Twitter Mosaic

You know it's funny... Just when you thought no one was listening:

These are the fine people following me on Twitter. I almost hate to admit it, but Tweeting has been a good resource for me. I've gotten in contact with galleries, buyers, and other artists with some great work to share and helpful advice. Plus it's a fun outlet for random brain bits while I'm working and going through day-to-day activities.

Are you on this list? Do you Tweet? Like it or don't there's something valuable going on here.

Cheers,

R

Long Weekend Leads to Little Work

It was a holiday, right?
I'm using that as an excuse for my slow-ish return to my normally stringent work schedule. In the interest of giving myself a break in that respect I do have to say that I had my boys to myself from pretty much Friday through yesterday. I love spending time with my kids so you'll never hear me complain about getting extra time with them. We spent the weekend watching movies, playing games, having friends over to visit, and the obligatory Memorial Day cookout. Outside of a little house cleaning and laundry there was almost no other "constructive" activity. In my opinion that's how holidays are supposed to be spent.

Last night I got back into the studio and was surprised at my own fervor. I turned on the tunes and within minutes "Pursuance" from John Contrane's "A Love Supreme" drop-kicked me into the single-minded state I require to work (here's a portrait I did of him some years back). Some nights it's like being possessed. I know I've written on this subject before so I'll spare you, but last night was one of those nights.

All that aside here's the latest update. Lately I've been thinking more about the relationships of the characters to each other and the viewer. In most of my paintings the figures are solitary and standing with their back to the viewer. Even in compositions with many figures situated in close proximity to each other they all seem to be on their own. There are some notable exceptions, but more often than not they're solitary. It says something about the artist frame of mind. I think it also says something about our current state of mind as human beings. Each one of us can communicate to such a broad audience, but ultimately no matter how much social networking, etc a person gets involved in it's no substitute for real face-to-face interaction. When faced with such interaction many social networkers are at a loss, or are unable to distinguish between the online personality and the person in front of them.

We plug in... We tune out.

I try to use social network in a way that gets me involved with people directly. I like to meet new people and get to know them. At the same time i'm an observer. A voyeur. A perennial fish-out-of-water. Reconcile that.

How do you rank yourself? Are you a social networker? Do you press the flesh? Do you sit and play WoW and eat cheesy-poofs?

What do you do that keeps you from turning into a shut-in?


Cheers,

R

Slackin'

After having turned in the painting for the Des Moines Art Festival Mural Project I decided it was time for a break. I took the week off from pretty much everything except for housework and parenting duties... and the occasional game. I went to bed early every night (read as "before 1am"). I didn't paint. I didn't blog. I didn't Tweet (much). I didn't FB or MySpace much either. I few odd updates here and there, but far below my normal level of social networking activity. I just seemed like time to unplug a bit. As a result I look less like a crak monkey and have some fresh enthusiasm. I'm ready to go again. I think this is the longest I've been away from the easel in 3 years. The longest prior to that was the 3 months immediately following the move into my current home 3 years ago. I think I was getting withdrawal symptoms across the board.

As of last night I'm back at it. Going to try to get more intimate with the characters in my compositions. I've also been thinking about trying out some abstract pieces. I've never had the talent for abstraction/abstract thought. Probably why I nearly failed Algebra I and dropped out of Algebra II. I have always considered it a possibility that my evolution as an artist would lead me down the path to creating Abstract Art much like Piet Mondrian's did. Look at the progression of his work sometime and you'll see what I mean.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway here are some shots of the compositions I've started playing with. They're done in one of my favorite drawing tools, the Sharpie. Also I've included the beginning stages of a painting based on one of those drawings. It's a small section from a photo I snapped in NYC last December.

Enjoy. I'll write again very soon now that I'm back on track.


Cheers,

R

Monday Deadline

Here it is... Monday. An auspicious Monday to be certain. I'm submitting my Des Moines Art Festival image today. Hopefully they'll like what they see. I spent a lot of time on it this weekend and I'm proud of it. I've submitted it to the powers that be. My initial contacts love it so it's now just a matter of time. I'm looking forward to taking a couple of nights off and catching up on some sleep and/or R&R. Plus I'm sure the kids will appreciate the 'Daddy with no deadlines' thing. I enjoy the focus having deadlines provides, but they can make me a little surly. The boys are always there to help me lighten up or get my focus on other more important things like flying kites and working on getting my little one off his training wheels.

So here it is... my finished painting. I hope you enjoy it. I can't wait to see it blown up to it's full mural scale of 50'x20'. It's gonna look fantastic although part of me is just a tiny bit apprehensive. At that scale all of the little things come out. The things you never thought of... Like looking at your skin as reflected in one of those magnifying mirrors they use at cosmetics counters. But that's what I signed up for. It'll be nerve-wracking and liberating at the same time. I'll be on hand at the Des Moines Art Festival for the entire weekend (6/26-28) helping to get it assembled. Be sure to stop out. Grab a tile and add your touch to this interactive project!



