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Blog Category: Icarus Art

Back in the Swing of Things

The Laguna Beach Festival of Arts is over. Although I'm incredibly grateful to have taken part in such a renowned art festival, I'm also glad to be back in the swing of things and experience "normal" again, like studio time, my friends, family dinners, and all the stuff that makes life so great.

The most invaluable aspect of being at the festival was the direct contact with the thousands of people who passed by my exhibit space every day for two months. Finding out what they liked, why they liked it, and how my art spoke to them, has reinvigorated my commitment and reshaped my future plans.

Here's what's happening and what's ahead:

  • I'm showing at the Dana Point Ocean Institute with four Laguna Beach Festival artists.
  • Coming up in October is another group exhibition at the Mission Trails Regional Park Gallery in San Diego.
  • Esterroi.com and Icarusart.net are in the process of being restructured. Both will come with their own blog that will focus on separate areas: mine on my art and life as an artist, the other on the Icarus board and its technique.

Below is an image of a small commission that I just finished.

Poppy, No. 5

 

“River Pebbles, No. 9” - Where’s Waldo?

Original Photo Reference

When I look at a reference photo like the one above, the question I always ask myself is: where's Waldo?

Waldo, for an artist like me, is a good composition hidden in the randomness of nature. Even when I'm the one setting up the still life, I try not to interfere in the way pebbles fall into place. I just take many pictures while anticipating the game I will play later on my computer.

Waldo can be elusive at times. I have images taken years ago that never produced a single Waldo. But my ability to "see" is constantly evolving; I know there's a Waldo waiting to be found even in the most hopeless image.

Composition

Meet Waldo! I found him in the center of the image. Now that I have him, I want to show him off but, as you can see, he looks a little drab. Light and color will do magic.

Values

Here's what he looks like in black and white.

Values Adjusted

Much better - Waldo is coming to life. I just lightened the top left quadrant and pushed the overall value contrast.

Colors Adjusted

Now we're talking!

River Pebbles, No. 9

And here is my finished piece - in honor of Waldo of course!

Title: River Pebbles, No. 9

For techniques used in this artwork, please see blog post River Pebbles, No.3 - Melting Artist Crayons

 

Icarus Drawing Board: Review and Newsletter

Colored Pencil Society of Canada

Artist Erica Walker, secretary and treasurer of the Colored Pencil Society of Canada, wrote an excellent review of the Icarus Drawing Board titled "First Impressions of the Icarus Drawing Board". Here are the links to the English version and to the French version.

The Icarus Art February 2012 Newsletter was sent out yesterday. If you'd like to register for the newsletter, you can go to the homepage of Icarus Art and click the sign-up button on the top right corner.

 

Icarus Art YouTube Channel

Icarus Art is now on YouTube. The first series of video clips is a short introduction to the Icarus Technique and the Icarus Drawing Board. You can see how I organize my workstation and how I use some of my favorite tools.

I have also posted a video on how to create a monotype with the Icarus Board.

This is just the beginning. I will upload more videos soon.

 

Back in the Swing of Things

It took two weeks after the CPSA convention to get back to a daily routine and, as you can see from the pictures below, I'm definitely back to "normal". Here are some things to look forward in the near future:

  • New artwork
  • An Icarus Art Newsletter
  • A new video page for the Icarus Art website and a YouTube account
  • A free selection of video clips from my CPSA workshop