Shirt

This past week was crazy with working on building a drop fence of sorts that runs along the base of our deck. Some time was spent in the studio at night, an old shirt from college proved to be an interesting subject matter. 

The large 2x4 panels are all built and tonight once I get the last coat of paint on the deck fence I hope to get back to the garage and start on the 2x2's.

Week of 6/13

The panel configurations get worked as flat configurations then broken apart, reassembled and worked again. Looking at the stacks against the wall it became apparent this weekend that the stacks were configurations as well, so in a way to work them as an entire unit or configuration a blue line was painted that meandered across all of them. The edges of the panels really could be more of an important element in my final work than previously thought.

Current in-progress configurations.

Progress on Man with Stripped Shirt image, bottom shot being the most current.

14 of the 15 2x4 panels were built over the past week. Hopefully I can crank through the 18 2x2 this week and next, then rip a few of those squares into triangles, counter sink the nails, putty the holes, prime and sand everything in the next month. I really view the panel fabrication as part of the painting process.

Work 6/11 — 6/12

Beginning to fabricate more panels. The current plan is to build 15 2x4 and 18 2x2. Which would be more than enough for 5 72"x72" configurations. I figure I'd spend an hour each night working a a few before or after I go to the studio.

I gave Caleb a small stretched canvas and a few brushes, he hung out for an hour just fine while I worked Sunday.

This image has been giving me fits, the colors from the source image are skewed warm and red, plus I waffle on the temperature differences between the forehead and the lower portion of the mouth. Currently there is not enough distinction in terms of temperature between the various portions of the facial structures to separate them enough resulting in an image that is flat. Started this one back in early January, it still feels a long way off as either a finished image in and of itself or as parts to be worked into different configurations. 

06_12 ruddy duck

A bit of mark making on the ruddy duck painting. Just throwing some visual texture in the form of doodles into the background to see where it might take me.  

a detail below

Oil Pattern

Below are a series of shots showing the first attempt at working with creating a tape and oil paint pattern.

Tape mask applied.

Oil paint applied and mask removed.

Preparing to spay Turpenoid on the paint in a effort to get it to swirl and run.

Too much spraying and swirling. You can see the spay bottle of turpenoid on the back edge of the panels. I think I had the paint on too thick to get what I had in mind to work, plus I went overboard with the turp. I had seen this video and it made me want to try it out in my studio. (It's a 19 minute video and the portion that I am referring to does not occur until about 15 or 16 minutes in, if you have the time the entire video is interesting.) The artist Jorge Pombo was doing this with an image of Istanbul that he had painted, but I thought I could apply it to the geometric, hard edged patterning I have been doing. I'll try it again with less paint, a little more dry time before spraying, and less turp when I do.

24 hours after spraying it, the oil paint is still very wet despite the amount of turp sprayed onto it.

Forgot to photograph the second tape mask applied to the wet paint, but this image shows the result of some white oil that was worked into the wet ochre color and than sprayed again. I liked how the tape mask removed the wet oil from the surface when it was removed yielding soft edged line.

Weekend of 6/4

The images are ordered from the most recent image directly below to last image on the post showing where the painting was when the weekend began. 

ruddy duck

I managed to spend some time in the studio drawing today. This started as a quick sketch of the Ruddy Duck and ended up being a bit more involved. This seems to capture a bit of the drawing style that I have been using in the sketchbook. It will probably continue to evolve. 

A detail of the mark making. This is drawn and painted over and drawn again. 

Work: 5-31

Last night was spent exploring further configuration possibilities with the new triangle panels along with some sanding. The non-traditional format really helps these paintings feel like objects, surfaces to collect marks, document images and to stand as a testament to time. My father likened these paintings to plants in a garden, once started they need tending, pruning, nourishment and the inexplicable degree of grace from God to become something. I like that. No timeline should dictate their completion only that they consistently be tended to and allowed to grow with integrity and God's grace. Than at some point when they are ready, they will be done.

Bad photo, I apologize. Looking at a variety of different types of panel and "wedge" sizes here. If you note the sliver of tan/blue wood that separates the top square panel from the rectangular one to the right of it. That is a result of having to fill in extra horizontal space created by pairing the two vertical panels in the lower left corner together. I'll need to craft an additional wedge to fill in the remaining half inch gap on the far top left side. I like these drastically smaller elements which could provide hits of color and contrast. Quilting with paint and wood. Currently 73"x72".