Bananas

 

Banana 1, Pastel and Colored Pencil over Watercolor, 8 x 5 on 140 lb paper

Banana 2, Pastel and Colored Pencil over Watercolor, 8 x 5 on 140 lb paper

Banana 3, Pastel and Colored Pencil over Watercolor, 8 x 5 on 140 lb paper

Banana 4, Pastel and Colored Pencil over Watercolor, 8 x 5 on 140 lb paper

This little set is the first artwork I've made since mid-October.  It was time to get going again. 

I wanted to play with a split complimentary color scheme, so I used a yellow subject with a red-violet background and a blue-violet background, and a blue subject with a red-orange background and yellow-orange background.  I was really nervous about making blue bananas!  I worried that they would be unrecognizable.  My banana browned significantly between when I started the set last night with Banana 1, and when I finished it this afternoon with Bananas 2, 3 and 4.  I started feeling like my artwork actually smelled like bananas by the time I was done.  I think the smell helped me make them more natural, along with the browning. 

I first did a watercolor wash for each of the paintings.  Then, I sketched my banana quickly in pastel and completed and under painting with Prismacolor Pencils, using complimentary colors (violet for the yellow bananas and orange for the blue ones).  I also sketched in some detail with dark brown, raw sienna and burnt umber colored pencils.  I went over the work with pastel, then added more detail once again using colored pencils.  The shadowing also began with colored pencil, but ended with pastel.

Bluebrush

 

"Bluebrush," 8 x 8 mixed media with acrylic and pastel on 140 lb watercolor paper

This is a project started with a trip to Ennis this past April.  I was especially drawn to the Indian Paintbrush, mixed in with all the Texas Bluebonnets.

I took this photo of an Indian Paintbrush:

I cropped the photo, emphasizing the flower's opening as a focal point:

 

I was most interested in the organic shapes within the flower, and I thought diagonal direction of the image would accentuate the focal point.  I sketched the flower with charcoal directly onto an 8 x 8 canvas and completed an ultramarine blue under painting using acrylic paints.   

My intention was to glaze the under painting and create a realistic, colorful image.  After many layers of glaze, I realized this project was not going to work.  Maybe I was too impatient.  The colors were not doing what I wanted them to do, and I regretted painting over my beautiful blue under painting.  I had already scanned the under painting, and so I printed my image onto 140 lb watercolor paper.  I then went over it with PanPastels, giving it a soft, velvety effect.  I ultimately made the choice to emphasize the blues and purples of the surrounding Bluebonnets instead of the peaches and pinks of the Indian Paintbrush.  My final product is almost monochromatic, with violet and magenta dabbed in for a bit of whimsy. While abstract colors are used, the flower itself maintains its soft texture within the final painting.

Secret Ocean

 

"Secret Ocean," 9.5x 6.5, Mixed Media with Citra Solve

This Citra Solve experiment reminds me of my friend, Celeste, with all her beauty and mystery; getting ready to send it to her.  I made this back in May, but just now getting around to matting and framing it.  And you know what?  It still smells like oranges.

After Apocalypse

 

"After Apocalypse," 9.5x 6.5, Mixed Media with Citra Solve

I am getting ready to send this one to my friend, Rachel.  It reminds me that there is still beauty, still light, still hope, even after the entire world falls apart. 

Hand of God

 

"Hand of God," 9.5x 6.5, Mixed Media with Citra Solve

I have been dying to experiment with Citra Solve and National Geographic magazines, and finally had the opportunity yesterday.  "Hand of God" is one of my favorites out of the mix.  In this piece, I see a large, illuminated hand reaching across an alien landscape.  Notice the play with scale and proportion, as well as the complimentary color scheme of violet and yellow.  I will post some other experiments soon.  My house still smells like oranges, although I completed most of this work in the backyard and in the garage.

Trumped Up

 

"Trumped Up," Acrylic Collage on 14x18 canvas.

