Blood Moon Painting

This painting was done as an experiment with an old traditional technique that I haven't worked with since I was in college. The image was painted first as a value (black and white) version first. It was completely rendered in this fashion first. The color was then applied in thin washes and glazes. 

Overall, I'm happy with how it turned out. I think that I'm still more keen on pursuing the thicker and more expressive paint applications so I'll probably move away from doing any more like this for a while. 

Blood Moon by James Mravec. 2018

The Lioness

Very often when I am getting ready to start a longer session of working on an illustration project I will do a small, quick painting to loosen up and relax. The following images show a start to finish piece that was completed recently. The first image shows the drawing on canvas with a tone of color applied.

The second image shows the painting about half way done. I've been working hard at trying to loosen up my paint application and trying to avoid nitpicking on every little detail.

Here is the final image with the background colors applied. The last details are added into the face here to try and focus on the content expression of the lioness.

Peregrine Falcons

Here are some in progress detail images of a new painting. This is part of my Hand of Man series. This work shows a mated couple of peregrine falcons who have roosted on Cleveland's Terminal Tower skyscraper. They have been living there for several years and have hatched several more falcons over the years.

Pencil sketch of the male falcon.

Washing in some basic colors on top of the pencil sketch.