Why "Zen" Portraits?

I was not always into "meditation," although it's mostly an issue of vocabulary. People meditate in so many ways on a daily basis, but I think the hang-up comes when they picture what "meditation" conjures... sitting still for hours, thinking about nothing perhaps, or maybe chanting. There may also be a bit of apprehension on how meditation ties into religion, or thought-processes. It's not something most people relate to or know how to think about properly, and it definitely wasn't something I related to until I did the research and applied meditation to my life and my art. Zen has become me, and I'd like to put that in terms that can be understood by someone who may not meditate or know what Zen is, maybe so "Zen Portraits" can make a bit more sense.

Most of us live in a hectic headspace. Worries, schedules, voices, interior monologue, our conscience, reminders, reactive emotions, triggered memories... it's a chatter that many people live with as they wake up, go about their day, and then struggle to put aside so they can sleep. I can very much relate to this from my past experiences. And being an artist, I can add all the visual imagery and imaginative exploration that goes along with art to the list of things that were cluttering my mind on a daily basis. Most see this as the human condition, and take it upon themselves to wade through this thick muck of thought, trying to decipher what is important and what is not. It's this kind of activity that stops us from doing some of the great things we know we could be doing with our lives if it weren't for "everything else we need to do", etc.

The truth is that you are capable of doing ANYTHING you set your mind to do. But priorities are priorities, unless you're not setting the right kind of priorities.

We all know that priority number ONE for each of us is tending to our own mind. What we sometimes neglect to consider or acknowledge, though, is the magnificent ability of our mind to look after itself. Here you've stumbled upon the basic principle of meditation: trusting that your mind can organize itself, without all that fretting and over-thinking and sleeplessness.

Meditation has nothing to do with religion, because it is not related to any one religion. It is simply an activity that can only benefit us. To sit in silence, even if only for 5 minutes a day, and allow ourselves to return to a state of calm and awareness. To let our thoughts roam without paying attention to where they go, to hearing the dog barking down the street, the birds chirping three blocks away, the sound of leaves and branches as they mingle and sway in the wind... and finally you hear the silence of your own mind at peace. There is no searching now for whatever might need searching for. You know which direction you've been heading in, and now is your chance to adjust that direction. You know what is important to you, and simply need to ask yourself how to fill more of your life with it. Most importantly, you now know what peace feels like, and you know that you can return to it whenever you need to. This sitting in silence and returning to balance is meditation.

What we can achieve after the appropriate time of dedicated meditation is a state referred to as Zen. Zen is something that must be maintained, but can be described as the enlightenment that comes when we understand ourselves beyond our daily lives. It is what we attain when we come to peace with the Earth, with our personal relationship with society, with our existence in the galaxy, the universe, and ultimately, our relationship with love, beauty, and death. Zen is can then be described as the state attained when we know who we are, through and through, and yet still dedicate our mind to listening, and to awareness.

These states of mind, even a simple daily meditation, does wonders for our daily lives. Our brains possess the tremendous ability to sort things out for itself during these meditations, as well as remind us what's really important, and how we should be spending our days.

It's with this state of my that I personally create my art. I approach each subject only after meditation, and with a clear mind to what needs to be conveyed with a portrait. A portrait itself hopes to encapsulate a human personality, to express incredible uniqueness in a single frame, and ultimately portray the subject, be it a person, a pet, a car, a building, or a scene, as it simply is. If this is done right, it brings a smile to the viewer with its very nature. As a portrait artist, that's my goal, and Zen, as well as a keen eye for photo-realism, are my personal tools to unlock that essence of the subject matter.

I hope this window into my personal creative process helps to give insight into the "Zen" in Zen Portraits, as well as encourages you to incorporate meditation into your life. I may blog in the future about meditation, but for now, I say that it's an incredible way to come to know yourself and what you really want, as well as a way to improve all aspects of your mental and social life. Once you've reached a point where you can accept yourself and your unique relationship to the world through meditation, you can then start to evolve yourself and your talents in ways that are self-directed, intentional, and give you the satisfaction of knowing that youare one day closer to living the life you plan to live.

Live fully, live Zen.

//Jordan / Zen Portraits

Liv Tyler portrait provides some practice...