Cheers,


R

A Quick Update before the Day Catches up

I was sitting in the office at my day job thinking "it's too quiet". Then the phone rang and my day kicked into swing. I like staying busy. It gives me a sense of purpose.
That statement was made three hours ago. I'm just now getting back to my desk. On the other hand 1/2 of my workday is over and done. One conference call, some lunch, and a few panick-driven trouble tickets and I'm off to a weekend of hanging with my boys, watchin' some flicks, and painting.

I've got the Des Moines Art Festival project piece to complete by Monday and I've signed up to do a 2-hour painting for the Healthy Polk 2020 board. Jim Engler, Concetta Morales, Sara Boutros, John Baldwin, myself, and a handful of other artists TBA will be producing paintings on the fly at the Des Moines Downtown Public Library tomorrow from about 9-11:30. I'm not used to producing work so quickly (or so early) although an occasional piece might spring forth in a single session. Guess I'm going to learn to do it on cue tomorrow. It should be a fun way to spend a morning.

Here are the latest updates on the Art Festival project... I'm re-defining the faces of a couple of buildings. I've got a couple of others that I've largely neglected up 'til now so I've got to spend some more time on them. I'll let you figure out which ones.

The final image is coming soon! Stay Tuned.


Cheers,

R

Art Festival Project Updates

So I got these great pics of last night's studio session. I'm all jazzed to get them edited and posted so you could seem more of the progression. I go to open them and.... nothin'. They look fine. File size looks good, but no preview. Won't open in my default viewer. Photoshop tells me their corrupt. Hmph! Will have to get more tonight. I'll post them tonight or tomorrow.

I've been both satisfied and excited about my recent progress. Perhaps the fact that I've got a Monday deadline staring me in the face has got my emotional connection to this piece keyed up. I got some good feedback yesterday from my Art Festival contact, Michael. He's been instrumental in keeping me on track with dates and with keeping this original painting in line with the logistics of the project as a whole. Thanks, Michael.


Here are some recent updates. The sky is coming along nicely and the buildings are starting to shape up. I'm trying to mix the man-made illumination with the morning light. It's a juggling act, but it's meshing nicely. Last night's progress made great strides towards making the buildings relate to each other in style and coloring as well helping to unify the composition as a whole. Like I said, I'll get more shots tonight and post them later. You are going to be seeing a lot of changes in a very short time. They'll be small, but significant. Keeps your eyes open.



Cheers,

R

Wednesday, Gloom, and Updates

I've got to say I'm still waiting for Iowa to have an actual Spring. Granted we've had a few warm days and plenty of Spring-like rain, but we're on day three of cold and gloom. Being out-of-doors just doesn't sound all that apetizing.

So I've been plugging away at this DSM Art Festival mural project. I'm feeling better about it than I was a week ago, but it's missing something. I'm still debating on what's the best solution for the sky. The blue is ok, but it's not particularly engaging. I'm wanting to take it someplace different. There's plenty of of good brushwork going on but... hmmm.. It's like flat champagne. It needs bubbles. Figuratively speaking, of course.

What you're seeing today is the the work from my last two sessions. I'm spending my time working on the buildings. Making sure there's plenty of interesting brushwork and color variation. I'll hit it again tonight. Perhaps I'll do a little digging online for some image-inspiration.


Until next time.

Cheers,

R

Festival Updates

A few notes tonight before I attempt to crash out a little early. I'm hoping to get those pics I mentioned Monday. That means I've got to get out of the house early. Weather.com has the sunrise at 6:20. i want to get to my spot before that. I want the buildings and streetlights lit up with just the first hints of morning light hitting them. The blue of the sky at that hour is truly astounding. I'd love to catch a red sunrise. Well, we'll see what we get.

I've been working on the painting and I like where I know it's going, but I'm dissatisfied with some of the colors at the moment. That will change as I progress and get a better sense of things. The colors as they stand are a little boring in my mind, but it's early and there are a lot of layers that have yet to happen. The sky has a lot of activity now, but it's going to get a lot more before I'm done. One of the caveats was that there should be as little "dead" space as possible. Meaning that I need to inject activity into every inch of the composition.

So when you look at these pics keep in mind that the color as it is now isn't where it's going to wind up.

Take a look. Feel free to comment. I'm turning in.


Cheers,

R

This is April?

So it's 40 degrees outside. Windy as Hell too. Unpleasant. I'm pretty sure my calendar says it's April 20th. By the end of the week it's supposed to be pushing 90. It was snowing two weeks ago. Iowa... what's not to love?

