Please Vote in this Survey

I just put up a little survey to see which if two photo backdrops people like more. One is the backdrop I currently use and the other is a new one. Please click this link to go vote. Thank you.

Clay Withdrawal

When I started my self-imposed vacation from all things clay I didn't realize I would go through sculpting withdrawal. I keep looking longingly at my supply of polymer clay. I know I need this break and time to focus on drawing an painting so I'm going to stick with it for the remaining 3 weeks. I am allowing myself one concession: I can work on sculpture and jewelry concepts as long as I'm only sketching ideas and not actually working with clay.

 In related news I started up a new blog on Tumblr that is only for my WIPs so I have a central place for posting them. Go check it out. I'll be posting progress shots of my work, 2d for now and sculpture and jewelry once the clay vacation is over along with notes on the process and answering questions if I get any.

I've finished a couple paintings and some more Bargue plates over the last week. The paintings are up in my Etsy shop.

Life at a Thermal Vent - 4"x4" acrylic painting on canvas board.

Orange Cuttlefish - 7"x5" watercolor

Bargue Plates 5-8

Polymer Clay Vacation

I love what I do, I have the best job in the world. So I'm being proactive and taking a vacation from sculpting anything for at least a month. I have a single custom order to finish in the next few days and then I'm putting away the clay and focusing on drawing, painting, and art education for a full month. Once the month is over I'm going to work on figural non-cephalopod sculpture for another month.

Right now I have my Etsy shop fully stocked (in fact I still have about 50 pieces done that I need to list in the next week or so) so I don't need to make anything right now. A 2 month jewelry making vacation will help me be all refreshed and ready to focus on the holiday season. I've already started this by playing with my new heavy body acrylic paints and making this quick little 7"x5" painting on canvas board of a jellyfish swarm and it's already up on Etsy in the brand new Paintings and Prints section.

My current project of the last few days is to work on copying Bargue plates which is a traditional drawing exercise. If you want to learn more about Bargue plates I suggest reading this great thread on ConceptArt. I'm not doing these with quite as precise a method as described because part of what I am doing is an exercise in learning to judge relative distances without laying any measurement devise down directly on the plate I'm copying from. If you are interested in downloading the plates to work from go here.