A thread with artwork and words

[Adam Nowak]

Malakuko - No, I definitely try to paint what I see. I'm still trying to figure it myself. As I observe more I see these flickers of color in the air that I do put down. It can definitely be a very easy way to break up the form too much too quick so it's an ongoing experience.

Jasper_ - It's on toned Mi-Tientes paper. The ones in this post are on Rives BFK.

Woji - Thank you man.

One more week of the semester. Sleepless nights. Being torn in separate ways. Confusion and pain. :P

1 - The final of the past WIP.
2 - Oil final study of previous WIP.
3 - 1 hour study for the Wednesday portrait sessions. Decided to go full color as it was the final of the semester.
4 + 5 - Another pastel on Rives BFK paper. I toned it with cool watercolor washes before hand to get rid of the pure white of the paper.
6 - 8 - Oh man, my most recent self portrait. It was a mental struggle. It was a lot of fun but getting it done in two days, 15 hours total. 24 x 31 inches I believe, oil on wood. I decided to sand it to a fine grain, shellac it twice to seal it, and gesso it multiple times sanding in between and on top adding a slight texture. It definitely seemed to help going in that order as it was absorbent but not in an annoying fashion like gesso tends to be for me. So definitely doing that from now on.

And I finally worked on something long enough to work with both bristle and soft hair mongoose brushes so I could play around with edges and paint texture. I posted a photo of the WIP from this morning when I still needed to finish the hand. I was running out of time so I quickly shimmy shimmy ya'd a quick setup similar to the one at home in a closet at school.

9 + 10 - My current WIP drawing, pastel on Rives BFK, watercolor (burnt sienna + sap green) toned underneath. This time I want to incorporate the background in a slightly more abstract way so I'll leave it untouched. I'm really feelin this one. Just going to attack it, two more days left.

[Adam Nowak]

Done.

[ryan mcshane]

fuck yeah man! those pastels are sooo nice dude! O_O
awesome self portrait too! looks really classical
i didn't know if it was possible, but dude your improving so much D:
keep it up man!

[Metal Fingers]

dude, you are killing it, I love it, great stuff!

[The Pariano]

That pastel is blowing my mind! Great sense of form with a painterly touch in all your pieces.

[TomDeVis]

that are some very nice oil drawings! I really ike your use of colors !

[FootstepsBeckon]

Highly inspiring stuff,homie.

Keep updating :3

Will

[Grzessnik]

I'm really impressed. Great, hard work.
I don't know what i like more. I like sketches and paintings.
Keep working.

[Adam Nowak]

Everyone, thank you! It means so much to me. Especially now, I'm glad this semester's over and I can redirect my path. I had quite a few end of the year critiques with instructors and so now I'm trying to figure out what the best schedule will be for the summer. I will be taking only two classes this time and also (hopefully) two workshops, one with Clayton Beck and one with Steve Assael! This was the last figure drawing from the semester and the first landscape I did yesterday with my friends of the summer.

[robblob]

This is a very beautiful sketchbook. I think your selfportraits are perticulary good. Actually by seeing your pictures I was kind of inspired to do my first charocal portrait study! :)

[Scordatura]

Wow, is the first drawing done with pastels ? It's amazing !

I really like the colors and the atmosphere in your paintings. It's so inspiring !

[RBeek]

freakin beautiful dude! :O love your skills with oil .. its incredibluhh ;)

[xinranliu]

wow beautiful work man! 5 starss

[sevarenge]

ey dude this paintings lock really nice man hopp too se mor in the feutcher sorry fore my bad englic!

[sony]

Portraits are nicely done

[Adam Nowak]

robblob - Awesome! Hope to see it sometime.

Scordatura - From the latest post? Yeah it is. And atmosphere? Well thanks, I always think all my paintings are missing the atmosphere artists tend to catch.

RBeek - Thank you. :)

xinranliu - Thanks!

sevarenge - I read it just fine, and thank you, there will definitely be more!

sony - Thanks sony!
__________________________________________________ ___________

The portrait was also from my friends house. He has a friend over who is modeling for him and I was invited to paint with him last night. It didn't turn out the way I intended. It's too incomplete and I struggled with drawing it for a long time. Very interesting model though, she looks like something out of a Waterhouse or Sargent (in real life).

The figure was done over at the Palette And Chisel. I used a somewhat limited palette. White, yellow ochre, alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue, and cad red because I realized all the other colors were too cold by themselves. I also mixed in Raw Umber to a lot of my colors I was mixing making them a little less saturated and cooler. Drapery and background I usually don't make the priority unless it's really interesting so like this time I only see them as abstract shapes and patterns to compose with. In this one I specifically went to get the form down in such a complicated pose in 4.5 hours but it's really tough and I didn't get what I was aiming for. Some parts which looked okay when painting (left leg especially) get lost now that I see it in front of me. In real life the only part that stands out to me that was decent was the right thigh. Even in the photo it's pretty bad. Another piece to learn from.

Did the still life today at my friends house while waiting to go to work. I've been wanting to paint a more traditional still life setup where you can't see the ground plane.

[ryan mcshane]

Gamerhomie. the way you draw and paint makes me feel funny inside
what did you paint that girl on? it looks like wood or something
ahh i cant look at your work too long or else i want to kill myself :(

[devin platts]

colors are gorgeous :)

[towy]

great , 5 stars

[Dope Fiend]

agreed with all that's been said, just showin some love. keep it up my friend!

[tehmeh]

Damn the colours have become really beautiful lately. that stream landscape looks seriously schmid, and the burnt sienna/sap green pastel lady is just fantastic.

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Adam I've so enjoyed looking at these updates. The pastels are so painterly and rich. A real delight to look at. I also love your still life painting of the paint kettle and palette knife. I so hope you get to do your workshops with Clayton Beck and Steve Assael as that would be a great experience. :)

[Adam Nowak]

ryanoir - It was painted on a board I gessoed. I just left really groovy marks in it.

Devin platts, towy, Dope Fiend - Thanks! :)

tehmeh - Landscape looks Schmiddy? That's a generous compliment dude. :)

Marian Rowling - Thank you Marian. Steve Assael probably won't happen as it's just an expense I can't come up with right now, but I'm still signed up for Claytons. Just gotta tell my instructors I'll be missing a week of school.
__________________________________________________ ___________

The first portrait is of my father who sat down for me sometime last year. I never wanted to show it as I felt indifferent about it. But I stumbled upon it again while cleaning up my work and saw it with fresh eyes. The second is a color study of a larger painting I'm working on. Next is a portrait of one of the students at school who gladly posed for us after class. The figure painting was a difficult pose to describe. I needed to have the weight really push down into the cushions and leave the abstract presence of her pose intact. Last portrait is of another classmate who posed last week. Finally getting over that slump. Haven't posted much recently, gotta go do more art!

[Metal Fingers]

yeah man! cold crushin! love it.

[Adam Nowak]

Metal Fingers - Haha, thanks!

