emerging artist – Harley Makes Art

Continuous Growth

July 12, 2019 Harley Makes Art

I’ll start with what I’m most excited about.

I like to switch it up. I love realistic work, which, I believe will aid me in drawing well from fantasy… That’s the thing right there, I also want to draw from my head. So, I do both. One day I’d like to be at the level where I could do CGI for movies and video games, if I wanted. I’m certainly not there yet and probably won’t be there for years. My cartoon-y stuff is improving, though, which makes me happy. Studying figure anatomy is helping.

My friend says the girl looks like me, probably because I’ve been painting self portraits. It’s likely an idealized version of myself, if anything… That flower was drawn from a fake flower. Real life.

I have plans for these sketches. The chick is gonna go on this wooden secret book thing I bought at Michael’s… I’m curious about working on wood, it’s certainly more pourous…

The stencil moved a little as I was transferring, but I should still be able to make it look just fine.

This is the way I transfer my sketches onto a canvas or other surface. It’s a tedious process, but precise. And cheaper than transfer paper… I trace my original sketch, then I go over those lines on the opposite side with a charcoal pencil. Then, I put the tracing paper over the new surface, tape it down, and go over the lines again with a different colored pen, to make it easier.

Sometimes, I like to paint freely. It lets me adopt new ideas and it gives my brain a breakfor a bit.

Artist tape is expensive. It’s probably something I’ll start ordering on Amazon.

I’ve been wanting to develop new styles and ideas for my backgrounds, I’m pretty happy with this, actually. I was messing around on these canvases previously. I just used some artist tape and then colored each of the sections. I like the results. I’ll probably paint some flowers on these or something since there seems to be a market for that kind of art, anyway. The flower sketch I showed you at the beginning will probably go on one of these.

When I was camping over the holiday, I took photos of flowers around the park as well as different textures and anything else I found interesting. I can use these as references later with no risk of being sued.

I’ll say it again, I love working big… It’s more expensive, but the results are worth it. Gonna keep working on this until I’m satisfied… I decided I’m gonna buy big canvases from now on, whenever I can. Obviously, they are expensive.

That big one would normally cost over $50 at Michael’s.

I got these canvases on sale, 50% off. If not for that, I wouldn’t have bought them. I’m always keeping my eye out for sales.

An experimental piece that I actually want to sell.

So this is a piece I just finished, it’s not my best work and yet I still really like it. Something about it… The drawings are mannequins that I drew years ago while taking classes. What makes me happy was how I shaded that first mannequin pretty realistically without any reference. That shows improvment… And I don’t know, I just feel there’s some symbolism here. I’ll probably sell it pretty cheap but I think I’m still gonna sell it.

I’m finishing up old pieces that are already less skilled than my current work, which makes me proud! I’m so glad to find myself constantly improving. The hard work is really paying off and no matter what might be happening in my life… I have this. Thanks for reading!

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New Layout Coming Soon

July 4, 2019July 4, 2019 Harley Makes Art

Happy 4th of July! I’m gonna try to keep this light and positive, despite the way I’m feeling tonight. Also, short, because I don’t have anything to SHOW you. See, I lost my phone last night and spent most of the day retrieving it. Now it’s charging and I haven’t had a chance yet to take photos of what I’ve been doing.

There are days where my main goal is just to get through the day, which is part of what makes art so wonderful. My 9 to 5 makes days like this worse, where as making art all day actually RELIEVES the stress and improves my mental state.

Anyway, I have something cool I want to show you tomorrow, if I have a chance before I go camping. I’ve decided to start working bigger, despite the cost of large canvases, because I can make it look so much more awesome!

I was also playing around with acrylic ink and different designs. Maybe I’ll add photos later. I’m trying to develop a style for the backgrounds in the paintings. What else do I want in them? I want symbols, eventually.

I’ll be finishing up more paintings over the next couple of weeks.

And finally, I haven’t completely ruled out art school. I still REALLY want to go. My question is whether it’s realistic with my business goals. More than anything, I want to get my business going before I hit 30. I’m not sure I can mentally afford to go to school, work part time, AND run a business without spiraling into a major depressive episode.

Sometimes, you have to be realistic enough to face your limitations.

Really, it’s just ego wanting me to go to school, anyway. I’m perfectly capable of learning and advancing on my own, as I’ve always done, it’s just that college degree sounds pretty good. 😛 It’s a status symbol, which is why I say it’s an ego thing and should perhaps be dismissed.

Oh my, this turned out longer than I had planned. That’s ok. Happy 4th, everyone! I’ll have more to show you soon!

Painting Process

Hello World

July 1, 2019July 4, 2019 Harley Makes Art

My name is Harley and I’m an artist. I’ve realized this is what makes me happy, everything else is soul sucking. I want to master my craft. Guess what though? In order to have 30+ hours a week to do that, I need to make some money on it.

That’s where this blog comes in. I’ve read at least a couple books about making a living as an artist. My favorite one recommends starting a blog, Instagram, Facebook page, etc. So that’s where we are.

I will do my best to post at the end of each day I spend making art!

It’s good too, because I spend A LOT of time on each piece so it’s great to have somewhere I can show what I’m doing.

I’m working on the yellow in the Buddha painting as well as the flower. The Harley Quinn-esque painting is something I just started after watching Suicide Squad. Started out as one thing, ended up being another.

I like to start at my apartment working on small acrylic paintings as I get around. Then I move to my studio.

Left one is very close to finished. The right mostly needs details on the moon.

Been working on this one forever. It’s one of the first ones I started when I decided to learn how to paint realistically.

Altered the floor, added detail to the feather. Might add a sparkle to the eye and then add varnish.

I’m thinking I’m about to call this one done.

I just started these self portraits since I won’t be young forever. It’s good practice.

I like to work on multiple paintings at a time because oils take so long to dry. I give it that depth by painting in layers, letting each one dry before I start another. Each layer takes a couple days to dry though. Hence: multiple paintings.

Thanks for reading!