Still in progress... now on canvas

I tweaked the drawing, adding some more interesting elements to the piece, then brought the drawing onto canvas. So far I've painted an hour session and will allow the oils to dry up a little before I continue onto the next step....

Something New: Pin-up

I've been working out some new sketches for a painting. I'm sketching in photoshop with my tablet, but I'm going to end up doing the painting in oils. The bottom image is basically putting my idea onto paper, then I got real reference to work from and produced the second image at the top... what a difference. The next thing I want to do is add some kind of motif to the painting... just gotta figure out what that will be... something in her hair, it's all about her hair (and less about the boobs) ;)

Pet Portraits

I just finished a commissioned oil painting of this lovely yellow lab, and I'm ready for more! Who else wants a pet portrait? I have a great time painting these and have found that although I love painting people portraits, pet portraits are much less fussy. They don't complain about things like "I look too fat or too old" ... let's face it animals are much easier to work with. So far I've painted plenty of dogs, but honestly where's the cat people out there? I love cats! I can paint any pet or even their people :)

I usually try to stick to the square format and do a true portrait of the animal, that means a focus on the face/head upper body. I've found that using a square format emphasizes the character of a portrait painting. All I need is a decent picture of your beloved pet. I will coach you on providing a good photo for reference... the better your photo the more accurate your painting.

So far the popular size an 18x18" canvas (good for big dogs and large animals), but I also will paint a 16x16" (small dogs and cats work great on this size). I paint around the sides so framing is optional. The prices are $360 or $285 ... very reasonable and you get an original painting that is long lasting and priceless!

Want something even bigger? email me we can discuss price by size... sam_sgn@hotmail.com

Order your custom Pet Portrait now, pick from two sizes (the links will redirect you to my Etsy store):

18x18" pet portrait
16x16" pet portrait

email for any questions: sam_sgn@hotmail.com

 here's some progress shots:

Nude Figure Drawing

I found a pretty awesome figure drawing tool online. It gave me the feeling of being back in school in my figure drawing class again. You can set up your time intervals and the website cycles through a variety of figurative pictures to draw. After a couple quick drawings I ended up pausing this particular picture and spent about 45-60 minutes creating a more finished piece. If you want to do an at home drawing session I recommend trying it, here: Figure Drawing Practice .

2013 Calendar "Body Mind Spirit" series

New calendar for sale on my Etsy Store only $24 ... here www.etsy.com/shop/SamNagel

I've been working on creating three 2013 calendars with all of my new artwork. It's a desk calendar that is a monthly tear away, and comes with a mini easel for display. I'm also giving one calendar away to a lucky person who 'likes' my facebook page Art by Sam Nagel . And if you share one of the calendar photos you get a second entry into the drawing! so check it out and share!

Meditation

©Sam Nagel

This is the last card in the deck I've been working on for some time now. I'm very happy with how it came out. I was beginning to run out of steam and new ideas, but realized this whole time I never painted someone in a meditation pose, and so I find it very fitting to use it now on the card that puts the deck in completion. FIN!

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

Another Couple

©Sam Nagel

This time it was a simple and quick photoshop painting. I always enjoy using silhouettes on a painterly background.

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

Space Whale

© Sam Nagel

I just couldn't get this off my mind. Whale in Space. love it.

mixed media: pencil and photoshop painting

Ripple Effect

I decided to break out my old pencil rendering skills and see what I could come up with for this new card. When I first started out making art I only drew with graphite for years. I swore back then that I was happy drawing super realism in black and white and didn't have the desire to dabble in color or paint... I find that very funny now. It turns out that I love painting more than anything, and drawing in pencil is more tedious than I remember, but still enjoyable. I'm glad that I can combine my pencil work with my digital painting like above. So I used color pencil (who needs erasers?), scanned and combined the two drawings in photoshop, then digitally colored.

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

Wholeness

©Sam Nagel

I recreated an older piece of art I had done about five years ago. The concept of this tree fit very well with the card I was designing. check out the meaning of the card on facebook, link is below...

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

Curly Fern

©Sam Nagel

I kept this one pretty easy. I actually enjoyed painting the background, trying to create soft blur focus in some areas along with some texture. I had sketched the fern leaves in my sketchbook and scanned it. The line is my original sketchbook drawing, the rest is painted digitally in photoshop. I really wanted to use the imagery of the curly fern for a while, and use the concept of a yin yang, but without it being the yin yang symbol. I took some artistic liberty with the curl of the fern transforming into a full fern leaf... it probably doesn't actually look that way in nature (nor is it blue). I also needed to create something with the cool colors rather than so much warmth.