Thankfully the weather can turn the other way just as quickly. It turned beautiful just in time for my cousin, Joe's wedding. Congratulations to him and his new bride, Sarah. Best of luck to both of them. It was a lovely ceremony and a great party afterwards. I'd never seen my Mother dance much, or anyone else on that side of the family for that matter. It was a lot of fun.

Friday the boys and I attended the Bring the Spring reception at ArtDive. They were very well-behaved and polite, but it was a pretty good-sized crowd and that can be a little scary for a little guy. My youngest isn't hip on crowds so we spent some time hobnobbing with the outside crew. Thankfully the weather held up. Needless to say they didn't last too long so we headed out early. My oldest did find some pieces he really enjoyed and he's determined to get his own artwork hung there.
How cool is that?

Getting back to it tonight. I'm hoping to get some more supplemental shots for the painting. I want some of that morning light to work with. Waiting for the opportunity and the weather. In the meantime I'll continue plugging away at the buildings. I got a good start on the paint Friday. I'm all about starts.

I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Until then take some time to look at this guy's paintings. His name's Chet Zar and if you've seen Hellboy you've seen his work. I find it freakishly compelling. Anyone who knows me knows I've got a taste for the bizarre. That's one word that will most likely pop into your head when you see it. His characters are immediately engaging and each hints at some kind of back-story. Love it. Keep it coming, Chet.

Cheers,

R

Aaaaaand, We're Off... This time for sure

Ok, that's the last time with the whole, "aaaaaaaaaaaaaand" thing. It's just that after the series of minor setbacks I ran into I thought I should start over.

I posted last time that I'd gotten the stretcher made up, but didn't have the canvas. Well, I got the canvas and got it home. All ready to go, right? I prep the work area (read as "the floor"), get my materials together: stretcher, canvas, canvas pliers, staple gun, and stap.... awww, Hell! I was out of T2025 3/8" staples. I had a nice, new-looking empty box tho. Hrmm.... Needless to say I spent that evening working on the other new piece I posted last time.

Catching up... the canvas has been stretched and I've applied a couple of coats of primer. I didn't sand between coats. I like the canvas to have a lot of tooth to it. These are expressionist landscapes. Not portraits. I started in with a big, flat-headed carpenter's pencil. I like them for general use, but especially for my preliminary drawing on my canvases. The wide graphite holds up well and allows me some variety in my line work. Plus when you start laying on the paint the graphite doesn't smudge and screw up the lighter-colored underpainting layers.

I imagine I'll start painting tonight. I've got it all in my head. The Art Center folks agreed on the photographic image and initial charcoal sketch. They've asked that I lighten up the background from the original pic. While they like the lighting they're looking for a lighter composition. I'm thinking I'll need to make an early stop to catch some pics of that great morning light. I think that would be perfect for the piece now that we know what we're doing.

Gotta run. Lots to do this weekend. Firstly tho I've got a reception at ArtDive tonight at 5:00 (1417 Walnut in downtown Des Moines). Drop by if you want to see some great art by some great local artists (Brent Houzenga, Ron Wagner, Becka Ash, Christine Mullane)... and have some drinks and foods. Who can say No to free drinks and foods?


Cheers,


R

Aaaaaand, Go!.... Wait, What?

Last Thursday I got the greenlight from the folks at the ArtFestival. We've decided on an image (pictured here in charcoal) and the project's a Go. Needless to say I'm very excited to get moving on it since my contract dictates a finished piece by the first week of May. So I got the good folks at The ArtStore here in DesMoines to put together a nice, sturdy 50"x20" stretcher. Amazing, it was ordered and completed the same day. Cost a little more, but it's rock-solid and true. No warping which is the problem I was running into with store-bought stretcher bars. Seems like I just couldn't find a good set. I picked it up Saturday and later that night I settled in with a bottle of Sixth Glass and pulled out my giant roll of canvas. It was at that point I realized I'd been mistaken in thinking I had a ton of the unprimed, heavy-duty stuff. All I had left was a batch of pre-primed canvas I'd purchased by mistake a while back. If you want it, make me an offer. I've got a lot. Soooo.... there's a delay. Not to worry. I'll pick some up today and be right back on track.

In the meantime I already had a big canvas just sitting there so I started work on that. I laid down some charcoal Saturday night and some paint last night. I'm going with this underpainting thing some more. I'm liking the overall effect, and I'm hoping that continued experimentation with it will help me to create a more luminous, visually-arresting finished piece for the ArtFestival. You don't get too many opportunities like this. Better not let it slip by making mediocre, self-standard Art.

