Microvisions!!





Hey folks! I actually have some art to share!?

Earlier this year Dan Dos Santos and Irene Gallo asked me if I would like to participate in this year's Microvisions show at the Society of Illustrators to benefit the SOI student scholarship. I was honored to say the least, and scared straight that I would be sharing company with industry heavyweights!!?

So I painted two pieces, in hopes that one would work out. There were no guidelines for subject matter...just that the image had to be 5x7 inches (hence "Micro-"). That's small. Real small. I'm working on a painting 40x60 inches....so I broke out the .000000001 sable and went to work. The top gouache/mixed painting is the one I'm going with. The second image is the initial thumbnail with the third image being the value/tight sketch. Since I went through the whole creative process for that image, I wanted to paint something more spontaneously, so I did the bottom painting of the violin player with no planning in one session. I kinda digg it, but I think the top piece was the better choice......right?

And in case you haven't seen the tremendous work already submitted, follow the links below to see what the artist's turned in:

Greg Manchess
Chris Buzelli
Justin Gerard
Greg Ruth
Paolo Rivera
Volkan Baga
Welsey Allsbrook (tba)
Michael Kaluta (tba)
Michael Whelan (tba)

When the pieces are listed for bidding I will be sure to let everyone know!! This is a great chance to snag originals from top artists, and to raise funds for a great cause!!

keep jammin!
-francis

32 comments:

Kendra Melton said...

nice color palettes.

Sam Bosma said...

Top piece is definitely the way to go. The bottom one is sweet like you said, but the top is something else. Nice work!

Kyler Dannels said...

these are both killer. damn, gonna go paint now.

Aaron Rossell Illustration said...

Whoa, bigwigs indeed. Congrats, and sweet work man!

Will said...

Sick man, totally sick! Just heard an amazing lecture on Russian art, I'll have to pass some notes to you sometime if your interested.

Adam Paquette said...

beauties! yeah id say you made the right choice just in the sense that the top one tells more of an 'interactive story' and thus works better independantly... the second is a lot more solitary and requires contemplation or the ability to sit with it and feel the mood...

anyway great work!

Andrew Olson said...

a winner is you, definitely diggin that freestylin one

Per H said...

Beautiful. Great style as well.

Aldo said...

Beautiful work!!

ev said...

I love the bottom Violin illustration.
Maybe you should put that up for auction too... hint, hint.
Great work mate. Between yours and Greg Manchess' 5x7 its inspired me to do some miniatures.

Anonymous said...

inspiring work!! your work and Greg Ruth's too inspired me for doing some ink work! thanks for this!!

Oliver Dominguez said...

Amazing man!! Love the first piece. You did a great job in the environment, the angles of the shadows and the light contrasting with the white fence and his white hat, awesome man.

Cheers,

Oliver

Charlie J Hnatiuk said...

I'm really feeling the second piece. but maybe that’s because i've never been an art student. probably not able to speak critically, technically or with educated eyes. my childish intuition tells me the second is cool(er).

thanks for sharing them!

Joe Bluhm said...

These are beautiful, Francis. Wow.

Kyle T. Webster said...

Wow, Francis! They are both just gorgeous. You are one hell of an artist. That top piece is very special.

Anonymous said...

Waiting for you to update your blog is like waiting for Christmas. The suspense is killing me!!! Man, you are rock'n the house bro. These pieces are fantastic and so well orchestrated. Great composition, draftsmanship, values, edges, textures, rhythm, it is all good. I'll be keeping my eye out for Santa.

Adult Braces said...

Beautiful as always my friend! Good work.

Carly said...

I loooove the top one! Congrats on being asked to do that!

Anonymous said...

Complimentary issue of CMYK just got here. Congrats, mate! An honor to see my work alongside yours, I've been a big fan for a while.

Frame Theory said...

Nice work man. Yeah the top piece works better. That bottom one ain't too bad though. Congrats and Good Luck!

Benjamin Plouffe said...

Those are awesome dude!
thanks for posting!

M said...

great piece! I'll definitely try to take a look in person when it's up at the society.

MB3000 said...

looks pretty slick, guy.

Matthew Lopez said...

cool dude, The environment in the first one is great.

Tom Scholes said...

You magnificent bastard!

Dude, you really should have made it to Dallas. There was some amazing traditional work going on but at the very least you could have come to hang out and give high-fives! BOOOOOooOoooooo! Missed seeing you there.

San Diego Comic Con though? Yeahhhhhhhhhhh?

Bowlin said...

Great picture!

.000000001 sable?? What is that, one hair?

OWEN FREEMAN said...

Man I'm digging the violin one a lot too, really solid work across the board, congrats on the show!!

Eric Braddock said...

You, sir, are a mad man. The pieces look sick, congrats on being part of such an awesome show! Can't wait to see them in person.

RAWLS said...

Awesome stuff my friend!!!

Unknown said...

you rock!

Rich Pellegrino said...

this came out great man!

Roberto Zaghi said...

i've just come here by chance surfing from I.Gallo's blog, and... wow man, I find your work amazing, it really makes me wanna go back to my drawing board and draw, draw, draw...:)
Thanks for sharing, btw this picture is sensational, it looks great, congrats!