Portal

©Sam Nagel

I'm getting toward the end of the cards. Even though I did them in random order I still have more that are at the end of the deck, and my visual interpretation keeps getting more trippy. (or it could just be the electronic music I'm listening to) I chose to represent evolution of the soul and a general higher awareness with a Japanese torri and shrine. The purpose of the torri is to separate the mundane and profane from the sacred, it cleanses and purifies as one passes through them.

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

Orchid Flower

©Sam Nagel

It turned out kind of psychedelic. I had a crappy painting that I started for this card, but turned it into the background... If you look carefully you can see a man's profile and ribbon-like brain matter... haha. Now onto the next card... 6 more to go!!!

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

Bird's Nest

©Sam Nagel

from to pencil drawing to digital painting. The line is my original pencil line, + photoshop for color.

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

Drawing Time

Reminding myself I can still draw with a real pencil. I've been doing too much digital work and felt like I was loosing my touch. I left my sketch lines in these, didn't do any cleaning up this time. I also have been using some old watercolor pencils that I've let go unused for years... it also makes me be more confident in my mark making since there is no erasing with them.

watercolor pencils in sketchbook

©Sam Nagel

The Poet

©Sam Nagel

I've had this idea floating around in my head for a long time and so I finally got around to painting it.

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

digital painting/photoshop

Spirit of the Trees

©Sam Nagel

I'm enjoying creating interesting silhouettes combined with a painterly technique.

tools: photoshop cs5

Fire

 ©Sam Nagel

I'm feeling very angry today. So I painted the anger card... fitting. I imagine this is my energy when I'm pissed off. I have a lot of it. But of course, it's a couples card, and about how anger is healthy in relationships and how to express it... so hopefully it is not too scary, lol.

photoshop digital painting

Fish

©Sam Nagel

I don't know which one I like better... paint spatter or clean? I started painting the fish without reference, and so now I can't tell you what kind of fish it is, but I'm thinking it's a cross between a koi and betta. The beauty of art is you can be full of shit and as long as it looks good it doesn't matter. :)

painted with a tablet in photoshop

Subconscious

©Sam Nagel

I've been trying to get away from the red and yellow color scheme that I use so much, and actually started this painting out in green. But obviously the warm colors prevailed once again... I love it. Green just wasn't good enough, so I used a darker moody purple instead. I based this painting off of a mandala I drew with pastels a few months ago. It's a simple drawing, but probably one of my favorites because of the spirals... I doodle spirals on everything. If I have a pen in hand I am scribbling a spiral somewhere... it must be cathartic.

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

Painted in Photoshop with a tablet

Together

©Sam Nagel

This is another card for the IWR deck... about 3 hours of painting. I was getting tired of the style I've been creating in lately. Decided to continue pushing myself to paint more directly in photoshop rather than being so unsure about my brushstrokes. I think I'm finally gaining the confidence I want when it comes to painting digitally... but it sure is taking me a long time. Why traditional painting is still easier for me, is a huge mystery... my level of confidence in painting with oils, acrylics and watercolor, where there is no 'undo' command is still sky high compared to the digital mediums. It certainly has a different feel.

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

Ephemeral Gaze

©Sam Nagel

This painting started out as kind of a rough pencil drawing. I didn't bother to clean up the pencil much at all and painted right on top of it in photoshop. Some of the traditional linework is still visible in the digital version. I had fun painting in a messy and careless way... sometimes that's the best way to do it. Took me about 2.5 hours.

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

Back to Back

©Sam Nagel

I felt like painting something rainbowish today. Still working on the card deck... think I have 18 left to do? Making sure I have more couples, since it's about that. Enjoy.

photoshop

Autumn

©Sam Nagel

I finally drew in my sketchbook. Seriously does not happen often enough, but I realize that my pencil drawing is so much better than trying to use the tablet. Even though it takes a little extra time and more steps to complete, I think this is the way I will go about painting from now on.

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

pencil + photoshop

Growth

©Sam Nagel

Is it new life or weeds? Do I let this grow, root and mature, or pluck it and change my surroundings? We decide what we want.

photoshop cs5

Beautiful in Red

©Sam Nagel

I can't help but go for red whenever I paint hair, it just happens. I did try to tone it down to a more natural hair color, as you can see in my screen shot. But alas red prevailed, it was the original colors anyway. I really enjoy the warm tones and the bright yellow birds... birds and hair is another thing I always want to paint... birds in hair, what's up with that?... in reality would freak people out, but in art it's pretty :]

Letting Go

©Sam Nagel

I definitely pick favorites and this is my new one! I absolutely loved painting it. I also think it's funny that I came up with this idea and already realize it's been done... many times. Oh well, it's my own spin on the dove and hands thing. I still really like it. :)

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

In My Hands

©Sam Nagel

here's another card... I stole my own mandala drawing from a different card and reworked it here. I guess because it took me so long to make the mandala the first time, I figured I should use it more than once... recycle! I love how the two hands are transparent and either one could appear above or below the other, or both.

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