Baby Blossom

I'm getting quicker at these... I love the simplicity of this one and decided to leave it. Anyway, it's a baby on a flower, enough said.

See the meaning of this card and others at: Intimacy Without Responsibility -The Conscious Evolution of Love  facebook page

Betta Fish

Some fun watercolor paintings I made to give as Christmas gifts this year. I love how organic I have to paint with watercolor vs oil or digital painting... even if I have a drawing, it's always overpowered by where ever the paint decides to go. Or when the paper bends and warps because I never prep it and water puddles in inconvenient places because I add way too much water. I just have to go with it and it works out. I want to try more fish like this in different colors, maybe get more fancy with the scales, use less water, more patience... a challenge for me :).

I gave the originals, but I have a huge file for making some really nice prints to put up on my Etsy and Society6 stores. Look out for those soon!

watercolor 8x10"

©Sam Nagel (not for use or altering in any way) thanks

Mind Circuit

I blasted this one out today... started with a sketch that turned into an entire painting, funny how that happens. Thanks for looking!

See the meaning of this card and others at: Intimacy Without Responsibility -The Conscious Evolution of Love  facebook page

tools: photoshop cs5, intuos 3

©Sam Nagel (not for use or altering in any way)

Celestial Drift

 I made this.

See the meaning of this card and others at: Intimacy Without Responsibility -The Conscious Evolution of Love  facebook page

tools: photoshop cs5, intuos3

©Sam Nagel (not for use or altering in any way)

Aaron's Girls

the latest commission... I combined my beach painting style with my portraiture painting. It's probably one of the largest paintings I've done so far... 20x36" (I don't normally paint very big)

oil on canvas 20x36"

©Sam Nagel

available for commissions, email me at: sam_sgn@hotmail.com

Digital Portrait

Practice painting in photoshop... I got a new computer and can finally paint in Photoshop without waiting for it to catch up. I've been wanting to try a digital painting without the crutch of so much linework, but on my old mac something like that was not worth the frustration. So finally tonight I decided to paint something for myself, not work related or commission, just to see what I can do... not bad for first try... I think I will be sketching like this more often. I love my new computer!

tools: NEW macbook pro! yeah!! ...photoshop CS5, intous 3

Daisy and Ajax

I want to call them "Daisy White" and "Ajax Black" ...their names sound like paint colors. Pet portrait commissions, better images now that they are dry... I actually stuck these into my scanner, had to stitch it all back together, but worth it. Better than my camera. If anyone is interested in your own pet portrait I'm taking on commissions. Email me at: sam_sgn@hotmail.com  ...Thanks for looking!

18x18" oil on canvas

©Sam Nagel

Pet Portraits

 

Come to think of it, I think these are my first dog paintings ever... huh, wow. Well, these two are commissioned pet portraits that came out pretty awesome in my opinion :P ...I will take better photos in a few days once the oil has dried up some, the green one is at an angle because the glare was awful straight on. I posted some of my progress, because I always like to see other artist's work in progress I think it's cool to share mine. The first progress shot are both prob 15 min each of painting. The second pic is at about half finish.

The white dog was pretty easy to paint, which I thought was going to be the more difficult one... turned out I was like wtf I am doing? the whole time I painted the black dog, lol. Not until the very end did I feel like I pulled it all together... even turned the lights off to paint through the 'speed bump' I encountered, it was like painting color blind... not sure I recommend that, but it helped me loosen up and get back into it.

Thanks for looking!

18x18" oil on canvas

Many Moons

Isn't it just so nice? being old? ... I don't know. Anyway, I am allowing myself to be more loose in my brushstrokes and keep going until it works. I'm really diggin the red glow... I had to stop myself from over doing it. ...and uh, I know that normally you can't see the dark side of the moon, but thought I would throw in that little twist.

See the meaning of this card and others at: Intimacy Without Responsibility -The Conscious Evolution of Love  facebook page

tools: photoshop cs4, intuos3

©Sam Nagel

Enter the Forest

I've been doing so much digital only painting lately that I felt stuck and unmotivated... it still feels somewhat limiting to me, but that could be that my computer is getting slow and bogged down, not helping...

I started this out as a digital sketch, printed it, fashioned a light table with a glass coffee table (which worked amazingly well), transferred the drawing onto watercolor paper and PAINTED WITH REAL PAINTS AGAIN! lol, Then I brought it back into photoshop, redefined the line from my original sketch, slapped some textures, and viola! ...phew.... and somehow that took me half the amount of time than a photoshop only painting.

