I started a Countach painting

 

I attended the Art Center College of Design’s Invitational car show at the end of May. It was an amazing show, showcasing classic and modern cars designed by Art Center alumni. I saw lots of rare cars, like the Lancia Stratos, Lamborghini Miura, Espada and the Alfa Romeo Montreal. What car that really stood out was the 1974 Lamborghini Countach. It was very striking in person. It looked like a spaceship, with its angular form, and bold, but functional ventilation details. Bright red paint with a tan interior was a great classic color combination.

 

The owner was very nice enough to allow visitors to sit in his car. I was a little hesitant at first, but my inner child told me that this was a rare opportunity to sit in a very special car. As an adult industrial designer, it was a good looking interior, but very dated and impractical by today’s standards. The leather was top notch, but there were a lot of loose panel gaps and quality issues. It’s very expected of a hand built car built by a small company.

 

The ergonomics were very weird. I’m 5’8 wearing 9.5 Jordans. My feet couldn’t access the pedals. The only way I could drive this car, would be either barefoot or wearing slim loafers. The front wheel wells has to accommodate really wide tires, which means that my legs have to veer to right. Theres also a super tiny rear window, so if you need to reverse the car, you would have to sit on the door sill, while still keeping your feet on the pedals and hands on the steering wheel. It seems like that driving this car would be difficult. Overall, I could see people putting up with this, because this car is so cool!

 

I was thinking about painting another childhood icon, which is why I chose this Lamborghini for my next painting.

After the last painting, I wanted to try a different method. Rather than penciling in a loose sketch and filling in the color, I’m creating a sketch with my paint strokes. I put in a rough fill to better see how the car will fill the canvas.

 

I refined the sketch to the point where all the general details are looking good. After the basic layout was set, I added a general background. There will be a lot of tweaks, but the combination of a red car against a green background will make for a very vibrant painting.

 

Porsche 911 Turbo painting

 

My latest project that I’m working on is a Porsche 911 Turbo painting. The 930 generation Porsche is probably my favorite version of the 911. When I was a kid, this was the iconic bedroom poster, alongside the Countach and Testarossa. I wanted to make a painting of a red 911 racing down an open road during a beautiful sunny day.

 

Progression from initial sketch to the current state.

 

Self Portrait

I’ve been a little busy lately and now that things have calmed down a bit, I decided to update my blog with a few personal projects that I’ve finished within the past few months. One project that I’m really proud of is my self portrait.

I finished this self portrait in on March 30th, 2024. I waited 6 months for the painting to fully dry for varnish on September 29, 2024.

 

The gloss varnish made the colors and details more vibrant, but I feel that I lost some of the brush strokes.

 

This was how the painting looked when I finished it on March 30th. It was a little hard to photograph, because the paint was very shiny. I was very satisfied with resolving proportions, details and colors.

 

I started this painting around January 2023. I was originally thinking that I could finish it for my 40th birthday on February 26th. It turned out that I was a little rusty at painting, and this painting took a lot longer than expected.

What made this painting challenging, was getting the facial proportions and expression correct. There was a period of time where I thought a purplish background would have looked good. I ended up using a darker neutral that was less distracting from my tan skin tone. I really wanted to emphasize bold shadows and highlights from a strong light source.

This painting was a great experience. I might be tempted to work on another self portrait in the near future. Hopefully, it will be quicker with the knowledge I gained.

 

A floor mural for 5 3 Gallery in Laguna Beach

 
 

With the pandemic, work was slow and I wasn’t able to afford to live in Austin. Around January 2021, I moved to Southern California and stayed with my brother until I found a more stable position. I made some new friends, and one of them operated an art gallery in Laguna Beach called 5 3 Gallery. The owner, Brigitte wanted to throw a Valentines Day party and she asked me if I could help with creating a floor mural.

I was new to the area and wanted to get some exposure, so I agreed to help out. She had a sponsorship with a paint company that made environmentally friendly paints, but the color palette was limited. With the basic browns, greens and pinks, I decided to paint a walkway of henna patterns with leaves and hearts. I didn’t have any exact plans, but rather I decided to sketch with paint. The overall result was great, but temporary, considering the changing needs of the gallery. Either way, it was a great experience.

 
 

A commission for my friend Andrew

 

Around December of 2020, the pandemic was kicking off. With the quarantine, I had a lot of time on my hands and was free to take commissions. My friend Andrew reached out to me for a portrait. Initially he wanted a painting of Kramer from Seinfeld, but we settled upon a portrait of him as Ron Burgundy. This painting has gone through some interesting evolution, but the final result turned out great. It was a great exercise in skin tones and I loved honing in the details.

 

This painting has gone through some interesting evolution. The original idea was to have Andrew against a green leafy background. The backdrop then changed to a “purple 4” from one of the pictures he sent as a reference. I had some struggle with painting skin tone, but my friends gave me some great advice.