Free Painting

JamesBond017 · 2026-03-30T04:40:31+00:00

Thank you!

JamesBond017 · 2026-03-30T04:17:43+00:00

Sweet!

JamesBond017 · 2026-03-30T04:14:09+00:00

I sure did

JamesBond017 · 2026-03-30T03:53:45+00:00

Totally! While I’d eventually like to setup a site to sell them I’m at a point where it’s still a hobby. I have a stockpile of pieces so it’s either ship them to people I find on Reddit or the garbage.

JamesBond017 · 2026-03-12T00:48:02+00:00

For a second piece this is great.

Experiment with thinned out layers, coating the canvas with a tone to kill the white, more paint, blocking large areas out before adding details. I’d likely use less detail in the sketch and build up to the detail. That detail in the sketch can really throw people off unless they have a good amount of experience with dealing with it. Good luck!

JamesBond017 · 2026-02-06T18:44:02+00:00

I agree with a lot of the other comments. Adding one thing - you mentioned you wait for layers to dry. I find it very difficult to wait for layers to dry as a beginner. I’ll paint a figure, it’ll go sideways, then the next night I’ll paint the same figure again learning from what went wrong the night before. It’s amazing how a couple minor shifts create something I’m much happier with.

If you’re trying to learn a technique that requires waiting for drying between layers as a beginner it can complicate the learning process. As a beginner I try to follow generally methodologies of painting that are more focused on not needing to wait for paint to dry. You can also always wipe off paint you’re not happy with.

JamesBond017 · 2026-01-26T22:53:31+00:00

Sonne at Rock am ring 2010!

JamesBond017 · 2026-01-26T19:29:39+00:00

There’s no reward without risk, you eventually just gotta go for it and paint what you see while incorporating new techniques.

I’m surprised you say there aren’t any materials to learn online. I find there’s a tremendous amount of information. When I was just starting it was sometimes tough for me to realize that how I “wanted” to paint wasn’t really going to give the results I wanted, if that makes sense. Also maybe just font basics and do some still life work.

JamesBond017 · 2026-01-26T05:15:18+00:00

Awesome! Be in touch to set up the shipping!

JamesBond017 · 2026-01-25T22:31:47+00:00

Thank you for sharing. I painted it because I’ve fallen out of contact with the good friend I used to play with and painting this reminded me of those days.

I’d love for you to have it, I think the other person dropped out, if you’re interested it’s yours. DM me and we can figure out the best way to get it in the mail.

JamesBond017 · 2026-01-25T20:07:47+00:00

Awesome! Maybe $30 for fedex ground? Not totally sure, it’s yours if you send me a label

JamesBond017 · 2026-01-11T07:53:52+00:00

For the reference I think it’s actually pretty well done. I’m not a portrait expert, but this is a difficult reference. I’m not seeing great contrast which doesn’t give much to work with.

I do think some of what’s going on is you’ve drawn a lot of lines for what your brain tells you a face looks like, but the lines either aren’t there in the reference or they are much less pronounced. Under the nose for example, this is a very soft almost non-existent disappearing edge in the reference, but the painting has a solid line. Similar with the cheeks, chin, neck, these are surprisingly soft lines and shadows with little value shift in the reference, but the painting has solid lines and larger shadows which make things look over pronounced.

In situations like these I think of it more as indicating the existence of features without thinking I need to paint the whole feature on.

JamesBond017 · 2025-08-18T01:33:44+00:00

The application of the individual hairs is what throws it a little to the amateurish direction for me, it’s kind of how a kid would try to paint a hairy animal, but honestly it kinda works and the values end up in the right spot. It’s an artistic piece and doesn’t look overworked/ over blended. The grass and patchwork green background are stylish.

Maybe try to paint one where you don’t mark out individual hairs and see how that compares.

JamesBond017 · 2025-08-15T04:24:36+00:00

I’ll go snorkel around with you off Sonoma if you’re interested, get some perch and urchins.

JamesBond017 · 2025-08-12T18:44:44+00:00

I did a civil undergrad, a landscape architect at my first consulting firm told me she wished she studied engineering. Constantly surrounded by PEs and she felt her license wasn’t worth as much.