©Sam Nagel (do not use my artwork without my written permission)

Mandala

Making a mandala takes a lot more time than I thought... but it was kind of therapeutic.
See the meaning of the card and others here: Intimacy Without Responsibility -The Conscious Evolution of Love  facebook page

©Sam Nagel (not for use or altering in any way) thanks

Take Root and Grow

So I think my idea for the color involved more green and teals... but somehow deep royal purple made it in there instead and I made the executive decision to go with it. I really dig it along with the red, those are two colors I rarely like together, but right now red and purple get along (the yellow tones help that relationship). I also scrapped the fallopian tubes... my hurting body said that particular detail was unnecessary. Right now sitting at my computer is painful on my back and arms, and of course I'm right-handed, and so my luck it's my right arm. Right now I'm sitting on a really big yoga ball instead of my computer chair... it gets tiring but helps. Maybe the next card I pick out will have something more to do with radical healing or enlightening, change your brain change your body... I don't think that's in this deck (so I may sneak it in, lol).

To read the meaning behind this card go to the facebook page Intimacy Without Responsibility -The Conscious Evolution of Love . 'Like' the page to stay updated and see more cards w/ meanings, until the deck is complete and ready for sale.

tools: photoshop cs4, intuos 3

for Wendyne Limber's "Intimacy Without Responsibility" card deck

© Sam Nagel (not for use or altering in any way)

Take Root and Grow WIP

It took me a while to get back into the next card. I wanted this one to be more womb like and earthy. I decided to use a bulbous plant for the womb, with a detail that is representative of the fallopian tubes in a woman (which I still need to refine that linework)... also see my love for art nouveau.

©Sam Nagel

Self Deception

I brought back the color palette I normally use when painting with oils for the skin, fleshy tones with cool grey blue, and pops of salmon pink... and my painting technique with a square brush, ahh I love my square brush. <3 I also played with the lense flare... hope that's not a no no... but heh whatevs


To read the meaning behind this card go to the facebook page Intimacy Without Responsibility -The Conscious Evolution of Love . 'Like' the page to stay updated and see more cards w/ meanings, until the deck is complete and ready for sale.

tools: photoshop cs4, intuos 3

for Wendy Limber's "Intimacy Without Responsibility" card deck

© Sam Nagel. not for use or altering in any way. thanks!

I think I love you

Catchy title huh? Another one of the couples cards... I am very happy with the colors and how it turned out. I love the subdued palette I'm using right now. I think it reminds me of something vintage. ahhh love.


To read the meaning behind this card go to the facebook page Intimacy Without Responsibility -The Conscious Evolution of Love . 'Like' the page to stay updated and see more cards w/ meanings, until the deck is complete and ready for sale.

tools: photoshop cs4, intuos 3

for Wendy Limber's "Intimacy Without Responsibility" card deck

© Sam Nagel. not for use or altering in any way. thanks!

The time we spend together

I absolutely love this one. It's my new favorite, and finally feel like I have a grip on photoshop painting and in a style that I like. I think I achieved one of the most harmonious color schemes I've done so far, and it still has somewhat of a traditional look... and best part: it was not difficult. yay!

To read the meaning behind this card go to the facebook page Intimacy Without Responsibility -The Conscious Evolution of Love . 'Like' the page to stay updated and see more cards w/ meanings, until the deck is complete and ready for sale.

tools: photoshop cs4, intuos 3

for Wendy Limber's "Intimacy Without Responsibility" card deck

© Sam Nagel. not for use or altering in any way. thanks!

Couples Love

So I've been working on cards with couples, since it is all about intimacy and stuff... yeah... it's about time. I still feel sort of immature about it, like a 10 year boy thinking ewww they're gonna kiss, gross. The word intimacy still rubs me the wrong way... But I'm getting over it. I really like these so far... and what I'm drawing is kind of the feeling of my ideal relationship, lovey dovey easy breezy chillaxin in the wind, ahhh.... love.

okay so on the technical side of things, the top is the cleaned up version of the sketch below it. The bottom one linework is final except the wind part... I think i'm going to paint that out, rather than keeping it line.

