Thursday, July 31, 2008

excuses/ updates...

apologies for the lack of updates, but there has been quite a bit going on- last week i started 2 new pieces, "hiyuh-watha", and "good vs. evil", which is a piece i'm creating for http://www.artforchangeseattle.com/ to help supportour new president, barrack obama. and last but not least, i've included a quick little painting/ card i created for my beautiful wife, jen for our 2-year anniversary [pictured below].

after all that, we spent 3 glorious days [and 1.5 very ill ones] in beautiful Zihuatanejo, mexico. just getting over said nasty illness now- more updates very soon!!

... patenaude

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

HALLOWEEN collection PROGRESS pt. 01...

so... although these pieces won't be ready in time for the show i was originally planning them for, i was quite inspired by the theme, "HALLOWEEN" [what artist isn't;)?]. + much like my putting the christmas tree up 2-3 months early to "milk more christmas excitement out of the holiday", it's almost like i'm starting the HALLOWEEN festivities 3+ month early!!

i immediately got to sketching, and after 20+ sketches [of the elements that will live in the pieces], there was quite a bit of scanning to be done, followed by a little weeding [out the ideas that i wasn't "feeling"]. and although i'm quite aware of the rule to incorporate elements for the viewers to recognize/ associate with, i found myself straying a bit from the more stereotypical HALLOWEEN elements [besides the TONS of pumpkins & a few more tombstones i'll be adding;)], and sticking more to the fun stuff: BEASTIES!

after that i opened up 3 new 8X24" images, and started experimenting with where each ELEMENT fit in best [and i'll letcha in on a little secret: sometimes they're duplicated;)]. after that i printed them all out [breaking them up into 3 letter-sized pages] on the crappy printer [i save my top-end pigment ink for the prints], taped them all together. i then traced them up onto the canvas, got a feel for what areas need a bit of help, drew up some filler type BG elements, and traced those onto the canvas as well, and now [although not reflected in the images below]... they're ready to paint!!



in progress, "untitled_a"


in progress, "untitled_b"


in progress, "untitled_c"

so! plenty left to go, but i'm quite excited about their potential! i'll be taking a bit of a break to work on a piece for an upcoming show, but will be sure to post more progress shots, as soon as paint finds it's way to the canvas.

... patenaude

Monday, July 14, 2008

Gary Baseman on Culture Catch! (Part 1)

wow. check out [THIS] interview with gary baseman. very inspirational.

and that got me thinking a bit today... i'd say he and one of my other favorites [doug tennepal] are [dare i say] about as close to the modern-day michelangelo as you can get- books, movies, cartoons, toys, video games... very impressive. sure, possibly on a bit of a low-brow? level, but these are modern times! THIS is the level i want my art to reach.

ps. yes, i could list a few more artists with that sort of saturation, but these are two of my favorite examples.


... patenaude

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

the SUBMERGED SERIES!!!

well... i'd call this 95% done. possibly a few more color saturation and value passes in photoshop + i'll probably tweak out the outline color a bit depending on the piece with a few artists proofs.

BUT! these are basiclly it! and although they look a bit different after the photoshop pass, imo the original paintings turned out quite nicely- will probably end up selling those as well.


"SUBMERGED_A"



"SUBMERGED_B"



"SUBMERGED_C"


"SUBMERGED_D"



"SUBMERGED_E"


having had such a fun experience with this series, getting back into larger compositions, and looking to be taken seriously in galleries, i think my pieces will start getting a big bigger from here on out. these measure ~15"X7.5". i'm looking to go up to at least 7X21" on the halloween collage series, that i've already begun sketches on- wee hoo!


night night!

... patenaude

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

print making like there's no tomorrow!

old bertha [my HP photosmart pro b9180] has really been earning her keep lately. here's the batch i sent i sent down to [pikaland] (all the way down in malaysia!], for NEXT month's pikapackage- a mix of the smurf color remix series, the box collection, and mr. octopus from series SEALIFE...



and below is the first batch of exclusive prints i shipped out to [the shiny squirrel] last week.



after wrapping up the photoshop work in the SUBMERGED series this week, and move onto a series for halloween, along with various other projects that i'm sure will creep in along the way. oh boy!


... patenaude

JULY '08 #2 PIKA PACKAGE ZINE!!


EXTRA, EXTRA, read all about it!! the july '08 pika package zine is now avalable, and includes mini interviews with a variety of artists, including yours truly! click on the image below to pop on over to her site and check it out!


... patenaude

Monday, July 7, 2008

update: the adventures of jen & brian...

if ya haven't been paying attention, i finally got around to updating jen and my main "adventures" site with a back log of some of the goings on this year: http://theadventuresofjenandbrian.com/ far from complete, but it'll do for now.
i was also able to update my portfolio site, with a few new piece, that you can find in the [gallery].
i also finished inking the SUBMERGED series, which will be posted later in the day, along with getting the SEALIFE series in printing order. woo hoo!


... patenaude

Sunday, July 6, 2008

[art] TO DO list [week of 07.06.08]...

so. most people that know me, know that i can be quite obsessed with "to do" lists, and quite frequently write the most important bits on my hand- with sharpie marker of course [NO! it says their NON toxic].
anyway- because i usually end up writing several throughout the week, revamping, prettying up the lettering, etc. it might make more sense just to post them up here- this might also help me follow through on actually getting them all done [the more people you tell, the more people there are to hold you accountable].
so here goes [art only btw- decided not to bore ya with the rest of it;)]...

01] start using lunch time to get some drawing in [night time is usually set aside for painting, printing, and packaging]- possibly for this week's ill. friday: sour
02] gather together prints for next month pikapackage, sign, seal, and pack
03] finish photoshop work on SUBMERGED series- decide whether to do prints, or just offer the originals for sale [possibly based on test prints]

04] send said prints to pikaland
05] post SEALIFE series on etsy shop [photoshop work done on sunday night]
06] continue on halloween sketches for an upcoming series of either 3 or 5 [depending on how many "elements" i whip of for them]- i think i might handle this series like a straight-up collage- tracing them straight onto the canvas from the sketch pads- cutting out the scan/ composite/ print process
06] send a few pieces into fecalface.com for a review?


... patenaude

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

sealife series!!

well- here they are- final shots [courtesy of my buddy rob adams] of the sealife series that i painted as a gift for elliot's birthday. i plan on tweaking the border/ sizing a bit for the limited edition prints, which i'll be posting later this week, but as far as the originals go- you can't get much more final than this- in the frame and on the wall!


a group photo of them all together... how cute is that!?


"lobster"


"sea turtle"


"octopus"

be on the look out for the prints- available [to the public;)] later this week!


... patenaude

illustration firday: FIERCE!

i'm a bit early this week, 'cause i was conveniently working on pretty fierce looking piece already. ingredients= gouache + windsor newton ink + prisma color...



... patenaude

the shiny squirrel!!

so! like i mentioned, i have a little more help distributing my limited edition prints now. [the shiny squirrel] has chosen two of the floating beastie pieces ["floating parligan" & "floating dooleeg"] that i created to sell exclusively @ their online gallery. pop on over and check them out!! http://www.theshinysquirrel.com/
"floating parligan"
"floating dooleeg"

have a fantastic week, and stay tuned for this week's illustration friday piece, "fierce".

... patenaude