Fundraiser Time

I'm having a little fundraiser on my website. While we wait out this COVID-19 crisis, I am taking some of my old paper scraps and doing little portraits on them. Back when I finished up my senior thesis projects I had about 10 days between finals and graduation and looking back on it, I probably should have just bummed around town but I went from working like a dog to being completely free to do whatever I wanted for 10 whole days and it was a tough adjustment. I spent some of my time taking all the old scrap paper from the year and experimenting with colors and my ability to record information with ink straight to paper. Now that I am finding myself in a similar situation due to lack of any work coming in, I'm returning to old ways to keep myself from falling out of practice.

I'm selling this first little batch of heads on my website. Each one comes with some extra gifts as well. They are all listed on my website right here -> STORE and I will probably be adding to it as time goes on. These purchases will help me keep the studio lights on as we continue to wait this storm out. 

One thing I want to add: When you click to purchase the item you want, your purchase will be secured but it will not be shipping immediately. Being in NYC, and at the center of this crisis, I want to be as safe and responsible about this as possible. So, as not to put anyone at risk and put any more strain on the mail carriers, all items will ship out as soon as it appears safe enough to do. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Singin' in the Rain

I was house sitting a few years ago and was messin around in my sketchbook one day, just doing some portraits of people I'm interested in, and there was one Tom Waits portrait I did that I was particularly happy with. Fast forward a few years and now that I'm messing around with all these night scenes and neon lights I figured I'd push the sketch into new territory. I'm trying to find a balance between all the neon paintings and my detailed line work and this piece seemed like it'd be a good exercise for this. I also visited New Orleans while I was working on this piece and I felt like the vibe of the nightlife there helped me create a more specific mood here. 

My sketches/color studies sometimes feel like they come dangerously close to being better than the finished piece. This was one of those times.

Thomas Rinaldi's book on the history of neon lights in NYC has been an endless source of inspiration and great for reference material.