I Make People Cry, and I Like It

I have made dozens of people cry in my lifetime and felt really good about it. Felt proud, as a matter of fact. Many of them were total strangers, but some of them were friends, and some were even people in my own family. I've made my sisters cry, my dad cry, and even my brother-in-law. Made 'em all cry, and it was wonderful.

What am I, some kind of sadist? How come I like making people cry?

Well, what I am is actually a portrait artist, and what makes people cry is joy. The joy of seeing a beloved family member or pet who has passed away immortalized in a piece of art, to live on forever in a way that a photograph can't really capture. I've done many memorial portraits over the years, and I have had the joy of presenting people with them and being there when they get struck by that sweet pain that causes happy tears to cover and soothe the feeling of loss. I consider it a wonderful honor to be able to do this.

So yes, it brings me a lot of joy to make people cry!

Image is my own artwork

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The Evil Pepper

I love Pixabay, because it is a wonderful site just packed full of copyright-free images I can use (with credit, of course--the photographer deserves love!), and it is also the answer to my blogging prayers--whenever I need a topic to write about, I can just pop over to Pixabay and find a great photo or graphic image that inspires me to write. Sometimes I am moved to pen a poem or a short story based on the image; sometimes it makes me want to do a little research and write an informative article; sometimes it inspires me to share a memory or some personal feeling; and sometimes, I just talk about how cool the picture itself is.

This would be one of those times. The reason I think this picture is so great is not just because the colors are so eye-catching, the image is so crisp, and the composition is effective. What really tickles me is how spot-on the metaphor is. The razor blade is being shown slicing the pepper, but it represents the "bite" of pain that the pepper can give you, too, and the water droplets all over make the vegetable look clean and juicy, but they also remind me of the way really hot peppers make you bust out into a sweat--especially the way they are beaded on the razor blade; it's just perfect! Love this picture and just wanted to share it with you. Now did I make you hungry, or scare you? Ha ha!

Image from Pixabay pixabay.com/en/pepperoni-red-sharp-cut-knife-273982/

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Painting Composition 101: Creating a Strong Focal Point

Every representational painting (that is to say, a painting that represents something specific, rather than a purely abstract painting) has a subject or several subjects. Some paintings have a simple composition with one easily defined subject, such as Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of the Mona Lisa, but many other paintings have several characters or objects, and, in general, just a lot of stuff going on. There may be a great deal to look at in a busy picture, but to capture the eye of the viewer, a painting must have a well-defined focal point. Once the eye is arrested by this focal point, the viewer will stay to take in the rest of your artwork.

To determine your focal point, decide what or who should be the star of the show. Pictures of the Assumption, for example, generally put the spotlight on Mary, but you might consider putting the focus on a watching child, to show that the event is being seen from her perspective.

Once you have selected your focal point, you can go about emphasizing it with one or more of the following techniques:

Framing Device. Set off your subject by placing it within a picture element that serves as a natural frame: a doorway or archway, a window, an arching tree branch or spray of flowers, a bonnet or helmet around a face. You can even use an actual frame, such as a mirror's reflection or someone standing in front of a framed picture.

Movement. In Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper, perspective is used to guide the eye toward the focal point. The lines of the walls and ceiling diminish toward the vanishing point, which happens to be face of Jesus Christ. In addition to the basic movement, Leonardo also has some of the disciples literally pointing at or reaching toward Jesus, which naturally leads the eye back again and again. Leonardo also uses a framing device, in that Jesus is seated in front of a window in the center of the painting.

Color. An effective way to attract attention to your focal point is the use of color. If your painting is full of blues and greens, as is a typical landscape, a red barn or bright yellow sunflower will provide an eye-catching burst of contrasting color (although be aware that a red barn is an extremely cliché subject). The color doesn't have to be bright, though, just different: In Vincent van Gogh's painting, Les Irises, a lone white iris stands out from its colorful bluish-purple peers and the reddish-orange ground because it is so singular.