I forgot to upload this last time. I've experimented with watercolor before but now I have a class dedicated to it so I'm pretty excited to get going on it. This is the first thing we did, a still life using only flat washes out of the planes of the objects which I'm really terrible at. No blending could be done and we had to keep a hard edge around every wash with no bleeding. And now when I scan it in I notice how off the ellipse really is. :/

[conte]

hot stuff!

[Marian Rowling]

Wow Adam that water colour is very interesting to look at. I also think that portrait of your Dad looks really good.

[Adam Nowak]

conte + Marian - Thank you both.

Last weeks portrait study of an instructor and last weeks pose which was done only with the palette knife. Fun, but hard.
More watercolor, I got a little ahead of myself and didn't take time to glaze in the dark rather I threw them down immediately which really burnt up the painting.
I also have a picture of my "studio" a.k.a. the room downstairs was being used for piling up stuff so I cleaned it out and converted it to hold everything art related. I built that shelf with the peg boards and dowel rods to hold my paintings in place after a quick look at wet canvas and someone suggested it. Enjoy the super roughly edited panorama. :)

[tehmeh]

that studio looks really nice to work in, i'm very jealous. The palette knife only painting is very interesting, it's a real shame we can't really see the colours/impasto properly on a monitor

[Adam Nowak]

tehmeh - Yeah man, I haven't paintied in there yet as I've only had it done last week and I've been at school but those three wall sized windwos were closed for years because we just had empty bird cages and other hoarder stuff surrounding them. It's great natural lighting. The impasto part would be hard to do, I'd have to photograph it with a adjustable light to get some kind of relief, but I do spend a good amount of time adjusting each work when I get home usually the day of while it's fresh in my mind. I try to get 100% accuracy and once in a while I do which is nice but I'd say everything I post is about 95% accurate or higher. Otherwise I find a different way to shoot it.The only things I can see right off the bat are the darks are not pitch black, they're a very dark brown and the blue drapery has quite a bit of subtle violet in it which doesn't show up.

I have a drawing finished (though I'll double check accuracy tomorrow, torso and arm length seem a little long) for the grisaille. This will be my first time glazing so.... we'll see. :)

The other is a 1.5 study of another painting I'm starting tomorrow. Different palette setup. I've got Titanium White, Transparent Oxide Red, Sap Green, Yellow Ochre, Raw Umber, and Ivory Black.

[Icecold]

Wonderfull sketchbook, great use of colors, well picked palettes.

Uhm i was wondering, Adam Nowak, Chicago... do you remmember our language? polish i mean? :)

[tokotewhero]

Nice! Its so refreshing to see some real paint!

[Yor]

yeah awesome looking /loose/ vibrant paintings !

[Velocity Kendall]

boy these are gorgeous. im up to page 7 working backward. lovely.

[Joyvenn]

timeless...great expressions!

[James Gerard]

I don't even think I've gotten through the third page of this! I yurn nay I burn for a sketchbook like this one. I shouldn't compare... awesome stuff I will be following.

[Chaser226]

beautiful oils!

[Lightpunk]

Very nice paintings! Keep it up!

[dU5K]

dude. what happened to u? i was takin a trip down memory lane lookin thru ur first 3 pages and its just like.. ur ssoo much better. i really respect that aboutcha. u learn as u draw and apply what u learn in the next drawing. thats good man. well anyways. nuff brown nosin. keep doin what u do

[Arnaldo Rivera]

Subscribed!

[kinnas]

Oh fuck! Shit's all natural media n shiit, imma keep my eye on this one.

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Adam really enjoyable updates as always. It's really great to see the studio space you've got. Can I ask what all the pieces of wood on the table in front of the windows are? Also thanks for posting the drawing stage in this last update as I always enjoy seeing these early stages. I hope the glazing goes well I know I'm looking forward to seeing it.

[Cameronator]

I love the prgress this thread shows! Really some wonderful things happening here.

[Adam Nowak]

Whoah where'd everyone come from all of a sudden! ;)


Icecold - Thanks dude. Pewnie że pamiętam. :) I'm fluent in all but writing it. My parents are from Kraków.

du5k - Yeah I just checked back and you posted almost exactly one year ago. It goes by so fast! Thanks man, a lot.

Marian Rowling - The glazing might definitely be a fail. I missed one day for the underpainting so had to rush it. but we'll see next week... The panels of wood are just scraps that I cut, sand, clean, seal, gesso/prime to paint studies on. A lot of things here I post are on those because they're next to nothing cost wise. They really nice to experiement with surface wise and it frees you knowing if it's a screw up, whatever happens happens. Plus I can then save up to afford those slightly more expensive rolls of linen when they're on sale.

Kinnas - Natural media and shit - the way to go. :)

Arnaldo Rivera, Cameronator, Lightpunk, Chaser226, James Gerard, Joyvenn , Velocity Kendall, Yor, tokotewhero, - Thank you everyone! I apprciate the kind words!

__________________________________________________ ______________

First is a detail of the slightly larger final of the study I posted earlier. Still have a few days to go for it. The second is a portrait of my first instructor, but I really don't like it. I have one more chance next week to get it right. The third is the latest still life I finished. I definitely like the feeling of painting wet into wet just like I do in oils.

[Caspia]

I really enjoy the watercolour piece where you were only drawing the flat planes in washes. It's interesting to see watercolours used like that as I normally think of them as a media used for its accidental look about it and the bleeding of one wet wash into another.

[insane lemur]

seconding what Caspia just said, sometimes limits make for an interesting style! Love your work all around, its really a blessing to see this type of life painting around forums like this.

[Adam Nowak]

Caspia - You're right, I thought it was quite interesting and made for a good exercise.

insane lemur - Thanks, most of the time when I give myself no limitations on something I usually end up destroying it by the time I'm done. It's good to set limits because then you can use them to break past them.

First painting was done a few weeks ago, just needed to oil out to take a photo. It was done with a limited palette, white, yellow ochre, venetian red, and ultramarine blue from what I remember. Second is the glaze painting. I missed one day of painting so I had to paint this in two days which really hurt me refining this any further.

Last is a still life from earlier today. I found the little statue really interesting to paint and try to capture. The next photo shows the size comparison and how small the wood panel actually is, about 5.25 x 7.5 inches. The last is a WIP sheet I made. I took a photo every time I took a small break to look at the painting from a further distance. I first toned the gesso with transparent oxide red and a tony tony bit of yellow ochre and quickly mapped out the gesture. From there I just started painting. I know I shouldn't do this yet without measuring since I had to go back and fix things multiple times but for now it seems to work. After the third photo it's just refinement, refinement, refinement. Hope you enjoy.

[Arnaldo Rivera]

Great! Can't say more, keep on!

[Marian Rowling]

Guardian painting looks great Adam thanks for sharing all the process it's really interesting.

[Adam Nowak]

Arnaldo and Marian - Thanks!

Hope everyone reading is having a good day. Just finished this after the past week. It also became an interesting texture study with some dry brushing on top of palette knife. Definitely something to keep in mind in the future.

