Our view

Here's the French landscape painting I started a couple days ago. This is my first attempt at an Impressionist landscape painting, and also at creating a landscape at such a small scale (4" x 6"). I mixed a gel medium with the acrylics to thicken the paints, creating a texture similar to oil paints. The technique was pretty fun, and resulted in a surface in which the brushstrokes were more visible than they usually are in my paintings. Working in this manner was a nice contrast from my usual smooth, photorealistic style of painting in realism. I look forward to trying a few more and seeing what happens!

New landscape underpainting

Here is the underpainting for the landscape I've just started (as inspired by the aforementioned landscape show!). This is the view to the northwest, as viewed from our veranda in France. I'm trying this painting in a small, postcard size of 4" x 6", with acrylic on 300 lb paper. So far this is just the absolute bare bones of the painting, a quick sketch to lay out the composition...

New appreciation

Last night I attended an Art After Dark event at the Tampa Art Museum. It was fun to mingle with the crowd amongst the art after hours, to the throbbing sounds of a live band. They had a really nice exhibition titled Tourism and the American Landscape, featuring the artwork of Frederic Church, Winslow Homer, and Thomas Moran. I will admit that these types of paintings, when viewed as reproductions in books or online, seem almost insufferably boring (in my contemporary opinion), so I didn't have high hopes. But viewing the works of art in person makes such a huge difference! It becomes an entirely different experience of the art when one is able to view them upclose, in person - to see the various brushstrokes, the thickness or thinness of the paint, the luminescent quality of the paint. I gained a new appreciation for these artists, and was reminded of how important it is to view works of art in person as much as possible. I was also inspired to try some landscapes of my own! I have plenty of reference material from photos I've taken abroad, so I hope to tackle them in the coming weeks.

Inside the art

Here's what my work space has looked like this week:

I've been swapping back and forth between the abstract paintings. The four middle ones are going to be sent to a gallery in Ohio, so those are the ones I'm trying to finish first. Usually I like to go back and forth between working on realism and abstract, but I've been so focused on getting these done that this week I've only been working on abstracts. It's interesting the affect it's had on me - when I close my eyes at night, it's like I can see different colors and shapes floating in and out and all around. If you've ever seen the movie What Dreams May Come, do you remember the part where Robin Williams is "inside" his wife's painting? The painting's colors are all around him. That's kind of like what it's felt for me this week, only in a much more abstract manner. Very interesting!

The Recent Cold

I've enjoyed the recent cold weather lately. Of course I'm saying that from a Floridian perspective, of having been a bit disappointed by the absurdly warm winter we'd been having. For most of December and January there's not really been any need for so much as a sweater. I like changes in seasons, since they are still quite a novelty for me (although I have no desire to experience another English winter!). So it's been really fun for the past week to be able to put on a jacket and take a brisk hour-long walk along the beach, to get the juices flowing. What's great is that when the weather gets like this in Florida, when it's overcast and chilly, the beach is practically empty. I love the sense of quiet solitude that can be had on those occasions. It's a good time for self-reflection and observation of nature, and rejuvenates the desire to jump back into those bright, colorful abstracts!

More doodles...

Here are some more doodles from my Brighton sketchbook...






I've been very busy this week, scrambling to finish 4 paintings by next Monday for an upcoming show in Ohio! I'll show pics of them when they are finished.

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