The Blog
Portrait
Jessica Stein + Rumi
I meet Jessica Stein (tuulavintage.com) a few years ago when she was out in California. She is an incredibly kind person, and when she had her beautiful daughter Rumi, I had to paint them. :) Lately, I’ve been trying different techniques when I paint. Most the experiments have been done Digitally due to the quick turn around time (no paint drying 😏👍). In this painting I was working on blending less and using large blocks of color to imply shape. I’m really happy with how it turned out. It is always fun drawing friends.
If you are a Patron you can download the full version of this art on Patreon.
Sketch Video
Postnova Stanislava – Ballerina Study
It’s funny how the littlest things remind me of being a kid. Making this video I couldn’t help but be reminded of that childhood feeling from when you first get to play with new toys that you just opened up on Christmas morning.
Instead of toys this year, my amazing family helped me out with art supplies that I needed and this was my first drawing getting to break them in. Postnova Stanislava (aka Ruby.Tear) is the Russian ballerina that inspired these sketches. If you have followed my work, for a period of time, I’m sure you have noticed a pattern that I fall into. Where someone Inspires me, I tend to draw them lot… I don’t know what causes it or why it happens. Such is life. I say all of this just to warn you this isn’t my last time drawing Postnova. 😉
The music in the video is by one my favorite singer / songwriters Lydia Cole. The honesty and purity of her voice blows me away every time I hear it. Her music is on repeat playing in the background when I’m drawing. Please check her out she is an incredible human being.
For those who have helped support me on Patreon over the last few months, I am forever grateful. Thank you! 🙏
Lastly, if you are trying to post a comment and the form keeps requiring a url. That is a bug i just fixed so just refresh the page a few times and you should be able to post a comment without having a website. :) Please do comment and say hi. I love hearing from you.
恋 - Love
Will You…
Valentines day. Love. After taking a few years off from making Valentines, I sat to consider what to make this year. With my eyes closed this little visual love story came to life. I wanted to capture the simple moments, the kind that are the most precious, the kind you don’t realize their importance until they pass you by.
*The second drawing was inspired by Joseph Lorusso’s painting called “playing their song”. ;)
Blogger Portrait Series
Aimee Song – Song of Style
It’s hard to believe it’s been 3 years since my last portrait in the Blogger Portrait Series. I’m happy to bring the series back to life with my friend Aimee Song. I meet Aimee back around 2008-2009. She is kind, amazing, and a hard working person. Check out her blog songofstyle.com.
This painting is drawn in pen and colored digitally.
Lastly, I’m uploading the a Coloring Book Version of this piece to Patreon. There are 3 days left to be in the running for the giveaway of one of my original drawings by becoming a patron on my Patreon. Subscriptions start $1 a month.
Portrait
Kimono Girl
first of all, let me introduce my newest painting in my ‘Portraits of Japan‘ series. Inspired by a Daoko song 🎶 called fireworks 💥 Risa Nakamura (里砂 中村) inspired the look of the model. Selecting the right Kimono fabrics was quite a task. Materials: arches 300lbs cold press paper, watercolors, color pencils, finished the portrait off with gold leaf. I experimented with digital painting on top, working in more lighting effects. I love how it turned out.
Also, If you are interested in buy the original watercolor, it is for sale on my Saatchi store. just click the buy button below to get more info.
Patreon
finally, thank you to my all of new patrons who signed up yesterday. If you want to become one, click the ‘become a patron’ button. To celebrate my first month on Patreon I’m doing a giveaway or 1 art piece and. 9 days left to be in the running for the giveaway by becoming a patron on my Patreon. Subscriptions start $1 a month.
Films Video
I’m on Patreon!
I’m so excited to finally be on Patreon! I have really fun content for you on there. With your support you get access to full res downloads, behind the scenes videos, coloring book pages, .PSDs and more. So glad to finally get to share it with you. Thank you to my new patrons. If you want to become a patron check out the link in my bio.
https://www.patreon.com/dannyroberts
I had so much fun making this video. It was great going through old and new projects, and revisiting amazing trips 🇯🇵. Made me miss Japan. I need to make a video from my trip there.
The song is by Imogen Heap. Special thanks to Nick Bowser for the Tiffany and Company footage.
P.S. The full version of the ballerina animation is pre-released on Patreon. ;)
Art
Julia Hafstrom Under Painting
Another underpainting I’m working on this week. This painting is of a photograph I took of the lovely Julia Hafstrom. I was trying something a little different with this one. I wanted to experiment more with technique, so I’m working on channeling my inner John Singer Sargent. I wanted to learn how to be more confident and bold in my brush work. It has been really stretching, but I’m loving how it is coming out so far. I hope you enjoy following along as all these paintings transform.
Art
The Latri/ Tree Girl – Part 1 Oil Painting
Over the last few weeks I’ve been working on four oil paintings. Yesterday I put in a lot of time on this oil painting, to finish the dead layer. The character is starting to come to life. The Latri is a character from our book series. The inspiration of the look of the Latri came from a doll by a Beijing based doll maker Ksusha Zhang. I can’t wait to start on the >color layer. It will be interesting to start on the next phase.
Portrait
The Dead Layer
I’m currently learning how to oil paint like the old flemish painters. This painting is at the second phase of the Flemish technique called the Dead Layer or the Dead Color Layer. This comes after the brown under painting where I used a thin layer of burnt umber. The dead layer is a monotone layer where you work on getting the values right. I’ve been building my dead layer with a combo of burnt umber, white, and Lamp Black. I’ve been mixing it with a medium I made that is 1 part Refined Linseed Oil, 1 part Liquin, and 3 parts Odorless Mineral Spirits. Once the values are correct, I will start adding color. I’m planning on adding silver and gold leaf after this layer, right before I start on the color layer.
Have you ever used this technique before? If so, I would love to hear any tips or tricks you have on the process. It’s been extremely enjoyable so far. Judging color luminance is something I struggle with, so just isolating the light value before working on color made a lot of sense to me.
The character in the painting is from our book series and is named Veeda Elward. Veeda is a character that my friend Codie Young and I came up with. She is going to be a very interesting character. I used Codie as a visual reference for the character. She is wearing a Valentino dress.
Lately, I’ve been oil painting a lot. I have four paintings currently in the dead layer stage, and I will be posting all of them as they evolve. For many years, I’ve been wanting to do my first art show, but never felt like I had a series of originals that I would want to display in a show. Over the last few months, I’ve been working to put together a coherent collection of paintings.
