New member in Phoenix, AZ
 

Hi everyone,

My name is Vincent Ragozzine and I currently reside in Phoenix, AZ. I am originally from Connecticut and studied at Paier College of Art there earning an MFA in Illustration. I also did some minor part time classes at at the Art Student's League of New York.

After school I drifted from art into a number of different areas, none of which I found particularly compelling or provided much success. At this point I would greatly like to return to art, so i'm very happy I found this site. I always have a lot of questions and I'd like to get started getting a real portfolio together so the wealth of experience available here could be very good for me. I haven't got much idea of how to find and reach a market for my work or how to develop a pricing schedule should I manage to get clients so I'm looking forward to picking peoples brains on those and more immediate concerns like portfolios, practice and getting models.

I've attached a few pieces for you. They are oil sketches, not anything I would consider finished work, and a little too old for my portfolio I think, but they should give an idea.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Welcome Vincent,

I can see you have a strong drawing ability. Could you tell us in how much time you made these sketches?
I hope we can soon see some of your recent works too!

Sincerely,
Karine

Hi Vincent and welcome.
These sketches are extremely promising, I hope you will post more

Ilaria

Welcome to the Forum, Vincent! I like your style, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work as you get back into art.

Time
 

Thanks for the compliment. The paintings were done during a 3 hour open studio session, so, with the warm ups and breaks they each were done in under 2 hours.

As for more recent work there isn't a lot but i'm working on it. Some more work is available on my website if you want to take a look. The range varies from very old to newer but you should get an idea.

The hard part for me seems to be getting people to pose. Those few who agree end up being hard to pin down to a date and time. Everybody is so busy in today's microwave culture. The open studio sessions are unfortunately too short for a finished piece. I think I'm going to have to get more forceful with my family and friends to make it happen.

Vin

Well, you will find wonderful advice on this forum.
For example, you could try to paint self-portraits. You probably are the only person who wil accept to sit for many hours while you're painting!!
Other threads talk about finding models, or practicing with what you have.

I visited your website. The monochrome life sketch is very good.
Ilaria found the right words. I also find your work promising.
Bonne continuation :)

Vincent,

Welcome.

Your work is remarkable considering the time restraints of a workshop.

It is really well worth the effort to work from life as much as possible.

Even tho' I had done a lot of work from life as a young artist, I started my portrait portfolio from photographs.

Fortunately I live in RI, so I could go to see the Sargents, Copleys and Gainsboroughs, etc. in The Boston Museum of Fine Art. It was an eye opener. My work looked dull and lifeless in comparison. From then on I decided to do as much work from life as possible. It was difficult and aggravating, but I have never regretted it.

I look forward to seeing more of your work.