Weekend in The Big Easy

The wife and I recently returned from a great weekend trip to New Orleans. It is an amazing city full of culture and life. During the drive in we were amazed to see the areas of town still devastated by Hurricane Katrina, but by the time we made our way to the French Quarter those concerns were all but forgotten. We stayed just across Canal St. a block away from Bourbon St. A great location, we were close enough to the party, but far enough that it was quiet when we decided to retire for the evening. We spent the first evening dining Cajun cuisine, people watching from the balconies on Bourbon St, and finally winding down our night listening to some pronominal Jazz from the house band at Fritzel's European Jazz Pub.
The Second day we got to enjoy more of the city strolling into numerous galleries ant art boutiques as we made our way to Jackson Square and an art market. The Street Artists were amazing and immeasurable in their different styles. We picked up a print from an amazing painter Barbara Yochum. There were also a lot of interesting pieces created from old roof shingles, fence posts, doors, and other remnants from Katrina.
After the art market we took an interesting historical tour of the cemeteries of New Orleans and saw, among other things, the site that the notorious LSD scene from "Easyriders" was shot. We also learned a great deal about the Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveau, a truly fascinating woman.

Finally, we returned to Bourbon St to enjoy some more delicious food and a taste or the nightlife.

If you haven't been to the Big Easy I highly recommend it, There's great art, wonderful food, and a ton of fascinating history! While you're there don't forget to stop by Tropical Isle and have a Hand Grenade for me!

Creating "Ride the Wave"

Alot of the cats that know me tell me that the coolest part of my art is watching it take shape, so I thought I'd do my best to share that experience. This is the evolution of a fun piece I just created called "Ride the Wave"
After the Sketch was Laid out on the Canvas, I started filling in Color. I started with the Octopus mostly because it was fun, also the greens are light enough that if I needed to cover them later, it shouldn't be a problem.

Next, I did the pink for the tentacles.

Then the yellow and Orange Blends, again easy colors to cover up if there is a mistake.

Now that most of the bright objects being carried in the wave are done I bust out the dark blue, light blue and white to add the wave itself.

Using the same colors for the Shark...

..,and the Dolphin.

Then I blend Lt/Dk Blues with Lt/Dk Greens and white to create the tube of the wave.

I continue with these colors doing one "section" of the tube at a time and then adding the tail.

Once that's dry I go back and start the sun rays.

and continue to fill the page with alternating red-orange yellow-white blends and yellow-white-yellow-orange-red blends.

After addin the sun I'm pretty much done with the coloring, just detailing left.

The picture really starts to come together when I add the black outlines and the white part of the wave.

Finally after detailing with bold, fine and x-fine black/white markers the piece is complete and ready for clear coat!

Hope you enjoyed it!

-jab

June Art Walk - Downtown Jacksonville

June brought another great Artwalk to Jacksonville. There was a little rain, but only in passing, and there were plenty of art fans in attendance!

Once again I was set up at my usual venue in The Hayden Burns Library on Ocean St. Other Regulars were back at it including Jake Roth, Jaxleigh, and of course a little rain didn't deter the Storm Troopers from showing up (but they did leave the Droids at home)!

If you missed it this month, make sure and join us in July for friends, fun, and ART!