Skele guitar body is ready to go. I've worked on lightening it up overall and making the texture a bit more gritty...as a pirate guitar should be. Once fully dry and varnished, Rick will assemble the custom built neck, electronics, and decorative pieces.
I just finished this portrait of four sisters. This portrait was commissioned as a surprise gift from family members. So the it ended up being a tough one because it was done completely from photographs and I have never met the women being painted. I usually like to work at least in part from life. Photographs just don't do justice to real life. I know there are a lot of artists out there who comfortably work entirely from photographs and it's typical that they never meet their subjects.
I'm currently collaborating with my husband, Rick Toone, on his new "Skele" guitar design. He designs and builds original, custom instruments. This one is a very unusual adaptation of a Telecaster shape. Check out the details at RICK TOONE | LUTHIER: Interchangeable Guitar & Bass Bodies
I just installed this painting in a client's home. She has very striking, bold decor and wanted a painting to compliment and brighten a darker area of the room.
I enjoyed working with the silhouette of a cherry tree in my in-laws' back yard. The butterfly, which creates a focal point and color accent, has personal meaning to the client. There are red bud accents matching the red furniture and art throughout the room.
As for the title of this blog, maybe you can figure it out.
Here's another Kyle update. I'm really trying to loosen up a bit on this painting and have fun with color. I've done some more work on his face, although it's not quite where I want it to go, yet. Kyle has very fair skin with some rosy patches that I would love to accentuate. At this point, I think his skin is looking too dark.
I've gone through a couple different background colors, until I decided on this one. The first one was a white background with various shades of violet and ochre. I liked the color vibration that it created, but the end effect was too "pastel" for Kyle's personality. He is a strong and determined Taurus. I think the darker blue-green is much more fitting. I am also hoping the the color contrast will help bring out the red of his cheeks and lips as I lighten his skin tone.
Check out this video of Rick's newest guitar design, Orchid, in action. Although I'm not a musician, I can certainly appreciate it for the piece of sculpture that it is. Monster clearly appreciates it for its playability. (Like all skilled artists, Monster makes it look so "easy" — now I almost want to learn bass).
By the way, Orchid was designed for Halie, a budding musician. Of course, the smaller design doesn't seem to slow Monster down the slightest.
So, I got a call from my 14 year old nephew a couple weeks ago. Had a great hour long conversation. He filled me in on the good and bad of high school, things he's been excited about and involved in, the girl-friend status, family drama, etc. It was great to have a conversation where I forgot I was talking to my nephew and instead I was just talking to a friend.
Then he says, "Aunt Tricia, I was checking out your website the other day and I couldn't help but notice that...I'm not on it."
I took that as a "subtle" hint.
I drove down to the shore to visit, get some sketches, photos, and a color study. He very patiently sat for me while he baby-sat his brothers and sisters. Somehow, we managed to get a pretty good drawing despite three year old Jeremy determined to get hold of my charcoal and Power Rangers blaring on the television. (I do recommend to anyone drawing from a live model...no matter how determined and focused the model, the TV is irresistible and they will turn their head every 5 seconds)
Anyway, here he is... a work in progress.
This is the charcoal drawing that has been inked in. Notice the faint remnants of a few failed drawings, especially the huge ghost head. For some reason, I naturally draw huge. (The canvas is 24" x 30") I have to really work hard to shrink my drawings down.
The underpainting.
In this image, I've began to rough in the background and build up the right side of the face.
To be continued...
The vows are complete. Like the George Washington project, this project had many challenges due to the variety of materials involved. Projects like this always keep me on my toes. No matter how much you know about your medium of choice and how you would like something to look, different mediums allow different levels of control and have certain limitations. I have to say, I love paint. Paint is comforting. You can make mistakes, paint over, try again.
The most frightening aspect of George Washington and the Vows was the limited room for mistakes.
George: Ink calligraphy on goatskin parchment that was hard to find and very expensive. (Besides the fact that a goat gave his life so I could commemorate George in a historically accurate way). The whole time I was writing on the goatskin I thought, "What if my pen leaks? What if I accidently misspell a word? If I make a mistake, there's no going back!"
Vows: Everything fixable and replaceable except the middle. The center was signed by everyone at their wedding. They will never have another wedding day. When will they ever have that assortment of family and friends together again? I feared the moment when I had to cut the circle or glue it to the final paper. What if I slip up? Glue it crooked? Change my mind about the final paper?
I can't help but have that anxiety when I work on projects like these. But then I think of people that do things I would never consider...like Dan Osman climbing with no ropes. Does he have that anxiety before he sets out for a climb? I'm sure he does. Maybe it's the anxiety that teaches him think through the problem thoroughly and make the right choices each time.
