“The Battle of San Romano” Reproduction, Part 0.1: Materials

My Blick order came yesterday. It consisted of powdered pigments, mostly earth pigments, though some modern pigments too, some walnut oil, gesso, tools for mixing pigments, and a hardboard surface to do a compositional study before I do the big mammajamma.

I’ve looked at some recipes online for egg tempera. Usually they use egg yoke, distilled water, and a little oil to keep it “open.” I chose walnut oil, which was a commonly used period alternative to linseed oil.

My plan is to do a series of studies to try and master painting with egg tempera before doing the final, to scale study, and finally the big one.

That is all for now. I plant to post each step along the way.

 

“Battle of San Romano” Reproduction, Part 0

Okay, I’ve got one commission to do first, but I’m getting excited about my new project. I’m going to try and do a reproduction of the piece below. The piece is called “The Battle of San Romano” by Paulo Uccello, a Florentine artist from the 1400s. 

My wife and I saw the piece at The National Gallery in London in 2019, before the pandemic. When I saw saw it, I said, that looks like photos I’ve been taking at Estrella all these years. The composition will be my own, from my Estrella photos, but the technique and materials will all be period. It will also be about a quarter the size of the original. I’m expecting the project to take a year or more. 

Wish me luck! I might make posts about my progress.

“Dour Man Wearing Jaunty Hat”

Back to a chiaroscuro style portrait, but utilizing some thicker, chunkier paint to give it some spontaneity, and a painterly quality.

“The Procession — Dia de los Muertos — Study 3”

More palette knife craziness!

“The Procession — Dia de los Muertos — Study 2”

We're talking chunky paint!

Session 1
Session 2

NFT Art Carnival

I created my first NFT. It was an epiphany awaking. I realized that this was just a little surface scratch in a huge revolution that is coming. This is the revolution of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Non Fungible Tokens, Crypto Wallets, and so on. I firmly believe that this will be my kid’s generation’s Internet, in that what the Internet was to our generation, this will be to hers.

It will affect the way money is made and spent. It will affect banking. It will affect economics. It will affect the way you are paid. It will affect your taxes. It will affect the idea of ownership of anything digital. Facebook, with its rebranding, is all in. Entire countries are adopting crypto as their official currency.

I also firmly believe that this is the thing that our generation, when we are old, will be confused and befuddled by. Our kids are going to be the ones that have to explain the technology over and over again to us and we still won’t get it. It will be overwhelming and we will be too old to adapt.

Mark my words. Hold onto your hats and keys. A big change is coming.

“Graffiti of Shapeshifters”

Soon to be an NFT!

You can order prints right here: [link]

"Graffiti of a Glass Half Full"

Soon to be an NFT!

You can order prints right here: [link]

"Graffiti of Simpler Times"

This is another digital piece based off of one of my figure drawings in my sketchbook. I like the way it turned out and the title so much that I might do a whole series of "Graffiti of..." pieces.

Soon to be an NFT!

You can order prints right here: [link]

"Cinnamon Bun"

This is a digital piece. It is based on a pencil sketch I made in my sketchbook.

UPDATE:

I just created an NFT for this artwork and put it up for auction on Rarible right here: [link]

You can order prints right here: [link]

“The Procession — Dia de los Muertos — Study 1”

This is the first in a series of smaller studies, related to Dia de los Muertos and The All Souls Procession. These are quick, and untitled.

Work in progress

Third attempt at digital art.

Progress over time:

Session 1

"Beach Day"

Second attempt at digital art.

You can order prints right here: [link]

"Maison Bertaux Revisited"

I've been wanting to try my hand at some digital art. As a result, took my painting "Maison Bertaux" and tried to squash it into ArtRage 6 to see what would happen.  After shaking it around, banging it on the desk, and playing around for a couple of hours, I came up with this monster.  I'm not sure if it is genius or a four year old did it.  What ever the case, it's Dave's first digital art!  (Don't look at it too long; it'll give you a headache)

"Gracie, in a Pumpkin Patch"

Progress over time:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Final

"Skirts on Fire"

One of the performers that march the The All Souls Procession each year is a group of Flamenco dancers. As they march, the wave their skirts back and forth very vigorously, to the point it looks like they are on fire. It has made such an impression on me that I decided that I had to paint them. To be honest, it has been a difficult painting to pull off, but i think it has finally come together.

Progress over time:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Final

Under-drawing

"Maison Bertaux"

This painting is a scene from a recent trip to London. While in the Soho region of London, I came across a charming French cafe. After stopping for coffee, I took a few pictures and wandered on my way. Later that night, looking through my pictures, I found the perfect painting to go with my European street scenes.

During the execution of the painting, I tried something new. In the past, I’ve leaned heavily on a pigment called Transparent Oxide Brown. This though always left a orange/brown cast to my paintings. This time, though, I replaced the pigment on my palette with Transparent Oxide Red. It has made for a wonderful, more colorful painting.

Progress over time:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Final

Under-drawing

"Selfie"

This is the second in my series inspired by the All Souls Procession, an annual event in Tucson, Arizona celebrating and remembering those who have passed on. This piece is a companion to "Mirror", a similar piece, showing someone in sugar skull makeup looking in a mirror. This is a self portrait.

Progress over time:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Final

Under-drawing

Unveiling Party

On March 23, 2019, "Let's Eat and Drink While There is Oil in the Lantern" was unveiled to the public for the first time. A gathering of family and friends were at the event. It was there that I handed over the reigns to the piece to its new owner. A good time was had by all.

"Let's Eat and Drink While There Is Oil in the Lantern"

This piece is inspired by medieval reenactment. It shows two people at The Estrella War, an annual event in Arizona, where people gather to practice armored combat, and the arts and sciences related to the Middle Ages. The event is sponsored by the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA).

This piece shows two old friends back at camp, cooking, and the camaraderie and brotherhood at the event.

Progress over time:

Session 1
Session 2
Session 3
Session 4
Session 5
Session 6
Session 7
Session 8
Session 9
Session 10
Final

Under-drawing