Some Recent Work

[Joseph Belangia]

Hello Everyone!

Just thought I would pop in and post up a few of the things I've been working on lately. These 18x24in tiles are stunning at this size when painted. White Vanson backfill with oil paint overlayed.

Vytek F/X2 65-watt
Black Marble
40 speed/50 power
400 dpi

These are 3 of my latest in the "Rusty Rides" series. I've been cruising around the county finding all sorts of cool, rusty rides that used to be something but are now just fading away slowly.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/5459815878_a55f61cca3_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5294/5459210533_3ac561685b_z.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5059/5459213061_f52dd5bebe_z.jpg

These 2 are of my son.

Getting busted taking the sticker off his tractor
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5096/5459817962_a780b9f978_z.jpg

Swimming....(notice the "line" that kind of sneaks through the pic about the top third? The power blipped out here at the house about then, and I had to re-run it from the saved home position. Engraving it twice at the top section left it noticably different, but it's just a piece I was goofing around with, so no harm no foul.)
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5177/5459211137_5e3ba281ac_z.jpg

Thanks for looking!!

[Luke Phillips]

Very, very cool Joe - nice job!!:)

Would you share your technique for painting on these? What kind of tiles did you use? I really like the coloring !

[Joseph Belangia]

No problem, Luke. I used the 18 x 24in black marble tiles for these. I'll backfill the image first with Vanson white ink.

You ever see those drawings that are on black graphite paper where an eraser is used to remove the dark graphite and expose lighter shades to create the image? This is kind of similar in that I work from the highlights which is my white ink base, and then go backwards - adding in color around the already exposed highlight. The result is something that looks slightly airbrushed but with quite a bit of depth that is provided by the shiny black surface of the marble.

Nothing special about the paint--just regular oil paints from a tube applied using nothing more than a Q-tip, brush and index finger. It's just all in how you build up the layers.

I've got these big tiles down to a 5-6 hour turnaround time. That includes photo processing, laser time(about an hour for each) and color fill. If I can get it down to 4 hours then I can really increase my $$ as I can get 2 in a day. I charge about $200-300 bucks for these depending on the image and what is involved. Got a lot of portraits lined up, so as long as there are Q-tips in the world, I'm good to go.

[Clyde Baumwell]

Joseph
These are beautiful and unique pieces. Your technique and talent are outstanding. I read and re-read your last post and I am unclear how your laser is being utilized. Do you put down the white ink on the marble and then laser and then paint with the qtips?
Clyde

[Dee Gallo]

Beautifully done, Joseph! Do you take the photos yourself? They are very well composed and you do a great job with the color filling. Congrats on finding your niche and making it go!

cheers, dee

[Joseph Belangia]

Joseph
These are beautiful and unique pieces. Your technique and talent are outstanding. I read and re-read your last post and I am unclear how your laser is being utilized. Do you put down the white ink on the marble and then laser and then paint with the qtips?
Clyde

Hi Clyde!

Thank you for the kind words. I laser the image first, then backfill with the Vanson ink and color overlay. Sorry if I made that a little vague. In my case, I'm utilizing the laser to provide me with the shadows and I'm providing the highlights.

[Andrew Mammoliti]

I am not sure on your tech. on how to do this, how does the paint not bleed into other areas? I would like to do these too. Not sure on the how to part. I want to do them on granite?

Thanks Andrew

[Joseph Belangia]

Beautifully done, Joseph! Do you take the photos yourself? They are very well composed and you do a great job with the color filling. Congrats on finding your niche and making it go!

cheers, dee

Hi Dee!

That means a lot coming from you. Thank you very much. I do take the pictures myself. Making a living off the lens would be an ultimate goal for me, and utilizing the laser in this manner is a great tool for getting work noticed. My next foray is going to be into more portraiture once I get all these rusty trucks out of my system.

[Joseph Belangia]

I am not sure on your tech. on how to do this, how does the paint not bleed into other areas? I would like to do these too. Not sure on the how to part. I want to do them on granite?

Thanks Andrew

Hi Andrew!

Oil paint on marble is a tricky slope and there are a lot of mistakes before getting this technique to the point that I have gotten it to. Granite would work as well, but the characteristics of the material itself is a bit on the grainy side of things, so I stick to marble.

Oil paint doesn't bleed, so it's all good. I do, however, use some liquid latex to mask off areas that I don't want to risk getting color fill in every now and then.

It's very difficult to get the vibrancy in any colors on marble. It just sucks the life out of the color, which is why I started using the thicker Vanson Ink. It acts as sort of a gesso that allows the oil paint to get a better bite.

