Large and Small

It's been awhile since I last posted a progress pic of this still life, so I thought I'd share. I've kind of set it aside for the past couple weeks, as I've been working on commissioned work as well as larger work. In March I'll be heading back to Europe, so until then I'll be focusing on larger works. When I'm in Europe, it's much easier to focus on smaller works because it keeps the shipping costs for my work down. So I'm taking the opportunity to use my larger sized canvases while I can! It's fun to create large works, but to be honest I'm looking forward to working on a small scale again. I have a lot of ideas for new Deep Thinkers, which I'm eager to get started on. And I'm eager to jump back into the habit of doing 2-3 small photorealist still lifes per week. Overall I'm interested in exploring the intimacy and expressiveness that can be achieved by creating works on a small scale.

Rover Goes Retro!

Here we go! I finished the retro Rottweiler painting. Here are 3 pics - one in-progress shot, and two views of the final version.






This painting was mega-fun to create (and will be available for sale this week)! The metallic paints were a nice touch - silver on the moon boot platforms, and blue on the outer edge of the frame.

Doodles...

I was looking through one of my old sketchbooks today, which is always a source of inspiration. It's really interesting to trace the trajectory of my mind as evidenced by the various doodles, notes, ideas and sketches that are scribbled onto the pages. I always hope that someday I will have the time to revisit and develop those ideas.

These doodles came from a sketchbook that I kept two years ago while living in Brighton, England. I must have been in a portrait mood!

Piggybacking

I found this delightfully cheesy velvet Rottweiler painting at a thrift store, and I couldn't resist. I rescued the painting and intend to funk it up by painting over the original artwork - a process referred to in art terms as "piggybacking". It's my first attempt at piggybacking, and I think it will be quite fun. I already have a vision in mind for the painting, which is tentatively titled "Rover Goes Retro".

Chunky

I've started working on a new abstract. This one is a bit chunkier than my usual ones. It is 6" x 6" x 2", with all four sides painted as well. It's neat, kind of like a little abstract art cube.

I'd say this painting is about halfway done right now. The basic elements are down, now it's just a matter of filling in more colorful details.
When I do painted sides, they are usually 1.5". It is interesting the difference just half an inch makes! Someday I'd like to try the ones with 3" sides.

Colorful Candy

Here is my latest photorealist work-in-progress:

Work-in-progress - 6" x 6" - Acrylic on Wood Panel

I love this piece because it's so colorful! The colors are so bright and vivid, reminiscent of the palette I use in my abstracts. In fact I think this painting looks really great juxtaposed with one of my 6" square abstracts.

Thai temples, part 2

This gorgeous temple is also located in Phuket. I love the lotus pond in front.This is a temple located near Chiang Mai, in the northern part of Thailand.

This building was also part of the temple located near Chiang Mai.

This is the staircase leading up the temple near Chiang Mai. You could either take a cable car or walk the steps. The railing of these stairs is sculpted in the form of a dragon, the heads of which you can see in the next shot!

This is the end of the staircase. Pretty neat, huh? I believe these snakes are called naga.

The serenity and beauty of the Thai temples were certainly uplifting and inspiring and left a strong impression within me. I'm looking forward to seeing more when I return!

Thai temples, part 1

Some of my best memories from my October Thailand trip were of the many beautiful Buddhist temples that we visited. The following four pictures were taken at That Phanom, in the northeastern part of Thailand.

Inside the perimeter walls there are numerous ornately decorated structures and golden Buddha statues.

One interesting this is that whenever I was feeling anxious or down in any way, a visit to a temple would inevitably cheer me up somehow. Perhaps it was the peaceful tranquility of the place, or the outstanding beauty of the art and architecture.

The picture below shows a giant drum in the temple at That Phanom, as well as several gongs.

The photo below was taken at a temple in Phuket. I have a few more temple photos to share, but I will save them for the next post!

Playing with Borders

I've started working on a new abstract... This one using a slightly different approach. I started it off by painting in a border element to "contain" the main lively rainbow section. I'm interested in exploring new ways to approach abstract painting, transmuting my style into various offshoots.