Contrast. Along the same lines, contrast can be employed to pick out your main subject, as well. Putting something light in a dark area or something dark in a light area will draw the eye like a target. Most creatures, including people, are instinctively drawn to eyes (and Nature exploits this fact by equipping some animals with an "eye spot" pattern that can help them escape or intimidate predators), because there is such contrast in an eye (even fingernails and teeth are not as naturally white as an eyeball, nor is anything on the body as black as a pupil). In The Oath of the Horatii, Jacques-Louis David's picture of three Roman brothers swearing upon their swords, which their father holds. The swords are shown shining brightly against a dark background. They are further framed by an archway, and if that weren't enough to establish them as the focal point, movement is also used, as both the father and his sons stretch their arms out toward the swords as the oath is sworn.

 Definition. The relative amount of definition, or detail, can be used to home in on a focal point, much like one's eye focuses naturally on a subject of interest and lets the other stuff blur out a bit. In Portrait of a Madwoman, Géricault renders the face of his subject with incredible sensitivity to detail, showing the rough, age-spotted skin of her face, her red-rimmed eyes and querulous expression perfectly. Her white cap (a framing device) is shown in slightly lesser detail, and the farther one travels from her face, the less focus there is: Her brown mantle is barely indicated in loose brushstrokes, and the background is featureless black.

Size. Just as with a contrast in color or level of detail, a dramatic difference in size can draw the eye to a focal point. A watermelon among oranges would certainly stand out, but a focal point doesn't have to be the picture's largest item, just the most singularly different in size. An orange among watermelons would command attention just as effectively.

Finally, there is Placement. There is always a "sweet spot" on a typical rectangular page or canvas to which the gaze normally gravitates. On both "landscape" (horizontal) and "portrait" (vertical) orientations, that spot is about one third down the center of the page. The hilts of the swords and the father's raised hand are in the "sweet spot" in The Oath of the Horatii, above. The portraits of the Mona Lisa and the madwoman, above, have the faces located there. Armed with the knowledge that people will naturally tend to look in that area first, you can plan your composition to put the focal point there. But do not feel locked in to that particular spot; with the use of contrast, framing, movement, or the other techniques I've discussed here, you can direct the eye to your preferred location, and very often an "off-center" focal point makes for a more dynamic composition.

Whatever methods you choose to enhance your painting, always be open to experimentation, and keep making art!

Want more art instruction? Check out the following articles:

 http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/05/figure-drawing-101-so-you-wanna-be.html
 http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/03/figure-drawing-101-wacky-secrets-of.html
 http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/03/i-have-been-professional-portrait.html

 All images are in the public domain and can be found on Wikimedia Commons

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Superman + Batman = SuperBat!

Another entry in my "Hybrid Heroes" line is SuperBat, whom I got from combining the DC superhero favorites Superman and Batman. As you can see, I have combined Superman's red cape (with scalloped "batwing" edge, a la Batman) and blue bodysuit with Batman's black spiky-looking gloves, black undies-on-the-outside (as opposed to Superman's red undies-on-the-outside), yellow utility belt (as opposed to Superman's plain yellow belt) and the famous batsignal. As well as the cape and the chest logo, the boots are a true amalgam, being Batman-black but with the Superman design at the top. Last but not least is the bat-eared mask, which I decided to use instead of the cowl so I could show the distinctive curl-on-the-forehead 'do of Kal-El (although Bruce Wayne has similar hair)!

SuperBat can fly, of course, and can use his super-hearing for echolocation. Not only is he invulnerable to bullets, he is also a skilled martial artist and has amazing powers of deduction. He belongs to the Hybrid League with Bat Canary, who we met earlier: http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/01/batgirl-black-canary-bat-canary.html and with Wonder Bat, a more recent addition: http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/03/batgirl-wonder-woman-wonder-bat.html . Things are pretty batty in the Hybrid League!

Picture is my original artwork; mixed media on bristol board. Superman and Batman are trademarked characters of DC Comics, Inc, but SuperBat is my own invention. Click on the image for more detail!

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Figure Drawing 101: So You Wanna Be a Portrait Artist

So, here's the thing: I am a working portrait artist-have been for quite some time-and yet, in my portraiture course, I devote a class to teaching my students how to become successful portraitists themselves. Why would I teach classfull after classfull of talented people how to compete with me? Am I nuts? Do I not need the business? Um, "No" on both. The world market is not glutted with portrait artists, and is never likely to be, for this particular reason: Everyone wants a portrait.
 
