Why do we call this "interactive"?
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OCTOBER 11, 2025 3PM
This continues the explanation given last time regarding body art sessions.
After all of those steps, we are left at the end with 1,000 - 5,000 photos taken at every stage of the body painting session. If I am working on a particular idea, then this number of photos are taken for every session. 14 sessions in the Enchantment series.
This is a serious amount of photo work. Of course I don't use every photo. My rule of thumb is can I get at least 10 pieces of art out of every 1,000 photos.
So why take so many? Two reasons. First for every single pose of a model, I may take 3-10 images. Some of these are done as different settings on the camera. The rest are because I am constantly moving around the model to get different angles. Second, it gives me slightly different angles which I may use later with different series. In fact that's exactly what's happening with the Enchantment series. A previous series called The Wildwood was created first. Here is an example:
These pieces were full color and had a different direction that series went. Enchantment on the other hand focuses more on monochrome, with only select colors showing. Its a moodier series than the first ones were. Add to that, my skill level has changed since the initial series was done.
So Step 1 (post-photo shoot) is called The Sort. I'm going to walk through every single photo from the session and note which of the images stand out to me. This is a time consuming process but necessary. Once I have my list narrowed, I'm going to begin the final art. I'll let the photo suggest to me what it wants to become. At the same time I'm going to add or remove colors, add shadows, etc. until the final art emerges.
By the time I'm finished (usually several weeks at a minimum I'll end up with a series of art that tells a story to the viewer. Not just the title of the piece, but the colors, the intensity, the overall effect that image has on people.
If you combine the time it takes to do all the other steps prior to creating the actual art, it still won't equal the time it takes to create the art. And just for general information. I don't use Photoshop. I use Corel Paintshop Pro. I'm not looking at filters to create the art for me. Instead I'm building the piece of art up using layering techniques and my own eyes to bring out the story.
I'm touchy about this. AI has really given artists a bad rap, who in any way work with a program. The difference is, are you letting the program create the art for you? Or are you creating the art yourself? There is a huge difference.
The Final Conclusion
So combine everything and any given shoot may have anywhere from 40-500 hours of work put into it. These final steps move the art to conclusion, where the shoot often has a name and an idea and each piece of final art tells a complete story which the viewer interprets the stories ending.
But it never really ends and I think that's the most important part. I have saved every single photo I've taken in the 30 years. Even when I was a professional fashion photographer (pre professional artist). I have nearly 3 million raw images in my database. I can with a moments notice return to older photos and do something new with them. I have images, such as the one shown below that have morphed into other pieces of art.
There are no limits except for your own imagination.
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OCTOBER 06, 2025 8PM
Now that I am working on new art for the Enchantment series, I've decided an explanation is in order for the process I use for these pieces. Its confusing because there are are a lot of steps involved.
STEP 1
Brainstorming
This very first step is in some ways the most controversial because most artists don't consider the time used to think about a piece of art as an actual step. But to take a art from the the thought process all the way to the final step, is super critical. With that said, the brainstorming step doesn't involve a single piece of art. It requires an idea that stretches through the whole series.
Its important that I consider, the basic idea first and whether it will support the amount of art that will be generated from it. In this case the theme is "enchantment". Its a simple word with a thousand variations. It gives me the fuel to generate a lot of art.
STEP 2
Building the Set
Once the theme is decided upon, I have to start considering how it can be brought to life. In this case I spent months creating the 3 dimensional setting that would eventually host the series. I wandered second hand stores, estate sales, and yard sales looking for fake flowers, shrubs, trees and accessories to bring it to life.
In the case of the Enchantment series this took several months alone to both gather and build the complete set. Keep in mind that this also included lighting mechanisms. Its not just a matter of a few lights. Its creating the mood using the lighting. Even in a series like this one where most of it is in monochrome, I still have to consider and place dozens of lights.
Step 3
Models
This step runs contiguous with the other steps. I start searching for my models right from the start. Models must be willing to be photographed nude. Be comfortable being body painted. Take instruction well. For the Enchantment series I used 30+ models. Models have to go through a test shoot in order to qualify. The exception to this is if the person has previously modeled for me.
Step 4
Getting Started
Scheduling: Once the set is built and the models chosen, we can focus on scheduling. There were 14 individual shoots with 1-5 models in each shoot. They are not all scheduled at once. I try to do two shoots a week until I am satisfied that I have gotten what I want.
