Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Elton John & Leon Russell for Rolling Stone



This week I finished my second painting for Rolling Stone. "The Union" Elton John & Leon Russell, for the reviews section. I had a blast painting this one! It was a challenge for me to hold back and not exaggerate . . . it took a lot of focus to ignore the caricature monster who shares my studio space with me . . . but I fed him some cake and he finally left me alone long enough to finish the painting.

The issue will be on stands next week. The version above will be the version in print.



Originally, I thought that my "hand idea" had been approved, but I misunderstood and went ahead anyways . . . whoops, my fault. So, I now have two versions! :) Whenever I can, I think it's important to add hands, it can be more interesting to look at and like faces, hands can also be expressive. Also, it's quite challenging and I always enjoy a good challenge. I think the painting works well without the hand, and even though the hand won't be in the printed version, I still have a version for the 'ol portfolio . . . my glass is half full baby!




Face detail. These days I'm not interested in painting photo realistically . . . I don't really see the point? I'm more interested in having a voice, a fingerprint that exists in my brushwork. I want my work to look hand-made, to feel painted . . .



My sketch.



I saved steps while working on this painting . . .



. . . perhaps I'll do a small tutorial?

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24 Comments:

Blogger Praveen said...

whoa, that is brilliant!

yes, do a tutorial!

4:17 PM  
Blogger Dominic Philibert said...

Wonderful man!

4:30 PM  
Blogger Luke Watson said...

beautiful. I don't think you could have exagerated the gentleman in the back....

See you in a few weeks in "sunny" melbourne.

4:39 PM  
Blogger Lucinda Howell said...

yes please can you do a tutorial.
i dont know how you work so quickly.i am at home at the mo drawing two commissioned chimp portraits..it has taken me all morning to do a corner of an eye...have you any advice on working too slowly like this..?
many thanks
lucinda
UK

4:39 PM  
Blogger duanetheartist said...

Excellent work! I really love Elton's eye's on this painting. Great job all around though!

4:47 PM  
Blogger Jason Horning said...

really great stuff. i'm always amazed with the amount of life that your work has.

6:11 PM  
Blogger Beto said...

¡Diablos! Es genial ...

8:03 PM  
Blogger Robin said...

yes, tutorial!

8:49 PM  
Blogger jit said...

Video tutorial is the best!!!

10:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

FANTASTIC!!!!
And :D please do a tutorial!

12:21 AM  
Blogger John R Wohland said...

Bravo! I vote "Aye" for a tut! Thanks for being such a gracious artist. :)

2:16 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Great work, Jason. I love the tonalities in the beard. And the sunglasses are superb! There is something about the likeness in Elton, that I can't really get my finger on... However your close up shows some really awesome brushwork. Inspiring as always!

3:11 AM  
Blogger Patrick Strogulski said...

Fantastic, beautiful texture !

3:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A tutorial would be Fab man!

8:11 AM  
Blogger BTillustration said...

That beard is killer.

8:14 AM  
Blogger Paul Moyse said...

I agree with Wouter about the likeness on Elton, something in the eyes? But the more I look at it the more I see a caricature rather than a portrait, even though there's no exaggeration? Perhaps you were caricaturing the expression in the eyes still?

Even so, the colours and rendering are beautiful, great job!

8:26 AM  
Blogger echi said...

Man,

a tut would be a hoot!!! o_-

8:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I enjoy the handmade feel a lot more than photorealism!! This is very sensitive and expressive, an amazing work indeed.

I like more the hand version, but works fine without hand also.

8:52 AM  
Blogger Jonathan said...

As always Jason its Superb! Thanks for posting some of your process work, they look awesome. Congrats on getting another lay out with the RollingStones.

9:43 AM  
Blogger Steve Roberts said...

Outstanding work as ever Jason. For what it's worth I prefer the version with the hand, I think it adds to the character of the piece.Congratulations on getting your work into 'Rolling Stone' you must be incredibly proud.

9:46 AM  
Blogger Ernesto Priego said...

Thankfully, we continue having legends as Rockwell. Fantastic!!

10:51 AM  
Blogger Willem Teeuwen said...

Awesome job Jason! And yes, a tutorial would be great!

2:19 PM  
Blogger Carlos Rubio said...

Now with the facebook page I forget to check you blog. I glad you put the link cuz looking at the process and higher size is fantastic. This is awesome Jason... I’m really enjoying what you’re doing with the brushes, the texture is amazing!. Once again congratulations!

8:21 AM  
Blogger Tim Wilmsen said...

Thanks for the sketches and showing the final result. Keep up the good work Jason! Tim

1:26 PM  

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