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Echo Bridge at Hemlock Gorge, Newton - a beautiful reserve with a granite and brick bridge construction with a suitably gorgeous view.
A picture taken by my friend Niki, with his early morning running group. The mist rolling over the hills provide a dreamlike quality. I had a lot of fun with the forms of the runners, both far and near to frame.
Jono Lancaster was born with a congenital disorder named Treachers. i used a machine learning algorithm to get an approximation of what his face might look like from a groomed shot of him with a beard using the app Movepic, then interpreted naturally. This is a somewhat conflicting piece for me as Jono has worked to become comfortable with his condition, and I didn’t put in the work to understand, but wanted to provide a nice day dream for him, and a view of his soul without Treachers - check him out on instagram @jonolancaster, and learn more about Treachers directly from him!
An imgur meme among other origins, this painting marries the classic SNL sketch and the legendary Van Gogh painting. A cautionary tale of passion, and parental advisement in the world of art and mass media. Listen to your folks, because you might end up living in a Van Gogh DOWN BY THE RIVER!
A particularly beautiful area from Sekiro, housing many battles with all sorts of creatures, including men who throw lightning, dogs … who throw lightning, an angry confetti shooting bull, a giant carp, ghostly warriors, and an ascent to mountainous peaks to obtain the “great gift of tears” from the Divine Dragon. All this among the sakura blossoms!
Inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s, The Garden of Earthly Delights - this piece is of the smashly verity, using ‘Super Smash Bros.’ stages as an influence.
| | | push,
| | \ a moment in flow, push,
| | | ) each individual’s zenith, push,
| | / worries melt, torso constricts
| ( where focus is all, knees, hips fold
| \ fear is not found,
| | \ has no place, launch
love exists instantaneously, as a constant
| | / a land we all hold
| | while instantly evaporated
| drop, resides within
| mind the gap,
| cherish it,
| coasts
|
| street hearts take care
|
] stops
the edge of the park
{{
}} a river
{{
}}~{>>>>
}}~{>>>
}}~{>>>>>
}}~{>>>
}}~{>>>>
|< traffic ahead, metal
|< city minds use caution
|< city 💀❤️
|< streets ❤️💀
inspired in part by brainfuck, bodyfuck & Body Pressure. 1974. (wiki)
assisted by the wonderful Brendan Sullivan
if this poem does not start with “| | | push”, go here
the petals of a rose do not fall when wilted,
rather, they cling tight,
dry and silken, an unexpected texture,
like a shadow or reflection
—
I was looking for a natural ornament to top my christmas tree with, and received this for free from the lovely proprietor of Ken’s Flower Cafe in Newton, MA. As practice, and because I thought it would be a nice gesture in response to a nice gesture, I painted and delivered this still life, the rose, sitting on a tray, reflecting and casting a shadow, the bobbles attached showing different perspectives of an uncertain form. Such is the viewer, artist, and reflection. It is an odd commentary, that higher order prospectives give themselves to spherical views, yet the spherical reflection simply maps a 2d plane.
I am starting classes again, and wanted to practice a bit. This is a acrylic painting of a bridge in Frias, France — yet another painting from a beautifully composed photograph. Composition yet again proves it is capable of transcending mediums!
Photo credit to @bonafo on instagram!
( a park, a field, a river, a tree line
the curb, the road - the cars,
.. the side walk … the buildings
the people..
… the skyline
the sky …
… the moon )
MFA class on seeing through Monet’s eyes, instructed by the excellent Gianna Stewart. Super fun to go see real examples of a master artist, then to paint while under the glow of that impression.
Oil water Lillie’s on acrylic. Early in Monet's working life, someone said that his paintings looked like impressions of paintings. Source images were of reflection, so this is an imagined countryside, a view of Monet’s private gardens through my own.
For a while, my sister lived in a literal 100 acre wood. I do not jest, it was a unique, incredibly beautiful place to live, something right out of a tall tale. She rented out the carriage house, a charming abode set back from the main farm house - what the little apartment lacked in space, it made up for in personality.
She was feeling anxious about moving & buying a house, so as a way to help her transition, I painted the carriage house first from a photo reference with diffuse light, then in person, en plein air on a sunny day. Her two dogs, Sadie & Midnight are sitting in each window, and the griffon insignia is thermal color changing paint, to add a bit of flair to capture just a smidgen of the little house’ personality :)
A house warming gift for my sister! I chose this scene, because the composition is incredible, the color palette is natural with hints of humanity, and it has an overall cheery aesthetic appeal. I wanted to give her something that would raise the overall mood of her house, even if just by a little.