Studio Prep: this is different from set building. In this case, the studio must be prepped. Paints must be laid out, materials put in place and anything I might need must be at hand. There is usually a lot of running around for things forgotten. I usually have 1-2 helpers ready to help. This prep time may also include things like clothing that I may put a model in, jewelry that I place on them, and whole lot of worrying I've forgotten something.
Step 5
The Session
A typical session begins around 7pm. Helpers have already been with me most of the day. The session lasts 3-6 hours, so its a pretty late night for all of us. This includes shower time. I built an actual outdoor shower to support my models. Having them indoors usually clogs the plumbing with paint.
Now I usually work off a basic script for where I want each session to go. Its divided into sections. A section usually has three parts. The staging, the painting, the photographing. I already have in mind what I want to do with each section. The painting itself is actual three dimensional abstract painting. I work to create patterns and merge colors together in variations. The first paints are laid on the bodies, the models are posed how I want them and I begin photographing. Paint, photos, paint photos, over and over again until I build a portfolio that is anywhere from 1,000 - 5,000 individual photos.
This is the process. I send my models to clean up and I immediately review the session.
In the case of Enchantment there were 14 sessions over 7 weeks for a total of 75,000+ photos. Then the real work begins, creating the art. I'll discuss this more tomorrow.
OCTOBER 06, 2025 11AM
EVERY PIECE OF ART TELLS A STORY
I hear artists say all the time that they have nothing to share online. They are slow creating and can't compete on social media. The reality is that they have a lot to share. Any given piece of art goes through stages. Each stage has something you can talk about as you create it. Don't just share the final art. Share each and every progress photo you take of it. Talk about its back story. Why you created it in the first place. The mistakes you made along the way. The materials you created it from.
There is a ton of interest out there to know more about a piece of art than the final image may tell.
I began a new series yesterday. Two years ago I began a series called The Wildwood. I staged and photographed 14 shoots for the series. I began the work to put the final series together but I was just not happy with what I was creating. So I set it aside in hopes of finding inspiration. This was no small batch of photos. It was 75,000+ actually. These were all photographed with an amazing hand created set of flowers and shrubs. It was extremely bright and colorful. It was one of the best sets I'd ever created.
Yesterday I was wandering through my archives and decided to play with some of the raw images. After an hour or so, I began to see the spark of inspiration. First I noticed how the models in each shot were almost lost in this madness of color. So what if I took the image down to monochrome. Removed all the color except for maybe a flower or two. I love working in monochrome. I think it can be more expressive than color sometimes. Here are the results of the first two pieces. I'd love opinions before I jump fully into this, but it feels right to me.
OCTOBER 02, 2025, 7:30PM
I'm finally feeling myself again. I've slowly been cleaning the studio for over a week, but today was the most productive. I moved my supply area where I keep foamcore to be used as canvasses. I was surprised that I have so many of them. They are pricey, but I guess it adds up after awhile. I'm a supply hoarder. I guess it comes from years of living very frugally. I can make almost anything into either an art supply or the concept for a new piece of art. But right now we are in a little better shape to buy better materials.
Foamcore is my canvas of preference in the 1/2" size. I can make almost anything from it. Its sturdy and it takes almost anything on it.
I've always considered one studio to be sacred ground. It doesn't matter if its just a corner of a room or huge workspace, each carries a sacred energy which should be respected. Creators are the closest thing this world has to a god. We each carry a tiny bit of the origins of the universe within us.
With that said, I've had many studios and many configurations. So today when I was cleaning and organizing I decided the space need an altar to creativity. I know some will say all these thoughts are blasphemous. But tell me what's more sacrilegious? One that practices the act of creation and is tries to respect the power of creation. Or one who barely thinks about anything except the toys they have and the credit cards they max out?
Do you consider your creative space to be sacred?
Here is the altar.
OCTOBER 02, 2025, 10:30AM
In the past months I've been remastering a lot of my earlier work. Applying new skills transforms some of these pieces in an amazing way. A question has come to mind several times while doing this work. Pieces that I thought were excellent in their composition, now seem lackluster and pale in contrast to the work I do now. I never considered myself conservative in my art, but maybe I was wrong. Here is an example. This is the original piece:
And here is the remastered piece:
Immediately you can see the second one is more vibrant. It uses the basic rules of Tumultuism to remaster an image that really was lacking a lot.
