In order for me to really throw caution to the wind and draw without restraints I often just carry around printer paper with me and draw on that using a ball point pen or Micron pen. Anywhere I go I'm doodling on these pages trying to work out movement, form, ideas, characters, anatomy, personality, etc…I want to be able to draw without limits and to touch that freedom you have to put in the work on the page. By drawing on plain printer paper there's no pressure because it's just scrap paper right. You can throw it out if nothing good occurs. That's the beauty of it though. That's the frame of mind you need to explore, and challenge yourself to understand the things you need to know in pursuit of your understanding as an artist. These images have been scanned from many pieces of paper and complied here to show you some of the thought process that goes on behind the scenes.

Page 1…(random images that I feel were successful in trying to accomplish the things I'm working on)

Page 2…(Most of these images were drawn together on the same page)

This is natural subject matter for me due to the time I spent in the Marines as an air traffic controller. I was surrounded by and interacting with Fighter jets for 5 years of my life. I've even seen a few planes crash at airshows.

I'm trying to learn by drawing subject matter that's natural to me while I'm working on things like perspective, lighting, and value. You'll even notice that the structure of the plane is not correct. This is because I'm used to drawing things of an organic nature. I'm approaching more structural items in an organic way so that I don't get too tight with the drawings. One day, if I get to train in an industrial design fashion I'll be much better versed at creating more perfected man made structure. Right now though I'm good with slowly incorporating structure into my organic tendencies..

My two critiques about this image are:
1. The fire seems like it could look hotter to me. Could probably accomplish this by using darker colors around it to create contrast thus brightening the fire.
2. Pretty sure the smoke on a engine fire might be black coming out of a jet. I'll have to check reference for that. Maybe not but there's where research comes into play which I did none of for this image..

Mayday…

> The first is a painting of a knight that I did to study using value and color to complete an image without the use of line or drawing. This is painted from a photo reference that I found online but I've changed it up a bit having to add the lower part of the body. I found this very helpful to paint. I learned a lot and that's the point..

Knight Study..

> The second image is based on a tutorial on FZD where Feng created two zombie knights. I wanted to try creating my own character but some of the things that I gravitate towards like natural materials. I envisioned this warrior to be roaming the arctic terrain. This would be the gear that's used in warmer weather made of local materials and adorned with animal skulls and trinkets that speak of a shamanistic nature. I just realized that a good exercise for me to do would be to design the winter combat gear. I'll work on that soon…

Arctic Warrior..

Peter: "My involvement with Aletta through one-on-one coaching has helped me to understand the importance of being organized in all areas of your artistic career. Especially in dealing with galleries and other institutions. You have to have your bio done, your list of collectors, etc. are like a ground base that you have to lay down in order to move forward in a professional manner. It's important to look as professional in your business side as it is in your creative side. To have it another way is a recipe for chaos. Quality is quality and we should strive for it in all aspects of our careers."

CHECK OUT THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW AT Artist Career Training

Here's a few of the many projects that Kevin and I have worked on together.

Justin's better half received a pair of Skullcandy headphones that sounded great but looked a little bit too "cute". Very pink and something that neither of them used because of the style. Of course I volunteered to customize them. Surely I could do something cool with them and it shouldn't be too difficult either. I figured I'd cover them with stickers or something simple like that but simple was the last word I can use to explain to chain of events that happened next. Here's what they looked like before I got my greasy little hands on them..

Headphones before customization..

I'm not going to drag you through the entire process in length but I'll paraphrase below so you can get an idea of what it takes to customize an item like this just in case you choose to jump off this plank yourself.

