Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Old Painting, New Start

Nearing the year end, I am looking for a new challenge, project and painting subject to take into 2014. I have some paintings on canvas that have been rolled up for decades. They weren't improving in condition having been stored and moved so many times. This one was an attempt to work on a larger than usual scale. Its dated 1984 on the back. That puts it in my Neely Farm Studio days in Norcross, Georgia. I could see that I only worked on it for a day and then never picked up on it again for 30 years!
Back then I was freely waving my airbrush around from all four sides. There was no preconceived design or subject. I just liked taking my sketching method directly to large canvas and seeing what I could make of it. So here I go. Let's see what I can do with it.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Five Blades - New Version



Working from a digital painting I created a newer version on canvas. The process of planning and designing a picture on computer using a stylus and paint simulation application has intrigued me since the days of Deluxe Paint and the Amiga computer in the 1980's.
This painting was originally done on my iMac using ArtRage. I have written about this on my blog in the past. This time I wanted to try out the concept and see if I would be satisfied with the process and result.
I sketched out the forms freehand. The scale is much larger than the giclee print I used as a reference and the canvas is not exactly proportional. I did attempt to reproduce the same colors, blending and brush stroke qualities. It went quickly, avoiding the often long pauses deciding what to do next. I found some new features to improve the complexity while preserving the original intention, whatever that was.
So I can say that digital painting for me is a useful tool that facilitates painting of hand made pictures.
Its fun!

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Visit to the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Pete

While in St. Petersburg, Florida I visited the Museum of Fine Arts. Its an cubic styled building on the waterfront. Best thing was the accessibility. We found a parking spot at the front door, which is actually in the back.They permit photos without flash so I was able to capture some details of paintings which attracted me. I wasn't familiar with these paintings before so I'm glad I went and saw something new for me.
This is a detail from Squire J. Vickers from 1927 titled "Cityscape With Sun". Its done on burlap giving it a rich texture of fabric. He was the chief designing architect of the NY City subway system until 1942 and was included in the 1913 Armory Show.

I also became interested in how hands were depicted in several paintings. This is a detail from George Luks, "The Musician" that's undated.

This is painted by Randall Davey circa 1920-25 titled "Portrait of Paul Robeson". Davey was a contemporary of John Sloan, Edward Hopper and George Bellows.


Monday, October 7, 2013

A Totem Completed

I've stopped working on this latest picture so it may just be finished. It once was a figure. Since then so much has happened. Colors have built up, forms filled and filled again. Thin paint runs down and later is surrounded by its thicker cousins. It was fun to paint. Nothing too serious. Just keep putting things in the corners and around the sides. It is gallery wrap canvas. Find little nuances. Make mini pictures inside the big picture. But keep the balance that a totem must have to keep standing.

Totem 2013
36in. x 48in.
acrylic on canvas
See how it looks from the side including the painting's edge.



Wednesday, September 4, 2013

A Figure Emerges

Something I haven't taken up in recent memory is the figure. I realized that the human figure was a fitting subject for me to try and something new. After a few large pencil drawings I grew confident I had a workable layout.

As the photo below illustrates this figure is rather geometric. It is my attempt to render the suggestion of a figural form as it mirrors my own form. First sketching the lines as gestures at the end of my arm. Then laying out some environment by dividing up the picture's rectangle. Its not a self portrait yet the canvas occurred to me to be a mirror at the end of my extended arm, hinged to my shoulder.

Winterhawk studio view at the drawing board. Sept. 3, 2013
St. Augustine, Florida

I thought there must be a head, so I included a semi-circle. It could be a hat. There should be eyes, shoulders, arms, legs, a torso. Well by that time I didn't care about a figure so much as the design of the forms and the qualities of their colors.

This is no figure. It is as always a picture with shapes, colors and hopefully a germination of some life of its own.

Friday, August 30, 2013

Awarded First Prize in Abstract Painting


My painting "Crosscut" was recently awarded first prize at the  Premier Gallery's exhibit, "Concepts-Abstract Art".
The Premier Gallery is located in downtown Jacksonville, Florida at 50 N. Laura Street, Suite 150. Hours are Tues.-Fri. from 11-3pm. The gallery is in the lobby of the Bank of America tower and the paintings are visible from the street.

This group show of 20 artists will be on view until Oct. 1, 2013. The exhibit includes four of my recent original paintings on canvas and are for sale at the gallery.

Photo courtesy of Ed Malesky

"Cool forces coming from below are growing upward through layers deposited over time. Although buried, some rare objects emanate their own energy. As this force emerges it transforms in the presence of fresh space, fed by a charged element."