Art by Robert Nehemiah

He left early so I didn’t get to finish. Still a fun little piece.

Trying to get back to them bar doodles. Fun little piece on a napkin from the other night.

Part 3/3. Color was probably the most difficult thing to navigate in this piece. The saturation I was able to pull and exaggerate from the reference took a lot more exploring than I am particularly use to. Flesh tones weren’t flesh tones anymore but rather a representation of higher contrast and saturation. The bright pinks and oranges of the flesh-tones against their compliments in the background (greens and blues) registered in my mind as too intense but worked out perfectly in relationship to the whole. Color relativity is what allowed this piece to feel accurate and uniform. Once all the colors were placed, the uniformity began to emerge.

Thank you again for trusting me with this piece for and the family.

Part 2/3. Really screwed myself with how I approached the bushes and plants… but by the end I think it paid off. Was definitely a different approach than I anticipated but well worth it. Also… pushing the intensity of colors more than I’m use to benefited the entire piece in my opinion. Will touch more on that in the final post.

Part 1/3. What a journey it was working on this piece for as a gift to . I was very happy to be there to present this piece to you on your Birthday.

Early process and first steps into this piece.

Last for the throwbacks. Old study of figure in motion. Playing with movement always caught my interest but I never felt that I successfully captured it. definitely something to explore further in the future of my career.

Triptych, Conte’ on wood panels

Another older commission portrait. Was grateful to be able to link up with on this one. Crazy how far back we go dude! Cheers again and many thanks for this opportunity!

Sharing some of the old work again. Gotta get myself back in motion! Getting through a few more commissions while processing this new series I’m about to begin. Stay tuned to see what’s about to become 🙌🏽🙏🏽

Conte’ on wood panel

Glad to share the final on this last commissioned work.

Norma came to me requesting a painting of her son and her husband. I later learned the significance to the piece.

Norma lost her son Jason on July 17th, 2005. He was the only child. 10 years later on July, 11th, 2015, she lost her husband. They met at ages 18 and 20 and were together some 24 years before his passing. The photo used was the last photo she was able to capture of them and one of the last times they had all spent together.

I pushed hard to complete this work to get it to her in this most difficult month. I was hoping it would help with the healing process, one that I can only imagine.

Emotions were high upon delivery, but one thing that really stuck to me was how she expressed that the painting made her remember the little things about them both. The smiles, their eyes… tattoos… I am beyond grateful and thankful for her trusting me with this piece.

Phase two on the most recent completed commission. I can’t stress enough how difficult it was working with recognizably artificial light. I was fighting with allowing the colors to function as they are from an old flash photograph. This was a very fun piece to explore color with, with respect to the subject at hand. In the next and final post for the work I’ll share a bit of the story of this work and the meaning behind the commission. Stay Tuned.

This is the initial sketch for this commission from photo reference. This piece was a difficult one considering the photograph and flash element included, but I was really excited to complete this work. Will be sharing a bit of the story and my experience with the process in the next couple posts!

Finale. I was very excited to complete this work in the time that I did. Being a full time artist now has changed my perspective so much. I truly appreciate the opportunities that my art has brought me. Stay posted to see a new personal series’ in the near future.

Color blocking. Always essential. Create relationships on canvas… color is absolutely relative and unless you have a starting point… you won’t move forward!

Usually around this phase of the painting (and throughout) I have to remind myself that painting is a process. Most of our fears of imperfection tend to shine through and our own self analysis and critique try to tear us down. Enjoy the process and find beauty in the imperfections.

Just a few more commissions before I get back to my own bodies of work!!

Here is the first process shot of the most recent piece I was able to complete for a client! Always happy to paint up family photos with the doggo’s!!!!

Stay tuned to catch the rest of the process!

It’s funny that I never thought to do pieces like this… these types of portraits….Instead they came as requests… I took on the challenge…. And I enjoyed the process of being able to bring these works to life for the families…

I’m a portrait painter. This is something I’ve accepted for myself. I enjoy depicting people in a moment… capturing their likeness and creating a moment. These requested commissions have really changed my idea’s on what those moments can actually represent though.

Tomorrow I’ll post the completed work with detail shots. I’ll share more about the story on this commission and request.

First process shot of the commission I was fortunate to be able to take on. Will definitely be sharing more of the story at the end of the 3 post series. I was really happy with the process on this piece and the final product.

