august '10 art update

my last update was in april, which is terribly long ago. it's been a combo of forgetfulness and inactivity. it's not like i've been completely away from painting. i worked on a few pieces, and even have had 2 shows - 1 @ the rogue festival, 1 @ patrick contreras' violin studio. and, i've been moving along on some paintings. but, i finally realized how long it had been, so i put up a post. and, i started a new painting that i took a bunch of in progress shots of.

lambs to the slaughter - i actually showed this painting in an unfinished manner at the rogue festival. since then i've begun working on the faces of the lambs, and the overall coloring of their bodies. i took this photo today before i added some reds inside of the lamb furthest to the left's mouth



shema - this painting is based on repetition. basically, i've been writing deuteronomy 6:4-8 over and over and over on this board. i'm not exactly sure where i am in the process on this. it's developing some nice colors and rhythm and so we'll see where it goes. i've basically been using 5 colors and i think when i get it to an almost finished stage i'll write it one last time in white.



this next painting is brand spanking new. here's the board i began with:



next, i sketched out a thought of a figure in front of the tower theater in a grease pencil



and then color. shading/blending/whatever else will come later, this was about getting paint on it



some ground color added



shading on the body. love this yellow/green combo and the grays on the ground



so, that's where i'm at today. i'm quite excited to not only start a new piece but to just have it move along rather quickly. i've got to give the work a few days to set a little, but it's good to be working.

art update

i'm taking part in a collaborative art project called "the underground garden," put together by local musician blake jones. it goes hand in hand with the release of the newest album from blake jones & the trike shop.

basically, each artist (there are a ton) are being given a 12"x12" piece of plywood to work with. the prompt is to think about how the local art/music scene is reflected by the idea of an underground garden.

here is my unfinished piece - it's due back to blake by 4/19.



admittedly, this is a crap picture. for whatever reason, i couldn't get a clear picture of the piece. i think it's because of the smearing i used. the piece is done in oil pastels, something i haven't used in a long time. i enjoyed working with them again, and so maybe there is an element of rebirth in it for me. i wanted to use a tree, a common symbol of life to be a symbol, or reflection of the growing arts and music culture in fresno. in the piece you see fruit of different valley plants (grapes, oranges, cotton, strawberries, all coming from the same tree, the same soil. but, this is also a take on the actual underground gardens, where there are fruit grafted onto other trees and so you have a tree that produces multiple fruits. fresno's art & music culture is beginning to bear fruit. it also comes from different branches. in the piece, there are 4 main branches, but this is more symbolic, as there are more than four branches, and more than four types of fruit being born here.

i'm more or less done with piece, i want it to be a quick reaction based on the inspiration.k it's not something i want to work and work and work on. that's not a reflection of the fresno art & music scene, just me & this piece. i'll be adding a polyurethane coat over the top to seal the pastels, and to give is some depth & shine.

the whole collective piece will be unveiled on april 24th at audie's olympic.

rogue 2010

art update

holy crap, i haven't updated this page in forever. and, i haven't done much work. but, i am working, and here are two photos of a piece i'm working on for this year's rogue festival. it's called "fly on a windscreen"



close detail of fly



the painting is moving along, and it'll be ready to show in just under a month.