[Adam Nowak]

Might have went a little too crazy with this one. :P

[JamesSimons]

Crazy is good! that said I think the pot is little too lost in the background.

[robblob]

Wow I can only recognize a capsicum, is that right? But its looking very interesting and colorful overall. Its not a bad thing that its a little messy.

By the way, could you tell me what kind of media you used for these sketches: http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1058114&stc=1&d=1283838321 ? And why there are 3 black squares on the top left of the page?

[tehmeh]

The statue painting is fantastic! Love it

[Adam Nowak]

JamesSimons - Right I agree. mainly I screwed up on the pot, and I didn't know which object to focus on the most. I went with the pepper in the end though.

robblob - Yep it's a capsicum. Those were done with charcoal pencil on Blick newsprint. Those squares are just me getting ready to draw, I want to get a good feel with the pencil on the paper before I start, sometimes it feels too rough.

tehmeh - Thanks as always man!

First painting I'm working on is done with a kind of custom "dead palette". Second is a tiny portrait study that I wanted to push a little further for it's size. About the size of your hand. Third is last nights portrait session at school. The registrar posed for us.

[lemming-clone-]

I love how you handle your colors, especially in #301. All I can say is keep it up! :)

[Adam Nowak]

lemming-clone- thanks, you too man.

lq_7TJ0298Q

[Adam Nowak]

Every day in class we do an exercise in watercolor with a different method about doing things. The first was to paint one object and use anything to pull out the lights. The second one is an exercise my instructor has been doing for years now to show everyone how to progressively make areas darker in watercolor with layers and layers. So with one color, create an arrangement of "noodles" or rubber bands that sit on top of each other and pick a light source to model the bands based on that particular light. Otherwise just the multiple paintings I always have going on. Both on wood, the one with the green/red combo has been gessoed but the other is a thick application of acrylic gel medium that dries transparent and it lets the natural color of the wood show through. Both of them still need a little bit more work.

[mburrell]

Spend some time looking over you sketch book, enjoyed it. Nice line quality on the drawings, you like pushing paint too. I would suggest playing with your paint edges like you do with your line in your drawings. Something dull about your color choices in your painting backgrounds can't put my finger on what. I suggest doing color studies, just quickies to work it out or find color pics you like to break down colors. Same process you use to do figure studies, it will be a little more difficult, but can be a lot more fun. Hope this will help.
Mike

[Adam Nowak]

mburrell, thanks for the comment, but I don't think I understand exactly what you mean. :( I'd be great if you could show me some examples. As for color studies, I do it sometimes when I feel like that certain setup requires a little more research like in these three.

http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1186040&stc=1&d=1299645018
http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1241103&stc=1&d=1306505798
http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1249542&stc=1&d=1307422139

I got the painting done from the last update, kind of happy with that one. A hand study from the same pose but like I was pointed out recently, most everything I do struggles with having a solid drawing underneath. Same thing with the next portrait. A fence from imagination for another quick exercise. We had to add as much texture and kinks, dents, and wear and tear but still keep it looking like a white fence. And more features studies, this time in color. They're all of me except for the top left. These took about 2 hours each. The actual piece is a 11 x 14 so they're quite small. I used a limited palette of Ultramarine blue, cadmium red, and cadmium yellow pale.

[Grzessnik]

Adam, last paintings are great. I love watercolor fence and face details.
Great style and confidence.

[Velocity Kendall]

i love coming back to this thread.

[Marian Rowling]

Great updates Adam you are going from strength to strength I think. I was really amazed by the watercolour study of the ribbons in post #308. I've tried thinking through how I would replicate it in my mind and it seems very challenging to me. Did you do a sketch in pencil first just to work out the values and placement for the painting painting? I would love to see a video of it being painted.

Also I love the fence painting and the facial features. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Spawn2]

Great, inspiring stuff going on here.

I was wondering: are you studying this full-time, or is it something that you decided
to pursue for yourself?

'hans itching to take up the brushes again'

[mburrell]

In post #113 and #117 you play with your line quite a bit. it defines your edge. in some drawing you have lots of shading but still play with your edges some hard some soft. the way you ride your pencil edges can be done with your paint brush too or even your shading in your drawing. You can twist your brush to an outside edge or corner in the same stroke or rotate to the thin edge of the brush to make a thinner but strong stroke.
The example with the nude of your color study I like it the most because you harmonized all the colors with each other.

I took your man show you a little of what I meant.
this first one I played making your edge come and go some If the edge has interest both the figure and the ground are more interesting remember the space needs to be interesting and communicate meaning too. Using hair strokes to bleed edges.

1279262

In this one I pulled all your colors into each other to harmonize them. I did it a little strong to show it. It still works.

1279265

Your studies of the parts of the faces seem to have caught much of what I am talking about they are well done. I think you must have understood me more than you thought.
Great SB I will keep watching.
Yours
Mike

[mburrell]

Adam,
In your posts #113 and #117 you have play around with your line real well in regards to broken line balancing your shading of form with just some edges defined by line giving variety and interest. Your post #310 the face parts and fencing you seem to have caught what I was talking about. Your study of the man in the blue black shirt and red background does not. Some things to consider about brush work and its use: it can define edges, textures, form or mass and focus which often denote space.

First is a study I did of my Dad from a photo reference. It was a quick loose one that has some similarities to your work. It does have some problems but shows ways to use texture of the hair using brush strokes to transition from hair mass to face or background. I often push my paint like a drawing tool. The panel behind his head, the left edge is defined by a line that moves up from white to rose, this keeps the straight edge of the structure but also soften and breaks the edge for transition.This can be done in quick studies too. Mixed with your form building type of brusk work as a counterpoint, as in your sketches mentioned earlier. To harmonize the different colors in this painting and in all my pieces I introduce those colors into each color area as dry brush. a wash or just mixing some into the local color(which can be felt but not seen). This can be pushed quite far as an experiment if you want. It helps to tied your backgrounds to your subject(s) and solves that dullness I was feeling about your backgrounds which really are not not dull at all, just disconnected from the other colors.

1279776

Second is a detail of a section of a mural that pushes brush work into drawing in opposition to modeling. I noticed that some of Michelangelo's figures often had an outline when looked at closely at a distance they are felt more than seen. I was using this to separate my figure from a similar toned background and in the puppy to indicate it weight and texture. The Third pic is to show you how it fit into that full section of the mural. I hope this helps explain edges and brushwork uses. I hope it also makes more questions for you explore on your own.


1279767

1279771



Note: This Mural was mounted twelve foot off the ground and was 135' long so was seen from a distance. This represents only a section of the mural.

[yogeshj25]

Wow this is amazing work! I love your studies! Your great with your oil paints!

[Woji]

Ugh. Love your recent stuff man (obviously). Watercolors are looking great. I just started playing with them recently and really appreciate your hand at it.

I've been looking, just thought I'd stop in.

