A Self Portrait, My Process, and Cock-eyes

[Self Portrait]

Here is where the magic began. The magic that is my current passion for painting. See I never painted in highschool, except one really mediocre copy of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" and one pretty descent self-portrait. I was into the pencil drawing because it was cheap and there was no set up. I was a very impatient young lady you see. This character flaw has lessened over the years thankfully and I've realized the beauty of painting.

It all began after being inspired by my good friends/great artists Matt Zumberge and Allan Rivera over at True at Heart Tattoo in Laguna Niguel. These guys are amazing artists, not just at tattoos, but in fine art too. They both have crazy drawing and painting skills. They're not your run of the mill flash tattoo artists. After seeing the quality and extent of their portfolios, I got really excited about getting back into art. So I started out easy - I did a self portrait.  

[ My first self portrait painting circa 2004. ]

Self portrait's are the best thing to start out with because your subject won't get offended if you royally f' up their face and give them a cock-eye. I was really happy with how it turned and really amazed at how fast it all came to me. My motto was to just paint fast and get sections done and not worry about them looking wierd. Just paint in blobs and work fast. I just wanted to pump the first one out and see how it went. Turns out this is a great method. Your eye blends all the brush strokes for you so it works out really beautifully. Then you can go back and add detail and go over things with glazes and washes. 

New work is coming soon! I'm still working on Matt's tattoos and then that painting is finished. Can't wait to get it done and start my next one! I've been really lagging. Some of you have noticed my lack of new work - and now I feel a newfound sense of urgency to get back to painting so I can show you some new stuff!

Happy Tuesday and enjoy the video.
- Amy

Listening to: The Virgins