Jan 2 - The Commission of Aikido Continues

The aikido painting continues, and now I know that there will be six seated figures, all friends from the mats of various dojos.

Symbolism abounds here, as our teacher Ace Atkinson is overlapped by the founder of aikido. Rowdy is painted against a lighter, more ethereal wall, and our current aikido friends flank me on either side (that's going to be me second from left).

Now that I've solved the issues with who's where, I can come back and paint in the mats, and detail out the rest of it. Note that I put the Japanese socks on O Sensei (the older man in the foreground), and I had to photograph Alberto's foot to get that part right. Fun how references are needed and found as they occur.

On other news, we are going to be adding a second livestock guardian dog to our critter list--another Tibetan Mastiff, like our Seiko. This pup is a male, and is coming from Shadowmear Tibetans. Here's his puppy picture-- I am fairly certain his name will be Shadow, following the "oh" sounds for most of the dogs here (Seiko, Onlsow, Qso)

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Dec 23 - An Aikido Christmas Present

My spouse asked me to do a special painting for his office as a combined Christmas/Birthday present, and how better to share with him what I love by painting something he loves?

Here is the first design for the 30 x 40 inch canvas. The subject is the martial art of Aikido, with O Sensei Morihei Ueshiba, the founder, performing the art. The fun will be that the other people in the painting are all ones we both know, including the man receiving the art from O Sensei.

The design is one of a top-weighted dark area with the lower area of the mats illuminated by natural light. At this stage the painting only shows the value structure (small light, large dark in midtones). I plan to share this with you through Christmas, with a break of one painting done on location, and continue with it after Thursday.

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June 11 - Rowdy's Posthumous Portrait Continues

Well, she is coming along now... I'm building the facial planes with the correct values and colors, and starting to tighten down the smile she'd get just before starting an art on the mats.

She loved her sword, and showed it to us once, and that love of the martial arts of aikido comes through in this pose. As I build this composition, I also love the subtle changes I need to make to correct something that isn't working right. The beauty of acrylics is that we have many opportunities for change by overpainting! I've corrected her sleeves, her hand positions, and especially her stance, yet there are just as many more to come.

For example, although her expression/essence is in her face, she still doesn't have her nose and eyes "right". And her white top doesn't show the underlying form well. That's coming with additional layers and glazes.

I have to laugh, knowing that my model for the fabric is Alberto, and the model for the hands on her sword was another black belt--but she was wearing rings and bracelets!! Of course, no jewelry is allowed on the mats, so I paint it out....(grin)

In a design sense, I've lightened the area on the lower quarter so that the shape of the stance she's in will be stronger with the contrast between the dark hakama (skirt) and the lighter background.

Here's an image of the March Air Museum and our mats. These four are the others with whom I train, Ron, Alberto, our sensei (teacher) Ace, and Steve. They all knew Rowdy well.



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June 22 - Aikido in Santa Barbara

I'm so happy I brought my watercolors in a quick dash for the camper as we left for Santa Barbara! The seminar with Seventh Dan Donovan Waite was absolutely exhausting in both mind and body! But what an opportunity to study the fluid movements of this master of aikido!

So what could I do but paint the effects of seeing the flow and energy in the training? Here is a watercolor, about 7 x 5 inches, of two partners in motion, one receiving the art and doing a high fall, and the one giving the art in a balanced, centered position.

Tomorrow we go back for another day--I hope I will have the physical stamina to learn and offer good partnerships. Then it will be back home to digital editing on the Acrylic DVD!


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