Think about it: Wouldn't you like a portrait? If not of yourself, than of your kids, or of your adorable shih tzu, or your beloved Grandma who passed away last year? And if not for yourself, wouldn't a portrait be a wonderful gift to commemorate an event like a wedding, an anniversary, Mother's Day or Father's Day, retirement, a new baby, or just because a portrait is a unique present that has the potential to become a family heirloom, treasured and passed down for generations?

Well, now, you see? EVERYBODY wants a portrait. I personally cannot produce portraits for everybody, so by all means, feel free to step into the gap. And to get you started, here is my advice on marketing yourself to the portrait-hungry public.

Okay, so now you know the big, secret fact: Everybody wants a portrait. Here's the second part of it: Not everybody knows a portraitist. That's why you have to promote not only your talent, but also your availability as a working portrait artist. You can do this in a number of ways, which I will organize here as People, Places and Things (just think of the definition for 'nouns' to remember).

People: Family; friends; coworkers; customers; classmates; fellow members of clubs/ churches/ organizations/ groups. Think about all the people you know-friends, relatives, people in your book club, members of your church, etc. Maybe you are taking classes or belong to an organization like Rotary, a volunteer group or a social club. Maybe you have coworkers at a job, or your own clients through another business, like interior design or real estate. The point is, you know a lot of people. How well do they know you? Your family and friends probably know you are an artist, but do they know you want to accept portrait commissions? Make sure they know, and that everyone else does, too. You don't need to be pushy; just let people know you are a portrait artist, and they will file the fact away for future reference.

And, hey, don't just say you're thinking about being a portrait artist or trying to become one, say you are. Have some confidence! People will be fascinated, and it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Now, think again about all the people on that list that you may know, and think about this: Every one of those people has a list, too. Your friends have coworkers; your relatives belong to churches and clubs; your neighbors have family and friends and clients.

So if your brother's boss or your friend's Sunday School teacher is thinking about getting a portrait done and asks if anyone can recommend an artist, your brother or friend can pipe up, Yes! And you end up getting a commission from someone you may never even have met. And once that commission is filled and hanging proudly in their home, think of all of their friends, family and so on who might see your artwork, compliment it and end up referred to you. So, if you want to end up with an order from your son-in-law's boss's best friend's minister's gardener's neighbor's manicurist, make sure your son-in-law knows about the whole portrait thing in the first place, okay? It might be nice to sweeten the pot by starting to do portraits as gifts for your friends and family; that way they'll have something to rave over and send your name on down the line.

Places: Retail (yours and theirs); public spaces; galleries; shows and expos; the internet. Presuming that you have produced some sample portraits, there are a great number of places you can show them off. If you happen to own a restaurant or store or know someone who does, these can be great places to display your artwork. Include contact information that people can remove from the pieces and take with them (I usually make a little business card holder out of card stock, which can be stuck to the glass on the portrait itself). If you don't have your own store but you're feeling intrepid, ask around. Many local restaurants hang art for sale, and you might get stores interested by matching your subject matter to their clientele: Put wedding portraits in bridal shops, pet portraits at pet-supply stores and veterinarian's offices. You could overcome some resistance by offering a small percentage of the proceeds on commissions resulting from the displayed work.

Shows and expos offer similar opportunities. You can rent a booth or table at a bridal expo or at a cat, dog or horse show, displaying your portraits and even having one in progress to work on while you man your booth. One caution: People do not come to these events armed with photos and ready to place an order, so these shows should be viewed more as a networking opportunity than anything else. If your want to make your booth rent back, you should take some small things you can sell off the table, such as note cards or magnets featuring your artwork.

Working in public spaces is a great way to get exposure. People cannot resist the magnetic pull of an artist at work, so take a sketch pad to the zoo, park, mall, or even a museum, and get ready to chat with admirers. Have some finished samples of your art to show (I usually have some nice finished drawings in my sketch pad that I can flip to), and have your business cards ready to hand out.
Obviously, the internet is another powerful marketing tool. There are quite a few turnkey companies that will allow you to build your own website with step-by-step guidance, like Wix or Squarespace, if you don't have experience in web design. If you don't feel ready to invest in your own website, you can get your work seen on other websites at very low rates, or even free!

Check out Etsy (click here to see my shop!) or other art-sales websites, your local Craigslist, or make an artist page on Facebook Click here to see mine, Instagram, or other social media sites. You can also create a page on subscription sites like Patreon or KoFi so that people can view your work and support your art with subscriptions or tips. At the very least, you should create an email address to use solely for your portrait business. You can email samples to interested folks without ever having to bother with a website.

