Oh, I have missed you so much!

This picture is so awesome! It's not mine, though.

It has probably been more than six years since the last time I painted a portrait. And just a little less since I used oils on a demanding project for the last time. I did not mean for it to be this way, it just happened.

I have talked about using acrylics so much on this blog that some people might think I have something against oils. But nothing can be farther away from the truth. I was challenged by acrylics in college and when I moved across the globe I ended up living in tiny apartments (I still do!) with poor cross ventilation. So, taking a break from oils was somewhat necessary. I still bought all my oil supplies when I moved here, I just seldom used them.

At the beginning of the year I felt this "craving", a borderline physical need to paint with oils that I cannot really explain. I guess it's like when you remember a certain dish that you really enjoy but for some reason you have not had in a while. You know what I'm talking about, we all have one dish like this! It comes to your mind and it is so hard to stop thinking about. And if you happen to eat something that is even remotely related to it, you just feel worse because not only did it remind you of it, but it totally missed the mark and now you feel dissatisfied. Yes, I just compared oil painting with the best thing you ever ate. What did you expect? I'm an art geek!

So, I decided to paint something serious but fun, maybe just to see how my technique has evolved (if at all) after painting with acrylics for so long and having adjusted to their qualities. Maybe after six years, even though I have not painted as much, I would see some changes in the way I paint.

And guess what? I did. I am happy to report that now I'm actually slower! Ha! I did not see that coming... And that is why you cannot see the painting yet, it is not finished.

It will be done soon, though. And I have been documenting the process along the way, so it will be fun!

The painting is on its way!

Nothing like spending lots of money to start the new year!

After five long weeks of waiting for the framing to get done (don't get me started on that), I finally got the painting shipped! I even had to order a special shipping box to ensure it gets there safely. Don't get me wrong, I am glad I got selected for the show, but the expenses are adding up!

Framing, shipping crate, actual shipping + insurance, travel expenses (airfare, lodging, car rental), etc. I feel like I need to win a prize just to break even! Anyway, even though I still have 1.5 semesters left to go (which are going to be very difficult!), I will try my best to put some paintings out there to try to cover some of these expenses.

Here's to a safe trip all the way to the Museum!

I gave up my part time job to have more time to paint and try to take more classes and finish school early. While my plan was to finish school before rejoining the taxpayer community, it seems like I will have to make do and go back to work early, which always means less time to paint!

So, while I am applying, getting interviews and before the semester gets too intense, I have decided to fit in some painting sessions! I am going to hold on this project until I get it done, and I certainly hope you like it. Here's a guess: it's definitely NOT flowers!

Let's just hope that after all these years I can still paint this...

It's official: I'm going to Florida!

The painting is framed and the trip is booked. Florida, here we come!

In case you have not checked my Facebook page lately (or if you are not a fan), my Matilija Poppy painting was accepted into the Blossom II: Art of Flowers Competition. I will be traveling to Naples, Fl. for the opening event and the painting will be featured on a countrywide tour that will last around two years.

After browsing their final selection, I've got to say that I am impressed at the quality of the work that made it to the show. There were at least a couple thousand entries and only around a hundred made it through. So, I am definitely proud of being a part of this show, for sure.

Since they have not posted any information other than the names of the artists and photographs of the paintings, I cannot precisely assess how many of the final works are made with acrylics (not by looking at those low res little pictures, anyway). I am very curious to find out though, since this contest is focused mostly on realistic work and I have blogged before on how difficult acrylics can be when painting realistically. Once I looked at the final selection, a part of me wondered if I should have "followed the trend" and paint with oils. But, like I said before, I have made up my mind and I paint with acrylics most of the time now. I guess I can only hope the judges will appreciate my entry and what I was trying to achieve with it.


Why the Matilija Poppy, anyway?

I have been trying to buy local products whenever is possible. So, when it was time to choose a subject for the painting, picking native Californian flowers seemed to be the obvious choice. When I came across this flower, I seriously did not think too much of it. I mean, I have seen many different white flowers with yellow stems before. Yes, it was very pretty and big and its petals were very delicate and looked like wrinkled paper. But at the same time, its size made it look kind of heavy and somewhat sad.

And then, it happened. A subtle breeze came out of nowhere and I witnessed how these wonderful flowers turned into floating clouds. They were dancing around, suspended in a timeless state of grace and beauty. I must have stared at them for a solid minute before it occurred to me to start shooting pictures!

After getting home and looking at hundreds and hundreds of pictures from the trip, I finally chose the poppies. I wanted people to have the same experience I did and almost feel the wind in their faces. I hope I achieved the goal.

As for the actual trip, I cannot wait to get there and see all the beautiful paintings!


P.D.: And now I feel like painting something with oils. Stay tuned and Happy New Year!

A little Christmas gift...

I was feeling creative today and decided to paint a holiday postcard! I have not been able to really sit down and paint lately, so I decided to do the next best thing and go digital for this one.

I was going to add snow but hey, I live in L.A.! I hope you guys enjoy it!

Aron Ortega - Christmas Tree

So, here you go. A little (and somewhat late) Christmas present. Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend!

-Aron

Have you always painted flowers?

I did not always paint like this in such a short period of time.

I guess you can say I come from a family of artists. Some families have many generations of doctors or lawyers. The Ortega family features very crafty people, who have always found artistic ways to make a living. Each generation has had at least one guy supporting himself through art at some point of his life. I might be mistaken, but I think I am the first one who actually went to school to pursue an art degree.

So, my art education obviously did not begin in college, but much, much earlier. I still remember my first oil paints. While I was somewhat familiar in charcoal, sanguine, colored pencils, pastels, gouache, watercolors and even crayons, I was very intimidated by oils for some reason. I just kept putting them off my learning path. When you grow up watching relatives copying Rembrandt and Velazquez "just for fun", I guess it can get a little scary!

My father insisted I needed to learn my craft thoroughly, so he taught me how to mix my own oil paints. He had learned that technique with his uncle many years before while working as an apprentice at his restoring/mural painting shop.

So, while most teenagers my age were goofing around on the recently mainstreamed internet and watching TV, I was walking around town buying pigments, oil, turpentine, wax and some other stuff I'm pretty sure nowadays nobody in their right mind would sell to a young kid without some tough prior questioning. I even got my own tubes and spent many afternoons mixing oils. After a couple of weeks, I finally had a "palette" (and I use this term loosely) of basic colors to start painting with.

And my first subject was, you guessed it, flowers! My mom had a bouquet laying around and I figured why not. I was so slow the flowers actually died before I was done!

Claude Monet - Sunflowers

It became clear that I needed practice, and also some references. The internet helped me get introduced to a whole lot of art I could have not reached otherwise. Somehow I kept gravitating around the French Impressionists. I loved pretty much everything about their works, especially their sense of air and their use of bright colors.

So, I studied pictures like the one above and started to get familiar with oils and how they behave. I painted lots of floral arrangements and soon I was branching out, painting all kinds of landscapes and still life.

Like I've said before, I like to paint, period. I will paint everything and anything. It just so happened that these floral arrangements were very flexible. They were a good way for me to explore color, texture and to study many different artistic genres. Thanks to them, I have gotten into impressionism, fauvism, expressionism, cubism and realism, to name a few. They allowed to play with impasto techniques, to mix oils with crazy materials like sand, wood chips, marble, etc. And they were also pretty popular!

So, yes, I've always painted flowers. But that's not all I, as an artist, am about. Not even close. Stick around and you'll see...