Me

This is the rare and endangered giant river otter.

Portrait of Nicholas Georgiou

16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas, April 2009, by Titus Castanza Here's a portrait of my friend Nick. He sat for me in my studio. I painted his head in about 1-1.5 hours. And for some reason, the rest of the painting took about three hours. He first was wearing a t-shirt that looked crappy as hell, so he put on his suit jacket and tie. It really helped plant the sitter and bump the figure out from the background. I also painted him using any-old florescent light bulbs already hanging on the ceiling of my studio. I knew it would cool everything off, but I really wanted to try it. After having painted it, I really don't mind florescent lighting so long as you can anticipate such a scenario and prepare to have things dramatically cooled off.

Figure model 21st of April

Here's an example of a drawing that was done with a live model. I may go back into it in my studio (without the model) to push the values and details. I want to push my imagination. I use reference, whether it's live or from photographs, only as a springboard for a finished piece. Reference can be a bit limiting and is not meant to be taken so literally.

lounging costume figure pose

Wedding Portrait - Pencil

Self Portrait April 2009

I made myself from oil and canvas. 8"x10"