Freshly finished

The yellow-orange toy/candy still life is finished! I'm quite happy with it. I'd even go so far as to say it's the best photorealist still life I've ever done. I feel it works really well in terms of composition, content, and execution.

Yellow Orange - 5" x 7" - Acrylic on Wood Panel

I thought it would be interesting to include a side shot of the painting resting on a small black easel, because viewing it from an angle helps demonstrate the 3-dimensional rendering of the objects.

Here is an image of my current workspace, showing all the paintings I'm working on. This is what keeps me busy throughout the day!

Yellow - Orange

Here's an update on the still life from last week:

Work-in-progress - 5" x 7" - Acrylic on Wood Panel

The duck and marble are pretty much finished. The next step is to finish the orange candy, the Tootsie Pop, and the shadows! This has been a really fun piece to work on, and I'm quite confident that it will turn out well.

Fun Facts

I did a bit of cleaning and organizing today in my studio space. I learned that on my art table, I have:

• 68 paintbrushes. (Of these, I usually use only 2-4 during any one painting session.)
• 91 tubes/jars of acrylic paint.
• 17 jars/tubes of gels/mediums.
• 54 unorganized cds which are getting dusty and scratchy.

I saw The Nutcracker today for the first time. It was great! I loved the costumes and the dancing was fantastic. I really enjoy seeing live performances and I want to make an effort to get out more to the theatre and symphony.

Short post today - I'm tired! Will post more art and ramblings soon.

Finished Tootsie

I started a new photorealist still life today. This one I'm quite happy with, and will definitely finish! Here is the underpainting:

Work-in-progress - 5" x 7" - Acrylic on Wood Panel

I realized what I really like in photorealist still lifes is strong color with ample detail, both of which were lacking in the Smarties still life I started a couple days ago. The actual Smarties are so pale, and the wrappers are clear except for the bold colors in the label. I liked the contrast of the pale candy with the vibrant wrapper, but still didn't feel it was enough to sustain my interest in the piece. Perhaps in the future I will be in the mood to capture such subtlety, but for now I'm on a brightly colored toy-and-candy kick!

I also finished the Tootsie painting from yesterday:

Tootsie No. 1 - approx. 4" x 5" - Acrylic on Book Page and Canvas

Moving On

So I decided not to continue with the Smarties painting that I started yesterday, at least not for now. Something about it just doesn't inspire me at the moment. I think perhaps I am not thrilled with the composition. I decided to set it aside for now and maybe I'll come back to it at a later date. I do that sometimes. It can be hard to let go of a piece of art, after I've spent several hours working on it. But if it doesn't feel right, I've learned there's no point in forcing it (a concept which can be applied to most things in life).

Here's another painting that I started several weeks ago that I set aside after a few hours. I'm not sure if I'll finish it; it's in my "maybe" pile. The reason I stopped working on this one was because I realized that what I really like in photorealist painting is to paint extremely tiny detail. This painting had too much "open space", too much broad sweeping color transitions. So when I set paintings aside, it's usually because something within the painting doesn't "click" with me, and it allows me the opportunity to further learn what it is about certain compositions or subject matter that causes me to enjoy creating certain paintings.

Unfinished - 6" x 6" - Acrylic on Wood Panel

I worked on a small 4" x 5" painting today. This was painted over a page from an old French book titled Existentialisme. The painting is mostly finished except for the Tootsie roll, which still needs a bit of work. I like the idea of combining text, abstraction, and photorealism, so this is an idea I hope to explore more in the near future. I also like the juxtaposition of the aged French text with the modern pop icon of the candy, and the modernist circles underneath the photorealist object.

Untitled (for now) - 4" x 5" - Acrylic on Paper & Canvas

Smarties

Goodness, it seems I've been so busy lately with art business stuff that I haven't had as much time for painting or updating my blog! Hopefully I'll have more time for painting now that things have settled down for the time being. A couple weeks ago I took a bunch of photos of different candy and toy still life set-ups, and I received the prints today. They look great and I can't wait to dive in. I'm going to try something new, a series of small still lifes painted over vintage text, so stay tuned for that!