Also. I hope you have had a chance to see The King Of Limbs from the basement.
Blew my mind

[Teundeboer]

I absolutely love those last feature studies in color. I think some of those would work very well if u frame them, like the nose in the bottom middle. That'd look great on my wall ^^

[Virg]

Such an intersting SB you have, the watercolors are really blowing me away... I just started playing with them, would you recommend paints in tubes or drypaint ( not sure what it is called)

[Adam Nowak]

Grzessnik - Thanks man, always liked your sketchbook!

Velocity Kendall - I appreciate it man. :)

Marian - No pencil, that's one of the things I'm not allowed to do. A very light wash, maybe 10 - 15% of full pigment use. Then instead of painting the actual stripes, paint the negative spaces thereby creating ribbons as part of the positive space. (negative negative?) Then by only making smaller abstract shapes inside the larger ones you can create a sense of space and depth depending on how far and how soon you push the darks.

Spawn2 - I'm doing both. I go to school full time to study, and on top of that I go to another school in my free time (in fact I just renewed my membership today for the next year, I haven't gone since March) I've found that actually going full time, that is, taking three studio classes at once which I did from January to April, is completely draining of your energy and soul. Before that semester from September to December I went half time and then went to the second school in all my free time and everything worked out much better. Hopefully I can do that again.

mburrell - Ahhh, I gotcha now, I understand what you're talking about. Sometimes I don't work in colors uniformly on purpose just because I like to paint exactly what I see in front of me. I do agree that it does help unify the painting in some ways. Edges are quite important, more than most people know especially when it comes to painting a realistic representation of what you want.

yogeshj25 - Thanks!

Woji - Thank you, I was a tiny bit surprised by the watercolors myself to be honest. I'm working on an epic fail right now, it's a long watercolor still life that is to be rendered as realistically as possible. We'll see..... As for The Basements sessions, I was eagerly waiting for them as they were uploaded to Youtube. Yeah I'm a fanboy. But if it's going to be any band, it might as well be Radiohead.

Teundeboer - Yeah! I kind of played around with the nose with different cropping, fun stuff. I might do that and just hang up a sketch of my nose, why not.

Virg - I don't like to say what brand's better or worse but I have noticed certain brands differ quite a bit in quality, in hue, in texture, etc... But right now I have to go with the tubes. Who knows in the future, but I like to have high concentrations of color at my disposal. It helped me immediately overcome the problem I see a lot of other people have by diluting their color wayyy too much and their work looks weak and hazy.

Somehow this painting escaped me last week. 3 hour portrait study, with an intention of just laying down strokes and not touching them again. (like this one http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1129296&stc=1&d=1293402186) Not interested in edges in this one, many of them are obviously too sharp, but moreso color shifts, and accurate placement which in turn helps complete the drawing. Some problems in the end, drawing wise.

[Sealegs]

Such awesome stuff in this thread, thanks for sharing! :D

[K-c]

As an amateur critique, I'd like to say this (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1273843&stc=1&d=1310229836) piece is truly awesome. :D

[Virg]

Thanks for your answer :)

[Adam Nowak]

Hey everyone, I think I mentioned a while back that I was going to be taking a workshop with Clayton Beck and I just finished it up last Friday. I gathered ten pages of notes and condensed it down into a easier to read format. It was a 5 day course that was just focused on edges. So everything else, values, the drawing, colors, etc... were not as important as working with the edges. In this post I'm putting up everything I did during that week. We did two paintings a day (except Friday) in between discussions and demos. There was one painting I had to scrape off because it was just a complete train wreck, which was great. (You learn something from those losses.) So here's the notes I took down. They're not meant to be the end all of painting, but more so thoughts and solid ways to approach painting (oil in particular, but I don't see why this wouldn't work for almost any other medium as well)

On Edges

 When first starting out, locate your sharpest edge on the subject. As you're painting, compare your edges to the sharpest edge.
 Keep the edges soft and do not create any sharp edges anywhere when starting out.
 When squinting at the subject, compare edges to one another.
 Start out with some lost edges and sharpen them as you paint. It's easier to sharpen an edge than to soften one.
 Edges and extremely personal.
 The shape of the light source can affect the objects edges dramatically. (Paper towel roll)

On Brush Technique

 Too many times the majority of the paint on a brush is used as soon as the brush hits the canvas instead of being distributed evenly.
 Rolling strokes help with producing soft edges so paint strokes “roll” into one another.
 Use your entire arm for bold, huge strokes.
 Dry brush to get lost edges as well.
 Put thought behind every brushstroke.

On Painting

 Start out in the mid tones and working your way to pure black and white.
 Set out with a goal in mind and do everything to reach that goal.
 Everything you do from how you setup your spot to the initial wash of your canvas will affect your final painting in some way.
 Start off with a block in or notes of color to build upon a solid foundation.
 Stay away from going to the extremes too fast so you always have that little extra you can use.
 Many ways to start, do them all so you know down the line how you want to start.
 Before you pick up the brush, are you seeing what you need to see?
 There are advantages and disadvantages to every technique, to every method, to any way of learning. Try to learn as many as you want and then pick up the things that most useful to you.
 If in trouble, step back and get back to the fundamentals.

Do's and don’ts

DO

 always try new techniques by going back to the fundamentals and straying from them with slight variations.
 many quick small studies with a goal in mind for each one. Vanderpoel's a great resource by studying each paragraph at a time.
 be self critical of your work. Don't wait until the next day when the model is gone, try to find it and fix it right away.
 step back, squint, brush, repeat.
 things you've never done before.
 master studies, all the way to stroke for stroke.
 steal good ideas.

DONT

 make “paintings”, make studies. When making a painting, you want to focus on everything.
 have the mindset of “I'll fix it later”. If something is wrong, fix it now.
 get comfortable. Find new brushes, models, colors, canvas, setups, and compositions. Once you find yourself being in a comfort zone, you lose progression.
 complain, just do. A model shift, music changes, spots taken, doesn’t matter. You are there to get to your goal, don't make the frivolous things around you get you off track.

[Dope Fiend]

Wow. I'm still just observing these, but thanks for the tips, very helpful, and please continue to post here!

i really like the 6th one from the top of these, something beautiful about it's simplicity

[Adam Nowak]

Thanks everyone, and no problem Dope Fiend, glad to help in any way! I've picked up so much by just reading what other people have posted online I feel like I need to give back when I can as well.

The first doodle shows Claytons palette and organized setup where everything is where it's supposed to be to provide maximum efficiency and speed. I've noticed people who are incredibly anal where everything must go to completely wild where brushes are dropping, paint is all over the place, and everything has paint on it. I've come to already be pretty well organized and always have everything laid out before me before I start if I can help it. When he cleans his brushes in the turp can he goes and rubs in the wet brush into a scrunched up paper towel right next to it so most of the turp can be soaked into the towel and then places the clean brush on a clean paper towel where it sits to fully dry. I noticed he never got any paint on his hands even though he was painting much less delicately than all of us.