Lastly I want to say a big Thank You to my two boys who spent this weekend running Art-related errands. They've been dragged to shows, openings, receptions, installations, negotiations, sales, deliveries, etc. I tell them they're learning the Art Biz from the inside out. Hopefully they won't hate me for it when they're older. They've been exceptionally well-behaved, helpful, and even insightful.
Thanks, Boys. Daddy Loves you. Now go clean your rooms. They're a disaster.


Cheers,

R

HeartBreaker

As much as it hurts a little heartbreak can go a long way for artists. Look at the music of people like Trent Reznor or Ben Folds. How about the art of Francis Bacon? There's a guy with emotional issues for ya. How about Clive Barker's painting and writi... ok, he's just a (brilliant) nutjob. Pain is that by which we define ourselves and can be the wellspring of creativity if utilized correctly.

Oddly enough I'm writing this at a time when I'm actually feeling pretty good about things. The subject came up recently via one of those Facebook time-waster quizzes. Apparently I was Pablo Picasso in my former life (like thousands of others, i'm sure) and one of the traits we had listed in common was "does not deal well with heartbreak". The comment then came down that, of course, nobody does. True enough. The difference I see is that as artists we take that angst, pain, frustration, whatever, and turn it into something else... If we so choose. There's the key word, "Choose". That's one of the things that sets us apart. We wear our hearts out on our sleeves or, more to the point, we splatter them all over our work.

If you're reading this I'd love to have you comment and give some examples of great art you've seen that stems from pain and what it meant to you if anything. I've got my favs and I'll post them after I hear from You. This is your chance to join the conversation (and thereby validate all of this blogging I do).

I'll leave you with a piece that looks like it could've been spawned from a horrendous breakup or the death of a favorite goldfish, but in truth pain was the furthest thing from my mind. I was having a blast.




Cheers,

R

Gotham Blitz

I'll start by saying, "worst day for an open house ever".
There. Done.

In other news my most recent painting is coming along very quickly. I got the areas of light and dark mapped out Thursday night. Last night I laid into the canvas like it owed me money. Some nights are like that. Painting is wonderfully cathartic for me. I was having a very good time playing around with the brushwork. I'm calling this angsty little guy "Gotham Blitz". It's moody and almost looks like a warzone. If last nights painting session says anything I'm thinking I'll be done with this one soon. Probably not more than one more session. I'm liking the textures and colors already and don't want to mess with it much more. We're trying to avoid over-working this stuff.

Speaking of which I'll leave you with these pics. I'll post the final images soon.



Cheers,

R

A Proper 'Thank You'

With all the prattling on I do you'd think I'd remember to cover the really important stuff. It dawned on me last night while starting up a new painting (pictured at left) that since the beginning of this blog I've completely failed to mention some of the folks that have been instrumental in my development as an Artist and as a person.

How ungrateful. Boo on me.

So, that being said, here goes:
What really struck me was that in all of this chatter I've failed to mention a couple of teachers from my high school years that were a major influence on me. Without their presence in my life I probably wouldn't have pursued Art past my senior year. I'd have gotten a business degree or something more practical like that as suggested by my well-meaning dad and continued to doodle in my spare time. Dad was right about needing something practical as a fall-back. That's why I stay in IT for the time being. Hey, Jackson Pollock worked as a busboy. Why can't I work on computers?

Back to the subject tho...
Probably the greatest influence on me as an artist during those years was a man named Mr Calvin Wolf, or "Uncle Cal". Cal was one of those teachers that rides the edge between friend and disciplinarian: a true mentor. His teaching style put him right in the middle of the action nearly every day. He was a working artist which kept him frosty and ready to motivate. He was casual and friendly, but never lax. He was funny and thought-provoking. As his students we were never afraid to speak our mind, but his casually-commanding presence always kept us in check. When you were in his class you worked hard, but it never felt like work. He knew his students well and invested his time, energy, and emotions if they were willing to do the same.

When our high school, Waterloo Central, was closed he moved with us. At West High he was paired with a ceramics/sculpture teacher named Larry Skerries: a man cut from the same cloth. If you were willing to work he was right there with you every step of the way making suggestions, challenging you to really consider your vision. The two of them made a formidable team. They tag-team engaged our minds and pushed us to excel.

I remember applying for a studio scholarship late my senior year. Ever the procrastinator I'd failed to put together my presentation materials. Uncle Cal was pissed and justifiably so. He sat with me that day after school cutting mats, framing pieces, and lecturing me on the virtues of presentation and preparation. I'll never forget that (even if I still struggle on those fronts). That dedication really made an imprint on me. I've heard the line, "he must really care about you to yell at you like that" before. Fitting. He didn't actually yell, but I could tell he was on the edge. His voice rising as he reprimanded my lack of foresight. If he hadn't cared he'd have shrugged it off, gone back to his Morning Thunder tea, and let me sink.