[Liesl Dexheimer]

Absolutely stunning work! Well executed! :)

[Andrew Mammoliti]

Hi Joseph can I call you? To talk about this.

Thanks Andrew

[Dean Fowell]

Very Nice work that is realy good I have an artist that would like to see some stuff like this

[Joseph Belangia]

Thanks for the kind words, everyone.

I wanted to at least bring something to talk about to the table once I joined.

Everyone has such top notch work around here and are so knowledgeable, I wasn't sure if my work was substantial enough to even be posted. I'm happy that you stopped in to check it out. My strengths are in photography, painting and computers, so why not combine them into something interesting.

It's either that, or I just reinvented the velvet Elvis. Uhh-huh. 'Nanner sammich, please.

[Mike Null]

Joseph

Very impressive work. I think you may have struck gold with the Rusty Rides concept.

[Martin Boekers]

Joseph

Very impressive work. I think you may have struck gold with the Rusty Rides concept.

It's a neat concept, there are a few photographers out there that have done that.
Some published books others calendars.

The ones I liked were the shots that were hand-colored or made to look painted.

The photographers names escape me right now.

I did a few car calendars in the past, the most successful was the one that for each
month I tracked down 6-8 days that something in motoring trivia history happened.
It was a lot of fun. Things like the first speeding ticket issue, date Mr. Harley & Mr. Davidson first met etc.

For those interested all it took was color laser printer and a spiral binder. I printed them on demand. It worked out OK!

[Andrew Mammoliti]

Hi Joseph can I call you? To talk about this.

Thanks Andrew

[Joseph Belangia]

Hi Andrew.

No problem, but it's all pretty much laid out there. You just have to practice a technique that you find works for your style.

PM me and I'll send you my number.

[Andrew Mammoliti]

ok just did. thanks

[Joseph Belangia]

Here's 2 pieces that I've finished up. Both of these are on some not-so-great marble...the grain was just reeeeaaal prominent in these couple of pieces, so I thought I would goof around with a few photos I had on file. Both are on 18x24 black marble. 40 power, 45 speed.

The 1st one here was a situation that I have avoided tackling with an engraving and this whole color-fill thing--pictures taken at night with a fill flash that...well, you know, just flattens and washes everything all out. To top it off both these subjects had some serious sunburn that would make Snookie jealous. I elected to tone down the burning face people and render back a few details in paint that were lost in the flash. Not an easy assignment, but I think I would give myself a passing grade on it.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/5488308883_235ba351ce_z.jpg

The second one was just me trying to see how vibrant I could get these Vanson inks to look. Plus, I love how it makes my son look like Big Bird running around in those yellow crocs.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5171/5518142035_91b0781c9b_z.jpg

[Larry Robinson]

Joe,

"Passing Grade", heck I give you an A++

Nice work

Larry

[Jim Good]

Joe,

How do most of your customers display your work? Do you provide any type of hanger for these?

Beautiful work!

Jim

[Mark Conde]

That is absolutely one of the coolest techniques I have seen. I am blown away with how it almost looks like a pastel or water color print. Personally, I think your art is worth $600 just for openers. Great job!

[Joseph Belangia]

Thank you for the kind words, everyone. I'm really appreciative of the positive vibes and I'm glad I can offer up something unique to talk about.

Pricing is a really tough cookie in these times...with the subject matter like the "Rusty Rides" series, I could totally see that having an appeal in the custom car market, Harley crowd, equestrian groups, etc...groups that by definition, are in a better position financially to indulge into something like this. I think keeping the price at an attainable level of under $500 keeps that appeal within reach. But I mean hey...if you guys think something like this should be priced higher, you won't have to twist my arm to believe you.

I guess there could be two schools of thought on it: Maybe one being that lower prices increases appeal, and the other being that lower prices cheapens the craft.

I can't say that I have any idea what that number should reasonably be now that I have given it further thought. I know what the material costs, what my time is worth, and what the bills are, so maybe my mark-up is on the anemic side?

[Mike Null]

On work such as this time and materials are rather meaningless. What you are selling is your talent as an artist so it is "whatever the traffic will bear".

[Joseph Belangia]

The latest rusty ride....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/jodyb/GreenWallTruck-1.jpg

And the newest blushing bride....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v214/jodyb/SandyDress.jpg

[Ron Hartl]

Joseph,
This may be the coolest art/laser work that I have ever seen. You have some serious talent!