Night Light is the first attempt to create the scene I was envisioning as a painting. I realized too late, that I had made the street lamp too big relative to what I wanted to happen around it. I would have needed a canvas three times the size to keep the perspective of what is in my head. I therefore made the reluctant decision to leave it as is and start another canvas using the street light theme.
In the meantime, I hope you like the results of this one, as it has a few quirks to it. Also, I hope you stick around for what will be the ultimate realization of the vision I have for the scene.
The scene here is reminiscent of what I see when I go for my evening walks. I’m infatuated with light, and any unusual display of it will stop me in my tracks. It’s kind of like “Shiny Object Syndrome”, only literally. There’s a tree and street light combination on the corner of my block that inspired this painting.
This is 18″x24″, acrylic paint on canvas, April 27, 2017.
Close up of Winter’s Odium, Looking Head-onI’m being told that, as an artist, I need to explain my work and process more. This bit of advice comes from a source that I came across when trying to figure out how to break into the big leagues of the art world – besides spending tens of thousands on a BFA/MFA which will get me connections. I’ve never liked networking, which explains job-hunting difficulties in the past. Plus, a degree in the arts isn’t my cup of tea. I’d rather draw exclusively on the creativity inside and discover things on my own – like the measurements involved in the human face, or the structure of leaves.
Winter’s OdiumBut I digress. About my latest work, at first glance, it looks like a kid had a tantrum while holding paint. Yet there is a lot more going on in the work than initially presents itself.
Like an onion, but not an ogre, this painting has layers. The overall theme of the work is the transition from winter to spring.
Initially, the painting was inspired by a cherry tree I saw when coming off the escalator at Federal Center SW, in DC. It was way too early, and the tree’s blossoms were interacting with a nearby streetlight in an awesome way. Yes, it’s the little things in life.
Winter’s Odium, Side Angle, Close UpMy idea was to paint the tree / light combo as if I were a passenger in a car speeding by. I’m still going to do another work based on this idea, but for this one, a shiny object was thrown in my way early in the process.
If you know me, I have a morbid side. I’ll wait for the eye rolls and statements of strenuous affirmation to stop…. Okay, I love crime shows (‘Dexter’ anyone?, ‘Forensic Files’?) and horror movies.
How It Looks on a Wall, Left AngleSo I was watching ‘Midnight Meat Train’, a slasher flick that made its way back onto Netflix after years of being absent. The movie is about a butcher harvesting humans on late night trains in NYC for a group of primordial monsters.
What does this have to do with the painting? I’m getting there 🙂 There is this part in the movie where this girl is being dragged along the bloody floor of the train. A thought occurred to me, so I paused the movie. I looked at the scene, and then looked at my painting. I cocked my head sideways, and then rotated the painting 90 degrees. I had it! I would paint the death of winter in the colors of spring.
How It Looks on a Wall, Right AngleThere’s another part of the movie that talks about art, which resonated with me, but I don’t want to stray off topic too much. So this girl is being dragged along the bloody floor, I thought to myself that it looks like winter being dragged off by spring. The hands were the trees, while the floor was time. You can see the result under the layers of color; look for the red and bone colors.
The next day, as my depression was at a momentary winter of its discontent, I thought maybe I should brighten up the scene, turn it to spring – but in an abstract sense. I broke out the colors, et voila. Greens and pinks symbolize the blooming of spring.
Head-on Shot with Overhead LightOver the succeeding days, I added light; which I’m infatuated with. You can see the sunlight reflected in the yellows and the flashes of white. The white was inspired by what happens when you’re riding (hopefully not driving) in a car with your eyes closed and the Sun is flashing through the trees.
So that is it in a nutshell. I really don’t pre-plan my work – beyond thinking about how something should go in my head. Once the paint starts flying, as in this case literally all over the room (security deposit revoked), I go where my instincts tell me to go.
Winter’s Odium, March 2017, 18″ x 24″. Acrylic on canvas. The variety of angles shows how it could look on your wall. For Sale, $600 (I need to make up that security deposit).
It’s not my worst, there’s a couple I haven’t shown anyone. Still, I’m putting this one aside. I can’t think of how I can make it work, so I’m moving on. On the positive side, I have done something for March; which has not been the greatest month for me.
About it? It started as a concept called Fruit Fly. I was going to do oranges with gossamer wings – don’t ask, sometimes I don’t know where my ideas come from. I eventually abandoned that, and went with Butterflies, since it’s Spring. The title evolved from the original fruit (sliced oranges), the wine-like background, and the beverage I was drinking at the time.
Let’s entertain for a moment that someday, I will paint well enough to earn a spot in the Met; even if it’s in the restrooms. When curators look at my body of work, they will see that my realism paintings tend to be utilitarian and dark. They will dissect my state of mind during the creation of the painting and find things with which to create parallels.