Its been a little over two years since I discovered Tumultuism as a conceptual idea. I've described it as having my eyes closed for years and then suddenly opened again to a deeper understanding of color, abstraction, movement and lot more.
It startles me sometimes that I could have been so blind for so many years. Its frustrating sometimes because I feel like I've wasted 25 years creating art that wasn't nearly as good as I thought it was at the time.
So I ask you. Are you too conservative as an artist?
SEPTEMBER 29, 2025 2PM
The Unnamed Advantage
An acquaintance of ours, just lost their teaching job by saying something derogatory about Charlie Kirk. While you would not think that this had anything to do with us, it brought up an interesting discussion. While we don't have much in this life, we do have one crucial thing. We are free to speak our minds. We have no boss to say "no". We have no fear of losing our jobs or our living.
This may indeed be a thing that only independent creatives can claim. Not all of course. But to us who are already labeled heretics, there is little to lose about speaking the truth.
I've always lived my life without secrets. The good and the bad of my life is out there for the whole world to see. I have no fear of something I did 30 years ago coming back to haunt me. I am who I am.
A few years back a scam artist online tried to extort me, claiming they had nude photos of me and they'd share them with everyone if I didn't immediately give them a lot of money. I responded with a laugh and told them it would be a miracle if they could find someone who HADN'T seen a nude of me. Then I asked him which ones he had and that I send him more if he'd like. I never heard another word from him.
The point being that you cannot extort someone who has nothing to hide.
So I'm approaching this as a creative. I can and will speak out regarding the death of this amazingly stupid and ignorant man. I mourn anyone dying because it means they won't finally learn how to act as a decent human being. But I do not mourn the passing of fool.
So this gives creatives a lot power. How should we wield this power? I welcome your interactions on this.
The piece of art below was done during the last trump administration. But it could be anyone who has not learned the lesson of empathy.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2025 - SUNDAY 8:30PM
The thing they never mention about people who are trying to fulfill their creative dreams, is that most of us also have mental problems that run the spectrum from ADHD - to dreams of suicide. Its even worse when you are in a relationship with another creative. You don't only suffer with your own issues, but you struggle with theirs.
For many years now, I found the best way to keep my mental state calm was to create art. This is the basis of Art Therapy. But this does nothing when the other person in your relationship cannot do the same.
Some people swear that the only way around this is to never get into a relationship with where your partner is as creative as you. I am not sure that works though. The commonality that two creatives share is more important...at least to me. Creativity is my life and I doubt someone else who was not creative would be able to understand me. Its almost a common language that creatives share. It doesn't need words sometime.
But worse is when one creative rejects their own creativity. That's almost like cutting off your ear. Yes that was a Van Gogh reference. More on this later.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2025 - SUNDAY 2:00PM
CLEANING THE STUDIO
Deconstructing the Elysium Expanse
First on the list today is carefully taking apart the Elysium Expanse project. This project was a 3 dimensional box that changed its composition over and over. I won't go over the details again, but if you want to read more about it and see images, check out this link:
https://blog.immortalartist.com/2025/06/expanse.html
Needless to say, in a small studio, its taking up way too much space. So its time to break it down. But there is no reason why I can't create art from the components. Nothing gets wasted here. I may even decide to rebuild it later. For now its gone.
REARRANGING THE WORK TABLE
I've literally spent most of the afternoon trying to make the configuration of my work tables into a workable space. The conclusion...NOTHING FITS!
SUNDAY 7PM
I got a little overwhelmed I'm afraid and ended up taking a nap for a few hours. This is the problem with healing and trying to maintain an art career. There is stuff everywhere right now. But I am planning on working late tonight and try to put it together again.
Like Ray Bradbury, the objects in my studio give me inspiration and ideas. That's why its important for certain things to remain out and not buried in a box. This is important to me. A sterile studio will never work for me. But having said that, a massively disorganized studio also doesn't work. It puts my mind into havoc if my surroundings are like that. Finding the balance between clean and cluttered is difficult.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2025 - SUNDAY 12 NOON
My morning process
We all have ways we start out the day. I try very hard to create at least one piece of digital art right after I get into the studio. It centers and balances me. At the same time I'm reading messages from the night before and I'm formulating a plan for the day. I'm also thinking more about this journal. As I told a fellow artist, using this format forces me to write about how I lead my artistic life. A journal done on a blog has to find readers. But by doing it in an interactive chat, makes me chronologize my life in front of everyone. If I don't write, then the emperor has no clothes. These words are my way to clothe myself and practice what I preach.
