​What's uuuuuup? I'm back, much later than usual, but back indeed. The topic of this entry seems to be "being late". Not only I'm late posting this blog update (usually I post by Monday-Tuesday), but also late posting the video featured here. This footage is part of a video recording that my brother made one year ago (yes, one year ago, I told you I was late), when I had the opportunity to showcase my artwork for the first time in Mexico... at my hometown (Ciudad Obregon) to be more precise. Well, a lot of (good) things happened this past year, which kept me busy, preventing me from getting this video ready for sharing... until now.

I am happy to share this video with everybody following my work. By the way, this is not a professional video or anything of the sort (not even close!). However, I wanted to deliver something that would be easy to watch, easy to listen and easy to understand. A video displaying my method of work, even if it's a quick version of it. Hopefully this short clip will be entertaining, and maybe even inspiring to anybody who's thinking about getting into airbrushing... or artwork in general.

So, what's the story behind this painting? Who? Where? Why? How? As I mentioned, this painting was done while showcasing my artwork in my hometown, at the local yearly fair. It was the first time that I had the opportunity to display my work in Mexico. For that same reason, I didn't want to leave without displaying my airbrush work, so I decided to do a live demo, basically at the last minute.

The beautiful woman whose portrait I rendered is Maria Felix, "La Doña", one of the biggest stars of the golden era of the Mexican cinema. I chose her as a subject, not only because of her beauty, but also because she was born in my home state as well, Sonora. A pretty nice match, since the theme of my showcase was indeed state pride. The reference photo shown in the video was great for the purpose of this quick portrait (which is the reason why I chose it). The first factor was the absence of color, a photo from the b&w era. That allowed me to render the image fairly quick, since there were no colors to render. The second factor was the quality of the photo itself. Even though the reference I had was a low resolution copy, the quality of the lighting from the photo itself allowed me to work without any problems. A good reference photo means a better and faster finished artwork.

Watching this video made me remember many things from last year, mainly the feeling of accomplishment that derived from being there. Being at this local fair wouldn't seem like a big deal... but it was. It was my opportunity to return to the place where I grew up and show what I learned during all the years that I've been gone. Not in a way of bragging or showing off, but really just sharing. Sharing the passion I feel for my work, while listening to the opinions and thoughts from the local visitors, was indeed what I wanted to achieve. And that's exactly what I got. By the way, if you would like to read more about the fore mentioned trip from a year ago, click here to go to the blog entry where I talk about it.

Last but not least, I want to point out a seemingly unimportant piece of the footage, something that wouldn't seem relevant, since it's not artwork related. Assuming you already watched the video, the part to which I'm referring is on 0:46, where I stop to drink a soda. Well, this part made the final cut because, contrary to what you might think, it is important. I wanted to show how rendering artwork is supposed to be fun ... at least in my opinion. If you like what you do, it will seep through your artwork, through your lines, and that's the quality I like in my work (and apparently my fans like that as well). So, the "soda" part of the video is not an accident, or a filling of any kind. All the contrary, is an important reminder of how art shouldn't be stressful... again, at least in my opinion. Happy cheers, with soda and all! :)

​I hope you liked this blog entry, and as always, I invite you to leave your comments and feedback. I will be back soon to deliver the weekly sketch. In the meantime, if you would like to support the work that I do, digital and non-digital, please consider becoming a patron of my work, at Patreon. Just visit patreon.com/popeyewongart to read more about it. My patrons allow me to keep working as an independent artist... so don't be shy and join the fun ($1 a month will do the trick, no commitments). Thanks again for your support, and see you next time!
​~Pops.