Part two in the march-backwards through l’ histoire de l’art de moi. I’m getting better at the video thing. I think this is July through Halloween -ish.
paint
Video of Recent Art
I’m truly sorry I’ve not done anything in the last couple of days. I’m working through proposals at work (to pay for my art!) and skin cancer to boot, but last night at 3ish, I made this video of recent art (going back to October (ish). I’ll get creative again soon! I kind of want to do a full length video of all the artwork I’ve done, but it would be significantly longer than 2 minutes – more along the lines of an hour. Maybe over the holiday weekend.
Spring Revelations
I may be killing off the last of any artistic reputation I’ve built up with this, but it’s an oil, stencil telling of a secret, buried in the winter, coming to light in the spring. Inspired by Apple Crown Royal, now empty, and the song Electric Love, by Børns, on repeat. Nap time.
Cherry Lightning Filler
This started as a scrabble on the canvas, and asking myself “What can I do with it?” Et voilá! I’d kind of like to scrub the tree and start over but there’s other ideas that need to spill out into reality. Why? It’s reminiscent of my early work, and I know I can do better. So, media… mixed of course. Acrylics, watercolor, pencil, pastel, and stencil.
Once More Unto The Doodle
I’m driven in art by the notion that today may be my last day on this rock orbiting a small G2V star on the lesser known side of the Milky Way; which is why I try to do something every day. Good, bad, whatever, it’s a record i existed. So, here are some butterflies flitting about in a nameless summer field on a warm summer day.
Fear not, those that are here for my digital art (of the 3D kind. I haven’t abandoned it, I’m just waiting for a cool idea to pop up.
So this is digital, but it’s oil, spray paint, stencil and some watercolor – ergo mixed media.
The Haunting of a Tree
This is four digital art paintings in one. It represents the things a tree would see over a lifetime. It got messy putting them together, but art is messy when trying new things. I may turn it into a gif.
The layers I used are each represented below in order. Layer 1 is infancy and youth.
Layer two is love and hope.
Layer three is strife and conflict.
Layer four is denouement and loss. The ghosts become real.
I suppose it could be a snapshot of any century, but I relate it to the post-9/11 world.
Lost Mews-ing
Channeling the Black Dog today, which is why this subject is dark.
The #painting is heavily influenced by two things: #Strangerthings the TV show (also #Strangerthings2) & H.P. #Lovecraft. I’m calling it ‘Lost #Mews-ings’ (after the #cat in the show)… at least until I pick a different title.
It’s not my best work, because a lot is lost between what I envision in my head and what appears on the canvas. I’m also using a Monet reference model again. Why? Monet is awesome, and I don’t have my pose-able figurines yet. They should be here after Christmas. Someday I should actually sketch these things out, then paint, but that’s part of the fun – brain to canvas.
Also, this started as a challenge to paint a flashlight beam. I don’t know if I achieved that. I’ll let you tell me.
#art #acrylic #horror #scifi #tentacle
Nature Rocks
I may add some highlights to the Roses, but I’m bored, and as Rey found out when turning over her scavenged goods on Jakku, what was worth four rations yesterday, is only worth 1/2 today.
About the painting:
The idea stems from an audial affair I had with an old friend, Concrete Blonde. Concrete Blonde, for those wondering, is an 80’s band fronted by still smoking hot bassist Johnette Napolitano. Her gothic voice, driving rythym, and intense lyrics sucked me right back in as I was navigating my music collection.
I was listening to the song ‘Caroline’ a lot, especially on my many recent road trips. One day, curious, I pulled up the video…
…And I sort of became inspired. So, the rocker in the painting is Johnette, although I’m horrible at 1:1 realism, and she’s wearing the dress from the video. I took artistic license with the guitar, sue me. Here’s a still:
The roses? The song ‘Caroline’ is from the album ‘Bloodlettng’, which is chock full of roses. It’s been remastered for its 20th anniversary, by the way:
So that is the story. I guess you could call it fan art? Really, it’s stream of consciousness painting to good music.
As for the title? Nature does rock. It fits and I’m a fan.
Cattitude
I initially hated this, but it’s starting to grow on me. I have to add Cats to creatures I can’t do photorealistic paintings of. I can, of course, take a cat and make a similar looking one but exact likeness – not yet.
There’s lots going on in the painting; direction of stroke, color theory and so on. I don’t know what that means, because I didn’t got to RISD, but it makes me sound like I know what I’m doing, haha.
If you like it, please share. I can’t sell it, because my mom saw it and laid claim to it. If you would like me to paint your cat or kitten, please contact me.
18 x 24 Acrylic on Canvas.
Wildflowers
I lost another long post (hint to WordPress, fix your app), so I will again give the short version.
I’ve been doodling. Over the last few days I’ve been trying to replicate the way the eye will focus on one-element, while others are blurred. I’m using flowers for this experiment.
For the out of focus elements, I used spray paint and simple forms. The foreground elements are done using acrylic paint. To achieve light in the background, I used metallic paint mixed in with the darker colors.
Like it? Make me an offer. Note: The canvas is damaged on the side. I’ve repaired it with Gorilla Glue and paint. If framed, no one but us will ever know it’s there. I cut the canvas trying to remove it from my table as it was painted onto the surface.
As it looks on the wall. 16×20.
Night Light
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.
Moving On
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.
2017. 16×20, acrylic on canvas.
Available for purchase here: