Finished Grape

I pretty much finished the grape vine painting. The stem was not that difficult. However, the leaf was really hard. It was difficult to create the texture and color. It's still not exactly how I would like it. It was my first leaf. So, I'll hopefully get better. I used Blick raw sienna, Jo Sonja's brown madder and Jo Sonja's Indian red oxide. I used Jo Sonja's moss green, antique green and olive green.

Kmuzu

The Art of It

I am a real art fan and I love to purchase art just about as much as I love to paint it. I particularly like abstract, character art, and simple design and flow. This abstract / cubist was painted by Sandra Siberzweig from the Great White North. Here's her bio: "Sandra Silberzweig is a self-taught Canadian artist whose humor and whimsy flow playfully through the heart of all her works."

I purchased this because I loved the texture and color. There also seems to be bit of humor and playfulness in her work. I also like how the lines flow around in clockwise circle. Your eye is drawn the eyes at the left hand corner.

My next purchase was a pair of watercolor and ink drawings from Turkey. For some reason, I have always been fascinated with Whirling Dervishes. I like the impression of motion and form with these two pieces. It is simple and minimalistic. The colors form around the figures to create a background. I particularly like the strike and twist of the ink.

The mailman looked at me funny when this package arrived from Turkey. It had to be signed for and I had a weird feeling of being watched.

Grape Vine Study

I am working on grapes on the vine. I started with painting the background. I used Americana mustard seed acrylic. I used Createx illustration base and water to thin it out and painted the first layer using a rough pig's hair brush. I waited about half an hour to dry and then I used Winsor & Newton gold ochre, thinned out with Createx to create a darker pattern.

After waiting an hour for both layers to dry completely, I penciled in an outline of the grapes, stem and vine. With the grapes I started with the front layer. Randomly placing circles around the top. Then I worked on the second layer, drawing circles under the first layer. I worked my way down to the bottom of the bunch.

I next worked on the stem and and leaves making sure that the end of the stem was hidden with the leaf and grapes. I used ... well I was going to tell you what eraser I use, but my daughter has stolen all my erasers. There is no greater danger to your art than a seven year old. Beware.

Anyway, some artist use a light weight pencil to sketch in picture. I use a heavy weight so that the outline shows through the first layer of paint. I then use a good quality eraser to erase any mistakes or extra pencil marks.

One of the hardest things for me to do is get the right color. I used a picture of red wine grapes as a reference and experiment with Grumbacher ultramarine blue, Grumbacher thalo blue and Jo Sonja's French blue. I also used Grumbacher payne' gray to darken the right side.

Once I like the color, I decide position of the source of light. Many good artist can paint with several sources of light. Not me, I used one source. This is important in creating an illusion of dimensional perspective.

The first layer of paint on the grapes was almost all French blue. Once that dried, I worked on the shading colors. With acrylic you have to work very fast. There are extenders to lengthen drying time, but I found these slightly change the color. With oil you have up to three or four hours before the paint is set and up to one week before the drying takes place.

Not with acrylics. In a dry climate, like Vegas, you have about three to seven minutes before it is dry. Keeping the paint moist is essential and you have to mix the color in the bowl, with one brush and apply as quickly as possible. Acrylic reminds me of working in Adobe Illustrator. Decisions are made on the fly.

As you can see in the picture, I tried to vary the color of the grapes. On a few grapes I used, Craft Smart wine color. I don't usually like to use Craft Smart. The color is not very consistent and has a thin pigment count. However, the craft paints have much more variety than academy grade and I hate mixing.

The last layer is the reflexion of light. I decided to use white to create the illusion. I used Winsor & Newton mixing white instead of titanium white. Titanium tends to sit on top and is too prominent, where as the mixing white will blend into the existing color without changing it.

I used cheap white nylon brushes. I find nylon holds up to all texture of paint and easy to clean. Hair brushes will leave strands in the paint. Sometimes, I use pig hair brushes, if I want a rough texture. To fill in the gaps in shading I use Zig pigment ink. It is archival quality so it won't fade.

One reason I use acrylic instead of oil is that it is water-based, easy to mix and form and nontoxic. I only use paint from the USA, Europe and Australia. Paint made in China and other countries may contain toxic metals like lead and nickel.