The first time I noticed Donald Trump was maybe back in 2007, on an Acceptable TV sketch called "Operation Kitten Calendar."   This was during the time of The Apprentice, and the reality show star was clearly the victim of this sketch.  I thought Donald Trump was a joke, and when he ran for office, I rolled my eyes.  I told anyone who asked me that he didn't stand a chance and not to worry about it.

I believed this well into the election season.  This man emerged as not just a reality show laugh, but a hateful, misogynistic racist.  I thought he buried himself when the Howard Stern audio recording emerged, and even more so when he said "bad hombres," "nasty woman" and "you're the puppet" during a presidential debate.  I thought America wouldn't stand for a president who views women only as sex objects, a president who hates immigrants, a president who never apologizes and always blames others for his own actions.  Donald Trump seemed to be a kind of comic book villain.  He has been rightfully compared with the character, Biff, from Back to the Future.

 How could he "win" America?  But he did.  And so, the idea emerged for this painting.

I wanted to make a collage that reveals the absurdity of America today, the Orwellian world of "alternative facts," and the power-hungry leader behind it.  I wanted to make a portrait of Donald Trump using Fauvist elements (I love the works of André Derain, in particular, especially his portrait of Matisse), choosing colors mainly from my beloved 1984 special edition book cover.  I particularly wanted to juxtapose warm and cool color to show how I perceive Donald Trump.  I also wanted to focus on the design principles of unity and variety.  The 1984 motif definitely creates unity across the painting.  Variety is created by color, shape and the various collage elements (Trump's tweets, magazine articles, newspaper articles, photos, dictionary and thesaurus entries, pages from 1984, etc.).

 

I started by making a rough sketch of The Donald:

 

I blew up and transferred my sketch onto a 14x18 medium textured canvas.  I knew I would be covering it up entirely, but I knew I wanted Trump's jacket collar to coincide with the cover of 1984.  Then, I began collecting relevant newspaper, magazine, thesaurus and dictionary clippings, and pages from 1984.  I put together my collage using matte medium.  

 I did a total wrap around, making sure to place text on all four sides, as well as on the canvas itself.

Using mixed media is hard!  I had a lot of fights with ink running, even though I varnished it.  I even made an accidental print of my 1984 cover due to matte medium misadventure and mayhem.  I fought a lot with my paint and my colors.  I learned that I don't like gloss gel medium.  I had to redo my 1984 collar.  I ended up making Trump's tie entirely out of another vintage 1984 cover while I was at it.    I finished it with two coats of satin varnish.  

I came up with the idea for this portrait on January 30.  I was working on another painting at that time, but this one definitely took longer to complete than I would have liked.  

At the end of the day, the painting resembles pop art more than it does Fauvism.  But, I'm happy with how my Trumped Up painting turned out.

Crayon Melt- Butterfly

 

Crayons melted over unprimed canvas, 30x24

This piece is special to me because it was the last project I created in Mr. Bill Rapin’s art class during my senior year of high school. Even after the seniors were released for the year, I stayed behind to finish it. Mr. Rapin taught me how to stretch canvas and use a heat lamp to melt crayons across it, a process that took real patience: heat, tilt, heat some more. Honestly, it broke my heart to finish it. If I could, I would have stayed in Mr. Rapin's art class forever, and in my soul, I suppose I have.

Mr. Rapin's gallery advert 1986

Mr. Rapin had invented the concept of crayon paintings himself after his daughter accidentally left crayons on the windshield of the family car during a camping trip. Watching the wax melt together into vibrant patterns, he recognized the beauty in it and turned it into an art form. His crayon paintings were displayed in The Village Gallery in Brooklyn, Michigan, and many still hang in his island house and in his cabin in the woods. He always encouraged his advanced students to make their own crayon paintings at the end of the year.

Mr. Rapin was the best teacher I ever had. I love him dearly and think of him each day. I would like to try making crayon paintings again.