• Sand every surface to be painted, yes every nook and cranny. If it's still shiny you need to keep sanding. You want it to be dull.
• Tape/Mask of all areas that you don't want to be painted. That means cover everything with no gaps.
• Paint with paint of choice. I mistakenly chose OneShot which is an enamel. Slow drying, and too much for an impatient person like me.
• Dislike the first color which was black, experiment with stippling silver and red. Hate that. Paint the whole thing over with Olive drab. Like that.
• At this point I got the idea that the headphones would look like old military gear, something from the 60's but modern all the same.
• I chose a picture of their bulldog JD (He's the real rockstar in this family) to use as an icon for one earbud. A star with his initials on the other ear. Yes JD is short for Jack Daniels. I told you he's a rockstar.
• Paint more paint on top, let dry, try to reassemble, break the piece that holds the earbud to the headpiece. Realize I just ruined a day and a half of work and my friend's headphones. Sit in disbelief for about 30 minutes then refuse to give up on it. I figured if I was going to crash and burn on this project I might as well take it all the way to destruction.
• Drilled a hole in the missing nub and successfully did it without breaking anything else. Now I need to find something small and strong to act as a dowel to hold the earbud on. After about 3 attempts finally found a screw that worked perfectly. Onward and back in business.
• Still hate paint, scrape half of it off and realize that the OneShot on the base layer isn't drying anyway so it had to be done. Re-sand.
• Get new, faster drying spraypaint which works well but looks like crap because of all the scraping. Try to texture the paint with a paint brush to cover up flaws, doesn't work, try a heat gun to cause bubbling for texture, melt headpiece to an almost liquid state, ruin padding on underside of headpiece. Seriously, this is all happening. Let plastic cool and harden back up, fix padding with tape and back in the saddle.
• Vow to make this look good no matter what. I'm all in at this point.
• Alright, that's enough rambling. Here's the finished result. Put some rivets in for cool factor, added some hemp rope ties to the headband for unique factor. Enter Star Wars movie prop status. 4 days later I'm done. Make ad to promote this imaginary product. Sign it. Now I'm done…….

Peter Bragino
www.bragino.com

1. How would you characterize the art which you make?
I’d say that it’s based on organic design, nature and the randomness of the way nature creates things. You have that aspect in my work along with the urban environment that I”ve grown up in. My work is generally celebrating both of those things at all times no matter what I create..

2. Can you describe the first piece of art you made? The most recent?
> The first considerable piece of art that I made on canvas was a painting called Frustration. It was me trying too hard to make what I wanted to make but the work of art had something different in mind. After hours of throwing paint and having fun my first spontaneous piece of art was born. It was a liberating experience.
> The most recent image I made was a digital painting created improvisationally and wound up becoming a scene of a girl flying on the back of this giant bird down into a mountain top village with towering, post-apocolyptic fortresses on top. It’s called Mythic Mountain.

3. How often do you make works of art?
I make works of art on a daily basis. I’m always drawing, painting, designing. It’s a constant thing..

3. What is the significance of the particular medium/s you work in?
The mediums that I work in are more of a reaction to the result I’m after rather then being a significant thing in themselves. The medium depends on what I want to do and where the art is taking me. If it calls for digital, that’s where I go, sculpture, mixed media, spray paint, walls, it’s all subordinate to the idea and the work itself.

4. How would you describe your own style?
My style is evolving but has a heavy influence from design based art, nature, and the human form.

5. What factors have most influenced your work as an artist?
Above all nature influences my work more than anything else. To me nature is the master artist.

6. Do you feel others have been effected by your work?
I hope they have. I’ve been told that they have but it’s more important to keep going, learning, exploring, and growing as an artist. I think that’s more inspiring than the work itself.

7. Is there a relationship between image and word in your work?
At this point there isn’t much of a relationship between visible words in my work but writing and storytelling have a very strong role. They’re what drives my ideas, so in that sense words are ever present..

8. Can you describe the relationship between form and colour in your work?
I’d say form and colour play equal parts to me. I’m just as excited about line, composition, and mass as I am about color. When you mix the two together you get a carnival of emotions. It’s visceral at that point and hits you in many of your senses at the same time. I’d like to think that they compliment and strengthen one another in route to building a unique world to view.

9. How does the setting in which your art is viewed effect how it is viewed?
The setting is enormous in how the work is viewed. Everything is in relation to one another. This is true of color on a canvas and it’s true of how people interact with art. A piece of art can change drastically depending on where it’s viewed. This is why street art is so exciting today. It’s being viewed where we walk, breath, and live, not in some cold, white gallery.

