Femme fatale II final... still investigating textural effects with thin and opaque paint!

The third pass led me closer to where I wanted to be...

I realize I'm still on a trial and error basis when it comes to modeling the face by alternating glazes and opaque color passages on raw cotton/linen canvas. Part of the reason is that I would like more textural effects without relying solely on palette knife application. The final pass led to this somewhat overworked version, based on my initial outlook with this piece:

Best results are obtained with very few spontaneous passes, sort of the art of painting... without paint! In retrospect, my second pass had captured the essence of the subject minus a few flaws... and part of it is the acceptance of a new look...

Note: Colors in these types of painting are greatly enhanced by the application of soft gel and water (isolation coat) followed by a couple of coats of varnish... my next steps with this piece...

Note to self: "With this technique on raw canvas, I just need a little more guts and confidence to really get what I'm after. Totally obliterating the canvas sort of defeats the purpose. This may require more planning though".

Femme fatale II - step II... Glazing my way to a viable color scheme!

I did a second quick pass this morning to determine the potential direction I could take with this piece...

My next move was to commit to preliminary darks and highlights to make her feel more real...

The next pass should be sufficient to bring about the necessary color saturation I'm after. I like the pastel look of the initial phase on raw canvas... so leveraging the canvas (texture and gray color) is a challenge that I'm starting to meet. The next one will be to leave brush marks on such a coarse surface... so I'll be looking for really coarse brushes.

Femme fatale II - step I... Must be the influence of the full moon!

For my next painting , I decided to continue using raw cotton/linen, and this is leaving me with "left over" pieces large enough to accommodate 24 X 30. This seemed a good canvas size for another "femme fatale" ...

This time around though, I don't intend to hide the fact that the lady is a vamp!

Ultimate fighter V final.... sweating bullets while dripping!

Going loose on raw cotton/linen proved more difficult than I anticipated...

 ... I'm glad I surrendered to my instinct as I came close to loosing the battle. At this stage, it's already expressing what I wanted to express. In the process, I finally developed a fail safe technique for opaque color dripping. I used the final pass to accentuate certain areas, making sure not to tamper too much with it...

Note to self: "I had something else in mind, but each painting has a mind of its own. As a control freak, I need to adjust to that simple truth. So far, I can achieve fairly colorful monochromatic color schemes. Overlaying pure colors (splashing, pouring, etc...) on monochromatic designs is the next battleground in my quest for an urban contemporary style. I'm not willing to scrap that one though!"

Ultimate fighter V - step II ... getting in the thick of it!

Contrary to what I did before with this type of canvas, I established thick darks early...

 ... to set the stage for thicker paint application throughout. I still want to maintain some stained areas though. I want to play it by ear when working thick and thin areas... hoping for an optimal balance between the two. I'm after more color variations with this one...

Ultimate fighter V - step I ... a 5th one to integrate everything I've learned about raw cotton/linen!

Post-commission, I decided to tackle the psychological aspect of the ultimate fighter with this next one on the block...

I'd really like to go "urban" with this one using all the tricks of the trade. With previous paintings from this series, I seemed to have had a need for the exploration of  lines and volumes... so I'd like to get back to more colorful stuff... i.e., where I left off with my two flamenco dancers late last year. Working on raw cotton/linen intuitively got me to explore staining at the expense of painting... not surprisingly, I have some withdrawal symptoms having parted momentarily from my usual loose style approach in paint application.

This raw cotton/linen canvas is 36 X 36.

Note to self: "I'm anxious to get back to painting my usual subject matter: women... perhaps a hidden need for balance after all this display of testosterone!"

A short hiatus from real painting... working on giclée prints!

Responding to a client's needs (and some family needs), I got involved for the first time in the production of "giclée" prints (direct print-outs from original paintings on canvas)...

Although the print-outs were decent copies of my original works, their surface quality was way below par, dull and lifeless. In order to give them a "painted look", I've opted for two sprayed coats of Kamar varnish, followed by one coat of soft gel, one coat of glossy varnish and a final coat of satin varnish. I tested these products on the inks before proceeding. I painted the sides to enhance their "real painting" look. Through this painstaking process, I think I've ended up with superlative prints!

Note: The only technicality with my process is to ensure a thin "mist" application with the Kamar varnish. If droplets of solvent accumulate on the surface of the print, ink integrity can be jeopardized...

Ultimate fighter IV final.... An exercise in staining!

I finished this one with maximum contrast in mind...

 I remained fairly conservative with this one... so the next step is really to loosen up. There is more staining than painting... achieving a better balance is another objective of mine. I'm still fine tuning my technique with raw linen/cotton canvas... and part of the reason is that I want to leverage its pale gray color to the fullest.

Note to self: "Considering my intent to leverage a gray background, the previous painting of this series is a better example of that, and not a chiaroscuro rendering like this one... something to keep in mind in my pursuit!"

Ultimate fighter IV - step IV.... A layer at a time!

I took another hour or so to apply another coat to this canvas...

I feel I need a few more coats to be satisfied (more nuances are warranted). I did commit to some highlights in an attempt to make the fighters look more real as I'm getting closer to the final stage. I also tried some white drips along the way... which are bound to be modified in some fashion...

Note to self: "The raw linen/cotton canvas is not a tight knit, so it's more receptive to staining. I think it's time to go for more textures despite the use of thin glaze-like layers. This is another frontier for me, i.e., textures with glazes as opposed to textures with impasto paint."

Ultimate fighter IV - step III.... Cropping the living daylight out of it!

What appeared to be a good design at first became somewhat of an impasse...

... which left me no choice but to rely on a "less mature" approach to design: the canvas went from 36 square inches down to 30! In a way, the "aggressor" was taking away too much from the central struggling fighter... besides producing an evident disbalance in composition.

Ultimate fighter IV - step II.... I feel like I'm in a bout myself!

I had a couple of hours to dedicate to painting today, so I took the opportunity to have another run at my paintng in progress...

I seem to have zeroed in on a viable color scheme. At the initial stage, I felt I was on a free fall without a "chute"... fortunately, I managed with this second pass to get closer to where I want to be. I'm still correcting proportions along the way, looking for ideal lines for this composition... at the same time, I'm thinking about solutions for the dark background and the aggressor's left arm.

Ultimate fighter IV - step I.... Back to raw canvas and a raw painting style!

Today, I alternated between snow shoveling and painting...

I enhanced contrasts on Photoshop to study patterns of light and dark after this first step. Also, I would like to part from my usual color scheme for this series. At this stage, I'm doing more staining than painting!