So... Thanks, Uncle Cal. Thanks, Skerries. Hope you see this someday and know what an impact you made.


Cheers,

R

A few New Pics...

Not a ton of time to philosophize today, but I wrote a couple of posts back about my bestest and oldest friends, Michael and Joshi came to visit me in the studio. Michael posted these in-studio pics on his FaceBook page and I really enjoyed them so I had to share.

These are in no particular order, but you may notice in some of the shots some of the dark red under-painting I used. I think that red added a real dimension to the layers of color that went over it. Even in the finished piece it peeks out here and there. I wanted it to add vibrancy.

























As always, Dancing is not only allowed in the studio... it's encouraged.
Here is my friend, Joshi showing us the finer points of The Skank.


Gotta Run!

cheers,

R

Taking a Big Bite

Once upon a time (very recently) I made the statement, "Sometimes you bite off more than you can chew, but it sure beats starving". I meant it when I said it. I still believe it, but I took one hell of a bite this week. Lately I've been getting approached to book showings for future dates; many of them in 2010. I don't have much in the way of formal bookings for this year, but next year's filling up quickly. Seems odd, huh? I took a BIG bite this week, however, by booking a show at the Iowa State University Memorial Union Art Gallery. Very cool. Turns out they'll be needing about 25 pieces for the show! Whoa... 25 paintings. That's huge for me. Thankfully the show's not until December 2010. It'll be a challenge, I'm always up for a challenge. I wonder if I could convince some of my clients to loan me a few, select pieces. That might help.
Just "thinking" out loud there.
digress digress digress...

On a couple of other fronts I managed to get that painting of the late Steb's Amusements in Cedar Falls scanned. A little color correction and I'll be ready to make the announcement that prints are available. I'll post a link here and my other points of contact (FaceBook, Twitter, etc) when that time comes. Won't be long.

Also I've finished my latest painting. I think this is a land-speed record for me. At least for a piece this size (36"x48"). I'm very happy with the way it came out. The piece overall is very loose and energetic. I've been using it as practice for the Des Moines Art Festival Mural project. I needed to loosen up. To make sure that every inch of the image had something going on. Not a necessity for all of my work, but for that project I've got instructions to make sure that there's a lot of visual activity. When the piece is enlarged the little things will become very visible: the funky, little edges of brush strokes, slight variations of color, etc. I think this latest piece has been a good exercise in working towards that, AND in working with more immediacy. It's going to a good temporary home at ArtDive so hopefully you can go see it and pieces by many other great Iowa artists in person.

Gotta run. A beautiful Saturday awaits.


Cheers,

R

Welcome Visitors in the Studio

For the last 4 and a 1/2 days I've been in the splendid company of two of my best friends, Joshi and Michael. During that time I got the extreme pleasure of having them spend some time with me in the studio. I don't normally have a lot of visitors, but this kindof hearkened back to a time (before small children) when I painted in my living room. I was used to having a lot of company while I painted back then. It was nice doing that again.



The whole scene gave me a much-needed dose of inspiration. I started a piece late last week out of an overpowering desire to paint. I wanted to do something relatively quickly. Keep it loose. Keep it energetic. I started playing with some deep red underpainting and was able to start working over the top of it. Having them for company kept things very lively. A definite energy carry-over into my painting. I was bolder with the brushes and actively avoided impulses to "clean" things up. Actually I'm going back over a bit of the street where the colors started to muddy. They've lost their energy and that's no good.

We also took some time last night to gather some more pics for the DSM Art Festival project. I'd never played with the panoramic settings before, but it fits the required ratio for the painting so well... I don't know why I didn't do it before. I got some shots I really enjoy. I'll put them up in another post. They need editing and I don't have the time or energy. I sincerely hope they go over well.

Time for horizontality. Even insomniacs need their rest.


Cheers,

R

The Restoration

I swear I'm trying to write more than once per week. It seems like I've been doing nothing but running around. Plus I'm exhausted most nights lately. Dozing off while hanging out with my boys or while relaxing after they go to bed. I guess it's a sign and I should try to figure out what it means

Seriously tho I'm kindof in a holding pattern on the DSM Art Festival project. We've made some adjustments to the process of image-approval. I need to take some new pics as a result, but the weather hasn't been cooperating. I was out of town all weekend and when I came home, ready to work, I got 3 days of rain and fog followed by a 30degree drop in temperature. Not conducive to taking panoramic shots of the City of Des Moines.