Sometimes when drawing in public…. Your models get into it over their meal and bail out heated… and a little sooner then expected…. And that’s ok! You just move on to the next…

Back at it with the napkin doodles! First in a long time - from last night

First day back at a life study in a while. From this past Monday .

Keeping myself open for commissions until further notice!

Process post 3/3

My client asked me if I could work this piece up as a gift for her child’s father.

Pictured in this work is their daughter, her partners brother, and her partners mother. The young girl never got to meet her uncle or her grandmother and vice versa.

From a collection of photos, while paying attention to my best references, I was able to construct a moment that was never able to happened until now.

Family means everything, whether it’s by blood or those we learn to call family. Being able to work up these types of pieces for my clients has made my work worth it. The response alone is more than enough to push me to continue painting these types of works.

In the near future I do plan on continuing my found material process works for my self, but as long as individuals continue to ask if a painting is possible, I will continue to do my best to bring these creations to life.

Process post 2/3

Cannot stress how fortunate I felt to be able to bring this work to completion. Excited to share the final work with you all in the next post. Keeping active with my art has really come to pay off. Thank you all again for the continual support for my passion in painting.

Process post 1/3.

Was very fortunate to take on this commission. It was a challenge at best, but one that I really felt the need to bring to reality. The story behind this commission really drove me to push myself yet again. It’s been hard to create as of late but these family pieces have really allowed me to continue forward.

I’ll be sharing the full details behind this commission on post 3/3 of the process.

Need to get back to these quick doodles. So many opportunities to capture a moment. All of it is practice in observation…. Definitely a way to get better even for longer drawings/paintings and studies.

Work sketch....
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Quick work sketch the other day with my by .... its been a while since I’ve sketched... gotta get back to it...

A big and loving Happy Birthday to my beautiful and amazing Nan! Perfect timing for this throwback. Sharing a simplified version of the color palette of this older piece. Here we see the shift as follows: reflective light, core shadow, shadow edge, two variations of mid-tones followed by highlight.

Some more color relationships on a much more natural flesh tone versus the last piece. Still hints of saturation but definitely a lot more toned down.

Painting has been such an amazing journey thus far. Color in particular has been one of the most complex yet satisfying parts of it all. A big thank you to for teaching and sharing her knowledge with me. You were right.... slowly but surely.... I get it! 🙌🏽🙏🏽

Throwback to this piece. It‘s amazing how color works. On this wooden pallet, I was forced to push intensity in flesh tones. The naturally vibrant wood caused all actual flesh tones fall short and appear cool and lifeless. It was a struggle to use the concepts of what I know versus what I see constantly while working this piece.

The final portraits. Ive been working on this piece for quite some time now.

An exciting journey from start to finish.
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Father and son, Juan and Gio. On June 2nd, Gio unexpectedly lost his father. Being so used to coming home and seeing his father’s face, sitting down and watching sports together before dinner, the loss was and has been a heavy burden on Gio. As the youngest of his siblings, he’s pushed forward and cared for his mother through her own health struggles.
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Today Gio is receiving this surprise gift. His loving girlfriend, a friend and fellow classmate from my youth reached out to me to bring this work to life.
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I cannot express my thanks enough for giving me the opportunity to work on this
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It’s these kinds of pieces that bring me to appreciate all the little things in life. Love those around you. This moment is all we have. @ Los Angeles, California

Here is the second of three images of this commissions process.

Sharing the process is something I think is very important. Sharing a work early on requires letting down your guard. Its such a vulnerable thing to share all the errors, but at the end of it all, its so worth it.

Process takes time.

Again, I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to work on this commission piece.

Tonight I draw close to completing this work in progress.

This is the initial layout for the painting. Over the next couple days Ill share the 3 stages from start to finish of this work.

On the final piece I will explain more about this commission and its significance.

to this old self portrait study I was always too afraid to complete! I want to give a big thank you to for sharing this wipe out method and process with us. This is definitely an approach I still want to continue to explore!

Got to work up these little pieces for a special invite. Thank you .bryant & for the opportunity to bring these doodles to life for you! 🙏🏽


@ Los Angeles, California

Workflow sketch...

Just finally getting around to posting the final on this one. A big thank you to for allowing me the opportunity to bring this piece to reality for her and hers.
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Posting a lot of this process but I am really enjoying it. WIP

Another progress shot from last night. Pushing this one along...

Problem solving... WIP