It definitely doesn't win any awards as the most detailed portrait I've done (that background is making me cringe...), but taking a break with this portrait represented a few important things for me and Zen Portraits.

To start, it was the first portrait that I've video recorded. I'll be posting that video on YouTube shortly, but this marks the beginning of a new practice for me. I foresee it changing the way I work completely, as I'll be able to review my creation process moving forward, allowing me to tweak how I go about things in the future with a better eye on progress. Watching the creation in fast-forward is also eye-opening, and reveals my attention to detail as I erase and re-draw many features attempting to get things just right. Any viewers will have to sit through my head being in the way for a portion of the video, but it's educational nonetheless.

Next, it's the first celebrity portrait I've done in a while. There's something about Liv Tyler though... Her work in the Lord of the Rings, as well as the underrated Reign Over Me makes her my favorite actress by far.

Finally... the live stream. I stumbled across a site called Stickam about a week ago, and knew that I had to incorporate it into my workflow, and provide that service to my customers. Essentially, I'll be showing live video online of each piece I work on, giving customers the ability to watch their end result being created! I'm not sure I've ever seen this service being offered by an artist (I'm sure it's out there) but I think it's an incredible opportunity for everyone involved. The Liv Tyler portrait was the first I streamed online, and got quite a few viewers checking out the progress as I worked. I'm hoping it'll also be a way to educate people on the portrait creation process as well. If you're interested in watching my live stream, check out the link in the side bar, and if I'm online working you'll be able to watch and comment live. Hope to see you there.

As for the portrait itself, it was really fun to take an intermission and stray from commissioned work for day. So much I could have improved upon, but I don't think that being a perfectionist as I took a break was the way to go. The face is photo-realistic, but the rest is largely just a play with composition. Her eyes come across, through, and I'm satisfied with that much. She has such an incredible gaze, especially when paired with that smile. Anyway, it was a good time. Maybe I'll return to celebrities a bit more often for practice.

That's it for today, next up I have a commissioned portrait of a cute baby girl covered in cake, which should be a blast.

Thanks for reading! May the Zen be with you.

//Jordan / Zen Portraits

Zen Portraits // A blog and a new beginning...

It doesn't take a genius to know that an artist doesn't belong cooped up in the 16th story of an office building, staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day in a poorly ventilated box. It is isn't conducive to clear thought, much less artistic inspiration. I would find those things on lunch break, when I'd forget about the office for an hour and walk the streets of downtown New Orleans.

But there I found myself, looking around inside a dark cubicle wondering what the hell I was doing with my talents. Would Mozart have thrived creating music on a computer? Would Leonardo da Vinci been the renaissance master he was if he was working with modeling programs and designing in CAD? I seriously doubt it. There is something in an artist that fights the structure of a 9-5. So I gave a respectable 6 week notice, wrapped up my tasks, passed my responsibilities on to the next guy in a button-up shirt, and stepped out into the sun.

There are no linguistic syllables adequate to describe the FEELING of freedom, but you know it when  you feel it. The expanse of opportunities that lay at your feet, full knowledge that your destiny lay within your hands, to mold as you will. For me, traditional art was and is now the calling I feel. Working with my hands to smudge and create works of concentrated creative output that I can hold in my hands. Nothing digital, no clicking involved, no uploading or quality checks or deadlines. It isn't the way man was meant to live.. but still the machine grinds on.

My craft of choice? Pencil work. Is and has always been my passion; and what better subject than the faces around me? What better service to offer others than the ability to give their photographs, shoved away in boxes, new life through artistic reproduction? I can't imagine what I love more than sitting across from someone as they try not to laugh, sketching the expressions that make them who they are. Every work I do is a glimpse into another life, to recapture for myself the hope that humanity is good, and that people are every bit worth my time.

And so that's what I do. I'm a portrait artist dedicated to photorealism, to capturing those moments, and to working at costs that "true" artists would laugh at. Because it's not my job as an artist to turn a buck, it's to support my family, continue what I love doing, and inspire others to do the same.

I'll be using this blog to document my progress, to give insight into the art of portraiture and photo-reproduction, and to put my two cents out there.

Zen Portraits

Photo-reproductions and portraits at $5 per square inch, no matter the complexity of the image.

Live life fully.

//Jordan / Zen Portraits