So the priority of the day is to finish the portrait series and begin to clean up the studio. This has been a touch time for me physically. The open heart surgery is now 6 weeks ago, but the doctors tell me I'll still have rough patches through October. But I've felt more like myself these past few days. So I am tackling a studio that's been left to fall to ruin.
If the weather is good enough, I'll begin some work on the porch studio also. There is a poor Gollum hanging out there that needs to be finished eventually. So how do you start your day?
Image at the bottom is the first piece of art for the day.
SEPTEMBER 27, 2025 - SATURDAY 9:00PM
I think I pushed myself too hard today. I've not been nearly as energized as I was earlier. I finished two more portraits. There are only three more left of the original series then I'll move on.
Went to my favorite art store this evening...yep Home Depot. I find more interesting ideas and material there than I do anyplace else. The studio is very messed up right now. I bought a number of bigger containers to store stuff in and make some room.
The biggest problem with me is that I collect huge amounts of stuff to be used for ideas. I'm never at a loss for something to create but it makes for some terrible clutter. Tomorrow I'll try to clear some of it up. The problem with that is I lose things easily. I try to stay to more manageable sizes and all the same type of materials. I have a box for paint pens, a kiosk for several hundred paints, another box pastels, yet another for sculpting materials.
I do have a second studio outdoors. I converted my porch to act as a secondary work area. The problem with New Orleans is once it gets hot, it doesn't change until October. So no working out there all summer. But I hope to get out there tomorrow to clean it up and ready it for the nice weather soon to come our way.
I surprised a client today when I showed him a photo of his augmented print with a real crystal on the tiara resting on the woman's head. I explained that I have a complete cabinet for gems, crystals, minerals, etc. Its carefully curated from gem and rock shows and from my dear friend and fellow artist Kelly, who uses them in his work. So he watches for things that I can use.
I think that's all for tonight. Still getting used to documenting my day like this. But its kind of fun also. My mother was an avid journal writers. I have about 50 of her journals. So I hope to take a page from her work and get better at this.
Here are a couple of photos of the mess the studio is in tonight as well as the new portraits.
Portraits
SEPTEMBER 27, 2025 - SATURDAY 4:00PM
Every day as an artist brings something new to me. I think that's probably why I love art so much. Today I have been working on an Augmented Print for a buyer. An Augmented Print is a way to make a print more valuable. The print comes to me first and then add additional features and colors to create a variation of the original. This has to be approached carefully because I can't overdo it. The changes are subtle. What I don't want to happen is the client saying "this isn't what I ordered".
So in the current print I have first used a heavy paint to create raised features on the Flapper girl. I've raised her pearls and jewelry. Then I used metallic paint pens to augment the line work that around her. I then took her cigarette and added to it including adding a hot ember at the end of it and smoke rising up. Next I used a facetted crystal and placed it on her tiara.
All the time I am also looking at the print for other variations I might do.
At the end, once it dries I'll apply a heavy gloss spray to the whole print, which will bring out the colors better, especially the metallics. I like doing augments because it challenges me to see my art in a different way. And it gives the client something special for less than an original would cost. An original would be larger and have scroll work on the edges. The price would be around $600-$800 dollars. The augmented print on the other hand are $250. Mu more reasonable for clients who want to start out collecting my work.
So this has consumed most of my day. This evening I'll shift gears back to the portrait series. I have to tell you how much I'm enjoying working on these. They are strictly digital art at this time, but would be handled much the same as an augmented print if anyone were to buy one.
These portraits were originally created 2 years ago. That was before I began my learning and developing Tumultuism. While the originals were good, the remastering is far superior. I am planning on having a couple of them printed and I will create new work with them in multiple mediums. More on this later.
Below you'll see several angles of the augmented print including a side view so you can see the raised paint. I'll also put the two portraits finished today. Lastly I've included the document I send to potential buyers regarding how it works. This saves me a lot of headaches repeating myself.
AUGMENTED PRINT
PORTRAIT SERIES
