CLOSER AND CLOSER

WHIPLASH finished

This is the final version (I think) of my lastest painting, an acrylic on canvas.  I purchased a book on abstract textures in acrylic and started to play around.  The first instruction was to create a design with horizontal movement.  I put some dark diagonal splotches on top of the yellow ochre and viola!  I saw two eyes, and a nose!!  Can't fight the inevitable, I guess.  I went looking through my resource images to find something that would fit what showed up and found this wonderful face of  actor J. K. Simmons who played the despotic musical instructor in the movie Whiplash.   Great face, almost demonic.  I was able to pull lots of wonderful closeups by stopping the DVD and taking screen shots.    I have been working on this painting everyday and kept painting back into it.  I wanted to try and save the initial texture I created.   Wish I had more of the original but happy with the final results.  I photographed the painting at the end of each day.  Below is how the painting developed.  I wanted to keep it loose and more impressionistic.  I am getting closer and closer to that style.

 

WHIPLASH FINISHED

I will be traveling for a few weeks and hope to bring home some new inspiration for future paintings.

lnspiration for future paintings.

 

TRANSPARENT

While I await my next Immigrant participant, I have been experimenting incorporating images drawn and painted on a transparent material called Duralar.   This is an image I traced from a drawing I did in one of my sketch books.  First, and ink outline and then painted with very transparent acrylics.

This is an old painting I covered over with hand made collage papers.   I like it too much to take a chance putting some image directly on the surface.  I have ruined many good starts and had to cover over the mess and start over.  Using this new technique, I can preview how it will look before I take the plunge.

Here is the finished product.  

A NEW PROJECT: THE EMMA LAZARUS IMMIGRATION PORTRAITS OF COURAGE!

FATTIN

I have embarked on a very ambitious project in hopes of bringing more understanding and connection between the community who has been in America for more than one generation and those who have immigrated from other places.   I am calling the project the Emma Lazarus Project.  She is the author of the poem "The New Colossus"  which is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.  I invite the subject to my studio.  While they are sharing their story, I am sketching them.  I take photos afterwards and paint their portrait in acrylic.  I will write up a one page synopsis from our recorded conversation and will create a book with the image and story side by side.  Naturally, the subject has given me permission to record them and I will let them have final say over anything that is published.  They will receive the sketch as a thank you for letting me paint them and share their story.   I also hope to have an exhibit of the paintings and stories.  Perhaps I can figure out how to include a portion from the audio as well.  

Tbis is my first subject, Fattin.  She is a lovely woman from Indonesia who survived the tsunami.  Her story is powerful and brought both of us to tears as she retold her experiences and how they empowered her and changed her in profound ways.  

If you know of any immigrants who live in near the San Francisco peninsula and would like to participate in this project, please let me know and I will follow up.  

THE MOP STRING METAMORPHOSIS OF METAMORPHOSIS AND OTHERS!!

METAMORPHOSIS

MOP STRING DRAWING #1 METAMORPHOSIS ON NEWSPRINT

MOP STRING DRAWING #2 METAMORPHOSIS ON NEWSPRINT

MOP STRING DRAWING #3 METAMORPHOSIS ON BROWN PAPER

I was looking through my work recently and discovered that I liked my drawings more than most of my recent attempts at painting.  I was inspired to do a series of drawings and then pick the most interesting and go from there into a series of some kind.  I wanted to work in a more abstracted way with emphasis on flat shapes.  A really great way to get there is to draw with a cotton mop string dipped in ink and held at the end.  The results are always interesting and the experience is intense, frustrating and sooo much fun!!!   These three drawings were from the same source painting image.  One never has great control but with practice and experimenting you can get better and creating curved lines and picking up where you last ran out of ink,   Give it a try and send my your results.  I would love to see what you do with this idea.  

Here are a few more I did today and the original painting that I was looking at as I dragged my ink filled mop string across the paper.

THE FRENCHMAN IN BLUE

MOP STRING DRAWING #1 THE FRENCHMAN

MOP STRING DRAWING #2 THE FRENCHMAN

Here is a mop string drawing based on a stylized drawing.

Sometimes I have more control if I start at the bottom and move the string up.   Try different starting points and come at it from various directions.  How about Upside down!  Smooth paper, Yupo, Tyvek, rough paper.  

DEMO AND WORKSHOP IN SACRAMENTO

Here is the newsletter page on the WASH website announcing my upcoming demonstration and 2 day workshop in less than 2 weeks!  I am looking forward to spending time with my friends in Sacramento and sharing ideas and painting information.  2 day workshops don't give me very much time so I focus on a very narrow idea with as much information as I can.  We will be dealing with changing the lighting on a portrait.   This is segment of my Advanced Portrait Workshop.  The demonstration the day before the workshop is going to be unrelated to the topic for the workshop. Right now,  I think I will share my thinking process in planning and executing a painting.  That is what I am doing now as I work through ideas for my next series.  I should have lots of supportive materials completed in the next week or so.

EXPLORING NEW MATERIALS

Friday was the last day of a big sale for a local art supply store in preparation of moving to a new location.   I decided to take advantage of the opportunity and buy some expensive oil pastels.   I have about three sets of inexpensive oil pastels and have periodically experimented with using them.  All drawing media intrigues me.  Tbis is a piece I first experimented drawing on a printed background mounted on foam board.  Here are some more colorful oil pastel experiments on top of acrylic printed pages in  a small sketchbook.  I find I like the look and feel of oil pastel over acrylic.  

CHANGE OF PACE!

VERDANT 

SAN DIEGO OVERLOOKING THE OCEAN

The source photo for my latest painting is from a recent trip to San Diego.  After putting this image through various photo app manipulations, I painted this landscape by scraping acrylic over a collaged surface which I had applied to a wooden cradle board.  This was a lot of fun to complete a painting without one actual brush stroke.  I wound up totally covering over the hand printed surface papers but the texture made a huge difference in the final result.  Originally, I had created a much more abstracted image but was struggling with the final touches and then went for a more traditional impressionistic solution.   I really admire many non-representational pieces by others.  Somehow, I find it very difficult to do.  I am trying to challenge myself to work in a more abstracted manner, at least part of the time.  This painting is going to be part of an exhibit of abstracted landscapes by my critic group friends.  I will share more details of where and when after I have the official information.