welcoming fall...

(figure collage / promo art idea... )

instruction, collaboration, illustration, portraits, commissions, etc : jamesmorren at gmail dot com
 

works in progress, spring figure studies

Mary Anne (24 hrs in...)

Freddy (as John the Baptist)

(both color pieces) oil on board, 18"x24"...

(pieces are gonna be used in a series of paintings I'm developing over this up-coming year... hopefully... :) )

copying Michelangelo's "The Deluge" ...

... gonna see how far I can get with rendering this, on the side (of other projects), but its been fun to study this classic multi-figured narrative painting by 'El Jefe' .

after Michelangelo, "The Deluge", transferred drawing in oil, on board; work in progress...

(detail of the grisaille pass...)

I am also reminded of some old album artwork, motivated by ancient scrolls and illustrated dramas, made collaboratively by my medieval minded bandmates and I for our last "album"... (also pictured... nostalgic dude over here) - its easy to discern that I have always had a thing for figures, landscapes, desperate situations, etc...

...& AOI's "Under Ganfanon Gules" huge scroll album artwork (huge screen-print collab w/ C. Poole, N. Poole, D. Turano, 2012)

winter paintings

Snow Walk

Head and Not the Tail (Habakuk) 

rushed figure study

from this (early) spring, at the GCA studio...

Santiago, oil, 2016

lost at twenty

(another throwback: self portrait, oil)

boy with a crow #tbt

From last year, here's my sketchy copy of Akseli Gallen-Kellela's "Boy With a Crow", in oil. I really like the simplicity of the composition. I believe this is one of Gallen-Kellela's first realistic pieces, ten years-or-so before delving into imaginative realism / illustration... 

the watchman

Jimbe figure study, oil on panel, 18 x 24

... I posted some the progression of this dude in an earlier post. Since I am now abstaining from most social medias (for various reasons, primarily "focus!"), I feel inclined to make another post that directs viewers to the exact image - also I am so grateful to be painting the figure in proper color (after 3+ years studying in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts methods through GCA & my own grasping). Thanks (again!) to Will St. John & Colleen Barry for guidance. 

winter scene, progression from block-in

(still a work in progress, would love to correct some errors I already see... gotta wait till the next storm...)

Jimbe figure study in progress

details of the under-painting above... back in the figure room at GCA; below, a good display of the progression of studies, from Diana's drawing the figure (right), to my grisaille under-painting, to an eventual color study (by Raina Dai) below...

... (update) before I put in a color tone / background, here's the dude with a color pass in the studio: 

...

Jimbe figure study... / 'The Watchman" , oil on board, 18 x 24

(will upload a better (non-phone) pic ASAP)

clearing out studio / selling old pieces

Letting go of each of these pieces is hard, as they hold a personal place in time, learning, effort & (at times) subject, but sometimes one has to let go of the past - especially when you gotta pay un-for-seen bills -you gotta milk whatever you got! Prices are on a sliding scale, but basically affordable (between $150 and $300... for original art!) - every purchase helps me keep encouraged, drawing & painting, etc , but more importantly helps keep the family fed and kiddo well learn-ed.    

Please e-mail (contact above) if you are interested. 

Cloud Study 24" x 14" SOLD

Pine Study 

Stoic Portrait (George)

Rashmi

Toni (Figure Study)

Sarah

Kiesha Portrait

River Study SOLD

Oak on Hudson SOLD

Marshland Sketch SOLD

Bather Study

 portrait detail ...

(roughly) 3 hr figure sketch, graphite on toned paper