10. Is graffiti art? If so, since when and for what reasons?
Graffiti, as far as I define it, is certainly art. It’s an expression of an individual and depending on who interacts with that expression it has the power to influence. I think the lines of what is and what isn’t graffiti are getting blurred pretty quickly though. I relate graffiti to a calligriffic art style. I don’t believe that any art that is created in a street environment is graffiti. Art is a broad subject and there are many avenues and disciplines to engage in. I think the true artist is intereted in growth and continual knowledge of their craft and of themselves, not in a title that limits them. I don’t consider myself a Fine Artist or a Grafitti artist, or an Airbrush artist. These terms are restrictive. Artists should be able to talk in many visual languages, with any medium, at any time. The person who finds one thing that they’re succesful at and repeats it contunually without an overiding intellectual reason to do so is, to me, not an artist. Art to me will always be about traveling into the unknown, not reproduction unless that reproduction is creating higher awareness in others. Grafitti is one style of art. I think it’s been art since the first time it was put on a wall. In my opinion, and I’m sure many would disagree, once you start tagging the same thing over and over without interest in variation and growth it becomes something different than art, especially when it has no message other than fame. Grafitti is definitely art but I ask you this. What is Grafitti? That’s the question and I’ll bet there are a million different opinions on it…

11. Do you feel there is a relationship between graffiti and your own work?
There is definitely a relationship between graffiti and my work. I grew up in New York and you had no choice but to be influenced by graffiti. I was breakdancing in the streets on cardboard between ages 12 and 15 when breakdancing first came around. I’ve been drawing people names for them my entire life. That culture, especially grafitti or lettering styles, kept my hand moving as an artist for my entire childhood but I don’t consider myself a grafffit artist. As you move forward as an artist many things influence you and graffiti was surely one of them. My motto is try it all, keep experimenting, always learn and never stop making art..

12. Do you feel there are any differences between graffiti works on display in the street and those displayed in a gallery?
I consider graffiti a calligrific lettering artform in general. If that hangs in a gallery I would still consider it in the style of graffiti but I wouldn’t consider it graffiti. Graffiti was a movement that started on the streets and on trains but that doesn’t make all art done on the streets today graffiti. If graffiti style was started way back when on canvas then it would feel more at home on a canvas but that’s not where it’s roots lie and that’s not where it will ultimately be loved the most. There’s no shame in painting a canvas and calling it Fine Art or Illustration or Graphic work. If you want to display in a gallery then understand it’s a different format and maybe it’s just not graffiti anymore.

13. Are there any further comments you would like to make regarding graffiti?
Graffiti is one of the most interesting and unique forms of art in recent times but painting on walls isn’t new. It’s the calligrific quality of the work that set it apart. The lettering styles were pushed to a great deal even so far as to become abstract. But that abstraction had already been done. I think graffiti was born out of abstract expressionism and mass media, printing, etc. It’s been a powerful force for many people and has added great benefit to the art world but it’s not and end unto itself. It’s a style. The best artists that I’ve seen, who choose to paint in a graffiti style, are also well trained and studying artists. Not sure if we can even still call what’s happening now graffiti? I think graffiti has past us already. The artist’s of the world are onto something else but there’s nothing unique enough yet to warrant it’s own name like graffiti did.

Here's a listing of some of the creative beauty that came from this night so far. I like it when I get to stretch my creativity in many different directions and the following pictures are a little proof of that. I hope you enjoy these. Oh and a big thank you to Gillian, our willing model for literally embodying this character for the night. She acted the part so well that I'm pretty certain she wasn't acting at all……

Mixed media drawing by me….

Toonpaint iphone app manipulation by Kevin Corcoran

Photos of the princess taken by me

Here's a good look at the airbrushed wings

The princess fast asleep in a dream like image

"Scrawny burd" The Poster

Here's my newest blog design. This is the 6th or so different website configuration that I've had since I first got a website back in 1998. There's actually been about 4 or 5 more designs but most of them, although they were complete working websites, never made it to the web or were only up for a few months. For arguments sake I offer Version 6. It's basically a very simple and clean design. I hope this makes your time on my site more enjoyable….