Past Work 6

untitled portrait
watercolor and colored pencil on illus. board
13.5" x 12.25" (34.29cm x 31.115cm)
NSF

Here is another blast from the past... the same experimental stuff on slick illustration board.
This was when I began to get the hang of it, however it is still a tough surface to work on.
Often the surface takes over, dictating too much for me, how it looks. I prefer controlling it. I want decisions to be conscious ones.
That's not to say I don't like happy accidents but you can't start with too many uphill battles.
This is one reason I generally don't work on canvas in oils. You can't escape its texture, especially when photographing the art.

I was still having some problems controlling the spottiness in the shadows but overall I was happy with the results... the design of the shapes, the palette, etc.
I was experimenting with mixing-in the colored pencil with watercolor. Not knowing how well it would work and not wanting to risk ruining the head ,which I was feeling good about, I reserved it for the shirt. I liked the way it gave a velvety depth and texture to what would otherwise be a flat graphic shape. It is hard to see the subtlety of its application in this photo but there is green pencil underlying the blue watercolor.195

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Past Work 5

"Megan"
watercolor/gouache on illus. board
13.5" x 12" (34.29cm x 30.48cm)
NSF

My niece at around 5 or 6 six years old...
The color palette here is atrocious, at least to me, but is reflective of colors my niece loved back then, which was one of my intentions.
Remember, experimental work means leaving your comfort zone in part so here I wanted the palette to be tied into her instead of relying on the usual familiar palette (from then) without much thought.
That mauve in the background and lavender in the shirt makes me shudder. However, even now when I look at this I don't just see Megan at that time, instead I'm taken back to memories of who she was too, it radiates with her personality beyond just a likeness. So with that, I'm happy.

This one, like the other recently posted portraits, I simply reached a point and stopped. Although I saw some problems with drawing, form transitions and even design issues I did not want to lose or destroy that spontaneity associated with experimenting and lose the liveliness of her character... remembering that experimental for me means it is more about learning and discovering than about making a finished piece of art.

I can also see where I struggled with the medium leaving some areas unresolved.
The hair is a little too coarse and abrupt since I did not refine and soften it for its bright sunny light. Some areas like the shadow in her arm and shirt are too busy but again I did not want to refine at the expense of freshness.194

Portrait of Megan as an adult here.

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Past Work 3

"Billy Idol"
mixed media on illus. board
13" x 11.5" (33.02cm x 29.21cm)
NSF

Number 3 in these past work posts, another experimental piece.

There is a lot I don't like here besides its unfinished state. The whole right side never got resolved. That's OK though. Sometimes it serves as a record of some exploratory technique and quitting on it early is better than killing it with overworking. And maybe that rawness is what I want to remember ...other times it is one area of the work I want to preserve, something new I learned, if I got that out of it that is enough.

That having been said I may decide to 'finish' the right side, if I can do so without spoiling the rest.
The harsh cast and core shadows were intentional (experimental) and lend themselves well to his persona if you know anything about him. Normally a more refined shadow transition would be better but then again this is a stylized portrait.192

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Past Work 2

"Murphy's Law"
mixed media on illus. board
9.5" x 9.5" (24.13cm x 24.13cm)
NSF

Here is another past experimental piece done at the same time as the previous post.
This one is gouache, ink and acrylic paint.

The difference in this one from the previous is the acrylic paint. Part of the experimentation was beginning with the gouache and ink then finishing with another medium, just seeing what I could do.
My experimental work is often left in an unfinished state or is not refined so as to not lose the freshness of the process, allowing me to easily see the steps, and is more akin to drawing than painting.
Having fun, no pressure.191

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Past Work 1

"Pee Wee Herman"
mixed media on illus. board
9.5" x 9.5" (24.13cm x 24.13cm)
NSF

Since I am continuing on a new body of work I thought I would show some past art over the next couple of posts.
Here's an experimental piece I did a few years ago, a caricature of Pee Wee Herman. Done in gouache, ink and colored pencil. It's not a perfect likeness but I was more concerned with seeing what I could do with the medium instead of getting hung up on the portrayal.
I often don't sign and date experimental work since it is not meant for sale or publishing but something I will probably do in the future since I can't remember the exact year I did this one.

The fun part of doing experimental work is to let go of any methods, palettes, styles etc. that I usually use and just see what I can do. This always has the extra benefit of feeding my (usual) work, even if in small incremental ways.190

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Maniacal Snow Drift

"Snow Drift" sculpture
foam, plaster, wire, acrylic paint on mat board

"Jobin Study" painting
oil on panel,
2011, private collection

Sometimes you just have to break away and try something for the simple pleasure of creating. Something outside of the normal scope of work.
Here's a fun little project I did as a Christmas decoration.