Things: Business cards; "leave behinds"; direct mail (flyers and postcards), magazine or newspaper ads. Business cards are indispensable, a must-have. They can lead to many opportunities, and are a relatively inexpensive investment-these days, you can make them on your own printer at home. But be careful about what kind of information you put on them, because they might end up in the hands of a scammer or a creepy person. Your business card should have your name and/or your business name, a phone number and an email address, at the very least; maybe a website and a mailing address, but none of these things should be your personal information.

Get a PO box or private mailbox and use that instead of your home address. It's nobody's business where you live! I never meet clients at my house or theirs, and nobody has ever had a problem with that. Along the same lines, never put your home phone, only your cell phone. Even if you have been careful not to use your home address, it can be easily found out by entering your home phone in a search engine like Google or Superpages. So, name; cell number; PO box, and your business, not your personal, email.

Another handy tool is the "leave behind", a kind of 'super business card' for artists. It gets its name from being what commercial artists leave behind with an art director to keep on file after they have shown off their portfolios. This usually consists of a card in a standard size, usually 4"x 6" or 5" x 7". One side features a sample of the artist's work (one image or several), plus the artist's name and contact information, just as on a business card. The reverse side can be set up as a postcard, with spaces for address, message, and stamp, so your piece can serve double duty as a mailer as well as a handout.

If you try to secure commissions using direct mail or print ads, try to keep it local-shipping photos and artwork back and forth can get expensive, and loss or damage can occur. Some of my portraits have ended up in France, Mexico and Ireland, but they all started from local contacts.
As you can see, there are many ways you can get your artwork in front of potential customers. The best part is when your portraits start to sell themselves. I personally do not spend a penny on advertising at this point in my career; all my clients or either repeat business, acquaintances, or referrals, and they all contact me. It's a pretty nice setup, really. Well, now that you know how, go out and drum up some business!

If you'd like to read my other Figure Drawing 101 articles, click here:

Figure Drawing 101: Is the Human Figure Really Harder to Draw? 

Figure Drawing 101: Wacky Secrets of Proportion

Image is my original artwork, soft pastel on Canson pastel paper. Click to enlarge! 

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart

Sugar Glider Diet

This is one of a series of posters that I did for a presenter who visits schools, churches and other groups to give a lesson about exotic creatures--accompanied by illustrated posters--and then presents the actual animal to the children. The illustration style is whimsical, but informative. This one displays examples of the typical diet of a sugar glider, a small marsupial mammal native to Australia and Indonesia.

The sugar glider resembles a flying squirrel in that it has extra skin stretching between the arms and legs that fan out to act as gliding "wings" as it leaps from tree to tree, hence the "glider" part of the name. However, sugar gilders are not squirrels but are actually small opossums, of all things!

And like opossums, they are omnivores. They feed on tree sap in their native habitat, but some people keep sugar gliders as pets, much like hamsters. If you are caring for a captive sugar glider, there are a variety of things you can feed your pet, and a varied diet is always best. Sugar gliders can eat fresh fruit and vegetables (raisins are a particular treat for hand-feeding) or prepared foods, such as parrot chow or even cat food. They do not need to be given meat, but be sure they get their protein by feeding them some cooked egg, nuts and seeds, or some yummy crickets or mealworms from the pet store.

Illustration is mine. Click to enlarge!

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Figure Drawing 101: Wacky Secrets of Proportion

Most of us have probably heard about the whole right brain, left brain thing. You know: the left brain is the coldly analytical, number-crunching, science-and-math whiz, and the right brain is your spacey, boho flower child, full of creativity, emotion, and bright colors; good with language, drama and art. And when most of us conjure up a visual for the term 'artist', this flower child, or maybe an angst-ridden, black-garbed nihilist, pops up. Not to say these stereotypes aren't out there walking the art community (I legit roomed with one in art school), but what do you do if you'd really like to learn to draw, but you are, oh, a rocket scientist, or an accountant? Are you slap out of luck?

Why no, of course not. One of the most famous artists in history, Leonardo da Vinci, was very much in touch with his left brain, designing extremely advanced technological gizmos, like tanks, and even a helicopter! Leonardo was no slouch in the art department, obviously, but one of the strengths of his draftsmanship (drawing skill) was his rather scientific observation of his subjects, most specifically the human figure.

