Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A day to remember!





This is a historic day, will be watching the inauguration pretty soon . . . it's funny, only three years ago I was in New York meeting with art directors and no one in New York seemed to know who Obama was? Everyone was talking as if Hillary was going to be the next president, the buzz was everywhere. Being from Chicago, I knew who Obama was . . . at the time he was a new Senator and there was talk of him "possibly" running for President. I remember every once in a while for the sake of conversation with the A.D.'s I would ask . . . "What about Obama, Chicago thinks he has a shot"? And every time the response would be . . . "Who's Obama?" This was only three years ago. I also remember the day Obama became Senator, it was the first I ever heard of him, it was a big deal then for him to be Senator . . . interesting how in just a few years time, a lot can happen.

OK, to my painting.

As you most likely can tell, this painting was done from my quick sketch on the previous post. I think it's interesting, the idea of a "sketch" vs. a "drawing". The way I look at "sketching" may be a bit different then others, but I don't really think so? For me sketching is like taking notes, scratching down information in prep for a "final work". "Drawing" would be taking a "sketch" to a final tight drawing . . .

Like my Obama sketch, a sketch sometimes only needs to enough of the "right" information for me to be able to take it to the next level, being a finished drawing or painting. I knew that my Obama sketch wasn't exact and it wasn't what it could be, but that's OK, because I also feel it's important to share my process even if it's in pieces here and there.

Sometimes a sketch can be a final piece of art, but for me, most of my sketches are practice, a place for me to experiment and try new things . . . and not everything is up to par with what I'd like to label as a "Seiler". But that's what sketching is for right?

I decided I would save my steps or at least a few of the steps while working on this painting. I started yesterday afternoon and spent a couple hours this morning on it, in total, about 6 hours of painting. My first intentions was to paint loose and paint enough for me to get the likeness the way I had intended. I ended up painting a lot longer and decided to do something more finished.

You can see from the steps that I started off by painting my entire canvas with an orangy-brown and then from there started putting color down . . . mostly greens and yellows.





25 Comments:

Blogger ramanjit said...

hi sir,
one day my hands will be look like beggar's hand there will be no nails,all becoz of you i am typing this comment and still i m eating my nail.i wish one day i can do caricature like.i have just started doing caricature befor four months.i think i have to wait for next 20 years to become like you.........ohhhhhhhhhhh!!!

11:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice Painting! As for Obama . . . I guess we'll see what happens. You're right about 3 yrs ago no one knew who he was, now everyone knows who he is just not what he stands for. Hopefully he's not just an empty suit!

11:19 AM  
Blogger Tim Bye said...

Great stuff! I like how you can now see the ear on the other side - I sometimes forget to do that when I make ears bigger haha! Love the colours

11:30 AM  
Blogger David Malan said...

Very nice Jason, I have to agree, I thought the sketch was cool but missed the likeness a little. But this finished piece is right on. Plus it is such a strong painting. Really nice focus of color and value in the face with strong appealing brushwork. One of your best.
Thanks for commenting on my work as well I really value your opinion.

11:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Outstanding work Jason! Love the step-by-step :)

11:41 AM  
Blogger Sagan Lacy said...

Superb, Jason! It's quite an acoomplishment to outdo the zillions of Obamas that have already been done, but this one really stands out.

11:49 AM  
Blogger Patrick LaMontagne said...

hahaha...this is spot on, Jason. Love it!

12:09 PM  
Blogger charles Da Costa said...

Fantastic Jason!!! Tis is one of the better obama's i've seen!!! I like !!

12:32 PM  
Blogger ARI said...

wow, it´s full of strength! Great as always

2:36 PM  
Blogger Marco Bucci said...

Nailed. So much life in here. I love the decision you made with the ears too. They DO look like that! hahaha
Thanks for posting the process.

4:47 PM  
Blogger Vincenzo said...

This turned out magnificent!!! Kudos man!

8:34 PM  
Blogger Nelson Santos said...

Great job Jason you´re an Obama'rama expert

2:58 AM  
Blogger jmborot said...

Great painting, great light (the nose, tne forehead and... inside the ear, so clever !) and great likeness.
I had a doubt with your sketch, but reading your post, I understand your process and the way of thinking sketch/drawing.
I agree. It's what (I try) to do.
Actually, I'm really impressed by your colouring tehcnique, all from a background with one color.
Thanks for sharing this.

6:24 AM  
Blogger Manoj Sinha said...

Great one Jason. It is different from your sketch. Likeness is very good. Best of luck to you and Obama. Thanks 4 demo.

11:18 AM  
Blogger Paul Moyse said...

Great piece Jason. I too was unsure of the sketch, but it's certainly a fine finish!

5:39 AM  
Blogger Edo said...

Nice piece Jason. didn't you made him a bit to much schwarzenegger? His posture I mean? Love the face! greets.

7:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello and congratulation for your drawings! You are very bright! I am a small artist who makes of photo political assembly(editing)! I puts you a link on my site! Bye. Good continuation! A French fan!
Sorry for my english...

11:31 AM  
Blogger William K. Moore said...

Enjoyed the process Jason - I know you have a twin.. otherwise how could all this work get done??

3:19 PM  
Blogger Mark Sinclair said...

Jason awesome piece my friend! - inspiring as always!

2:30 PM  
Blogger Faboun'e said...

Awesome picture !
and great colors !

3:32 PM  
Blogger Jeff Pecina said...

that IS great

6:05 PM  
Blogger SEILER said...

I've emailed you all personally, I just wanted to say thank you again for your encouragement! This was fun to paint!

10:02 AM  
Blogger Will Appledorn said...

well, any reservations i had about the sketch have been addressed, great likeness and really rich colors. i agree with you about sketches, more often than not my initial sketches look nothing like the final product, but were a good starting point. thanks for the insight and the process.

(i think it was the eyebrows)

2:57 PM  
Blogger J. Anthony Kosar said...

Once again,... always fun to see your process!

2:41 AM  
Anonymous obat telat bulan said...

thanks gan infonya.

3:42 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

All artwork © JasonSeiler 2006 unless otherwise stated. All characters are copyright to their respective owners