Rick Ross for Rolling Stone!

This is my 5th painting for Rolling Stone!!! I've said it before and I'll say it again, Rolling Stone is my favorite magazine to paint for. This was a one day job, started Thursday morning at 7:00 a.m. and finished by 6:00 p.m. that same day . . . it was crazy but it was also a blast!! I decided to save some of my steps while I painted. I hope you enjoy!

The Black Keys for Rolling Stone

The Black Keys for Rolling Stone! I'd like to say thank you to Steven at RS for thinking of me for this one.




Ever since I was 15 I dreamed of painting for Rolling Stone. This is my fourth painting for them and I hope to do many more. Besides the personal high of painting for RS, I am a fan of The Black Keys and have been listening to their music for years, so painting them for RS was quite the honor.

Meeting the Man!

A few weeks back, Rolling Stone asked me to paint Gary Clark Jr. for the music reviews section! I'm really into music, for me, music and my art are one in the same . . . I don't ever draw or paint unless there's music pumping out of my speakers! I'm into lots of "kinds" of music, but the blues is where it's at . . . and Gary Clark Jr. is THE MAN when it comes to the blues, "You gonna know his name by the end of the night"

Not long after the issue came out, I was contacted by Gary's manager and was told how much the painting meant to him and how much he loved it. That was very cool to hear and quite unexpected to say the least. I was also put on the guest list for his recent show at Space Evanston just north of Chicago. It was an amazing and inspiring show. What that man can say with six strings and some wood is beyond inspiring . . . I wanted to paint him again, but this time it would be different. Gary's style of blues is, "I'm gonna kick your ass" blues . . . and he does, all night long!

After the show, I got to meet Gary. It was really cool meeting an artist who I painted for Rolling Stone and hearing from him how much in meant to him. I'll never forget that. What a great night . . . !

Gary Clark Jr. for Rolling Stone

I did this painting last week for the music reviews section of Rolling Stone. It was a quick turnaround. I was called for the job at 3:00 p.m. last Thursday, and the final was due 3:00 p.m. Friday, the following day.

I truly enjoy every chance I get to paint for Rolling Stone, and I enjoy working with the art directors as well. For me, painting musicians for Rolling Stone is a dream come true, it's something I've always wanted to do.

I really enjoyed my time while working on this piece. Like the "blues", I just went for it, painted with emotion and feeling . . . and over all, my goal was to capture character and mood.

It's not caricature, but just as exciting for me. For me the challenge for capturing a person's essence and character is even greater when not caricatured, and so it's fulfilling for me to paint a piece like this and try to capture what I was seeing in my head.




I enjoy seeing how the work looks in print.



These are a few of my really quick thumbnails. The point of these were to help me come up with a nice framing, or composition and because of my short turn around, it had to be done quickly.




This is my color sketch, working out types of colors that I wanted to use.



This is an earlier phase in the painting that I saved to share some of the block in and process.

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?

Lil Wayne for Rolling Stone

Here's my first of hopefully many portraits for Rolling Stone. I am having the time of my life. Working for Rolling Stone has been a goal of mine for some time now, it has been a dream of mine since I was at least 15. So to finally have the chance to paint for them was an awesome experience to say the least. I'm also very glad that they wanted me to paint a portrait rather than caricature, as it is something that I would like to do more often.



Here's a close up for all you detail lovers out there! BTW, I was called by RS Monday morning and finished the painting early Wednesday morning.



My sketch.