Hey, I love to paint, too

Besides being an animator, I have a background in illustration and design. I also got into painting while at school, and on occasion I try to sharpen those painterly skills. I worked with acrylics in school, but now I work almost exclusively in gouache. It's a weird medium to work in, and very difficult. But I'm so used to it by now, I can manipulate the paint the way I want it. For the most part, anyway. If I want it to be opaque, I use more of the pigment. If I want more transparency, like watercolors, I add more water. Also, I don't use the typical paint from the tubes. I prefer to paint with those cakes, or pans, and I prefer Pelikan brand for the brilliance of color that I can get out of the 12 pans in my now-outdated set.

Last year, I did two paintings and incidentally they were both for silent auctions for two different organizations. This one, titled, "carburetor," was for the non-profit dance organization that my wife is involved with, Moving In The Spirit.

(Click on image for a larger version.)

I then painted one for our daughter's preschool, the Grant Park Cooperative Preschool. It's titled, "how they do sparkle."

(Click on image for a larger version.)

Seeing these two paintings together, I see some definite similarities. The funny thing is, they were both done at completely different times, without one or the other nearby for me to look at. The colors are within a similar range: oranges, rusty reds, greens and browns. Hardly any blues. There is a prominent figure in both paintings, positioned just left of center. I also noticed that there is a good amount of images on the right side of the composition, with a bottom-heavy feel overall. Very strange that these two paintings would be very similar. Must've been a subconscious thing, I guess.

Anyway, I don't paint as often as I should. It's a great outlet for me, to get away from the daily grind of drawing, but I don't take advantage of that outlet. In fact, after writing about this, I really have the urge to paint again...