New member Flladi Kulla
 

Hi everyone! I am thrilled to be accepted in this wonderful community.
My name is Flladi Kulla. Thank you for having me here!
I work as a Graphic Designer at a college during the day, and late at night i spend many hours going through the pages of A Stroke of Genius and visiting many of the artists' websites, as well as the various topics on this forum (recently). What a delightful and eye-opening experience!
I love portrait painting and I am at an early stage with it. As I browse through the works of many accomplished artists on SOG, I can only get inspired. I used to enjoy painting with bold brush strokes, more intense colors, loading the brush with heavy paint, and applying it very fast on the canvas. It was more like following an initial emotion. Recently I've learned to enjoy the realistic portrait a bit more. I took a course with Marvin Mattelson and that really was a spectacular experience.
I don't have a website yet. Instead, I have uploaded a few images of my works so I can introduce myself better:
The first one is a very recent charcoal self-portrait. The second painting shows how I preferred using thicker paint and bigger brushes. The third shows an attempt to combine two techniques with bold colorful strokes and somewhat smoother features. The last image is actually of a work in progress in which i am trying a more realistic approach.
That was it for now. Thank you, again, for having me here and I am so excited to have found such a wonderful place.

Very, very interesting work, Filadi! Thank you for posting examples and explaining the changes you are going through. It is exciting to take your art in a new direction, not knowing exactly how it will develop. I can see you will have a lot to contribute here, and I hope you will enjoy the forum.

Welcome to the Forum Flladi !
your work is very strong. I particularly like your charcoal.
It will be particularly interresting to watch your work developing...

Beautiful, strong and captivating! Welcome!

Thank you all for the warm welcome! I appreciate it.
I see it didn't take long for the replies. This really is the place to be.


Flladi

Nice to have you here!

The variety of work you've posted is wonderful, and I can't say I prefer any one to another! It all looks fresh and lively, and has a strong "signature" of style.

Welcome.

Welcome, Flladi!
I like your charcoal self-portrait very much--very well achieved sense of form.
Your work is obviously evolving. Looking forward to seeing more soon.

Love these intro pieces Flladi! They just reek with attitude.

Welcome aboard, my friend. We are very fortunate to have you join us. Not only are you supremely talented, you are very smart and sincere.

Fladdi, welcome! All of these works are impressive. I love the charcoal and the last work in progress. I'll look forward to seeing more. :)

Thank you so much, Chris, Carlos, Heidi, Marvin, and Christi!
I appreciate your welcome and feedback! It means a lot!

Since I am still new at the forum and haven't done my homework very well, could anyone of you tell me where can one display a new work. Start a new thread? Add to an existing one? Thank you!

Marvin, I still need to get a Mahl stick support device. Can I get one when I see you back in the Fall?

All the threads in the Forum work the same as this one (some few exceptions -- the demo threads don't permit posted responses). Click on the section in which you wish to post -- say, "Oil Critiques" -- and then click "New Topic." Give your new topic (that is, new thread) a descriptive title in the window for that, and then type in the body of the post in the next window, and click "Manage Attachments" to post any images, same as in this thread, using the "Browse" and then "Upload" sequence. You'll have to be mindful of the file type requirements and size limits, specified in the window for managing attachments. Many failed uploads are due to oversized image files. Run your images through software (such as Photoshop) that can resize them to the 400 pixels wide and 600 pixels high limits. If your image is within those limits but still won't post, it may be a file compression issue -- contact a moderator to work it out.

To add to a thread, just go to any post and click "Post Reply." If you wish to respond to a particular post in that thread, click "Quote," in which case the post to which you're responding will be copied and reposted as part of your new entry. (Sometimes you don't wish to quote an entire post, but only a part of it -- as I've done with yours, above -- but that's a bit of "html markup" housekeeping that can wait.)

In any event, any time you're stuck, just email or send a private message ("PM" -- click on the moderator's name anywhere in the Forum and select that option from the menu that appears) to the moderator of the section in question.

Flladi, welcome! Love your work - your charcoal self-portrait is fantastic.

Hello Flladi,
Your work is strong, it will be fun to see your develop your portraits more. Glad to have your here! I like the drawing very much and the last painting is coming along beautifully, georgious skin tones...
Patty

Steven,
you've taken your time to explain the whole process in detail. You made the understanding of it so much easier for me, and I am grateful for that. Thank you!

Patty and David,
thank you so much for your kind words! I am surprised that the charcoal drawing has had such positive feedback for the most part.
Wish I could develop it a bit further but I feel a little limited...
It's soft charcoal and it smudges a lot and also loses strength as you go. I wanted to emphasize the highlights a bit more as well, but the paper itself is white, and the white sticks or conte crayon seem unable to overpower the charcoal and its dust.

Welcome, Flladi,

I love your work. It is inspiring and very alive. You have a supreme talent! I look forward to your participation and new posts.

Garth

Garth,
It's a privilege and an honor to be here!
I appreciate your kind words! Thank you very much!

Flladi

What a great introduction, your work is wonderful.

Verrrrrrry nice, Flladi,

Welcome!