Daily Paintworks

I just joined Daily Paintworks and will be adding artwork over the next few days. By the end of the week I should have plenty of art on my gallery page.
DPW is where I will launch the new locomotive series that I mentioned in a previous post (and shown here of course).

It was proving to be too difficult to have my store on a blog.
Daily PaintWorks is set up for this purpose and I will be in good company.
I will also be making all the appropriate changes, updates, links and adding the widget to this blog.
Stay tuned.

Gutted Like a Fish

"Press Telegram #1"
watercolor on paper, 2012
9" x 12" (22.86cm x 30.48cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE

This is the first in an intended series although I sometimes get so busy that some series don't go past 2 or 3, we'll see.

The old Long Beach (California) Press Telegram building as seen from the backside.

The end of an era and a local newspaper, at least as newspapers once were. At one time the four story building housed the entire news operation, including the presses which could be seen at street level.

This building is being refurbished, opened up and gutted like a fish. It is urban renewal. It is not getting knocked down but certainly has been, the last few years, and currently is a shell of its former self.

On the left is the former, being removed, deleted and swallowed by the dumpster. On the right is the revamping as shown by the machinery at the ready and the slung ropes. Right in the middle, the transition, the pile I intentionally shaped like a dead fish. The holes punched in the side of the building painted nearly black like hollow lifeless eye sockets.229

Other similar themes of Long Beach California urban renewal here, here and here.
One from San Pedro California here.
Two from Oceanside California here and here.

Corrugated 3-watercolor

"Corrugated-Sulfur"
watercolor on paper, 2012
6" x 9" (15.24cm x 22.86cm)


The challenge on this one was the street since it takes up so much of the picture plane, about as much as the sky, and has the same colors so I made sure to vary the texture.
My favorite parts are the corrugated fence caught in a half light, revealing its buckled shapes, and of course the bright yellow accent of the sulfur pile.228

New Locomotive Series Coming Soon

PHL Sketch
ballpoint pen, 2013
4" x 5.5" (10.16cm x 13.97cm)
NFS

I mentioned a while back I was working on both new work and commissions. This is the reason for all the sketch posts as of late.

One of the commissions, of the Vincent Thomas Bridge, is near done and I will post it here soon.

Of the new work one is a series on locomotives and I will begin posting those within the next month.

In anticipation of that I did this quick sketch from memory to test my recall, to see how well I know the locomotive without reference. Oops, I forgot the number on the side of the cab within the diagonal stripes... could not do much about that since ballpoint pen is permanent.

Despite its whimsical cartoon approach you still have to know its proportions and most of the structure and details to get it right and I did OK here. I know because I tried this exercise before I had done many trains and fell flat on my face. It's all about practice.227

Sketchbook Page-3 (and cover)

Jobin, The Mad Catter
ballpoint pen, 2013
page 8.25" x 5.5" (20.955cm x 13.97cm)
NFS

The nature of sketchbook pages is that not all ends up good and there are a couple dreadful ones on this page but that is ok.

I'm experimenting with seeing how far I can distort the forms before I lose the cat. The top left for example looks more like a chihuahua or bat and borders on being too cute.
Trying to find a non-representational version of the cat while avoiding cute and cartoony is not that easy, at least for me.
Another Jobin, The Mad Catter here.225,226