The second doodle just reinforces the main idea most painters share: that is to try and not keep petting your painting up close without even glancing at the subject where in fact you should be stepping back to observe and compare and laying down the stroke you want. Over brushing can easily lead to dull and "muddy" color (too many close pigments mixing creating a neutral).

[Adam Nowak]

Besides the workshop I also had quite a bit of painting done elsewhere. A monochrome study of my right hand, 14 x 18 oil on panel. Second painting was done in an open session after the third workshop day. 3rd painting is a portrait of one of my instructors who teaches anatomy. I used some of the processes from last week and I definitely want to keep going forward with it. Next is a painting that would normally take 2 weeks but I only had 2 days, 6 hours total. It's a 18 x 24 and I had so much fun painting so fast. I really thought the pose wrapping around the edges of the canvas was what I wanted to capture. The watercolor again was a lot of fun but I definitely failed in some parts. I have found my bull-headed approach to watercolor has positives and negatives. I need to try to be more delicate with the paint....

Lastly, this was my experience with my first Winton brush. I picked it up somewhere at school left behind from a student and I'm glad I didn't pay for it because this was all that was left after only 3 hours of painting.

[tokotewhero]

lov that hand study, also the creepy clown toy of sorts. great stuff happening in here. its always refreshing seeing some real paint on this site. keep it up!

ps. also lov those blue in hue head studies in post 324! lov em!

[takashmen]

thanks for sharing the notes

great paintings

keep on rocking!

[Ludic]

Beatiful paintings, really nice strokes!

[Adam Nowak]

tokotewhero - Thank you, the blue hue day was a little better than most.

takashmen - Hope they help in any way.

Ludic - Thanks.

██ Self portrait in black

[Mike L]

Look at that paint! Just terrific!
tremendous SB:)
-M

[Adam Nowak]

Mike L - Right on!

Got some hand studies, quite difficult to do, must do more. Portrait of a friend and a pose I'm working on currently.

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Adam thanks for all those notes they make for interesting reading, I had to really laugh at the photo of your 'Winton' brush! I really love this last self portrait and the hand studies are great. As always your updates are so inspiring and interesting.

[Valyavande]

gosh, this sketchbook is mindblowing! I start to get interested in oil paint, even if I never cared so much about it. How you use colours and make brushstrokes is just amazing

[takashmen]

hi Adam
of course they help :)

thanks once again!

keep on painting!

[Spawn2]

Hello Adam,

Nice going! a great deal of progress since your first postings here - just looked at those
again before going to the last page. Your drawing is much looser, in a very good way.

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but are you using your free time to study or is
it a fulltime pursue for you?

Keep it up!

[tehmeh]

Seems to be a sure improvement in both the drawing and painting on the last page especially, this (http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1289266&stc=1&d=1311979643) is a real favourite for me though, very solid handling!

[mburrell]

Adam
Read your notes. Reorganizing these is helpful for people reading them and also tends to reinforce and refresh them in your mind. I think it shows up in your posts. What are your thoughts and/or notes on color? Nice work.
Mike

[The_Flying_Dutchman]

The oils are great, love the self portrait's layered dabs of paint.

[Velocity Kendall]

its so hard to pick favourites theyre all amazing
for some reason i hadnt already voted 5, sorry abut that

[JesseM]

Dude, those hand studies... @___@ god damn. Nice work!

[Adam Nowak]

Spawn2 - Yeah this was from a while back "I'm doing both. I go to school full time to study, and on top of that I go to another school in my free time (in fact I just renewed my membership today for the next year, I haven't gone since March) I've found that actually going full time, that is, taking three studio classes at once which I did from January to April, is completely draining of your energy and soul. Before that semester from September to December I went half time and then went to the second school in all my free time and everything worked out much better. Hopefully I can do that again."

mburrell - I feel like I don't know all that much about color, I feel like I'm just starting to learn what it really is. Otherwise, I just paint what I see for now and manipulate it from there.

Here's quite a bit of work incoming, it's been a while. I feel like it'll disappoint, but oh well.

[Adam Nowak]

First five paintings were done on a short trip up north in Wisconsin while I had a few days off. Finally able to paint some landscapes again. One of them turned out a little bit like Schmid's landscapes. I've been incorporating the palette knife as a regular tool instead of just for certain brushstrokes. Been sketching on the train again! Thank God, it's been way too long. All the sketching I've done since my last sketchbook has been so-so-so. I've started a very interesting still life class as well.

[Adam Nowak]

More oil portraits, I'm going to be doing a lot of them on 12 x 12 wood panels. Starting to draw again, #5 + #6 are from a recent 3 day workshop I took with Bo Zhang. Those two specifically were done with certain input with the instructors hand. last four drawings were some quick 5 minute head gestures, a lot of fun.

[Arnaldo Rivera]

Great update!

[Splode]

You have some great work, almost makes me want to dig up my oil paints and brushes but then I remember how much I hate cleaning up after. :D

[Spawn2]

Hey Adam,

Thanks for the response. The last update is looking great, you can clearly see your 'comfort zone' is with the oils and pencil sketches. Love the one of the sitting guy. Very loose and still accurate.

I asked you about the fulltime-approach because I'm doubting on doing that myself. I've finished University (got my bachelor and master in Art philosophy, policy and management) but in my heart I'm still that guy who just loves to draw and paint. And I've only gotten more inspiration and ideas through my studies.

I'm currently enrolled in a class of one day per week, but progress there is slow. As Alex Kanevsky said in a recent interview: 'It's not so much about deciding to do art, but more: deciding not to do other stuff.' That 'other stuff' is still killing my progress, especially compared to you ;)

Keep it up!

[Velocity Kendall]

absolutely brilliant adam, i love looking through this thread!

[Marian Rowling]

Wow Adam, brilliant updates, I can't imagine why you would think they would dissapoint? I always feel so excited and inspired to get on with more studies of my own after seeing an update of yours so I can get to this level. I especially like the humour of the watercolour skeleton with wig and bra:), and I really like what you did with the light bulbs. Really though I appreciate it all. :)

[TFsean]

Adam Nowak has a CA sketchbook! Very happy to see this in addition to your DA stuff, love your style very much :D

[kidult]

Those face sketches.......damn!!

[Baudolino]

Your portrait works are simply amazing! I really like the 6th from post 345. On what size are you drawing? And do you use charcoal or graphite?

[Xelar]

So jelly of your oil skills.
Even though your values and hues are pretty much perfect sometimes I feel like there's a little bit of inconsistency with the saturation levels, that's only nitpicking though.

Awesome work

[prsnsweeney]

wow man wow the paintings are inspiring

[Trufle]

Your paintings are awesome, but what I really adore are your drawings. They look like they weren't drawn, but painted with graphite.

[CONtra]

Awesome job dude. the progress that we've been talking about is just ROLLING IN. let's get more structure and keep the energy UP. you're in ROCK'EM sock'em mode.good work ADASH.

[Sean McClain]

Just Beautiful...

