PRIMARY

I got around to finishing a drawing I started about a month ago. I'm not quite sure what to make of it yet. It appears a little random in content, but it's a fun image.
Out of curiosity I played around with color, and this is what I ended up with. I will most likely find other plans for this drawing, but for tonight I thought I'd share this :)

DIGITAL HEART

When I'm working on larger paintings, I often have smaller paintings that I work on while the larger ones are set aside to dry. This is one of those "while other paintings are drying" paintings. However this is a Photoshopped version of the original. The original painting is a bright, full color painting with a blue background and silver leaf detailing on and around the heart. This version feels more aggressive and raw, with colors that I feel tie in better with myself, than the subject in the painting. It gives it a definite change of perspective.

Im happy with the changes I made through Photoshop. The bright red-on-gray combination worked out nicely. It added a great deal of mood and intensity to the image.

Still, using Photoshop/ digital media with my paintings is not something I do very often. Even when it works out for the best, and I'm happy with the results, creating work digitally doesn't quite hold the same satisfaction as creating work with my hands.

ELEMENTS

Today, I finally found a few minutes to take a decent picture of this painting. I finished it a few months ago. It's 4ft x 2ft oil painting with gold leaf. Overall this painting is just a fun combination of elements/materials that have, at some point in time, inspired me to create.

FLESH & FABRIC

This post is somewhat of an attempt to make up for my failure to really stay on top of my blog. Here I am posting two paintings that are 98% done. Well, they are just images of parts of the paintings. When the paintings are complete, Ill post images of the whole paintings.

The top painting, is actually pretty small. It was a quick, fun piece where I felt like composing physical materials (gold leaf and ribbon..) with the contours of a friend.

This bottom image is the left half of a large painting where a tattooed figure is laying in a surreal environment made of fabric. This has turned into one of my more aggressive paintings of the past two years. Although there is room for improvement and things I have yet to learn, I think this painting shows improvement in my use of space and color contrast. Red can be difficult to work with, and I can honestly say I am proud of how I've used it in the fabric around the figure.

Currently, I have several other paintings in progress, and I'm constructing a frame for the bottom painting shown in this post. So, hopefully I'll have more to share within the next few weeks.

FROM THE HEART

Finished. Matted and framed. If you go a few posts back, you'll see an earlier, "in progress" version of this painting. As mentioned in the earlier post, this started as an acrylic painting. But, somewhere along the way to being complete, I said screw it, and broke out the oil paint. There are a variety of softer tones that I wanted for this painting... tones that I find to be more effective when created with oils. So, I switched, and I'm happy with the results.
I made the top mat out of the actual ribbon that partially inspired the imagery. It was an experiment that turned into a fun way to finish the painting.

This painting is to be one of many paintings that focuses more on the importance of materials and elements that have inspired or moved me to explore and create as an artist. Although, this idea opens up all sorts of mixed media options (which I play with a little), I see these paintings as an overall celebration or tribute to what I consider to be foundation elements of my personal artwork. With that said, I see it only fitting that my original love of painting plays narrator for the imagery. If that doesn't make any sense, thats okay. At least I know what I'm talking about.. ha.

MINNESOTA MOON

This is the promotional image I painted for Youngblood Theatre Company's upcoming production of MINNESOTA MOON by John Olive. This production will be playing around the same time as Youngblood's production of GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES by Rajiv Joseph. Both plays are definitely going to be worth looking into.

GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES

I painted this just the other day. It is the promotional image for Youngblood Theatre Company's production of "Gruesome Playground Injuries" by Rajiv Joseph.


www.youngbloodtheatre.com