So in the meantime I've been restoring a piece that belongs to a friend of mine. He used to smoke... a lot, and this piece has spent its entire life in the room where he did most of his smoking. I've taken a heavy layer of tar off the surface by gently brush-washing areas with turpentine-substitute and then taking it up with a lint-free rag. I was amazed at how much better it looked just after that. Also the painting had never been varnished so I gave it a couple coats. I like to do a coat of Damar (glossy) followed by a coat of matte varnish. When I've got it I use EcoHouse-brand Damar. It's orange-based so it doesn't smell as badly as regular Damar, AND it doesn't yellow. EcoHouse doesn't make a matte-finish product yet sadly so I've been using a Miameri product. At any rate it looks gorgeous now. The colors are revitalized and the finish is like muted glass.
(the image here is an old pic. I'll post a new one when the scan's done)

Truth be told; although I do regularly varnish "matured" pieces for clients at no charge (I feel that it's part of the process of creating the work) I'm doing this one with an alterior motive in mind. I recently posted this piece on a bulletin board for a group of people who are fans of a Cedar Falls, IA landmark, Steb's Amusements. The building no longer exists. It was foolishly replaced by a big, empty hole. The response to the piece was very positive and some people have requested prints. My friend was wary of giving up this painting at all until I offered to give it a good cleaning and varnish. I'd have done it anyway, but the potential to make a little profit never hurts. As a matter of fact I delivered it to my local hi-rez scan provider today. Tomorrow I'll have the painting along with a TIFF file in excess of 300mb which can be color-corrected and made into giclees.

The moral of this story: Never write off your old work. You never know when it may find a new audience.


Cheers,

R

Taking a Moment

The kids are in bed. I'm NOT doing any laundry tonight. Just wanted to take a moment to do a few things for myself: catch up on emails, return a few calls, and practice guitar. I'm just learning how to play and this time I'm going to stick with it... I swear. The nice thing about it this go 'round is that there's the miracle of the internet. Last time I tried was before my first home PC. Now if there's a song I want to try I just Google the tab and go. I think that's going to be a big help. Being able to apply what I'm learning and see progress gives me a purpose. It gives me a point of focus. I'm not outwardly such a goal-oriented person, but having them does help. Plus it's on my Bucket List. Ain't gettin' any younger.

Speaking of that there's this DSM Art Festival project I've been working on. Because of the nature of my contract I have to submit images for the approval process weekly. That means I've got to be able to come up with quick studies that not only explore the composition, but the color and treatment of the medium as well. It's giving me a chance to pull out the charcoal and pastels. Oil pastels too. They're great for the quick study. The only downside that I can see is that now everything in my studio is covered in a fine layer of chalk dust... as well as the inside of my head. Have you ever blown your nose and had it come out Magenta? Talk about a nasty shock. Ah, the joys of creating.

But I digress... you know this.

The connection I was making is that this project is giving me focus, but there's another side to it. I feel a little like I'm floundering in it. There's some difficulty in coming up with an image that people will immediately relate to as "Des Moines" while keeping certain contraints in mind. I've been feeling a little stuck trying to come up with just the right shot. You think you've got the one only to hear that it won't do for one reason or another. So you do it again. Simple. Coming up with and iconic image is a tall order though and everyone's got their opinions. So the best thing to do at this time in my opinion is to forget the subtext of the project and just work.
So there you go.

Cheers,

R

ps: If you're in Des Moines this weekend make sure to check out the opening of the Instinct Gallery Saturday night. Good stuff. A definite must-see.

Push Push

It's been a good week. I've been spending my studio time wisely, but I need to be writing more. Seems like I when I have the time to write I never feel like it (read as: tired, uninspired, inebriated). I need to carry over my studio work ethic into my writing. I never was much of a writer to begin with so it's been hard at times keeping up a good momentum/schedule. But this has become important not just to me but to my work as well. Seems like it's less real if I don't write about it now.

I got great news yesterday. I've made it as a finalist for the Art EMC contest that EMC Insurance holds yearly. I think it's a great project and not just because I made it. The company purchases work from the finalists and those pieces go on display in the company's buildings. I think the businesses that populate our city would do well to invest more in local/regional Art instead of spending money on some print from Art.com or something like that. Too many times I've visited office buildings only to see the same crap on the walls. A shame really when there's a wealth of great art right here in our back yard.

Which segues into my work on the DSM Art Festival Mural Project. I submitted a pack of images last week. Met with my contact from the DSM Art Center and went over some notes a couple of days later. I'm back to the drawing board and have been plugging away at charcoal/sharpie composition studies and have moved into working with some oil/chalk pastels for color studies. I'll start posting images from that when we've landed on a final, approved image (hint: if you're on FaceBook friend me and you'll get to see all of my developmental work thus far!)
Until then I'll leave you with some pics from the studio...
Meet my palette (top). It's heavy with paint and more than a little worn. Broken in like a pair of good shoes.
And here's me in the depths of a painting fugue. I don't usually post pics of myself because... well, I'm not all that fond of the photos I take, but in this case I'd set up a camera to catch my work in progress with a series of timed shots. I caught myself a couple of times and thought I'd share. When I'm painting, for some reason, I compulsively run my hands through my hair, close my eyes, and fidget a lot. My hair has a tendency to stick out in all directions anyway when left to its own devices, but the compulsive hair-tugging doesn't help. By the end of the night I've got this great Wolverine-thing going on. I'm pretty sure I scared the little one with it last week. Good times.

