Today I did a sketch for a painting I am planning.
There are still some fundamentally flawed aspects of this piece, but I like how its going.

For a while now I have been working on an Boggle App with a friend of mine, Blake Badders. He has been doing the programming and I have been doing the UI & Music.
Now that my Calendar is finished I can devote my next week or so to full time working on the app, Called "Letter Better". Hopefully Ill be able to get as much done as possible and we can release this thing.

Here is a sketch of the main theme. I originally recorded it so that I could remember everything I had done, but I figure I can share it with you guys.

Letter Better theme (The Letter Lament)

My 2015 Clemson Calendar is now in print! 

Any one waiting on online versions of my courses will have to wait just a little while longer. ;) ill keep you updated.

I did a number of studies for a new painting this morning.
These were my two favourite.

I know which of the two I'd go for but I'm after some public opinion, which one is more compelling?

Cheers,
Justin Donaldson

Here is a little work in progress detail from a halloween/ trick or treat piece I am working on.
These two figures are going to be key to the piece, so I need to get their expressions right.
Everything else in the painting will need to guide them, support them, return the viewer to them.

There are still some slight anatomical issues, but I should be able to quickly sort those out.

This morning was a rough start kinda morning. For no reason other than my body didn't agree with me that I should get up. In fact, I don't know what part of me was suggesting that should I get up because every part of me that I can think of was definitely not in favour of the idea.

So I took a walk... Didn't help.
Drank some coffee... getting a little better.
Multiple cups of water... not as effective as you might think.

However I decided to proceed with life anyway. With any kind of reading out of the question it was time to do a paint study.

A couple of days ago we trundled down to lake Hartwell for a baptism. The water level is lower than normal and so its steeper grade was replaced by a fairly shallow grade that resulted in some really awesome colours coming to life in the water. Where the transition from the shallow orange/yellows of the lake to the deeper green/blues normally happen fairly quickly, we were able to see a drawn out gradient.

So obviously my mind got to racing about what kinda paintings I could compose down there. And hopefully I can get the time to go down there soon to take some serious studies, but for now I decided to just play with the idea.

Any feedback is always welcome! Enjoy!

Here is a piece I was able to save from my laptop!

A study in value that I think I will continue on to a full colour and fully finished piece!

;) let me know what you think.

Using watercolor on paper is one of the cheapest ways that you can successfully trial your colour harmonies, all the while practicing to mix, growing confident, and doing so in a matter of minutes!

What if you mess up though? well... that cost you only a matter of cents in materials and hopefully not much more in pride.

If you are interested in Classes in person or online then drop me a line! The more interest I get the more that I can put into making it the best it can be!

Cheers

a.k.a lower class solutions to upper class problems.

Have you ever been half way through painting your oil portrait when your butler informs you that your palette knife has in fact disappeared and the carriage in which you ride into town to buy your supplies is already in use. All you can do is take another sip of tea and wallow in your upper class problems.

But alas, no longer.
there is a solution!

The humble clear plastic spoon is your saviour!
In fact, you can now look right through your knife... er... spoon and see exactly where you will hit, how much paint you have picked up, and use all its different grades and angles to get exactly what you want! neat!

Today I had a visit to the Optometrist.
It turns out my vision is great, but they dilated my pupils to roughly the size of a classy dinner plate. you know, the china ones.
I immediately became a vampire, Dodging rays of sunlight and thirsting. Non necessarily for blood, but my eyes certainly felt dehydrated.
Needless to say when I got back home the last thing I wanted to do was stare at a screen.
In fact, regardless of my desires, these moon sized peepers could not read the time on my watch let alone deal with intricate details.

So I began on a painting (where I could step back and slowly work Large mass into smaller details as my eyes saw fit)

Starting in January I am going to offer some art classes!

I am still working out the details but I would love to start spreading the word and gauging interest.

The plan is to do some all age classes that explore the foundational skills of making art.
Possibly even an 'open studio' class that will involve a very casual atmosphere where people can bring in whatever projects they are working on an get some help. Start new drawings or paintings and work through them to completion.

These classes will be for young (12+), campus aged, and old alike, all skill levels.

If there is enough interest we can start to branch off into different media, styles and subject matter.

IF you would be interested in any of the programs I have talked about, or perhaps some that I have not then contact me and let me know! and spread the word!

Nothing went to plan today.

To start things off my laptop crashed and who knows if I'll get all the info back from it.
(this includes multiple paintings, one that was going to try and finish today).
To console myself I decided, heck, If I cant get my computer to turn on I'm going to go into town a little early before work and do a painting that I keep thinking would be very nice.

 And then the time comes, I need wrap up and go into work. Surprise, I didn't really need to work today. (actually a nice surprise). If only I could have stayed painting and didn't need to head into work before finding that out.


All things considered however, I am super glad I got to go in and do myself a nice sketch. I think I might clean this one up a little and put it on my wall/ sell it.

I took a quick break from work this morning and made a sketch of the view from our "front yard".

I have been hunting for a while now for the sketching medium that would best suit my needs.
(I consider it a sketch if the end result doesn't have to be finished /pretty).

Pencils smudge, pens are real limited in their tonal ability, Copic Markers don't transition well between tones (and bleed through most papers I have tried them on), Casein dries quick but is a whole lot of stuff to carry around just to do a sketch. Ink & water was my second most recent discovery, allowing me to essentially paint my sketch in black and white.

And then a little while back I saw some water colours that looked a whole lot different to the ones I had seen previously. They were semi-moist, compact, the artist using them was making some real nice work and then BAM! he closed his sketch book, just minutes after using it. I thought, "Now that will let me sketch just the way I want to". And glued into this old waterproofed sketchbook they fit right into my pocket.
So while the other media definitely have their place, I have found the easy yet versatile medium I have been searching after for my quick sketches & studies.

So recently I have been given a bunch of time due to a giant gap in another project that I don't have any control over.
I have been wanting to make a series of paintings based in and around Clemson, SC, where I live,
with a focus on people and culture. In my head these illustrations are taking a note (strong note) from Norman Rockwell and a bunch of the Golden Age illustrators. I figure it my chance to learn from some greats, enjoy myself, and hopefully get to make a little money from it in the long run.

If you guys have any great ideas of things that I should paint please leave a message down below. I have a whole bunch in the works but here is the first one.

An obscure pair of statues on campus near downtown that every time I pass them I get this image in my head of this little girl and boy posing on them. The girl playing off the left statues playful grin and the boy acknowledging Americas' heavy respect of the military (That was a culture shock when I first got here for sure).

I can't wait to show you guys some more.
cheers,
Justin