Samurai En Garde

Samurai En Garde, 2009. digital painting from hand sketch.

My second attempt at 'painting' in photoshop. I tried to use a more traditional approach and relied less on blending tools.

Nurse Girl

Nurse Girl, 2009. digital painting from hand sketch.

I took a sketch from my sketchbook and tried to do what i think concept artists/digital artists do. I scanned the sketch and 'painted' under it in photoshop. This would, I think, have been much easier had I used something like corel painter and a wacom tablet. I have neither and used the mouse as best I could. I am pretty pleased with how the shirt came out, but the face looks rather amateur. The background was an abandoned hospital hallway photo with an IV rack thrown in to make it look like a space that was still in use, just dilapidated. I spent a morning doing it and chalk it up to being an ok first attempt.

Forehead Shock1

Forehead Shock1, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

Forehead Shock2

Forehead Shock2, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

Forehead Shock3

Forehead Shock3, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

Paris Opera House Face

Paris Opera House Face, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

Sword

Sword, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

Unicorn

Unicorn, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

Peacock Egg

Peacock Egg, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

Night Battle 3

Night Battle 3, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

My memory of the first gulf war seen on the TV thru night vision goggles. I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

Night Battle 2

Night Battle 2, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

My memory of the first gulf war seen on the TV thru night vision goggles. I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

Night Battle 1

Night Battle 1, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

My memory of the first gulf war seen on the TV thru night vision goggles. I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

Tie Yourself to the Mast

Tie Yourself to the Mast, 2009. 3 pieces 8" x 6". collage, oil pastel on paper.

Ships being assaulted by singing bird women.

In a Room

In a Room, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

For Neda

For Neda, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

This is for Neda, the young Iranian woman shot down in Tehran. I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

Eyes

Eyes, 2009. oil pastel on canvas paper.

I try to do something related with art daily to keep my self occupied, these are the result.

richard ashcroft

richard ashcroft, 1998. 8 1/2" x 11". oil pastel on paper.

We Were Shaman

We Were Shaman, 2009. 30" x 40". oil pastel and acrylic on canvas.

This painting shows two protagonists furiously clapping, chanting, dancing and banging a drum in a sort of ritual. The left figure is a sadhu or traveling hindu monk; the right a native american medicine man. Their startled expressions can be seen to regard themselves or the infection in the background. In the background we see at the top a melange of african patterns. These patterns are being invaded, overtaken by the sharp glacial lines of a computer's circuitry.

The painting comes from memories of my brother and me covering ourselves in mud as children. Clabbered in this protective coating like two boney elephants we would chase each other or run about around the yard. The painting also stems from a music video my brother did that can be seen here. Wether for good or bad technology has rooted itself deep into our lives. The two shaman in the painting, up to their heads in labyrinthine motherboard, are locked in a ceremony to stop an iniquitous end.

Lock the Door

Lock the Door, 2009. 16" x 12". pencil, collage and acrylic on canvas.

Vanitas Still Life

Vanitas Still Life, 2009. 18" x 14". acrylic on canvas.

Here I have dealt with the way in which I feel art and architecture has extirpated itself from my life. The canvas with easel on the right has turned its back to the viewer. On the upturned table a t-square lays at an impossible angle; a break in it occurs out of view, obfuscated by the canvas. I positioned the t-square in a reverse of the heroic diagonal, a rising diagonal, to give it the appropriate lugubrious connotation.

The candle has the budding potential to light the entire scene ablaze in a bloom of fire. This is the vanitas, the meaningless and terseness of hopes and dreams. As I vacillate over whether or not I will ever get back into architecture and art, the painting reminds me to revere the ephemeral qualities of life.