Spider-man Silver on Black

Okay, not that almost everything isn't a first for me at this point but this is a first on several levels.

Last week when I visited the art store and was going through their clearance paint, I came across a tube of silver and suddenly mind mind was awash in visions of silver on black paintings.

I think the first vision I had was for Daredevil sort of three images with Daredevil facing in three different directions.

Also Spider-Man was another idea.

After I painted the painting paper black, I got stuck in what to do.  Other than the superhero idea, I thought maybe just having a partial skyline like that I observed in Chicago.  So I painted it black on Tuesday night and then let it sit to dry but then I got stuck on what to attempt.

Luckily, I was reading a comic book series at the time called Secret War from my Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars Battleworld Box Set and this particular series had different heroes set against a mostly black background.  I pretty much had decided on either Daredevil or Spider-Man and in the end, the Spider-Man seemed like the best one to go with.

So this is also the first action scene I have drawn or painted.  In some ways, I'm happy with this painting.  I guess for my skill level, it is recognizable and the silver paint ended up being harder to work with than I anticipated.  It was a bit thicker than the other colors I had worked with, but since I was going with a simple design, I could paint over lines or too thick of lines with the black.

Here's the cover art that was the basis for this painting:

Ego is Skeleton #2

Ego Is Skeleton 2

Well, my second paiting is almost done.  Who knows, maybe it is done.  I don't quite feel it yet. Maybe I want to do something with that tree?  Maybe I do want to add something that resembles cobble stones on the red path?  Maybe I just want to touch up the parts where the canvas still comes through.

Oddly enough, I like it much better when I see it in the smaller size.  It is much closer to the vision I have in my head.

In this version, I like the road side much better and I like the arch much better.  I also like the figure much better. I felt I got the effect of a wraith-like being while giving it some substance and a little more character.

I am going to post my pictures from my last blogpost just so that people who want to see all of the pictures together will have a one-stop.

Ego is Skeleton 1

Original source photograph

Original Self-Portrait #11

My First Painting!

Ego Is Skeleton #1

The seed has been growing in me for a while.

My Self-Portrait 11 had been placed on a wall where I saw it more and my eye kept getting drawn to it.

An inner voice urged me to try something with the same image.  And then I went to see the Van Gogh's Bedrooms exhibition at the Chicago Art Institute last Wednesday and Thursday (March 9th & 10th 2016). And finally the breakthrough to try paints overcame me.

Yesterday, March 12, I stopped in the local Hobby Lobby while running the weekly errands and bought an acrylic paint set and some paper for painting.

I took the kit apart. Examined the paints. Watched a little bit of an introductory video and then just jumped in. I decided not to sketch out the design and as a result, it is lacking the otherworldly distortion I would have liked to capture more of.  I also would have liked to create more texture on either side of the path.  Other parts I am quite happy with.  Even though this is originally based on a photo and then on a drawing, I think it evokes something in my imagination that created a feedback loop.

Here are the original photo and drawing:

Basis for original drawing from March 2015

Self-Portrait 11 from March 2015