Momma’s got a site and a gallery! by donny nguyen

#painting

My mom retired a little while ago and decided to pursue her passion and dream of studying art. She has been painting for quite some time and drawing since she was very young but she wanted the foundation and community that study tends to afford. She loves it. And it’s all she talks about now, which isn’t a bad thing. I wasn’t sure what she’d churn out when it came to styles and media that she wasn’t natively interested in pursuing but I do like the variety of pieces she has produced. It’s weird to know that this is basically the beginning but i’m definitely curious about what she’ll produce next.

She recently got picked up by Agora in New York and will have her first official show there in a few months. I put together a very quick site for here which you can see here but when I have time, I’d really like to put something special together for her. Feel free to take a look, cheer her on, or even better, purchase something here.

Here is some of her work.

$fracturedeternity$

ell

so the lack of posting can mostly be attributed to this latest commission. oil on canvas. a photo reference was provided. i’ve been planning out a new tracy jordan inspired illustration so back to that i go. perhaps i will post progress but most likely it’ll all come out in one post. depends on my lazy factor, ha ha.

s and c

so here’s painting number two of some old friends of mine. i got this done rather quickly in time to witness their new life begin together (congrats again!). i’m still finding my way with oil and while i can see things that i can really improve i can see things that i like and that have actually gotten better. i abandoned my more typical approach for the idea for the background in favour of something far simpler. it was suggested to me to find an antique frame which prompted this approach but the search was quite fruitless. a silver, slightly aged-looking frame was found though, which helped fit the concept.

thanks must be given to jennifer bailey, whose participation and fabulous photo helped make this possible. if you’re in the ottawa area, look her up if you need a photographer. her photos are quite sweet and worth a look either way.

studying: drawing or painting?

i have tried some staedtler brush pens in the past but the nibs are essentially foam dewdrops or something with no bristles. they’re decent for some effects but i think i like their results more on smoother drawing paper. texturewise, well, it’s not so easy to achieve this (for me, but i could just suck). i should probably just watercolour more but the lazy genius in me loves the compactness of brush pens and i’ve found one that works for me so far. i wish they’d release coloured inks for it here. it’s not without it’s quirks as well but the range and precision can’t be beat in my books. you judge? above is the pentel. this is with the staedtlers.
also, i don’t know what to call these? drawings? paintings? the ink seems waterbased so….watercolours? my ignorance knows no bounds.

annie clark

so i’ve given st. vincent‘s latest album, actor, a few listens and the consensus is that i like it. her voice is rather calming and sweet but she complements that with some fairly dodgy and even menacing guitars. i’m usually a bit baffled the display of an artist’s face on an album with nothing else but i’m a bit compelled to think that’s that part of the whole concept as well. people who know how they look (read: beautiful people showing that they know they’re beautiful) usually garner a groan out of me but even this seems a little more than that; more than the not just a pretty face idea too. it’s a trap! haha. anyway, i thought i’d experiment with watercolours and this is one of the more palatable results. coincidentally enough, one of the characters she plays in her songs talks about being a watercolour painting washing away. give actor a listen for something different. i will keep on doing so, looking for more arrested development references. annie clark in moleskine.

h and m

i decided to try to paint my cousin and his wife – i hope they like it! this was my first real shot at oil but hopefully won’t be my last. i’d only ever painted with acrylics and that was some time ago. once my current projects are done i think a rotation between the stuff i usually do and oil will be healthy for me. the drying time is so long that unless i have eight paintings on the go i won’t be so busy, ha ha. feel free to let me know how bad this is. oil on canvas, 14 x 18″

anti-rorschach: daria

it’s probably not the most original idea but ever since i started ignoring boundaries created by the the folds / bindings in my sketchbooks i don’t think i’ve consciously used them as part of the concept. hell, this anti-rorschach (bad label?) concept itself probably isn’t original at all. i’ll give it a few more goes and see what the results look like. maybe you will too. daria werbowy, anti-rorschached, in moleskine.

nikola tamindzic’s photos

nikola is the photographer behind Ambrel.net. i’m not much of a photographer but i do have an appreciation for shooting at night, which he seemed to have a talent for (among other things). the subjects of his nightlife photography are pretty crazy and i suspect that the photos wouldn’t’ve been the same had someone else done them. some of his photos at random, in moleskine.

santorinian walkway

this place is definitely one of the most beautiful places i’ve ever been too, if only briefly. i’m guessing that few people actually live in the parts with the most stunning vistas and it must be damn expensive to vacation there but man is it nice! santorini in moleskine.

a place in athens

i actually have a hankering to post some photos but i’m too lazy to sort through and find a decent one. soooooo……this’ll have to do for now, ha ha. the acropolis is a cool place, even if it’s 37 C. athens is….a bit dirtier…looking…than i thought it would be but the history of it all is just craziness. when we visited the olympic stadium, some people got a good right yelling for entering the grounds to take pictures. good times. one of the buildings (no, not the parthenon) in the acropolis of athens, in moleskine.