It's been a long time that I follow numerous artists through their blogs, and up to now... as incredible as it seems, it never crossed my mind to create my own blog...I must thank my muse Marlene Cost for insisting on it.
My story is a simple one. I picked my first brush when I was around 2 years old, and was going on and off about it during my teens. I was absolutely addicted to comic books and when I was 16 I tried creating my own, but I immediately realized that I did not yet had what it takes to make something that would please me and possibly other people.
My father had a brother who was painting as a hobby and at that time he was ordering Liliedahl VHS tapes...I became fascinated with that.
Being Portuguese, and living in Portugal at that time, I could only read about the wonderful drawing schools in the US and how everyone seemed to have an amazing progression year after year.
There was still not enough content on the internet, so the sharing of information was rare and there was no sign of such schools in Portugal.
A few years passed and I was going on and off with drawing. More off then on as I was getting frustrated with the fact that I could not reach the level of my heroes at the time - (comics -J Scott Campbell, Jim Lee, Michael Turner.. and actual painting - Davinci, Caravaggio, Ingres and Bouguereau).Little did I know how hard these people worked to be where they were :)
Life has little surprises, and when I finished my course (I was 23) I had to emigrate to the Czech Republic and find an office job (gotta pay the bills) to be able to have a steady life.
Then one day, on a really cold winter in Prague, as I was headed home..there it was...A small little room with a few artist gathered with canvas and charcoal circling a model (a real life model!), on what it seemed like a figure drawing session. With no hesitation, I entered the little space and a lady approached me and told me that indeed these were figure drawing classes with real life models happening every week. I didn't even ask the price...Next week, there I was, armed with some charcoal and kneaded eraser, ready to tackle drawing a real human being. Well, the first year was a huge struggle..Big heads, small heads, big arms, tiny feet...But I was happy.. Those 3 hours a week were my reason to go to work everyday...Getting up on a Tuesday had a whole different feeling.
If you're still reading this I congratulate you..
I will make this next part a bit faster :)
Well, this drawing session made me want to get better, so I started carrying around a tiny sketchbook everywhere I went..which helped a lot. Seriously, try it for a month and you'll immediately see results. On the plus side I had a supportive girlfriend. Yes, Marlene. I remember trying to impress her the first few times and we still laugh about it sometimes..My first attempt on a sketchbook, we were in a park and I decided to make a quick sketch of a father that was holding his kid...Unfortunately for me...I made them look like carbonized black shades...But! I did not quit. I went on and on and on, and eventually I started painting. I played around with watercolors, but I found it too difficult for a beginner and then I met my true love..Oil paint!
I enrolled in one oil class and it absolutely changed my view on art. I kept on doing it and doing it, eventually including plein air (started a year ago..I am still a beginner, but I won't quit). I bought a lot of books (classical instruction..From my hero Richard Schmid to Loomis and Solomon Joseph Solomon.
Eventually I was going to exhibitions and buying the book of the exhibition itself. I started reading about incredible artists such as Caravaggio, Sargent, Zorn, Sorolla, Monet, Manet, Rembrandt (the list is too big). I started as well supporting contemporary artists ( I bought David Kassan's dvd on drawing, Jeremy Lipking's .. I watched and re-watched both Casey Baugh and Sean Cheetham doing alla prima demonstrations on youtube and became mesmerized.. With the amount of information on the internet and the hours of research, I started trying new techniques, new philosophies and I eventually got to where I am now.
As incredible as it seems, I will begin lecturing a drawing course in two weeks. Isn't it amazing how life can kick you in the butt, but pay you back if you get off the floor? Welcome to my blog. Hope you stick around.
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