pondering and reflecting.......

Such a weird day......post Christmas, cloudy and cold. I sat down at the easel at 1 pm.....a bit of a late start.

When I sit and ponder my art(I never "sit and ponder"...just sounds good) a recurring thought comes up in my mind. The idea of narrative in painting. This isn't a new genre but it certainly is a rare on in current art trends. Rockwell was probably the last great American narrative painter. And while I don't envision narrative in its pure form for my own work I am drawn to the idea as a piece of the story. As if you crack open a book and read four or five lines. It is a descriptive moment without context.

While reflecting (also a word that sounds good) on why I fell in love with art and wanted to be an artist in the first place I recall mythology and surrealism being the major catalysts. I think I need to revisit these two ideas. I am also really interested in anthropomorphism which is prevalent in mythology. I believe this is so prevalent and common to the human experience and throughout history not because we are derived from animals but because we have a common Creator........

Tucker

I am almost finished with the Francfort family dog, Tucker. His coat has turned out to be quite a challenge taking more days to complete due to the layers I am applying. Just waiting now for some feedback from the owners........

The very supportive Joan Manning of Remember When Art Gallery bought the dachshund painting last night. She also pointed Guy Francfort in my direction for the portrait.

blah...

I keep up with a few other artist's blogs, particularly the painting a day blogs...I don't know if that was a good idea today since I started ou a little out of sorts.
I messed around another artists ebay link which can sometimes be encouraging, and at times depressing.

I wrote about the painting a day phenomenon previously......
This guy was selling 5" x 5" paintings of Hersheys kisses (you can find a dozen or so of these at any time on ebay) for $250 dollars......while I am glad for his success, I feel a bit down about it.....especially when I consider how hard I work at coming up with creative ideas.
He probably found some old stale Hersheys kiss under his couch and said to himelf "Hey, this will make a great painting I can throw down in an hour and get paid a ridiculous amount for copying!".......Sounds ungracious, I know....every time I even consider jumping on the painting a day bandwagon I become so bored with the idea quickly fades.....

I want to do something different....something unique. This has always been my desrie as an artist and I suppose at times it can be my downfall......now I am just going on and on......

Abstract day

I am about three fourths of the way through a portrait this week. Portraits are mainly technical work and I am really missing the creativity that goes into the painting I think produces the best work.
I used to do a lot of abstract landscapes and aerials and find myself missing the freedom and looseness of the genre, so I revisited that today. I always find myself trying to get tighter and tighter in these paintings and naturally moving toward something representational....which is fine, that is what my bent is.

SOLD

Harley Hann has does a great job of explaining abstract art. It is a lengthy article but I think when we understand something (or someone) better we have an easier time connecting....

yesterday's painting...

I have had a hard time focusing today. Craig and I went to Ashley's senior show and spent some time in the National Portrait Gallery where we were two of about ten people in the building. We took a few interseting photos inside one of which I am using as a reference today. It has a lot of architectual elements to it which I normally aviod since I cannot draw a straight line, but it is such a cool photo from the window of the building .........we will see if I get frustrated enough to scrap it. SOLD



Me, Ashley and Craig

Get down with your baaaaad self.....

After a trip to Atlanta, I find it hard to get back into the studio today. I have to start a portrait....soon. I did sell one painting last week. I do feel excited to get back to it, but we are going to Ashley Rigg's senior show in a few hours, so I don't have a block of time to get down to business. I have thursday and friday wide open, so no excuses.....I need to finish this one up.



The new Radiohead CD is amazing by the way......