Expressive Drawing 2.2 "In My Garden" - Graphite, colored pencil and gesso on paper - $300

This one grew naturally into a painting about plants, growing, roots, seeds, leaves. It was fun to work on. At least it wasn’t about castles!

Tuscan Fields - 18" x 14" - Acrylic and graphite on Masonite - $500

PAINTINGS COMPLETED TODAY: 1
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TO DATE: 49

Today’s painting turned out well. I ran out of prepared boards, so I had to go back to the  18″ x 14″ boards that I can’t find frames for.

I found some great photos of Tuscan landscapes online and used one to compose this painting. I outlined a lot more than I have been doing. I think it works.

Me with one of the "dwellings" paintings I submitted to the "Off the Wall" show in Riverside

Tonight I went to the “Off the wall” Artist reception/show in Riverside. The art filled two galleries, pretty much from floor to ceiling… well, at least 10 feet high. It was really interesting. Some of it was fabulous, but some of it was not. Enough said about that.

Two of my friends, Richard Manookin and Serena Potter, exhibited their art too. It was fun to see their work. I didn’t see them, though.

My beautiful wife, Christina, was kind enough to accompany me, so it was a mini-date night.

Three of my paintings are hung on this wall. Can you spot them?

After the show we walked outside to the car and there was a band playing in front of a local church. It was fun to stand and listen to them for a little while.

It reminded me of living in Honolulu, where on the weekends, you could wander the streets and hear bands and see performances here and there. I miss that part of living in a large town that supports the arts. I love the mountain town I live in, don’t get me wrong, but large, thriving cities have a lot to offer.

Me teaching my first art class in a school

Today I taught an art class in my 2nd grader’s class. I had spoken with his teacher during our parent/teacher conference. I mentioned that I was an artist and could teach a class. She took me up on the offer and today I taught my first real school art class.

I did the second exercise in Steve Aimone’s “Expressive Drawing” book. We did some automatic drawing with a little “veiling.” the kids did a great job and I think I blew it when I said “OK kids you have 2 minutes left…” because they just started whiting over everything and scribbling over everything they had just done. There were a few really nice pieces.

I told them their parents just might not understand what they were doing because it wasn’t really a picture of something. So they should just tell their parents it is “Expressive drawing.”

One little girl was crying because she scratched her paper and the teacher wouldn’t let her get a new one. I asked her how she felt and then told her to draw how she felt on the paper. She started scribbling within the lines she had just drawn and it looked really cool.

One boy's "Expressive Drawing. I like the use of color to add a focal point to the drawing.

I will have to try this again if the teacher will have me back!

Abstract sketches based on photographs

I was thinking about it and I like doing abstractions. When I start adding too much detial, I get messed up. What if I take a photo of a scene and break it down into its largest groupings and treat them like geometric or abstract shapes?

I have tried painting outside, but have had trouble. I try and add too much detail and it becomes too realistic. I don’t like that. So, maybe this abstraction idea will work.

I tried it with a magazine of photos I have and really liked the results. It is kind of how I draw anyway, so I think it is a good fit. I can sketch the pictures and abstract them out, but I will have to wait till tomorrow to see if I can paint them in practice. Here is an excerpt from my sketchbook.

Art is the same. What colors are you using? What is the size? Is it vertical or horizontal? What size brush are you using? What is the medium? How is the energy? Is it hurried, energetic, fun, crazy, languid, smooth?

A lot of planning goes into creating a work of art, whether painting, sculpture, music, poetry, literature, etc. I am really appreciating the elements that go into a beautiful work of art, and they all need to go together well.

Expressive Drawing #2 used as idea for abstract series # 10, 11 and 12. I really liked the bottom left corner.

PAINTINGS COMPLETED TODAY: 3
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TO DATE: 29

Today is Saturday. Soccer games are over. Everyone has gone somewhere. I think I have about 4 hours alone today and I am in the studio. I’m excited. Here we go!

I started the day working on an expressive drawing. I don’t really like it, but then I wondered if I could learn something from it.

I looked at different sections and realized I really liked the bottom left corner. I then took that idea and made a series of abstract paintings. I am happy with them and I really like the last one. Here is what happened…

"Big Daddy" - 12" x 12" Acrylic and graphite on Massonite - $200

PAINTINGS COMPLETED TODAY: 2
PAINTINGS COMPLETED TO DATE: 26

I painted much more freely today. I fixed the canvas (board) from yesterday and I think it looks OK. I have a problem with faces. I can draw them just fine, but when I paint them, it gets all messy.

I went back over some old art I had done of faces and realized the best ones are just a series of shapes that I then outline and fill in with whatever color feels right. I tried that today on both these faces.  Again, they are OK. Just like most artists, I am my harshest critic.

I did, however, try to remember that painting is all about having fun and letting the inner child express itself. That made it easier to just let go and “have fun.”

I know why artists do self portraits. They are their own best and most willing model. It isn’t that they are stuck on themselves. I would much rather paint other things, but if I need to paint a face, it might as well be mine. It is probably the only face that artists don’t get tired of painting over and over again.

Postcards of Modigliani's Portraits in my studio

I really like Modigliani’s portraits. They are images of faces. Not all twisted and abstracted like Picasso’s, but they are drawn like a child might, but I really like them. That simplicity is what I am after.

Red Head - 12” x 12” Acrylic and pencil on Masonite - $200

I just wrote my aunt who left a comment on this blog. I thought I came up with some pretty good stuff, so I would like to share it here:

Contemporary art is all about what the artist is trying to say. Not what the piece looks like.

I believe that the viewer completes the artwork. I do my best to create something either with a message or something that is thought provoking. Then, when the viewer comes, they bring their background and baggage and they get a certain meaning out of the art. Now it is complete. And each person that looks and understands something or feels something, creates a new piece of art.

Right now,  I am trying to whittle down 13 years of neglect to find the artist I was at school 13 years ago.