Sklerocardia (2018)

Traveling without a map

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Though my work for the online gallery Every Day Original began as a monthly contribution, as my attendance at Magic: the Gathering events increased, something had to give, and I eventually went to quarterly EDO submissions, and then to bowing out.

Sklerocardia (2018) 6x8” oil on illustration board. The low contrast, graphic shape of the hair is something I wouldn’t try in my illustration.

One thing I greatly valued about my work for EDO was the often spontaneous nature of what I produced for them. As well, as the work was meant to be on the more affordable side, so it tended to be smaller. This afforded me the opportunity to try new things, experiment with ideas or media. My work there, while not consisting of Major Works, has nevertheless been some of the more important things I did in those years, primarily as regards my figurative and more gallery-type of work.

You can see here a bit of the rougher lay-in of the paint before I go and blend and weave those strokes together. Also, it gives an appreciation of the size of the piece.

So it goes with this entry. It posted on a Thursday, but as of the Monday before I had no idea what I was going to do for this entry. I had started working on a small concept for a fantasy illustration type painting the week prior, but wasn’t convinced enough to pursue it, so I just let the ideas stew over the weekend, and then when the concept came to me while working on another project, on Monday, I switched tracks and took Tuesday and Wednesday to create it. As such, it was displayed fresh from the oven, as it were.

In progress, with the earlier heart rendering. I took a photo before painting over it. You can see I overpainted the board and then trimmed it

Working from the hip like this is exhilarating and a little scary. Having to make quick decisions and then commit to them is dangerous for client work, but here I was able to make these sorts of choices. So, early on I had conceived of the heart being held here as being a more anatomical heart rendered as stone. I had painted it up and would have continued a bit more after it had dried. After going out for a long jog, I came back Tuesday night and with the paint still wet, repainted it into the symbolic shape instead. I felt it wasn’t reading clear enough and was also a little gross.

I paused on a client’s project to create this, and just as soon as I started, it seems, I finished it, and resumed work on that illustration.