See, Leonardo figured out that human beings, while varying greatly in size, shape, appearance and character, still adhere to some very standard rues of proportion, and he left us a famous drawing, "Vitruvian Man", to illustrate clearly what he'd hit upon. Take a look at Vitruvian Man: an adult male figure is shown standing with arms extended in different positions, and with legs similarly shown in different positions. He is shown inside two basic geometric shapes, a circle and a square, and his major joints are indicated with bisecting lines. This illustration depicts what I like to call "wacky secrets of proportion", which your formula-following left brain will appreciate, as you can apply these mathematical principles to all of your drawings of people.

Why did Leonardo draw Vitruvian Man inside a circle? This one is pretty easy; as you may note from the different arm and leg positions shown in the drawing, the rotation of our limbs describe a perfect arc (I call this the "Snow Angel Principle"). This is interesting, but might not help so much with the drawing, so let's move along to the next question: Why did Leonardo draw our friend inside a square? Well, now, here's an interesting fact: Notice that Vitruvian Man's head and feet touch the top and bottom of the square, and that his fingertips touch each side. Remember, a square is an equilateral shape: all sides measure the same. That means, kids, that the distance from fingertip to fingertip is the same as from head to foot. Yeah, that's right: your wingspan is the same as your height, you big square, you!

There are other equal proportions on the human body, as well. Look at the major joints of the arm-shoulder, elbow, wrist. The elbow falls exactly between the shoulder and the wrist, which means that the upper arm is the same length as the lower arm (don't count the hand). Same thing goes for your lower limbs: with the knee at the exact midpoint, the upper and lower legs (don't count the feet) are the same length. Wacky, huh? Another interesting fact is that when your arms are hanging loosely at your sides, your elbows hit exactly at your natural waist. Many people draw the elbows too high. Furthermore, you can check the proportion of the head to the rest of body using the knowledge that the average adult is 7 ½ heads tall (including the head itself). Children, whose heads are proportionately larger, are fewer heads tall, varying with age. If you think your drawing of a child looks too old to be your subject, check to make sure you didn't make the head too small in proportion to the body.

One more thing about body proportions: Hands and feet are bigger than you think. Your hand can pretty much cover your entire face, and your feet have to hold your whole body up, so you'd better be happy about your big ol' gunboats, because they're keeping you from doing a face-plant. Here's a wacky secret of proportion that might win you some bar bets: Your foot is the same length as your arm from wrist to elbow (and hence, from elbow to shoulder, but it's a lot easier to check against your lower arm). Seriously! Go ahead and check for yourself; I'll wait.

See?

And wacky secrets of proportion aren't just for the body; there are plenty of things going on in your face and head, too! For example, on a person who is looking forward with his head straight up and down, you can divide the face evenly with a vertical midline and a horizontal midline; a plus sign, more or less, except the head is taller than it is wide, of course. The typical (unbroken) nose will run right down the vertical midline, which will evenly bisect eyes, brows, nose, mouth and chin. The eyes will sit right on, not above, the horizontal midline. That's right: your eyes are exactly halfway up your head. It's a very typical mistake to draw the eyes too far up. Don't forget, you need a lot of skull space to hold your big ol' brain! For kids, the cranium (brain case) is even bigger in proportion to the face (their eyes are bigger, too).

For adults, the eyes are exactly one eye-width apart, the pupils when looking straight ahead generally line up right over the corners of the mouth, the inner corners of the eyes tend to be right above the nostrils, and even your ears get a wacky rule: They are the exact length, from tip to lobe, as your nose, from brow to tip.

So, left-brainers, never fear; even though you should try to tap into your right hemisphere when you cozy up to your drawing board (to do this, try stimulating other senses besides the visual: burn a nice-smelling candle, sip some fragrant tea, listen to some music you like), you can still rest knowing that even a complicated subject like the human body still has to fit a set of guidelines that's actually pretty easy to learn. So go ahead, you doctors, lawyers, and IRS agents! You, too, can have art in your lives! Get to sketchin'!

Here is another article you may enjoy on figure drawing:  http://allsortsartbyali.blogspot.com/2015/03/i-have-been-professional-portrait.html

For regular shenanigans, please follow my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/allsortsofart