Take ‘Moving On’, my latest, as an example. They’ll say there’s a certain eerie loneliness about it. References and connections will be made to social issues and mental illness. They’ll wonder why I’ve painted Vermeer’s ‘Woman Holding a Balance’ as the only thing hanging on the wall, really the only detailed object. The relative emptiness of the rest of the scene stands in stark contrast to the focused area.
If I had to make up a backstory as to the inspiration, I’d say the painting is about ending one journey and beginning another. In this case, the woman is moving out; from a failed relationship, or something else – it’s all in the viewer’s mind.
There is irony in the fact I stopped work on it today, March 11, 2017, which would have been the two year anniversary of my last relationship – A wonderful woman, she dodged a bullet. I wish her the best.
But the painting is not really about any of this. Realism is boring, tedious work. I like rapid, flowing strokes and not contained or restrained lines. I want the brush to dance on the canvas, which is why I got bored and decided to go back to abstract acrylics.
This piece was initially the result of a dream. I went through many versions in my head before I settled on something I could actually execute on canvas. The overall tone comes from my subconscious, of course – that sense of helplessness in a world bigger than you. The subject is a girl trapped in a well, the moonlight streaming down to comfort her in her prison. She’s not seen another soul for decades, yet still wonders if someone will come to her rescue. Humanity, it seems, has passed the girl by, yet Nature, in a moment of tenderness has forged a place for her in the natural order.
20 x 24, abstract mixed media (spray paint and acrylics) on canvas, February 2017.
Squareset is an abstract representation of a sunset using strictly horizontal strokes (kind of a thing I’m developing). This is mostly a test set for color, but I think it stands on it’s own. I don’t know if no-impressionism is a ‘thing’; if not, I’ll plant that flag. If you like it, let me know in the comments, and I’ll make more.
My first finger-painting since the third grade. I’ve always wondered how effective it would be. The answer? For a guy with big fingers, I can’t get any detail. I’m going back to brushes for the next one, but it was fun to ‘roll around in the mud’, if you will, and stretch my wings.
As I’ve said, no brush touched this canvas. It looks like it, right? The story, a raven soars in the evening sky, trees below and a gibbous moon riding high in the sky, illuminating it’s coat as it searches for a throne upon which to perch… or something like that.
Acrylic finger-painting on canvas (good thing its not the Middle Ages, where this stuff was not cheap). Comments welcome, I have mostly thick-skin 🙂
The interesting thing about this piece is it was accomplished with nothing but short horizontal strokes of the brush. I also limited myself to metallic paints. This limits choice to blue, green, purple, copper, bronze, gold and white; so lighting was also a challenge.
I’m happy with the painting, it’s a good first step into a style I would like to pursue for a while, but am really unhappy with the way this artwork presents itself on film. If you are standing near it, the natural light does really wonderful things that photographs can’t capture and the metallic feel is lost in the transfer to film. I’ll have to invest in bettering my skills.
Majesty refers to the Lion and it’s place as the ‘King of the Animals.’ Even lounging in the grass of the Savannah, the lion exudes comfort in being the Apex Predator. Conversely, humans are only a 2.2 on the 1-5 scale. The fun fact is that we humans maintain our perch over the animals due to our rational thinking and technology. Without these two things, we are grouped with the likes of pigs and sardines.
Anyway, this is 16″ x 20″ and is an #acrylic #painting on canvas.
If you ever look at a human eye up close, it’s one of the most beautiful natural creations. I was thinking of this when I started this project. At the same time, I wanted to create the impression of what one would see looking up at the moon. The moon here represents the reflection of natural light in the eyes, where the forest is the myriad of colors that make up the rest. It’s also a reflection on life, eternity, and the wonder of natural things.
Mixed Media (really because of the pumice I used to make the moon (it’s somewhat 3-D) on canvas, 11 x 14, and already sold.
This started out as something else, but my art rarely goes where I want it to – which is not a bad thing; it’s part of the adventure. I originally was going for a take on Munch’s ‘The Scream’, but somewhere along the way blended the surrealistic aspects of his work and more traditional painting – probably because I wanted to practice shading. As a fantasy piece, the story is of a knight, a Paladin or otherwise, who takes a moment to rest. The scene captures that moment that the borders between the dream-lands and the world we live in blur; where sleep takes over our thoughts. In the background, are they the swirling mists of her dream or a sinister portent of battle to come?
I’ve become bored with it, so I’m moving on. This painting evokes the confinement all beings find themselves in, hence the reds. The chicken represents humanity shackeled by our desires, and the eyes seek to capture the emotions connected with the human condition.
Earlier, I was reading a book on Otto Dix and his experiences in the First World War. I had a doodle I’d started yesterday with swirls of red. I looked at it after reading the book, and saw a man in desperate fear within the swirls. I tried to turn what I saw into what you see. I kept the eyes I’d seen in the red swirls and put them behind the mask of the man advancing in a cloud of poison gas.
Here’s a close-up
Although it’s what I call a filler piece, until I get my next big idea, I wanted to convey raw, unsettled emotion; fear, creepiness, the hopelessness of war, and so on.
I’d like to hear your opinion.
