Progression: Angkor in Color

Here is the painting I worked on from January to May of this year. 

Ever since going to Cambodia in 2010, I have been absolutely fascinated by the carvings and patterns of Southeast Asian art. It is fantastic. To honor the beauty in this part of the world, I wanted to create a painting based on a photo I took of a relief sculpture at the Angkor temple complex in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The place was covered in relief sculptures—miles and miles of the carvings covering almost every exposed stone. 

I added my own spin by experimenting with color and light. Sometimes the patterns drove me a little crazy... they just keep on going! I thought it would never end. But it did, and I am happy with the result.

This is how it grew.

And finally, the finished product:

Angkor in Color.
Oil on canvas. 16x20in. 
Application with palette knife and brush (mostly brush).

Hope you like it! 

And if you know anyone interested in buying it... lemme know. :)

Progression - Blue Bricks (and Happy New Year!)

Watercolor, yay! 

P.S. Happy New Year everyone. :)

Progression - Banners of Siem Reap

Oil on canvas, 16x20 in. 

Here's another painting done with palette knife, completed for one of my classes this semester. I took the photo in Cambodia last May, and it was perfect for a series of paintings I've begun, centered around roads.

Expect a few more progression posts coming soon!  

Major Catch-Up.

It's been eons since I've seen you, blog. Sorry about the long absence. Catching up to the present would require several posts, which was daunting, and putting it off just increased the intimidation factor. But at last I've got up the courage to start. ;)

So. let's start with the end of school; two months ago now, it was.

Final project of the semester: self-portrait.

The sequential images were so popular with the fall painting, so I thought I'd try it again.

begin: light wash coat and sketch on the canvas.

another coat: wipe out the highlights while it's still wet.

darken the shadow areas.

darken again.

and again.

fine-tune.

adding in color, waiting for face to dry.

ultramarine blue coat for skin tone base.

more color.

yellow ochre over the blue for more base build-up.

at last, actual skin color! eesh it looks ghastly here.

phantom?

that's better.

darken those shadows!

add in the details.

final product. :)

Finished Product.

As promised. Better-quality image of my latest work. And a few close-ups of the paint (because once I start taking photographs, I just have to play around a little bit).