My inspiration came after seeing the Tim Burton show at LACMA. I just had to do something grim and maniacal for a change. I love doing projects like these. It takes me away from the usual art I do and has a way of feeding my creativity when I go back to it. So I find it artistically healthy.

The recipient is a fan of this kind of art. I sent her two emails, prior to giving it her, as a teaser of what was to come and to arouse her curiosity. They were hints based on my ideas. The first an old (modified) philosophical question that was the basis for the piece. The second a short poem I wrote for it.

The first email:
If a tree screams in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise?

The second email:
Beware of Serene Scenes


Snow can be evil,


Snow can be grim,


It can rise up against you,


At its own whim.


The small cat portrait is of her (mad) cat,which isn't friendly to other cats, the mad catter you might say. Originally that was what I was going to give her. Upon finishing it I thought, how lame that would be to hand her that! But I still wanted to incorporate it into the sculpture though so I hung it as an ornament. It did not have to make perfect sense, this was all about the fun. No rules.160

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Burnscape Series - Black and White

Ashen Landscape

Singed Tree

"Burnscape #6 (Ashen Landscape)"
watercolor, Pelikan blk india ink on paper, 2011
6" x8" (15.34cm x 20.32cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE


"Burnscape #5 (Singed Tree)"
watercolor, Pelikan blk india ink on paper, 2011
6" x8" (15.34cm x 20.32cm)
For Sale at Daily Paintworks, CLICK HERE


Burnscape Series - Living in Southern California and seeing so many wildfires it would be easy to focus on the destruction. My attraction for the burned landscape isn't for its destruction... but instead how it modifies the landscape, turning it into a charcoal terrain... it is rebirth, the way Mother Nature intended.
It is how She manages her jurisdiction, by controlling dense undergrowth. We usually get in the way.
Man has traditionally prevented fires, the growth becoming so thick that when fire does occur it is devastating. Another topic on the Man vs Nature theme.


TOP: Certain vegetation produces white ash resembling snow. I sometimes refer to these as California fallscapes, winterscapes or snowscapes. Also revealed in the barren terrain are these odd lunar like holes (animal burrows) usually concealed under the growth.


BOTTOM: Grassy vegetation turns a charcoal black. Fire passes some trees when the grass is low to the ground, the heat turning some leaves brown but leaving other parts untouched and green. For composition and design reasons I focused on the pathways left by the fire trucks.143,144


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Burnscapes - Man vs Nature

"Burnscape #4 (Charred Pine Stand)"

"Burnscape #8 (Charred Cactus)"

"Burnscape #4 (Charred Pine Stand)"
watercolor on paper, 2011
6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)

"Burnscape #8 (Charred Cactus)"
watercolor, Pelikan india ink on paper, 2011
6" x 8" (15.24cm x 20.32cm)


Here are two recent watercolor/mixed media's from my Burnscape series. Both were at my solo show at the Randy Higbee Gallery. See previous posts.

Living in Southern California and seeing so many wildfires it would be easy to focus on the destruction. My attraction for the burned landscape isn't for its destruction... but instead how it modifies the landscape, turning it into a charcoal terrain... it is rebirth, the way Mother Nature intended.
It is how She manages her jurisdiction, by controlling dense undergrowth. We usually get in the way.
Man has traditionally prevented fires, the growth becoming so thick that when fire does occur it is devastating. Another topic on the Man vs Nature theme.

Top - #4 Trees are meant to survive fires where brush is low to the ground, the fire sweeping through too quickly (and frequently enough) to wipe them out. This pine stand didn't look like it would survive so to accentuate this I set its blackened silhouette against a background of unburned green.

Bottom - #8 As fire sweeps through dry brush, here... all that's left of a thicket, sometimes all that is left behind is high water content vegetation like cactus. What caught my attention was how the left side of the cactus clump seemed to have leaned away from the fire.137,138

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Puffer

"Puffer Fish"

mixed media, 2006

9 ³ ⁄₈" x 6 ¾" (23.80cm x 17.145cm)

private collection

Only Mother Nature could come up with creatures that look so silly but are cool. This puffer looks at the viewer with an attitude of "What are you lookin' at?"

Most artists will break from their usual work from time to time to do something fun, something that has been in the back of their mind or sometimes totally random.

I had a lot fun with this one.55

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