The photographer (credit to @mietta.rossi!) aligned the horizon with the joining blocks of the arch, leading to a look suggesting the arch is a part of the natural landscape.
I decided hold on the detail of the town below, such that it looks as though you are standing in front of that arch with your eyes blurred, or with your eyes affixed on the horizon, or the sky, with the town out of focus. The arch does not have perfect proportions, giving it a dreamlike quality.
The product of a glazing course with Evelina Brozgul, we worked on a three step process: graphing the scene, sketch, base layer, glazing layer. It is a fun process that yields predictable results. The amount of time between the base layer and glazing layer is usually variable, and waiting helps avoid muddy effects. Very diluted paint is used to impart a soft look.
This is an attempt to work out my feelings with regards to the meeting of peoples who travel towards one another despite being different forms and phases of life and matter. We arrive at a scene with a mysterious woman whom’s perception of events seems to flow into the reality beyond the artists vision.
Through trying to express my understanding of events, I learned that the feelings I am grappling with may not be simple things, and that further creative exploration could be healthy.
The painting of butchering a pig is an off the cuff response to a visceral scene I happened upon. This painting is a response to the mirror’s dissolve, and inward shattering. The two fall into a split existence, dealing with man’s modern needs and that of an animal (see: man). They fall into a desert oasis, finding themselves in the middle of a desert wrought for clarity. The patterns of human form a möbius strip, the patterns of life and death becoming more clear with each passing day they travel together, ultimately revealing a larger form. We view them on the nape of human’s neck, walking together, having used the sleeve of his jacket to support the animal’s injuries. That they are in the road obstructing their own ambulances attempting to reach the position of their original fall is a note on the healthcare, and the eagerness to put the passed behind us without reflection.
I learned about the paralyzing crisis of choice as followup to a painting that was the product of intense emotions. I also learned that sometimes, if you get stuck, staying up super late and letting your head loosen / your hair down is an option.
A work that started as commentary of hearing then seeing a pig butchered while I was painting in Martin’s BBQ, and then became just a little political. Swing the axe, break the mirror, fall in the fire.
This painting taught me that freeing my creative urges is a path to deeper understanding.
The output from a portrait class I took, from a model - I learned about the difficulty of portraying the luminance of skin and how important it is to get there early, as people are really good at organizing themselves thickly around the model. I setup behind someone, in a space that I thought was fine, as my view was between two easels. After the instructor finished her demonstration, the woman who was at the easel said quite flatly, “This is my space now, so you’ll have to move.” I was uh, not in her space, there was a table between us, and I in an isle. I did not move. It was ok, though upon reflection I understand why she was averse to being in my line of sight. I was however a little further back than I wanted to be, and I believe this is reflected in the detail around his eyes. Overall though it was a good class, with some brief awkward moments of walking up and getting a good look at his eyes.
Recently, I’ve been paying some mind to space, and specifically colonization of the planets in our solar system. I gave this a Martian backdrop as a way of providing a more exciting context beyond the void.
Also, I gave him a haircut.
I ate at Martin’s BBQ in Nashville, and was so enamored with the scene they had built, I didn’t a quick painting - during which the smoker ashed directly on me, and the painting - with some curious onlookers and good beer, I truly had a wonderful time painting in that venue.
While I was painting, I kept hearing an intermittent thwack thwack thwack* from my right. I paused, and walked over to take a look, and was greeted by the vision of a pig being carved in preparation for the smoker. At first this was a little shocking, but as I thought about it further, it occurred to me that with the bar, the dining area, the music, games being played & me painting - there was truly a universal fulcrum taking place - I think, unintentionally, reflecting this, the painting has something of a fisheye lens - wider than normal.
Read more about it here.
On my way around the country, I stayed with a couple friends and their family - 2 kids and 3 dogs. A lively, lovely household in Montgomery. As a thank you, I synthesized the sunrise from The Hostel in the Forest with their portraits. Their dogs below, closer to the sun.
On the way from Washington DC to Raleigh, I pulled up to a Waffle House to eat, and before me was a classical arrangement of Americana. After eating, I painted while listening to music, got several compliments on the painting, and then… my battery died. I scheduled a AAA driver to come out and give my car a jump, but it was going to be more than hour. I settled down for the wait, but within 20 minutes a man in a truck showed up, and seeing my hood open, shouted “battery?”, I replied in the affirmative, and he proceeded to pull out an inverter, and gave me a jump. He would not accept payment, and feeling the karmatic debt, I gave the painting to a waitress who was particularly enamored with it, then moved on to Raleigh.