Wishing you all a good week.


Cheers,

R

Doin' the Webby Work

Took the night off from painting last night to take care of the web stuff. The web site needed to be updated with the latest painting. No good having painting inventory if you don't bother promoting it . I also spent some time trying to suss out some meta-tagging issues on the site. It's not showing up in search engines the way I want it to. It's getting good placement for the most part. Just not displaying a good site description in the Google's blurb section under the found link. Even though I put my own pages together (with some help) I'm no web designer. Research research research...
I also managed to get a stack of giclee prints posted for sale on my Etsy Store. I'm hoping that people will be more interested in picking up prints than they have been in buying the original paintings lately. When you can get a high-quality image for one tenth (or less) the price of the original why not? From an Artist's perspective it's a great deal so long as you have a reliable source for the prints themselves... which I do AND the cost to produce them isn't exhorbitant... which it isn't. You can continue to generate some revenue from paintings no longer in your inventory. In my case I can also have them produced one-off and on the fly. Custom sizes or rush jobs aren't typically a problem. I got lucky.
I can't say you'll get rich off of print sales, but I will say this: I've sold more prints this year than originals.
Something to think about.

Cheers,

R

A Brief Moment to Reflect.

Well the plan was that I'd have the house to myself for a few hours this afternoon. Things don't always turn out like you'd planned. So the open house didn't get any traffic (damned real-estate market). Not a huge surprise. It IS February. We'll keep trying. It'll sell one of these days. On the up-side the house is clean, the kids are being good, I'm getting to blog and catch up on email. Life could be much worse. Maybe I'll get a chance to sneak out this evening and see Coraline. Big Neal Gaiman fan here. Love his stuff. If ou've never seen MirrorMask I'd highly recommend. His words with Dave McKean's art... the stuff of nightmares and fantasies galore.

But I digress... as you well know.

I put the final touches on the latest NYC piece. I'm happy with where it went and how it turned out. It gives me a sense of accomplishment that's a good warm-up for starting the new painting for the DSM Art Festival. I'll be turning my preliminary images over to the the person who is acting as my primary contact. I'll start posting the updates on this blog once we get a handle on which image we're going to go with. I've come up with three, but I'm leaning towards two of them. Well, you'll see what I mean in the near future. Keep watching.

All the best...




Cheers,


R

Thursday?

I can't believe it's been a week since I last wrote. If there's anyone out there actually reading this... Sorry for the delay.

I've put in some more time on the NYC piece. Nearly done and I'm having to make a conscious effort to avoid overworking it. Sometimes I'll go back and simplify areas as a piece progresses. Just a bit more on the overhanging sign and the background.

Been spending a lot of time shoring up some details for a design project I've been working on. I feel like I've finally made the logo do what I wanted it to do. My prior designs had the necessary elements and austerity, but lacked visual punch. It can take some time to get a real feel for an image or subject matter. You've gotta play around with it. Experiment. Don't be afraid to do a complete rework (or several). It's all part of the process and in the end you'll have a better finished product if you take the time to get familiar with your subject. Once the client approves the image I'll post it.

To this end I like to play around in Photoshop. I've found that it can be a quick way to explore an image. To experiement with color and composition. Sometimes I use it to put together presentations for clients who like to have a better picture of what the project will eventually look like. It can help us to collaborate and make decisions in a more interactive way. Mind you, I don't use it exclusively. I mix my PS work with sketches, and in some cases even mockup paintings. A lot of it depends upon the client and how much they want to see up front. Some people just want you to produce a piece because they enjoy your style.

Right now I'm using it for some of my prep work for the DSM Art Festival Project.

Ok... The day job calls. Gotta go be productive for someone else.


Cheers,

R

Eat or Enjoy Your View from the Ivory Tower. You Choose.

I've had a pretty good couple of days minus a stressful event or two. I got a chance to meet with someone from the DSM ArtFestival and discuss the mural project some more. Very exciting. Plus he was a pretty good cat so that helps. So far everyone there has been just fantastic. I'm sure at some point we'll rub foreheads a bit, but I try to be pretty easy to work with. Receptive to the ideas of others without being a total push-over. When this is done I'd like for them to say that I was pleasant and professional as well as a talented Artist. I've known too many people who've let their egos get the better of them. They become demanding or snotty or worse. In the end the talent will only get you so far. If you're an ass people will stop wanting to work with you eventually no matter how amazing your are as an artist. I figure the world has enough jackoffs with more being raised every day (yes, "raised", parents out there). Why add to an already exploding population?

