Sachiko sketches

This week I'm doing some preliminary sketches for a portrait of a friend.

Still here, still playing

When life gets busy and I step away from my artwork for a while, sometimes I have a hard time jumping back in. That's when I decide to set the bar really low, and just tell myself to play around in my sketchbook. A good example of this is the above mess. My inspiration was the ticket stub from Museum Brandhorst (pasted in the upper right corner). By incorporating scraps of paper I collect as I go about my day, my sketchbook becomes a little like a visual journal of my life.

Now back to catching up on the 100 in 100, again.

Self (portrait)

Inspired by this month's Creative Every Day theme, self, I decided to start a new self portrait today. Can you tell what kind of mood I'm in?

I've done tons of self portraits, my whole life long. I like making portraits, and I'm always the most available subject. I'm doing this one (like most of my self portraits) by looking in a mirror. I like working from life when I get the chance.

I actually try to curtail the number of self portrait paintings I do, because they are pretty unsellable (and ungiftable). Not that I only do art to be able to sell it, but I have to sell things in order to have room to produce more. And who wants to live in an apartment full of self portraits? That'd be a little creepy. So would giving people portraits of myself as gifts... so yeah, I try to focus on other things. But I'm enjoying this chance to revisit my oldest subject.

Revisiting the Volksbad

I keep coming back to this tiny painting, trying to rework it into something I can be happy with. The colors have become brighter since the last time I posted it. Not quite where I want it to be yet, but moving in the right direction.