[Adam Nowak]

WHOA, that's quite a few comments, do people actually like this stuff?

Arnaldo - Thanks man!

Splode - Aww yeah, even worse is setting up, that's why I try to always have it ready to go so when it hits me, I can just start painting.

Spawn2 - Ah, I just read a similar statement by someone saying (paraphrasing here) It isn't about how much art you do, it's about how little you do of everything else that gets in the way) I totally butchered it, it was much more poetic than that. You know what, I'm going for it. I'm coming into a crumbling economy and the odds are completely against me. But I'm doing it. I just have to.

Velocity Kendall - Thank you! That's always nice to hear.

Marian - Thank you, as always you have nice words for me and this stuff called art. :)

TFSean - Sweet, yeah, this is where all the junk goes, then I try to pick it apart and post it elsewhere.

kidult - !Thanks!

Baudolino - Thanks, I think most drawings are about the 18 x 24 in. format. I use graphite mainly in the sketchbook. I use charcoal on pretty much everything else. If I can fin d some time to do a long pose I'd love to render it in graphite one day.

Xelar - Thanks for the input, you mean some are way less saturated than others? I try to edit them as close as possible to the real painting when I get home and I think I usually do a pretty good job at that, so it's probably my actual paintings. I do it deliberately sometimes, I'd like to know which one's in particular, I find it intriguing, no one's mentioned that before.

prsnsweeney - Thanks man, I appreciate it.

Trufle - That's interesting, I usually like my drawings more than my paintings...

CONtra - LET'S ROLL.

Sean McClain - Much appreciated.

__________________________________________________ _______________

I got a few more things I guess. The first two paintings are both the same size, around 23 x 16 or so. Both portraits were done in three hours, second portrait is 12 x 12. Figure was in 4.5 hours, very lovely model, she's actually the same one I drew and painted from the beginning of school - she took a hiatus and I guess just came back now. These are far back in the far distant past -

http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=834600&stc=1&d=1258775288
http://conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=846585&stc=1&d=1260035159

I've been working on a sculpture for a little while now, inspired by the 1800's chimney sweepers of ol. I think I might break him up now. Too bad, at least I got a photo.

[Jephyr X]

REALLY superb work! And it's great to see someone still working in traditional mediums (not that there's anything wrong with digital of course)

Love your sometimes loose (free) approach with the oils!

That bust is cool too!

[Yor]

such improvement! Youve become so good with oils! loving those last portraits on this page, keep it up!

[Adam Nowak]

Jephyr X - Thank you dude! Someone came into class and broke the nose off my bust. Now I gotta take some time to fix it.

Yor - Thanks man, you've got a great sketchbook! Lovely drawings!

I did some landscapes! They suck! Alright, moving on, some recent portraits, the ones after school continuing to paint in the 12 x 12 format. Had another after school drawing session, I think I can bring it back like we used to have it last year with a different group. It'll be good. Still lifes, just finished one, and have started another one.

[Adam Nowak]

A few more hours into this, basically done. I'll probably go back in and touch up a few areas, but an oil sketch based on simple complimentary color situations.

[sony]

Lovely, others are also cool, just a quick glace at your Sb will surely come back
http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1333065&stc=1&d=1317447671

[Velocity Kendall]

these are so beautiful. i am very inspired!

[kevinwueste]

Wow, I haven't gotten through everything yet but:

1. The improvements are fantastic and
2. I love so much of what you are posting now.. A Schmidt feel (eArly figure Schmidt I mean!) to many of these.. Good good good!

Kevin

[Marian Rowling]

Wow Adam I've missed some great updates. I love your chimney sweep sculpture. I've been having a go myself at a self portrait in clay but I think I prefer yours. :) Seems a shame you won't get to cast it. I thought the photos of it look good as well and that it would make a good painting.

Have to say your landscapes are not as bad as you think and I really like the reclining figure. Sorry to keep gushing but I do really like your work, always so inspiring.

[Teundeboer]

I really like the balance between the hardness and softness in this one: http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1346397&stc=1&d=1319042047

[mburrell]

I'm enjoying your updates.

[Adam Nowak]

Velocity Kendall - Thank you so much. :)

kevinwueste - Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting, I'm really glad you like my work, I've been looking at yours for years. Early Schmid! Ehhh, I don't know.

Marian - Thanks, I wish I could cast it, there still might be a possibility though. Otherwise I'm glad I have a photo of it.

Tuendeboer - Thank you, I'm kind of glad I was able to push it a little further than before, but it's still not enough.

mburell - Thank you sir.

So I just spent the past 12 hours painting this non stop. I had a reference for the face and animal skull though I mixed a deer with a sheep. I only tried to use the hard round brush on this like everything else digital I do just so I can figure out it's possibilities. Textures have been scanned in. I've always loved Jeff Simpsons work, I'm sure a few of you are going to notice this is influenced by him.

[f1x]

amazing oils

and also this last digital piece, love the dreamy atmosphere

[Marian Rowling]

Wow Adam I can see why you are influenced by Jeff Simpson's work it's great, thanks for introducing me to his work. I think your homage to him looks fab and it's great to see you are as talented with digital as you are in tradtional media.

[Joseph_Silverman]

Really impressive, diverse works on the last few pages. Thanks for sharing!

[Adam Nowak]

f1x - Thank you. :)

Marian - Thanks, it was a fun diversion.

Suprore - Thanks for looking!

First one is a 1.5 hour sketch from class. In the middle of it I had to leave so I couldn't push it further. The other two are part of a group of buddies staying after school to pose for each other so we can all draw, paint, and learn from each other.

[xinranliu]

lovely portraits

[purplegoat]

Great to see some inspiring traditional, you seem to jump right into each medium and make it work well for you. The variety of subject matter in here makes looking at your sketchbook refreshing.

[sone_one]

absolutely fantastic! massive painting skills

[p sage]

Don't know what to say other than "fantastic work"

[Adam Nowak]

Thank you everyone!

So this was completely new. My next sculpture I was introduced to was a relief as opposed to a full bust or figure like normally. I had to go through a different mindset trying to figure out what to push back and what to bring forward in the relief. I know there are anatomical and whatnot, but it was a very interesting experience.

Also, dropped by the Palette and only had a charcoal pencil and kneaded eraser on me so got some more life drawing in. Please don't mind that gap on the left figure. It's not like I wasn't paying attention to proportions or anything. :P

[tehmeh]

Really great updates man, the forms are reading really well in #374, and that still life is really succesful :)

[Bakker]

Great work in here, really love to see someone who still uses oils instead of PS ;)

Your portrait drawings are superb, really like 'm. They seem right on the money.

IMHO: your paintings could benefit from some contrast between your awesome painterly hand and some solid (less painterly) fields . So they compliment each
other.

Great to see the passion in this SB.


/Subbed

[Adam Nowak]

So I had almost forgotten to make a self portrait today, I was reminded by tehmeh's selfie that it was November 1st. It's not much, just a real quickie. I didn't have much time to devote to it today. Maybe an hour or so.

