Theatre flats in progress 4

Got the rail well underway this afternoon. The green grass took a beating while I was sponging texture on the rail but I can clean that up later. Later’s a great time to do things. I park most of my tasks there.

Got your tickets yet? No, not to the gun show... my wife’s show: Self Help. Just a few short weeks away!

(See previous progress shots of the flats here.)

Acrylic Chaos (poured painting)

Can you see the surreal, snaggletoothed Bugs Bunny in here? Check the teal rising up from the bottom centre. Or maybe it’s just me.

Because the brain is wired to make sense of visual input, these pour paintings cause it to work overtime. While staring at the image (or parts thereof), familiar images emerge from nonsensical shapes and patterns. Faces and animals seem most evident to me. All twisted and surreal, of course.

My poor (pour) brain... if it were a unionized organ, I’m pretty sure it would be filing grievances by now.

This piece has no title yet... I’m still digesting the acrylic chaos.

Acrylic Chaos
acrylic on canvas
24" x 16"

Theatre flats in progress 3

The paint pouting is on hold until I make some progress on the flats. Try as I might, they are hard to ignore at 8' x 8’. Got some grass colour roughed in and I’m drawing the railing in pencil. Much measuring, cussing and erasing.

Note the collection of containers on my little bench holding my house paint concoctions.

Favourite container so far: yogurt.

Worse container: salsa jar.

Finally, there’s info on the web about the show: Self Help @ the Barbara Barrett Theatre (ACC) in St. John’s. They had sold out shows last time and some disappointed people had to be turned away... save yourself the devastating heartache and preorder your tickets here!

“Troubled sunset” poured painting

I love the wonky sun in this. It started with the happy accident of adding an unmixed lump of orange so I went with it. A landscape evolved. This process is always surprising.

I’m submitting this to Illustration Friday’s weekly theme, “crooked”.

This is available in the shop.

Troubled Sunset
Acrylic on canvas
12" x 12”

"Fire and Ice" poured painting

New poured piece. I actually did two last night but the other one is still wet so I’ll post it later. This one’s already up in the shop.

Fire and Ice
Acrylic on canvas
12" x 12”

sold

"Blossom" poured painting

This is last night’s result of my third day of working with poured paint. I settled on “Blossom” as the title but there were so many options: every turn of the canvas seemed to reveal new shapes and patterns. I am happy with the contrast and vibrance of this one. This is also a bigger canvas than previous... I think the larger size made me feel a little more in control of the outcome.

Pretty sure I’m getting addicted to this process.

The inset photo is a detail from the painting.

Blossom
Acrylic on canvas
12" x 16”

sold

Poured out of my mind

Still pouring. Still working small: 12" x 12". Might try a larger canvas tonight.

Poured acrylics

I’ve been working with poured acrylics this week. There’s a lot left to chance and the results can be surprising so it’s exciting to work with. I’m also discovering that it’s easy to overwork them... less meddling the better.

This is the first one I did on Monday. Got a title suggestion?

Acrylic on canvas
12" x 12"

Pixel pushin'

I really wanted to do some paint pouring tonight but I had limited supplies and energy. Instead I lazed on the couch and pushed these pixels around on the iPad.

Stage flats -- in progress

I’ve been working on the stage flats for my wife’s upcoming show. Normally I’d paint the entire canvas as I go but because this thing is so huge (eight foot square), I’m tackling it in sections. Right now I’ve got the sky and tree line pretty well done, though I’ll probably revisit it at a later stage.

Outside of the house, I’m limbing and junking trees. Thank you, Leslie.

Alfred

Here’s another little sculpture I’ve been picking at this week, similar to Vincent.

My wife says his name is Alfred. She must be right.

I’ve used up all the left over Das so I need to find another polymer or natural clay. The Das seemed to dry so fast that I had trouble get the little bits to stick. I also found it very crumbly. As a result, Vincent is going to get a good sanding when he thoroughly dries. (He doesn’t know that yet...shhh!)

Organic tobacco

My latest cartoon for the Northeast Avalon Times! Pick one up if you’re in the area.

Great big scary blank canvas

How’s that for an intimidating canvas? Eight square feet. They are theatre flats for my wife’s upcoming show. Just getting them primed today. Eventually to be a landscape.

Fingers crossed.

Imagination -- IF

This is for Illustration Friday’s “Imagination” theme. It’s a little different than I imagined when I started but I’m happy with it.

I used my fathers set of oil pastels that he bought at Eaton’s shopping centre in the 1970s. Price tag: $2.50. Apparently they still work. It was my first time using pastels. I think I’ve got the gist but will need more practice. They’re really enjoyable to use, especially on the black paper.

My original idea involved lots of exotic plant life. I was still thinking that when I started making the wave... then I lost focus. So to recap we have alien spacecraft, rocket ship, dinosaur, Superman and ... water. Kind of funny.

Superman’s a bit of a mess but I was pleased with the dinosaur.

UPDATE: I sealed the piece with fixative and quickly noticed it was a GLOSS fixative leaving sporadic shiny bits all over the image. Thinking it was sealed, I grabbed a can of matt varnish and gave it a quick coat. Unfortunately, most of it dried white. Big mistake. Lesson learned.

Imagination
Oil pastels on paper
16" x 22"

Mirrored Birch

I’m still obsessing with the birch tree. This time in Photoshop... holding up a mirror to nature and seeing what patterns emerge.

This might be a good time to point out I’ve recently started a Redbubble shop for selling paper and canvas prints of various sizes. If you’re looking to buy prints of my work, you might find them there.

Freestylin’ Birch

I guess the tree pic from the last post was lingering in my mind... I felt an urgent need to paint this tree last night. It has its faults but its got a few good things going on. Beyond all that, however, it was fun to make. I needed a break from my current paintings... every brushstroke has become painfully precious which seems to be killing my enthusiasm to finish them. This little fellah, however, was a joy to make: fat brush, big dollops of paint, no mediums and no reference photo. (Well, I used the tree pic below to start the rough sketch but most of that went away as soon as the paint started flying.)

Along Kent’s Pond

I was out for a walk with my better half this afternoon. I love that trail... lots of great spots where the light spills through the trees.