Illustration Friday - Gesture

Gustavo Dudamel

Watercolor, pen, colored pencil

2.5 x 3.5 inches ATC

Perhaps a strange image for this weeks Illustration Friday.  I started out drawing a current portrait image of the young but definitely adult music conductor Gustavo Dudamel.  He has such an exuberant and childlike natural quality that I couldn't help but turn him back into a young boy.  He has after all been conducting orchestras since he was 12 years old.  If you have not heard of this talented young man before, please take a few minutes to view the following videos.  He is the prince of passionate and creative gestures, and you can't help but like him. 

 

60 minutes also had a segment about Gustavo.

I only learned of Gustavo after searching for images of conductors to develop my idea for this week's illustrations.  I was first drawn in by that fantastic curly hair!

Welcome to Somewhere off Center

A new direction in life calls for a new blog, so this is where you will find current information and postings about my artistic endeavors and discoveries.  I will post fine art pieces as well as illustrations to this site. In my mind, there is only a slight distinction between the two art forms.  Illustration often crosses over into fine art, and fine art very frequently contains a strong visual narrative.  I consider myself a visual storyteller, so the marriage of art and illustration makes perfect sense to me.

Below you will find the first three canvases of a new body of work I call "The Balance Series".  These are large mixed media pieces dealing with man's utilization and manipulation of the earths resources.  Visual/compositional inspiration comes from Egyptian hieroglyphics as well as the work of Joseph Cornell. I hope that this theme will keep me busy for some time and will result in a group of works that will be exhibited on a broader basis than I have pursued in the past.  Please let me know what you think.  I love to receive comments and constructive criticism.

 48 in. x 48 in.

Mixed Media on Canvas

 48 in. x 48 in.

Mixed Media on Canvas

48 in. x 60 in.

Mixed Media on Canvas