[bhanu]

Great control of paints, edges and strokes.
Would love to see more of your work, so please keep posting.

[Adam Nowak]

bhanu - Thanks man, Great new work, I've been lurking your work for years.

Who doesn't love painting a guy with an epic beard! YES! 12 x 12! 3 hour session!

[Fernteixeira]

I really love your sb, man

[Lakka]

all I can say is fantastic and inspirational work, keep it up, pleasure to flip thorugh... :)

[The_Flying_Dutchman]

Great oil work!

[weashell]

wow man seems like your getting really pro with oils :D

[p sage]

Okay, a few more minutes to go through your thread properly.

Really a unique vision, and a fearlessness to try new things. I really like your impastos in oil and sculpts.

And even this (http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=861998&stc=1&d=1261548993) got a giggle out of me.

The strokes in this one (http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=929065&stc=1&d=1268507544) are impressive.

Loved the concept in the sketch on the right (http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=959877&stc=1&d=1271826067)...

And all of those are in just the first couple of pages. Since then, you've really amped up.

Thought the little gold star in this one (http://attachments.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1333075&stc=1&d=1317447882) was funny (good choice, too).

Overall inspired and glad to have spent some time with your works.

[Adam Nowak]

Thank you all so much!

p sage - Oh man, you're going way far back, I don't like to look at some of that stuff anymore. :P But thanks for checking it out so thoroughly and enjoying what I do, it means a lot.

Portraits. Three of them this time.

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Adam these are lovely. I really like the light on the man's face and the orange of the scarf. My favorite is the last one though, love the muted colours and soft feeling in this one. Can I ask what colours you are using?

[Adam Nowak]

Thanks Marian. I'm just using the palette I've used for a long time. Titanium White, Ivory Black, Lemon Yellow (rarely), Cadmium Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Terra Rosa (sometimes I'll use Venetian Red), Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Transparent Oxide Red, Cobalt Blue (sometimes), Ultramarine Blue, and Viridian.

Sometimes I'll switch on and off others like Sap Green or English Red, whatever I have in my box. But the above is my normal palette.

I did this palette knife still life a while back, still haven't gone back in and decided whether or not to diffuse the orange some more as it reads as a flat shape. Plus it's about half an inch thick with cad. orange, it'll probably never dry. :P

[merl1n]

Man, I know you have heard it many times, but the improvement you made since you started this sketchbook is just inspiring. I'm glad you shared it with us. Bravo!

[Marian Rowling]

Plus it's about half an inch thick with cad. orange, it'll probably never dry. :P

:) Ha, ha Adam I can see that depth in the photo, does look pretty good though. Thanks for the palette info I've just started my first painting attempts so I have been interested to know what my favorite artists have on there palette's.

[Adam Nowak]

merl1n - I'm glad to share it with everyone. :)

Marian - No problem, glad to help in any way.

One more late night sesh painting from a few hours ago.

[Adam Nowak]

One of my friends got into an accident, totaled his car but made it out alive. I didn't see how after looking at the photos of the damage and especially since he only got a few nicks and bruises.

[sony]

"Destiny", good to hear he survived.

Always inspirational work!

[Mane]

These really are nice dude, maybe a video demo pretty please?

[Sean McClain]

Great Sketchbook!

[Adam Nowak]

Thanks Sony, Mane, Sean! Mane, video of me screwing up every painting over and over and over again? Nah. :) I take photos of a painting in stages once in a while for myself to document though.

Painting, painting, painting, drawing, drawing, drawing. On the train. In the cafe. At school. In a victorian home.

[tehmeh]

Loving all these updates man, your drawing side of the painting has definitely improved lately, and it's nice to see some sketchbook pages as well. Keep rocking, man!

[Alrap]

Awesome sketchbook, i like your oil paintings and lines :yum:

[Xelar]

I just realized I never actually answered your question about the saturation.
What I meant was that in some of your paintings there are some areas that drop in saturation quite a bit even though it doesn't really make sense.
like a leg with a grey patch on it or something of that nature.

Love the update from the 24th of October btw

[Adam Nowak]

tehmeh - You too man, thank you!

Alrap - Thank you Alrap!

Xelar - Thanks, I gotcha, I see various tones and colors sometimes but I fail to mix it in the same value so it tends to look like spots. I'm trying to remember not to do that and take my time to get everything right.

[Adam Nowak]

Had some ups and downs over the past few weeks, will be changing it up because I'm starting to feel an all too familiar staleness...

[Bakker]

i really like the effordlessness the portraits have. really nice, great nurchered talent. Really like to see some genre stuff by your hand or Some direction in a situation of the portrait.
Again great stuff.

[merl1n]

Great updates man!

[Bunrt-Ice]

Really awesome stuff! Where did you go to school?

[Adam Nowak]

Thanks guys, Bunrt-Ice, I'm currently going to the American Academy of Art. Bakker, yeah, I'm thinking about this year really trying to push in different directions. Will have something soon.

[Velocity Kendall]

as always adam, lovely rich subtle work, and improving all the time
one of my favourite threads

[GEB]

Killer work man

[Metal Fingers]

haven't been in in a while, great stuff man!

[towy]

beauty really, i would like to see what is your stuff for paint (what kind of canvas, brush, oil) keep up

[Adam Nowak]

V.K. - Thanks!

GEB - Thank you!

M.F. - Thank you too!

towy - And you! I can post stuff when I get the chance. But I just use really generic materials, nothing really special. I'll try to remember.

Got something I'm working on, just an experiment. Plus a portrait from tonight session.

[prsnsweeney]

great work love the drawings

[Adam Nowak]

Thanks prsnsweeney!

More sketches at the Barnes and Noble with some friends. Painted a foot of one of the models yesterday, quick 2.5 hour study.

[MPaar]

Great work, man. Love the brush work. Very inspirational.

[Adam Nowak]

Thank you MPaar for the kind words. I'm glad it's inspirational.

Dropped by the Palette with a couple of friends and tried to work on getting some form down. Some gestures, twenty minute poses, and a 2 hour head study.

[Justas]

This thread definately turns me on for some oil study painting :)

[kevinwueste]

lovely works! your color sense is powerful.

-kevin

[dU5K]

wow man. wow. very nice updates. u keep getting better and better. ive really been enjoying reading some of ur posts as well, especially the one about the workshop. ive definitely learned a couple of those things from just messin up on my own but im for sure taking some of those things into practice. keep up the incredible progress

[Adam Nowak]

Justas - I saw your thread, very cool abstract/representational mix.

kevin - Thank you very much!

dU5K - Thank you for looking through man, I love to talk and discuss this stuff but then again I'm just a guy who doesn't know too much yet anyways so...

[Adam Nowak]

Not so good gestures and a portrait! My good friend Toussaint posed for a group of friends after school for 6 hours straight! Great pose, and great outfit which we needed to undo a bit to get it wild and messy.

