Friday, August 31, 2007

Old Guy Sketches!






Working on a lot of projects, and sketching a lot, these quick sketches were done for fun, just experimenting with different possibilities within the same face. Stephen Silver's work has been a big influence and inspiration for me lately. If you don't have any of his books and you think of yourself as a serious artist, you're missing out, full of wealth!

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Getting my Sketch on at Starbucks !





I had a killer week, deadlines and all, not much sleep, not much time for sketching, just painting like a mad man to make my deadline! I finished a two page spread as well as a cover for Guitar Player in about six days . . . whew! I'm glad to be done, I'll post the work as soon as I can. Next in the mix is a 1/4 page illustration of the owner of the Dallas Cowboys for Dallas Magazine.

Today I snuck away while the girls were napping and did a few sketches at a Starbucks . . . excercise while sipp'n the good stuff!

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Quick Sketch of Ava!



Yesterday, I was given an additional day to finish my cover for Guitar Player Magazine, it was due today, however with another day, I can slow down a bit and work the areas that I would like to tighten up, as well as breathe a little! I have been so busy lately that I haven't had any time to just sit and sketch which to me is more important then finishing a painting. Deadlines have a way of taking over my life until they are finished and out of my mind . . . so anyways, last night my wife went out and I was home with my two girls, my youngest, Ava who is seven months old was caught in a Dora the Explorer tractor beam. So I did this three to four minute doodle with Sketchbook Pro, had to get my sketch on!

Sorry I don't have anything else to show at this time, I'll be posting some new work very soon.

Monday, August 20, 2007

A little Peaky-Poo!




Well, things are nuts right now, busy, busy, busy! The Wizard World Convention went very well, I spent the week sharing a booth and hanging out with Joe Bluhm, Stephen Silver, Bobby Chiu, Kei, T, Peter, Alberto Ruiz, and Matthew Stewart! We had a great time hanging out and eating good Chicago food! As soon as the convention was over I had an illustration waiting for me for Chicago Magazine, I had two days to do it, I'm not sure yet if I can show the final, when I know I'll post it here right away. For now, here's a sneak peak at part of it . . . what a wonderful face, election time will be fun for us caricaturist artists!

Currently I am working on a two page illustration as well as cover for Guitar Player magazine, only a week to do both! So it may be a while before I post again, thanks for checking in, see around soon!

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Clinton vs Obama!



Currently I am working on a illustration for Chicago Magazine, my subjects, Clinton and Obama . . . fun faces to draw and paint for sure! This is one sketch that I did of Hillary in prep before I settled with a completely different idea. I took it in a much funnier direction. I'll post the final illustration when I have permission to do so.

Monday, August 06, 2007

Lakeshore Plein Air







I'm starting two pretty big illustrations this week as well as attending the Chicago Wizard Comic Con, so there won't be much time for me to get out and paint for the next couple of weeks. So I woke up around 5:30 this morning and walked a few blocks east towards Lake Shore Dr and did this little plein air. I got there around 6:15 or so and painted until 7:40. The view, if any of you are familiar with Chicago, is looking north down lakeshore towards Evanston.

Unfortunately it was not the most pleasant painting experience . . . sure is hard to concentrate when you're ankles are the main course for flies and who knows what else? The entire time I painted I was bitten over and over again . . . lets just say my legs look like I've got leprosy. On top of that, I painted on a textured clayboard but forgot to gesso it, so the paint didn't spread nice and smooth . . . rather it felt like I was painting with gum or tar . . . anyways, I thought I'd still post it since it was an honest attempt to capture Lakeshore in the morning, and again another learning experience.

My palette this morning was an experiment as well. I used a split-complementary palette, blue-violet was my dominant color and my splits were orange and yellow. It was gloomy and sort of nasty looking as well as humid and sticky, so before I started with my split palette I mixed up a gloomy pile of mud and then mixed every color into this mud to create even more harmony. If anything, I feel successful in capturing the mood of the morning.

8x10 Oil on crappy clay board!

Sunday, August 05, 2007

Basil Gogos




Two Days ago, I decided to have some fun and paint Basil Gogos, experimenting with a split-complimentary palette. I chose yellow-green as my dominant, so my splits were cadmium red and violet. The yellow-green is used as my yellow, red is red, and violet is my blue. I also used a touch of black and of course white. I found that using a split-complimentary palette helps to create harmony it also allowed me more control and I could paint much faster. It's a lot of fun especially when painting Basil Gogos!!

The man can paint! I was familiar with paintings of his, but didn't know who had done them. Recently I was given a copy of his book as a gift from the guys that I painted my Zombie Elvis for . . . they also somehow managed to get the book signed by Basil. I love looking through the book there's so many wonderful paintings and drawings, a lot can be learned for anyone who loves to paint. Anyways, I've decided that I'm going to give this original to Basil, a gift for his inspiration!

Painted all in one sitting, about six hours.

oil on panel, 9x12.

Alaskan Plein Air






These are the first three Plein Air paintings that I ever did. Last summer I went to Alaska with my Dad to learn from him in anyway that I could, it was almost overwhelming how much I took in from my Dad's teachings . . . not just on plein air, but painting in general! Click here to see my Dad's blog.

One of the wonderful things about painting plein air is it captures that moment in time that you and only you experienced. No one else remembers it the way you did, almost in the same way hearing an old song brings back memories, looking at these three studies brings me back to that wonderful time, I can almost smell and feel the air. It was a great time, I saw Whales, Bear, Eagles, Seals, had some great food, if you've never gone to Alaska, you should plan a trip sometime. I plan on going back with my wife sometime. The second painting is Mendenhal Glacier, it was like a natural air conditioner, it was mid-July and I was freezing while painting this . . . there's nothing like it!

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Fire Escape Plein Air



Today I snuck out onto our fire escape while my babies were taking their nap and did this little plein air. I spent about an hour and a half on this one. From our view you can see the Aragon Ballroom off in the distance between all the other buildings. The Aragon is one of Chicago's famous venues for bands to play in, and it's only a couple blocks away from my apartment. About ten years ago, I saw Soundgarden at the Aragon Ballroom, very cool place.

8x11 1/2 Oil on canvas panel

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Roof Top Plein Air





Today I climbed up onto the roof of my building in Uptown and did this Plein Air looking south towards downtown Chicago.
9x12 Oil, 2 1/2 hour study.

Jeremy Seiler




My little bro, who's actually taller and bigger than me. He lives in Jackson Wisconsin with his wife Ashley, he's a great brother, and next after my wife, he's my best friend. It's been a while since I've done a black and white, lot's of fun and a great study in values!
All artwork © JasonSeiler 2006 unless otherwise stated. All characters are copyright to their respective owners