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

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!