[Toffers]

I have to say that I get very easily trapped
in your sketchbook. I can look at this stuff
for pretty much hours on end. Pretty damn
impressive.

I'm primarily a digital painter myself, and I'll
probably stay that way all my life, but I like
to paint with oils from time to time, every
other day. I'm just wondering if you have
any tips that you can give me, a rundown of
what you do in every painting or something,
since I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't
really have anyone I know that paints
professionally with oils, so I ask you.

Thanks for sharing this stuff, I'll be looking forward to more!

[Bakker]

Great stuff ones again, your like a machine, like a painting factory ;)

2cent: it looks like your paint supports your subject, you study the subject and paint accordingly and you do it pretty darn well. Maybe it'll help you if you turn it around. Let the subject support(guide) the paint. like for example lucian freud tries to do, Rembrand didn't suck either.
If this makes any sense :) Ramp it up!


Love your posture studies, nice line weight.
Thanks for the updates.

[John Zylstra]

Would really like to see the drawings in person, dood. You're the man with the plan.

[Adam Nowak]

Toffers - I'm flattered by your comment but in no means am I a professional. I've only been doing this for 2 years so there's quite a lot I don't know. Also by the looks of it, you have a good feel for digital already, really. Keep focused on areas where you feel like you need to improve more than others. As I see it, that would be anatomy and proportions for your figures, everything else is coming along. I don't have a completely flat routine of the way I do things, but generally I love to tone the canvas and let it peek through, start out with either a color block in or more linear drawing, and then pick a spot where I can compare every stroke I make to. All the while thinking of the fundamentals, value, color, temperature, light source, form, edges, not in that particular order. One day I'll get some kind of amateur process together.

Bakker - I know what you mean, I think that will come. :)

John - And you have already. Will do.

Have a few more portraits up as always. Those always get done at a steady rate with so many opportunities to paint people all week.

1 -11 x 17, 3 hour alla prima. Same person as a fw weeks back, sans beard.

2 - 9 x 12 (?), 6 hours over three days. Small portrait trying to capture a very cool, singular light source directly above.

3 - 6 x 4, quick 2 hour color study of the next painting which is just a grisaille in raw umber that I should have spent more time on but only had about an hour.

[Mike L]

This is just tremendous work, your colour choices are quite stunning in the portraits, love how you've modelled the form with so few strokes in post#422...
Thanks for posting, and looking forward to more:)

[vineris]

Oh hey, I've seen your work in the Painters group on deviantArt. Lovely portraits! I've been admiring them there for a while.

[Bakker]

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1419966&stc=1&d=1328937022 is very nice, it doesn't look like you spend 2h on it :) it looks like it was alrdy there and you just found it. if that makes any sense :P Love it.

thnx

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Adam you know I am a big fan and enjoy all your updates. I really like the feel of the cool light you captured in the ladies portrait. Has a wonderful sense of stillness about. :)

[Adam Nowak]

Thank you everyone! I had some recent 20 minute charcoal sketches and and a 4.5 hour portrait.

[tehmeh]

solid updates as ever man, loving that last post.

[Mane]

o man those sketches are an absolute joy to look at, is this a new style your playing with?

[lennon]

Great portarits!

[Marian Rowling]

What expressive drawings, I really have to work towards your level as they look fab. Beautiful colours in the portrait as well.

[Adam Nowak]

Thank you everyone, I'm really glad you all enjoy the last post! I've always wanted to kind of explore drawing this way, I think glimpses of it can be seen in the past, but I still struggle with everything very much so I'm trying really hard to get there. I have some more portraits! Like always! This time two alla primas and one glaze. I included the WIP shot just so you can see how not to glaze like an idiot. The underpainting was done with Raw Umber and White which I never tried before but I really like the look of it that way, probably why so many people start like that. I went way too dark so I spent some time trying to lighten that up. Also, drawing's way off, I wanted to get into glazing so instead of trying to get the drawing right, I tried to fix it later in the painting.

[towy]

i miss doing oil painting now because of you haa
dont stop

[Adam Nowak]

towy - I won't, and pick it back up when you get a chance. :)

Some more recent gestures from the Palette.

[matejkovacic]

Thanks for the inspiration! Great works!

[Mosheim]

Nice work. The quickness of your strokes and the impasto are excellent.

[Marian Rowling]

:) ha ha Adam I really am enjoying these drawings as much as your paintings. I always enjoy seeing how much you've progressed with each post. Very inspiring.

[kevinwueste]

Adam, these gestures are pretty great - there are many ways to "skin the cat" ...

-Kevin

[Adam Nowak]

matejkovacic & Mosheim - Thank you!

Marian Rowling - Thank you Marian, I always appreciate you popping in.

kevinwueste - Thanks again Kevin.

Misha is a Russian sculptor who emigrated to the US back in the 80's. His website's here, along with his fathers art, which is pretty beast. http://mishafromminsk.com/index.php

11 x 17 4.5 hours at the Palette and Chisel today. Tons of fun, just going, going, going.

[ezekrialase]

I absolutely love your portraits!

[Adam Nowak]

Thank you ezekrialase!

Recent alla prima portraits, figures, a plein-air study, and a self portrait. I wanted to observe more of the space around me, the warm and cool lights from my friends who were all working on their own paintings. The plein air was done in a 4 hour session in Lincoln Park. There were small patches of snow still left over from the last snowstorm we had here sitting on the tree trunk reflecting in the high sun at noon.

[yarosh]

great work I wish to have some of yours skills, beautiful paintings and life drawings

[Aryeh]

beautiful work!

[GEB]

Awesome stuff man! I'd hand any of them on my wall

[Aaron_]

Absolutely wonderful work, makes me wanna go pick up some wet brushes again ! Those Russian artists Misha and Chaim are absolutely awesome BTW.

[House Hatke]

Wow I am loving your work! Your charcoal studies are great and your painting style is something to see. That's some bold brushwork there.

Keep this up! If nothing else it's inspirational to guys like me who struggle to get their oil painting up to par.

[Adam Nowak]

yarosh - It's just practice. :)

Aryeh - Thank you!

GEB - Hah, I wish someone would finally do that!

continue - Aren't they!?

House Hatke - Thank you very much House!

Got a little sketchbook dump. I lost it for a bit so I haven't been scanning these in. Also started another sketchbook because I thought I lost the old one for good but my friend found it finally. Some of these probably don't make sense visually. I'm playing around with how I actually see things through my glasses and how they break up different planes in space...

[Marian Rowling]

Hey Adam these look great I love the quality of your line, so expressive. Those 1 sec glimpses are also fab. :)

[Axelga2112]

Hehe 1 sec studies. Thats funny

[LucasBianchi]

I like the standalone face. I think you should do more. Just a face... dead in the middle. : )

[Divine]

So your sketchbook is pretty much awesome. Can't wait for more!

[Sean McClain]

Much appreciation for your work.

[BenjaminJL92]

Love this sketchbook, crazy skills with oil and ink.