Seascape 2

This image has been in the forefront of my mind for a week or more so the paintings had to be made so I could move on with other things. It was a bit like getting a song stuck in your head.

Not complaining... I enjoyed making them. Working with texture is always fun. Really enjoyed the modelling paste. See the detail shot below to get a sense of the painting’s texture.

Seascape 2
Acrylic on canvas
12” x 24”

SOLD

17

Seascape

I’m binge painting with some new acrylics and a tub of modelling paste. This is the first result.

SOLD

Fancy pants

New easel

Why do I have a new easel?

Because my wife rocks!

She was driving home on the weekend and spied it at a garage sale. We went back out to investigate.

The owner said it was handmade and solid oak.

“I’m asking $30 for it. But I could be talked down to $20,” he says.

“Um, would you take $20?” I ask.

“Sold!” he says.

Not only that but he gave me a clip-on lamp to go with it.

I got it home, loosened and cleaned the seized-up bolts. Works like a charm. And can accommodate much larger canvases than my old easel.

Bukowski painting

I accidentally pulled an all-nighter last night while working on this one. I was totally engrossed until I saw sunlight creeping through the basement windows.

Charles Bukowski was a rough-and-tumble kinda character so I took a rough-and-tumble approach to the painting. Brushes, painting knives, fingers and occasional splashes of turpentine.

Not a perfect likeness but I feel like I got his essence.

My wife described it as “scary".

Mission accomplished.

Bukowski
Oil on canvas
20" x 24”


Here’s a daylight shot with a better depiction of the colour:

TGIF

Doodled this on the iPad during my sleepless night. It’s pretty reflective of how I looked and felt at work today.

Big alien, little planet

A submission for Illustration Friday's "lonely" topic.

Vince sculpture

I mentioned before that making props for my wife’s show a while back left me with a yen to do some sculpting. So this week I made this guy. I’m calling him Vince. There’s no good reason for the name...  he’s not based on anyone... just didn’t want him to get posted nameless. That would just be sad.

Vince is just head, made of DAS and mounted on a screw attached to piece scrap board. He’s 4.5" tall, 3.5" wide and 3.5” deep.

The Das clay is not bad but it tends to be a bit crumbly and when trying to build up shapes with small pieces, I found it didn’t adhere very well without a fair bit of encouragement. I’m going to use up the remaining DAS but I’m going to order some other air-drying clays to see what might work best. If anyone has any recommendations, I’m all ears!

And here are a few bonus pics of Vince:

Apparently this is my 300th post so here’s some bonus info.

Vince’s “backdrop” is actually a rag. This particular rag is from the t-shirt I bought at Massey Hall in Toronto immediately after Brian Wilson’s “Smile” concert in 2004. I wore it frequently and it became thin and covered in holes. I cut it up for rags, but every time I pull a piece out of the rag bag I feel a slight sense of loss. Dumb, eh? I’ll have to see if I can find another one out there on the hinterweb.

God particle

Some local humour for the Northeast Avalon Times... pick one up if you’re in the area!

You can’t fire a cannon in a canoe...

... unless you are these jokers. A little cartoon I did for someone a few months back.

Arthur Conan Doyle

I read yesterday that July 7th marked the anniversary of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s death in 1930. For some reason, I felt compelled to paint him. Here’s where he stands right now. I signed it but there’s still some work to do.

My wife suggested I call it "The Original Doyle"... a shout-out to the popular Newfoundland-based  TV sleuth show “Republic of Doyle”. Good enough reason for me.

Now available in the shop.

The Original Doyle

Oil on panel

12" x 16"