Academy grade paint:

Jo Sonja's: French blue
Grumbacher: payne's gray, Thalo blue, Utramarine blue, mars black, mixing white
Winsor & Newton: dioxazine purple, gold ochre

Craft grade paint:

Americana: mustard seed
Craft Smart: wine

Bummer Art

French skydiver, Michel Fournier hoped to break four world records by jumping out of a balloon 25 miles up over Saskatchewan, western Canada. Mr. Fournier (age 64) had his tested pressurized suit, his tested pressurized balloon cabin, a huge 150 foot balloon, filled with helium already to launch this morning. But something went terribly wrong.

Don't worry Michel is fine. But .. well ... someone forgot to tether to the balloon and it .. well few away. And when I say "away", I mean far far far away. So, loyal citizens of the Mighty Kmuzu, if a very large frickin' balloon should land on your house, you know exactly where it came from.

If you would like to see the video of the poor guy's balloon flying away, the BBC has done are great story on it, "Jump Record Fails to Take Flight"

Associated Press Story

Elevator as Art

This is the video story of a man stuck in an elevator for 40 hours. He went down to the basement for a smoke. It was Friday afternoon and when he tried to take the elevator up again, it got stuck between the basement and the first floor.

The man had to spent the entire weekend without food or water or a toilet, stuck in a small cube all alone. Why is this art? It is a story of frustration, panic, desire and finally acceptance. The last part, acceptance is the hardest lesson we learn in life. It's when everything we do, as mortals fails and we are left to the four winds to decide our fate. It is letting go and being at peace.

So enjoy the video - I'm sure you will more than the man. Maybe his experience can teach us all about acceptance in our lives.

The man was stuck in car 30 - in the upper right hand corner.

My New Favorite Thing in the World

This video produced by (of all things) the dairy industry is my most favorite thing in the world. He's White Gold and he's milkmagical.

One Gallon Axe - White Gold



Savory the Flavor

Kmuzu

You can find more white gold music at MySpace White Gold and their home page at Whitegoldiswhitegold.

My Story in Fray

I submitted a short story to Fray.com called, "Hosing Down the Prostitutes". It was accepted and published in the first book. The story just went online.

If you like the story then please subscribe to the magazine. I would like to publish my childhood story about my brother fighting a squirrel called, "Dancing with Squirrels".

When Art Goes Bad

It takes a lot of guts to do tattoos. Unlike canvas, any mistake is permanent. There are no "do overs". It seems these days artists are either going into tattoos or anime. Unfortunately, there's no standard apprenticeship program for tattooing, which means anyone can purchase the equipment and setup shop, regardless of skill or knowledge.

I found the following bad tattoos at Bad Tattoos.com. Some of the bad artwork is partially the customers fault. What looks good in your head, doesn't alway translate into art. Also, what you think is funny - becomes very tedious after ten years. A good artist should be able to guide a customer in creating a tattoo that will last years and bring meaning to the artwork.

Another thing a good tattoo artist must consider is layout. How will this piece integrate into existing and future work. People who don't plan, end up with a mess of color and images.

If you want a special or unique tattoo, you should research the artist. Sometimes you have to fly to the studio. I had a friend who flew to Europe to get the exact tattoo he was looking for. Faces and animals are particularly hard to master. If you're looking to do something that's not in the standard catalog, be very careful.

Hygiene is another important element. The studio should be clean and all the equipment sterile. The artist should wear latex gloves and use a new needle set. Do not trust studios that use an autoclave to sterilize needles.

By the way, I am not a tattoo artist. I just don't have the guts. I'll stick to my canvas and board, thank you very much.


Kmuzu

Studio Kmuzu

This is where I do most of my painting. I got the shelf at Home Depot and it fits the paints perfectly. I found the easel at Sam's Club for fifty dollars. I buy most of my paints at Dick Blick or Michael's. My favorite paints are Jo Sonja and Windsor & Newton. Both paints have a smooth consistency and mix well with different paints and mediums.

I mostly work in acrylic and ink. I am starting to use oil, but it has a whole different feel and look. I also been experimenting with different mediums like burlap and wood.

I am currently working on a pop art bowling piece. Seen in the picture. I have something for pop art. Especially common items like refrigerators, stoves, toasters and other appliances.

Kmuzu

Message from Kmuzu

Message from King Kmuzu;

The world no longer needs to live in fear and isolation. The Kmuzu blog has now started and peace and harmony shall fill this lonely, desperate planet.

I invite you all to partake of my blog and here you will find inspiration, wisdom and guidance.

Laugh and sing for now the world has been made renewed.


Most Humble,

Kmuzu