Welcome to my blog! In this post I will be discussing my latest portrait!

I generally don’t make resolutions for New Years but I have something in mind for 2015. I want to create as many realistic portrait paintings as possible. I had a mental block with creating them because they’re so time consuming. The anatomy, and likeness of a person can be difficult to produce time and time again. Thankfully I have been getting faster and my eyes, better. Coming off the portrait I did of my friend Jeff I figured I’d try painting my Dad again. I did one a few years ago in ArtRage when I had my iPad 1 so I was very curious to see what I could do now.

To be efficient I timed myself. The sketch, block in, blend, and texture took about 11 hours in total. That time is a major improvement for me. I used an imported brush called Wet Oil for blocking in and blending too. Pushing the painterly aspect of my digital portraits is always a priority for me. Creating realistic art is great but at the same time my work has to be different than my photo reference. It needs to have a life of it’s own. This painting captures the essence of my Dad.

Everything from his beard, to his glasses to his leather jacket are meticulously rendered. The background was a huge success as well because of the vintage look it has. This potato sack was on the my Dad’s apartment door and made for an interesting background. I was definitely inspired by David Kassan and Norman Rockwell for this piece. Artwork created in Procreate using a Pencil 53 stylus and my fingers.