There was one artist Nathan Fowkes brought up several times over 4 days: Richard Schmid. If you're not familiar, he is a giant of American realism. If a master painter and composer like Nathan Fowkes recommends an artist I'm definitely going to listen! Nathan likes to use black prisma on paper to do his tonal studies so I tried to model his process here. No audio here, I will make a proper version with commentary for my YT soon.

Straight from the master's mouth to you. I didn't invent these exercises. During the 4 workshop days, Nathan emphasized two things A LOT: 1. Emotion 2. tonal abstract sketching I know most of us are working on figure and head craft, but for those who are making pictures or those who want to unlock their creativity (@Subham Sharma give these a try) this simple exercise is very useful and fun imo :) It's a perfect warm-up to your art and practice session if you're feeling a little 'flat'. Personally, this came at the perfect time. I've been in a comfort zone (form and academic rendering mode) for years and didn't even realize it. As a student, whenever a master artist I admire advises to do something, I go all-in and obsess over it until I fully absorb the knowledge and the core philosophy the master is trying to pass on to me. Nathan has been my hero and a HUGE influence for over a decade so I am trying my best to fully absorb what he taught us/me. This video is raw, no audio. I will make a proper version with commentary. If you have questions about the process, please comment here.

This weekend was Nathan Fowkes' landscape painting retreat. So many highlights, but this is by far the greatest for me. Nathan gifted me this demo! I now own the original with a dedication. I have looked up to him for more than 10 years and practice what he taught me almost everyday. He is so kind and classy as a person as well. This moment brought tears to my eyes, I'm still getting choked up thinking about. Receiving a gift like this from your "master" is an incredible honor. Now I am even more motivated to make something meaningful work of my own and live up to this honor.

I got to meet @Takeshi Takama in Bangkok last week. He is a very, very bright young man! 😎 He has a very thoughtful approach to art which I admire. Thank you for coming to visit. Guys, Takeshi gave me a sample of his delicious coffee and chocolate his company makes in Bali. The taste is very good imo, maybe he can ship some to you. I recommend :)

A bit of a change from my usual practice, I'm doing little colour studies from film stills now. I've attached the reference, so this can also be a bit of a quiz for film buffs.