red shoes.

i pulled these heels out of my closet this morning, desperate to just get something down on paper without having to think about it. sometimes i think too much. plus i've only worn these shoes twice so at least they'll get worn on paper. i used a small piece of cardboard that i cut off of an old christmas gift box and a set of inexpensive oil pastels.  i like oil pastels because i can be hard on them.  it reminds me of coloring when i was little, holding the crayon with a fist and pressing down as hard as possible to get all of the color out. it was nice and freed me up to think about grander projects that i'd like to create in the near future. 

kung foox

the kung foox collective is a group of artists based out of tyler, texas that i've recently gotten involved with. they have been hosting art shows in tyler and around the country for the last several months. david and jessica foox are a husband and wife team that had the great idea to bring artists together and help each other in their passion. i met them at one of their art shows in the adidas store at northpark mall back in november. the next big show will be in tyler at the end of march. you can take a look at the website, www.kungfoox.com.  they are still in the process of creating the artist bios and gallery. keep checking back for new art and updates on upcoming shows. it should be fun!

a portrait

the portrait above is a commissioned piece that i am working on. the piece is on a 16"x20" piece of white illustration board and created with pencil. for some reason the scan of the original photo doesn't read well on this post. it seems like the photo image is even slightly elongated (and i'm not just using that as an excuse!). i can't figure out why it's copying that way. 

stepping back from this portrait, there is still a bit of shading i'd like to do that will soften him up a little more. i'd also like to build up the detail in his clothes. i'm still contemplating any other changes that might need to be made. once i get some feedback from my client i'll be able to finish him out!

for now

i have several images to post, but don't have access to my camera today. michael is using it at the recording studio. so, for now, i will direct you over to the 'shapes stars make' blog where the camera is being put to good use. check back for images soon!

www.shapestarsmake.com/blog.html

finished

new site is up:

http://www.darrahdean.com/

thank you, michael!!

happenings happening

todays work in progress is my website. it's actually been a progressive work since january 25, 2007. that is when michael first started re-structuring it...and then stopped. life just got busy. all that to say, nearly a year later, michael relocated the bones of the site and started working on it again and i'm happy to report that the site is about to be complete!

i've spent the last couple of days weeding out photos and finding new ones to post in the "gallery" section. i've decided to keep the amount of work in the gallery minimal to start with and then add new work as it is created. my hope is to consistently update pop tart with photos of pre-gallery work...in other words, that work which is still in the process of being worked on. that is the goal, anyway!