Portfolio Showcase: Scary Self-Portrait (for Halloween)

Hey everyone (I really wonder how many people see this, actually...). Thanks to everyone for the good wishes about my wife's illness. We have a lot of support, and hearing from everyone definitely helps keep our spirits up.

I also want to remind everyone that the deal I mentioned in my previous post for the t-shirts is still active. I'd really like to fill a bunch of orders, because, frankly, the medical bills are beginning to pile up, so we could really use the extra money around here. I hope that doesn't sound too much like begging, so let's just say it's more of a plea. Thanks for understanding.

Since it's Halloween, I thought I'd post something that is appropriate to the occasion. Then I realized I'd used up all of my scary illustrations a couple of years ago! So, in lieu of that, I decided to put something up that I've been told is a little scary. The original self portrait I had on my website (it's still in the portraits section)was a painting I did while in school at SVA. I always thought it turned out pretty well, so I thought it was a good piece to have on my website. However, when I began teaching several years ago, my students, who were kids (as opposed to college students) began to go to my website to see my work. Their parents did too, sometimes before the classes began each semester. Many of them would come into the first day of class and tell me they were worried that I might be mean, as the picture on my website was so scary. I was actually surprised to hear this, although I really shouldn't have been. Back when I was in school, I fancied myself to be kind of artsy, so I went for a piece that was a bit moody. So, really it was intentional that it looked that way, but it had been so many years, and I'd gotten so used to seeing it, that it didn't really occur to me that it wasn't the most... shall we say, welcoming portrait to have as my opening page!

So I finally updated it with a new self-portrait and relegated the original to the aforementioned portraits section. Here's the original. I'll let you make your own judgment about whether it's "scary" or not:



Happy Halloween!

Best,
Rich

Me, My self(-portrait), and I...

So, it's been pointed out to me (Hi Brian!) that it's been over a month and a half since my last post, so I thought I'd do a quick one today, while my son naps.

It's been a really crazy month or so. My wife and I both freelance out of our home offices, so when one of us is working, the other is doing the childcare. When both of us are working, well, things become somewhat problematic, and that's when all free time flies out the window. As we've both been really busy of late, the juggling act has been constant, and between her work travel, and my teaching, there hasn't been too much time for extra activities of any kind. Hence the delay here.

However, we did manage to sneak away for a weekend a couple of weeks ago, just for some quiet relaxation. We went to a place called Shelter Island, which is between the North and South Forks of Long Island, where I grew up. While we were there, we happened upon a small gallery called Wish Rock Studio which is owned by a guy named Peter Waldner, and his wife Sandy. Peter is a syndicated cartoonist, and does a very funny strip called Flight Deck, found in a number of major newspapers. He's also a heck of a nice guy. He and I talked about the possibility of having me show some of my work in his gallery next year. That would be pretty cool.

That night, I also did something I hadn't done in a while. I drew just for the sake of drawing. It's very hard to find time these days to draw just for pleasure. Most of the time, when I finish work I'm really not in the mood to do more drawing, as it feels like a continuation of my work day. About a year ago I was doing a demo of ink wash techniques for my students at DCAD, and started a self-portrait in class, which I always intended to finish but never did. Well, on this trip I spent a couple of hours finishing the piece, below, and also working on another portrait, which I'll post at a later date. Here's the self-portrait:



This piece will be the new homepage image for my website. That's another reason I've been slow to post lately. Any free time I've had has been spent on doing a much-needed revamp to my website. I'll be posting the update on that soon as well.

I'll try to check in again soon with new art. Thanks for stopping by!

Best,
Rich