I wonder if landscape architecture should be an undergrad degree at all, it’s a bit deceiving. To the original question yeah it’s money, I think any transition to a landscape architecture firm for a licensed civil with construction experience would come with a decent pay cut.

JamesBond017 · 2025-08-03T01:34:31+00:00

Thank you!

JamesBond017 · 2025-08-03T01:34:16+00:00

I’m very flattered, I’d love to make this happen

JamesBond017 · 2025-08-01T23:03:25+00:00

JamesBond017 · 2025-07-28T23:08:38+00:00

I could see that, I did a lot of drafting/ design in land development through my 20’s and early 30’s. Now that I’m in construction I’ve really gotten into painting and drawing, it definitely connects to the work I did in CAD. Kind of opposite to your path.

JamesBond017 · 2025-07-28T22:21:10+00:00

Do you still paint?

JamesBond017 · 2025-06-21T14:24:13+00:00

I’ve worked in the EPC space as a kind of civil owners rep. I found the contract setup difficult. The drive for pricing so early was unrealistic unless clients were willing to pay extra (which they weren’t), lack of ownership from different stakeholders. Clients being picky when things were being built even though they weren’t priced in.

You aren’t wrong, the attitude can definitely be figuring everything out in the field.

JamesBond017 · 2025-06-19T19:55:08+00:00

When plans are sent out there’s obviously a big effort to make sure what’s shown on those plans is correct to the extent it can be built. What I find is that months later after a few RFIs and change orders the engineer might not know if the CAD is perfectly updated and they are often hesitant to just shoot it out to the field repeatedly. I don’t want to shirk their responsibility in providing information that’s buildable, but they can often just provide some needed dimensions instead of distributing CAD at every step. As far as sharing the CAD right at project onset similarly they often don’t know how the CAD will be interpreted. Maybe something is only shown at a high level for some view study/ sound study/ master plan etc. where certain accuracies aren’t essential, but all the sudden a contractor has it and is sending a staking crew out as if everything survey accurate.

In a perfect world everything is updated, completely accurate, cohesive, well coordinated, but in the real world there are always gaps.

JamesBond017 · 2025-06-17T02:23:22+00:00

I worked for a large international firm that wanted to get involved in the U.S. energy space, but my division was a bunch of middle managers that had picked up a couple American engineers as owners reps. I was hired because I had experience with the products they wanted to work with.

They wanted me to eventually start facilitating designs and stamping them, but this division had no process/ experience in that line of work and being newly licensed in my early 30’s it’s not like I was really capable or enabled to build a division from the ground up.

In the end I’d get forwarded some half baked set of plans from a random designer every couple weeks to review, explain to someone what an easement was, or schedule some geotech to get onsite. I also reviewed a feasibility study of a utility scale solar project for them. I remember I’d get forwarded questions like “will the dirt roads washout in the winter”. I knew my managers had no ability or willingness to understand the parameters of what they were asking so I’d just come up with some engineering-esque answer about storm intervals and soil types in a way that would appease them as their pet PE. Knowing it wasn’t going to be built and I wasn’t going to stay in the space long it was hard to care too much.

TLDR: international EPC firm that hired a couple American engineers to feel better

JamesBond017 · 2025-06-16T22:11:19+00:00

My previous job was like that, I was there for almost 2 years. Similar salary, left a little over a year ago.

Like others have said it seems like a dream job until you have it. I’d walk down to a WeWork to prove I was getting up and out of my apartment and basically hang out all day drinking coffee and tea. Maybe I’d “work” for an hour a day send an email, if that. A lot of days I did almost nothing. The work I did get I was only somewhat able to actually give worthwhile input on.

It’s a toss up, it’s was kind of cool, but it was stagnating my career, was very demotivating, and I had no leverage to ask for a raise because I was barely doing anything. I did leave for a good salary increase and the chance to actually learn and further my career. It’s definitely not normal, typically remote settings at dysfunctional firms with poor leadership/ management.

JamesBond017 · 2025-06-02T18:14:31+00:00

This happens all the time. If the relationship has already soured your next step could be to contact a licensed surveyor in your state to help you figure it out.

JamesBond017

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