarding because of the strong atmospheric climate. It really allowed me to explore color and dynamics more so than less emotion-filled art. I call that an element of true fine art which I call upon from my background. I am an Alumnus of OCAD (Toronto). And with that formal background, I am currently working hard to incorporate true fine art attributes into an otherwise illustrative style (that works primarily with pen and ink). I have done numerous pieces with that specific effort and goal in mind, and continue to do so. It is rather odd for a Fine Artist to change focuses mid-career to newly begin an illustrative art style (it seems like oil and water). Yet then understandably, it may explain why I seek to resurrect part of that past to cohesively incorporate into some of my most successful pieces of recent art, and some of my art yet to come.