In Remembrance of Glen Orbik

I am shameless in my enjoyment seeking to paint bright sunshine filled days, filled with color and happiness and some of my lovely friends who sit for me.  The joy of being alive. I am excited to wake up today and start such a new painting along with the portrait commissions I am working on.

I am also grateful to have another day with my art as this week I remember with great fondness artist Glen Orbik who sadly passed away way too young. He inspired a generation of artists in Los Angeles. A terrific artist of the highest calibre leaving a huge legacy. I was honored to be on the faculty with him at The Califonia Art Institute for many years. All the teachers looked up to Orbit with great respect. He was much liked.

http://www.orbikart.com/gallery/

Artwork By Glen Orbit
See link 

A sample from my High Days and Holidays Collection
http://www.johannaspinksfineart.com

Nightly Doodles With Adam Lambert!

Here are a few of my nightly doodles...I like to pic up a plain ol'blue BIC pen and copy some draughtsmen I really like, as noted in my last post. 

 It makes watching Adam Lambert on America Idol even more exciting!  What a hottie. Boy, I wanna paint him. My blue Bic pen would work perfectly on his blue/black hair.

And I don't feel like I am wasting time watching TV indulging myself in Adam fantasies. www.myspace.com/adamlambertmusic

I remember once Glenn Vilppu saying in a class you could teach yourself to draw if you practised hard enough. This stuck with me.

I was also lucky enough to watch Glen Orbik's class (http://www.animationartgallery.com/aglenorbikfineart.html) going on at The California Art Institute where we both taught. Him, WAY longer than me. I will NEVER draw as good as this guy. My exceptional artist friend, and generous colleague, Tony Pro, http://www.tonypro-fineart.moonfruit.com/,also a teacher at CAI  for many years advised me to do this. 

So I would pop into Orbik's class tired at the END of my double teaching class feeling 'cream -crackered, London cockney slang for 'knackered') just to watch this guy draw for a while.  But one of the things I KEPT hearing him say, was to pick a draughtsman you liked, or style of drawing, and copy it again and again to learn, and then some. I also saw a lot of paying students return to that class each week telling the teacher Orbik when he asked, that they had NOT been practising that week. Then they got frustrated at their progress. They also didn't watch Glen much which baffled me.  He was more patient than me as a teacher, that I can tell you.

Which brings me back to Adam Lambert. He is the best singer AI has ever seen (don't care if he is gay or not!) and he has been practising his craft since the age of 10 years old - hard. I have watched ever single interview he has done and his passion and hard work shine through.

HMMM...could talent all be in the repetition? Or is it sheer genius?

PS. If anyone out there in Blogsphere knows Adam Glambert, tell him I want to paint him will you?? I believe in the power of the universe. Get busy.