Coffee

My sister told me she was decorating her kitchen all in coffee so I made this painting as a gift for her. Luv you Vikki

For Ron Hayward

I'm posting this in tribute to figure model at The College for Creative Studies, Ron Hayward who recently passed.

My Tribute to CCS Teachers

This is my tribute to just a few of the teachers at CCS who taught me for 4 years. Don Kilpatrick, Gil Ashby, Cathy Gendron and Chuck Gillies. I've learned so much from them and I am forever grateful. These are all 36"x48" canvas panels. I still would like to keep working on this series and paint more teachers that I didn't get a chance to. There's so many. I feel as though this series is not only a tribute but it is also about my life. These people were so much a part of my life for the past four years and now a new chapter is beginning.

CCS Faculty

These are studies that I did because I'm doing an Independent Study this semester with one of my favorite teachers Pat Underdown. I plan to make a series of large scale paintings in acrylic 36"X48" all of CCS faculty members as a tribute to them. This will be the first painting, Gil Ashby.

Deer

This was the last thing I worked on before the semester ended last May. I thought I would post them now before some of the new assignments start coming in. I just did these because I think Deer are pretty.

Michael Jackson

I made this illustration as a tribute to Michael Jackson. His tragic passing has left myself and fans all over the world grief stricken. Michael was just a kid at heart who wanted to make the world a better place. He was undoubtedly the biggest star on earth. R.I.P. Michael you will be missed enormously. This can also be viewed as part of Stephen Kroninger's Michael Jackson show on the Drawger website here.

Mr. Detroit Eagle

School is officially out for the summer. I've been going a little stir crazy. Here is a painting I did of my friend John. He was Mr. Detroit Eagle 2009. (yes it's a gay thing).

Iowa Same-Sex Marriage

It is now legal for same-sex couples to be married in Iowa. Hallelujah! Iowa is now the fourth state to permit same-sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont are the others. I think Melissa Etheridge said it best when proposal 8 passed in California:
"When did it become okay to legislate morality? I try to envision someone reading that legislation "eliminates the right" and then clicking yes. What goes through their mind? Was it the frightening commercial where the little girl comes home and says, "Hi mom, we learned about gays in class today" and then the mother gets that awful worried look and the scary music plays? Do they not know anyone who is gay? If they do, can they look them in the face and say "I believe you do not deserve the same rights as me"? Do they think that their children will never encounter a gay person? Do they think they will never have to explain the 20% of us who are gay and living and working side by side with all the citizens of California? I got news for them, someday your child is going to come home and ask you what a gay person is. Gay people are born everyday. You will never legislate that away." -Melissa Etheridge from her official website.
Another great quote from Wanda Sykes after prop 8 passed: "We shouldn’t have to be standing out here demanding something we automatically should have as citizens of this country.”Sykes said Prop. 8 supporters “pissed off the wrong group of people. They have galvanized a community. We are so together now and we all want the same thing and we shouldn’t have to settle for less. Instead of having gay marriage in California, no, we’re gonna have gay marriage across the country. When my wife and I leave California, I want to have my marriage also recognized in Nevada, in Arizona, all the way to New York. I’m proud to be a woman, I’m proud to be a black woman, and I’m proud to be gay."

somerset collection bag

This is my idea for the somerset bag competition that my school is having. The top one has my schools logo and the somerset logo

Detroit Lions Holiday Card Study

This is something I'm working on for the Detroit Lions Holiday Card competition. I wanted to do a snowman because it's neutral and not assigned to any one religion. I thought of this sad, lonely little snowman sitting all alone in the middle of nowhere being snowed on. Maybe the snowman is me (sniff)

Zoo Poster

There was a Detroit Zoo poster competition at my school and everyone had to submit something. I Painted this in acrylic transparently. My idea was that I wanted to make it look like a watercolor painting. We only had less than a week to work on it. Now that it is finished I'm just glad I had something to turn in.

Weekend Assignment

Gil Ashby my Senior Studio teacher told us he wanted us to paint a large scale painting from life with a figure in it over the weekend. This is 24"x36" acrylic on canvas. I usually don't paint this large but I would like to.

Women Artists

I'm painting portraits of great women artists, who I admire, for my senior studio class. These are specifically women artists who are faculty at CCS. The first artist I chose to paint is fine artist, Nancy Thayer because I think her abstract paintings are so beautiful. Next I'm painting illustrator Cathy Gendron because I love her whimsical editorial illustrations. Finally I want to paint art historian and a fine artist, Beverly Smith because I really like her and I think  her extensive knowledge of European art and architecture is really impressive. These are at the sketch stage so far and I will be painting more women artists as the semester progresses. Stay tuned!

The Circus

This is another assignment for Chuck Gillies' Children's Book Illustration class. A circus ringmaster and elephant. There are two sketches, one with ring master in a suit, and the painting so far.

Words Attack

This is an editorial piece that I'm working on for my senior studio class. It is for a magazine article about how violence against the gay community can start with words. I call this "Words Attack" I came up with this idea of a gay man running and ducking from these hateful words as if he were ducking out of the rain.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

This is the first assignment of the semester. it's for Chuck Gillies' Children's Book Illustration class. Here is the sketch, the value study and the painting so far.

Photoshop Montage

This is a photoshop montage for Bryan Durren's class