Sumo Crazy

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I just finished the Queen West Art Crawl a few weeks back and it's not only until now do I feel well rested, physically and mentally.

Since last year's show, I had promised myself I would start painting sooner for this year's show (i.e. 2013) But I am who I am, so my painting in earnest didn't happen until a few months prior to the show date. I had nothing at that point. Dry. Nothing in the creative well. In fact, I had many false starts. I was trying to paint landscape, urbanscapes, traditional still lifes etc. But nothing. I think I threw out more half-started canvases than I kept. But as fate would have it, the image of a sumo hit me about 6 weeks prior to the show date. It was time to crank these puppies out. Here are the results:

  

Oil on board, 8x10

Oil on board, 8x10

 

Oil on board, 8x10

 acrylic on canvas, 20x24

 acrylic on canvas, 24x30

 acrylic on canvas, 24x30

 acrylic on canvas, 30x36

 acrylic on canvas, 24x24
(my favourite one of the black and white sumo)

 C'est moi.

More is more

Bah. Who really needs a minimalist picture with a lot of white space? I certainly don't. I'm currently taking an oil painting class but wanted to keep up with my acrylics, so this was a stab at them. I wanted to put down a lot of paint and see where it takes me. No story in this image, just things that popped up during my painting session(s). I think it was a continuation of the attitude I tried to cultivate with the Sketchbook Project: Just put images on the page and don't overanalyze the lines too much.

The Sketchbook Project

My favourite spread from the book.

I participated in the Sketchbook Project, a project that is based out of Brooklyn, New York. The participants of the project choose one of several themes offered and fill the supplied sketchbook with the theme. I chose "life underground". I can't say it's my best work, but it allowed me not to over think every line I put down. Plus, I procrastinated too much and meeting the deadline also forced me to just put images down on paper. Some images are a stretch from the theme but that's ok with me. A fun project and now it's time to concentrate on my oils.

3 x 3 Nutcracker

I've been working on this one for the last month (I know, I'm really a slow painter) but the painting phase is done and other than for a few touch ups, I'm ready to assemble this monster and get it framed.
I have mixed feelings about this one. I envisioned each painting to be much darker in mood and I guess my understanding of colour theory and technique hasn't yet reached the level of proficiency that allows me to match what I see in my mind. But it's going to be shown at the show and hopefully some lucky person will have it in their collection.

Let me know what you think.

3x3 apples

Just finished my 2 sets of 3x3 apples. My original intention after finishing the larger piece was to do these guys to hang at the Starbucks where I work.

When I finished the blue piece I was apprehensive about the numbering system I used and I still am. Any thoughts on that from the blogosphere?

sketchbook 07/21/10

Inspired by Dan, I broke out the arcylics that have been sitting in my apartment for a while.

I found a gargoyle on the web and thought it would be an appropriate first subject for my maiden voyage into acrylic paints. This image took a few days for me to get it to this point, and I think it's a bit heavy handed. In fact, the end result looks more like a painting that should have been done in oils because of the dense application of paint to the paper.

The learning curve was massive while I was painting this and I'm sure it's going to keeping on increasing as I continue to paint with acrylics.

I think I also have to invest in some better brushes. The set I used was a beginners set with 4 different types of hog bristles and 3 synthetic ones. The hog ones were falling apart and you could see some of the hairs embedded in the paint. I think I prefer the synthetics. They feel more like the watercolour brushes that I'm used to.

sketchbook 07/18/10

A view from my window and a spread that has a bit of everything.