Getting ready to paint with acrylics - at least the way I’ve taught myself - requires quite a bit of planning. I have to make sure that I have the colors ready for when I need them and that they don’t dry out before I actually finish the painting!

- First I give myself some parameters for my palette by making a digital color swatch like this one.
- Then I mix up all the colors (adding a bit of Golden’s GAC 100 to each little pile) and place them in small butcher’s tray
-And then I spray them regularly with water and and when I’m not painting, I place the trays in plastic bags from the art store to keep them wet - for up to 1.5 months!

This digital color swatch is for “Oh What a World!”, acrylic on canvas, 20”x20”, 2018.

Color prep for “Oh What a World!”, acrylic on canvas, 20”x20”, 2018.

At the end of 1997 I was a recent graduate with a degree in Film and English Literature (that I knew I didn't want to use) just arriving in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

For the next two years I kept illustrated journals exploring different mediums and techniques, and practiced storytelling through images. By the end of 1999 I was fully committed to return to the States to make a career as a painter.

This is an example from one of my journals of the kind of thing I was doing back in 1999. The label on the suitcase says " Tranquilo che, estamos en Buenos Aires!" which roughly translates to "Keep calm man, we're in Buenos Aires!" #originstory

Painting from one of the Illustrated journals I was keeping from late 1997 to late 1999.