~photoshop
©Samantha Nagel

All this time it's been a dream

© Sam Nagel

Go to and follow the facebook page Intimacy Without Responsibility -The Conscious Evolution of Love to see more new cards and the meaning behind them. They will be posted until the deck is complete and ready for sale.

tools: photoshop cs4, intuos 3

for Wendy Limber's "Intimacy Without Responsibility" card deck

© Sam Nagel. not for use or altering in any way. thanks!

In the making...

another screen shot... it's so easy to hit command+shift+3, i'm getting lazy....

Screen Shot: New WIP

---- New work in progress, in my Photoshop work space... Look at that messiness! This is generally how I start out the color process. One deviation from the norm is that I have not established the final line-work on the dreamcatcher and strings... I'm trying to figure out the glow/lighting and how that creates or hides line and where that might be?? The line-work for that part is going to be white or near white. But, who knows, it could be completely different by the time I finish. Right now I'm pretty happy with it. :)

The Alchemy of Perception

Another photoshop painting... this one was quick and easy for me. I'm trying to tone it down on the detail considering these are going to be printed as cards. I love the subject matter of this one, and had to draw a mind of gears. I find it very thought provoking to reflect on how perception becomes our experience, and in the end it's all a memory anyways... a phantom.

©Sam Nagel (not for use or altering in any way)

From the Heart ...progress

Alright, so I'm kind of liking the progress shots... I usually don't capture my process, or save it like this, but I think it makes for something interesting on the blog. If you look at my sketchbook post below you'll see the original pencil sketch. The softness in her face got lost in the final linework; I'm totally bringing that back... Color is next, I actually have a thought out color scheme this time, wow!

Sketchbookin

 These are some drawings pulled out of my sketchbook. The top page is my most recent stuff, the second page is actually kind of old, like last year or later... Well I don't sketch enough and have been trying to get myself into it again. I managed to go through four years of art school without filling up even half of one sketchbook lol! Don't ask how I got away with that! I think I was still rebelling from my sketchbook assignments in high school, and in college it kind of turned into a fad, every art school hipster kid slaved over filling up their sketchbooks... and I being myself, did the exact opposite.

When Time Was Pulled

© Sam Nagel

I'm really happy with this one. I didn't know I would love those colors together so much. Sometimes I can spend too much time playing around with the many different ways to combine colors and making slight change after change which inspires another change and another... ugh, my downfall in photoshop is having too many choices. But I think it was worth it this time.

for Wendy Limber's "Intimacy Without Responsibility" card deck

© Sam Nagel. not for use or altering in any way. thanks!

Process

thought I would share some of my process. so basically it is a crappy sketch to refined line. Yep that's about it. I don't do thumbnails, but because I'm drawing directly in photoshop I work in a lot of layers so I can easily select and move elements around until I'm happy. I was messing with that hand in front of her chest for a while and it just never looked right, then I realized it was not anatomically correct, her thumb would not be on the outside unless someone broke and twisted her arm D: ...Anyways, this is very Mucha inspired, very very, + Tibetan mandala thrown in. Color comes next... I have no plan.

Be Yourself

©Sam Nagel

playing with a chalky look in photoshop. This is going to be another card for Wendy Limber's "intimacy without responsibility" deck.

Rain

©Sam Nagel

I love the red. It was a new challenge to paint cloudy mist. My past attempt to paint clouds was in second year of art school, and that painting failed miserably. I haven't tried again in years (or had to). But I thought it has been enough time and I've probably improved a ton since then, so I gave clouds another chance. Much better!

for Wendy Limber's "Intimacy Without Responsibility" card deck

Unfolding Evolution

I am very excited to being doing this kind of art... so soulful to me, it matches up with everything that I am and want to be. I having been making the move to digital art, and finally feeling comfortable enough with it to like the outcome. I think it took me longer to get used to painting in photoshop than it had for me to pick up any sort of traditional medium. But I do have high standards for myself, soooo...

SO, this is actually one of the first pieces of artwork for a deck accompanying an already existing book "Intimacy Without Responsibility"written by Wendyne Limber. More to come, BUT you can't see them ALL unless you buy it :) (and it might take a while I still have 47 more to go... :-O

© Sam Nagel, not for use or altering in any way. thanks!

Fish Tattoo

My brother is going to have this tattooed on him. He requested that I use watercolors and do that splashy thing a lot, which I do enjoy. Will be interesting to see how it turns out as a tattoo.