I worked on a Smarties still life today. I finished the underpainting, so tomorrow I'll try to finish the painting.

I wasn't too sure about the composition though. I like the bottom pack of Smarties, but the angle of the top one seems a bit wonky. So I tried Photoshopping it out, but it seems a bit too empty. I guess I'll leave it in and see what happens!

Food for Thought

from Art & Soul: Notes on Creating by Audrey Flack:

"A work of art is the energy manifestation of the one who created it. It holds the spirit of the artist within its shapes, forms, and colors."

And therein lies its worth. I often think that the value in art is not so much the final product, but rather in the intent involved, effort exerted, and overall process of creation. This process affects changes within the artist that are either obviously or imperceptibly reflected in the way that the artwork changes over time. Since no two moments are the same and it's impossible to step into the same river twice, it stands to reason that the artist is a different person upon the completion of an artwork than they were at the start. The artwork becomes a record of the process.

Bunny Update & New Abstract

Today I worked more on the photorealist chocolate bunny. I focused on the head and ears, blending in the colors of the wrinkled foil. I thought it might be interesting to show the size of the brush I used - it's tiny! I love tiny brushes, because I love capturing as much detail as possible. You could say I'm addicted to detail, a characteristic evidenced in both my photorealist works and my abstract works.

I enjoy challenging myself, and I can say that this painting is a challenge based on the amount of detail involved in capturing all the minute lights and shadows created by the folds of the colored foil. It can seem daunting at first, when I stare at the photo and look at all the work involved. But once I start doing it, I always realize that the painting process really just involves breaking things down to tiny components and piling them on top of each other and next to each other until they look right.

I also started a new 12" x 12" abstract (above).

Candy and Flowers

My latest photorealist still life is a chocolate Easter bunny in its wrapper. I love the challenge of all the little wrinkles and reflections in this piece! Here is how it looks so far:




Today I finished the floral abstract commission that I started a couple of weeks ago. Tomorrow I'll photograph the final pieces, but in the meantime here is how they looked in-progress. These are 12" x 12".

How to See

I suspect that all the time I spend on art has had an impact on the way I literally view the world. I was thinking about this the other day as I took a walk along the beach. Making art is really time spent seeing and observing. With abstracts, it's a matter of making color, composition and design choices - looking at what's there and thinking of what to do next to create a balanced and interesting image. With photorealism, it's a matter of looking closely at an image, remembering what is there, and transferring the remembered image to the surface plane. Either way, it's a matter of looking and seeing what is actually there, cutting through such obstacles as mental clutter and preconceived notions of what one thinks should be there or wishes was there. So I was walking alone along the beach, immenesely enjoying the company of my surroundings... just looking at the different people - each person's unique appearance and mannerisms, the way they dress and hold themselves, what they were doing. The waves, the wind, the seagulls, boats and islands in the distance, fishermen, pelicans and herons. The variety of clouds, the color of the sky. I think spending so much time on art has increased my sensitivity to my surroundings, although that can also be attributed to inner growth and experiences, etc. a combination of things that are all inter-related. Anyway, just a thought I had one afternoon.

Back from Thailand!

Hello! I have just returned from a wonderful 3 week vacation in Thailand. It was a truly enriching experience on so many levels. I'm still processing the experience, so I'm sure I will be writing more about it and sharing more pictures in the weeks to come. For now, my mind is still blown, I'm adjusting to the time difference, and recovering from reverse culture shock. So until I get my head back on straight with some semblance of coherence, here are a few pictures!

Here is a page from the sketchbook/journal I kept during my trip:

Me, my cousin and my second cousin at a sticker photo booth in MBK (one of the biggest malls in Asia):


Illuminated Boat Festival in Nakhon Phanom. Here you can see the Mekong River, and Laos in the background.


I like the mood of this shot, taken overlooking the Mekong River with a storm approaching.