Trystan's Portrait

I was recently asked by a friend to create a Warhol-inspired piece for her best friend and her best friend's twin's birthdays (say that 5 times fast). The subject was her best friend's twin's little boy Trystan. The reference photo she gave me was almost too adorable for words, and was needless to say a delight to work on.

I started with a pencil drawing:

 
Then I snapped a picture of it and uploaded into Photoshop. I quickly bumped up the exposure and heightened the contrast, then digitally broke it into color planes, literally referencing the color palette of two actual Warhols. I came up with the first piece:

 

Then a 2nd variation:

 

 I had originally intended to print out the pieces on specialty paper (100lb Eames linen in white) but of course Murphy has a law and the paper jammed the machinery. So instead, I had the pieces printed on regular 11"x17" poster paper and glued that to the linen. Then I distressed the pieces by gently rubbing the surfaces with sand paper up and down, right to left to simulate the texture canvas. I wouldn't say it was convincing, but sometimes just going through a process makes a piece unique even if it doesn't turn out as you originally envisioned. 

With that face to look at, how could you not love working on this portrait?

Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie!

I'm lucky enough to work with a woman who deserves the title "Super-Awesome-Cool/Neato." I wanted to do a portrait of her for a while, and had the opportunity when she gave me the head's up about an art contest entitled "Small Spaces."

The requirement for the contest was only that the piece had to be 2.5" x 3.5". Can do! Hence, the quality of the image is only so-so; it's much easier to shrink something down and make it look great than it is to blow it up to reveal all of the minute flaws. So there. Stephanie was a sweetheart about it, and I'm very glad I had the opportunity to do a piece for her.
 

Gouache on illustration board, 2.5" x 3.5"

Happy Father's Day!

I got him a tie. Well, his favorite chihuahua wearing a tie.

 

Lindsay Lohan

I really don't know why I did this. I guess I've always felt for Lindsay a bit because I grew up watching her in Disney movies, and since she's around the same age as me I really saw her decline as I've aged. It's strange, because it seems in every picture she has a different face, like things are sliding around and getting taped up or puffed up or painted on. 

But what I really like about her is how she keeps going despite all her apparent misery. She really embodies the sadness and emptiness of the celebrity lifestyle, and it shows in her face. 

 

UPDATE: The night I posted this I had a dream that Lindsay showed up at a party where this painting was. I apologized, but found once she left she took it with her. When I made to leave I realized she had stolen my car too, filed a police report but the cops were too scared of her craziness. 

Jon Hamm...Slab Man?

Jon Hamm gives me Fred Flintstone vibes. I know I can't be the only one.

 

Excuse The Undertaker's Beauty

I can't help but be preoccupied whenever watching The Undertaker rassle on WWE. Don't get me wrong, he's a great wrestler, but apparently he's also a promising talent in makeup artistry.

Self Portrait

This is always an awkward thing to do, because you sort of want to make yourself look good but then feel like you should be modest enough to make it look realistically like yourself. Besides, I don't have any plans to become a dictator of a nation so I don't exactly need to add broad shoulders or be riding a virile stallion.

Anyway, I haven't done one of these in a while so I sketched up a self portrait.

 

A Little Me and A Little Cupcake

Here are a couple of things I've been up to. I dug up an old picture of myself that used to hang in my (all pink) bedroom as a kid and did a little acrylic painting of it. Also a sketch of a photo of one of my parents' chihuahuas, who some might call my favorite (but who could blame me when she's got that kind of adorableness?).

Kids! Kids! Kids!

I've created a new working section of my site dedicated to the tiniest people in our lives: the children! I'm also broadening my focus to work on encapsulating kids into creative portraiture, as they are some of the most deserving of an honest rendering. And sometimes, looking at adorable kiddie-poos is the best medicine for the rest of us.

Check it out and look out for updates at http://novastuart.com/kids.html.

I Draw Rachel, That Is All

Here is a portrait of a childhood friend I've been working on. It is heavily influenced by Alphonse Mucha and Ikenaga Yasunari and their application of a classically fine art sensibility to commercial graphic art. I particularly love both artists' depiction of women: they are always rendered in the most exacting way but are still almost generic-looking and their identities are vague.

And here is a video I created of the process of working on this piece:

I Draw Liam, He Is Big

No really, he seriously is. I made this painting for Brad's nephew, Liam. I took inspiration from Godzilla and "Honey I Blew Up the Kid." Liam has many nicknames such as "Smelly" and "Dave," but the one common theme with referring to this baby is that he is a giant monster.

And here is a video of the creation of the painting: