Elton John & Leon Russell for Rolling Stone

This week I finished my second painting for Rolling Stone. "The Union" Elton John & Leon Russell, for the reviews section. I had a blast painting this one! It was a challenge for me to hold back and not exaggerate . . . it took a lot of focus to ignore the caricature monster who shares my studio space with me . . . but I fed him some cake and he finally left me alone long enough to finish the painting.

The issue will be on stands next week. The version above will be the version in print.



Originally, I thought that my "hand idea" had been approved, but I misunderstood and went ahead anyways . . . whoops, my fault. So, I now have two versions! :) Whenever I can, I think it's important to add hands, it can be more interesting to look at and like faces, hands can also be expressive. Also, it's quite challenging and I always enjoy a good challenge. I think the painting works well without the hand, and even though the hand won't be in the printed version, I still have a version for the 'ol portfolio . . . my glass is half full baby!




Face detail. These days I'm not interested in painting photo realistically . . . I don't really see the point? I'm more interested in having a voice, a fingerprint that exists in my brushwork. I want my work to look hand-made, to feel painted . . .



My sketch.



I saved steps while working on this painting . . .



. . . perhaps I'll do a small tutorial?