Sorry, that stemmed from a conversation I had yesterday about people in the Art World who raise themselves up to be more than they are. They sit in their ivory university towers or in their offices (read as Art Critics) and proclaim this or that to be Art and everything else (art festivals, for example) to be beneath them: the "True Artists" who create for the sake of creation. That's so much bullshit and it keeps entire generations of Art students from taking part in some very rich artistic communities, and from seeing some really amazing Artwork, AND from making a living. Ever heard of a "Starving Artist"? Of course you have. The great names we studied in Art History were, for the most part, working people trying to make a living by doing commissioned work, art contests, salons (festivals), etc.

When you go to school for something the ultimate outcome should be to be able to make a living doing that thing in my humble opinion. We rarely discussed it when I went to University. As a result I had no idea what to do with my degree outside of... create Art. Seems a little pointless when you look at it through the eyes of someone who's paying a mortgage and raising a family. I spent a LOT of time trying to figure out how to make it work on my own. LOTS of trial and error. Still is. Somewhere along the line the teaching of a vocation turned into the teaching of a romanticized lifestyle. Again, so much bullshit. That being said I LOVED my teachers. Wanted to make sure that was clear.

(steps down from soapbox...)

So here I am trying to find my way in the burgeoning DesMoines Art community and hopfully branch into others. Thankfully I've made some great connections here and have been given some amazing opportunities, but ultimately you get what you get. It's what you do with it that makes all the difference.

Speaking of which I really need to finish this latest NYC piece. I'm hoping it will go on display in the next week along with a couple of others. Here's the latest update. More work to do on the big sign over the people walking and I've made the angle on the sidewalk too severe. Gotta fix that. I'm afraid all of those nice people are going to slide into the busy street.

Cheers,


R

NYC Rain Update

This morning's a little hectic as was last night. Suffice it to say that it was a good weekend. Lots of painting Friday, an afternoon/evening of taking pics Saturday. Plus I had the pleasure of attending a reception for a good friend, Michelle Holley at SMASH. Very cool Art. Very cool clothes. A good time was had by all. Follow that up with a great night out on the town. Food, drinks, darts, good company. Loads of fun. Sunday was a day for cleaning, cooking, and designing. Add to that I sold a painting to a friend. It's always nice to know when one of your babies is going to a good home.

Not much philosophizing today... I made some pretty big adjustments to the latest painting. I'm trying to unify the sky and sidewalk while keeping a loose feeling in the brushwork. Hoping to get back to it tonight. We'll see if the Universe goes along with me.

(...insert 12hr break here...)

I did get a nice surprise today. I received a call that one of my pieces had been accepted into the City of Des Moines Hi Performance Report. Every year they hold a contest and the winners are represented in the printed report. I was hoping for the cover, but got one of the interior sections. I will never complain about getting free publicity... or prize money. Looks like I can finally get a new MP3 player. My iPod's battery is kaput.

Cheers,


R

A Quick Note Before I Collapse

It's been a long, but productive day. Didn't sleep much last night. Probably about an hour all told. It was a day of dead car batteries, sick children, and tax preparation. Throw in a bit of cleaning for good measure. I tried to paint, but lack of sleep is getting the better of me. I'm having some issues focusing so I'm about to hang it up for the night. I do have a couple of images from last night's round in the studio. So I'll post them and call it good.
Here they are. I'm hoping to put the finishing touches on this by the end of next week. That should get it done in time to put it on display at a place here in tttdt....


(at this point I started spacing out and typing rows of letters. My body had finally given out and my mind was seriously considering the beneficial aspects of a coma. Taking this as a sign that perhaps I'd pushed myself too far and needed some rest... I went to bed.)


So to pick up where I left off last night I'll post my image updates and make some comments on the concept of No-Mind. I think there can be benefits to working in a state of exhaustion. They were NOT apparent last night and I think I was right to give up the ghost when I did. Some of my best work, however, has been created while in a state of total exhaustion. When you do something long enough you develop "muscle memory". I experienced what I later learned was a state called No Mind during my study of Neko Ryu, dance, and when I was a new father with a cholic-y baby who never slept. We find or put ourselves into situations where we're pushing ourselves to the point of collapse. The mind disengages to a point, but the body continues to repeat the actions we've learned and practiced over and over again. This is a very common state that any distance runner can tell you about. Like a "runner's high" it can be a pretty eurphoric place.

I've been painting for a long time now (nearly 18yrs!) so the physical act of painting has been so ingrained that the body paints more or less on its own. Once I know what it is that I want to do with an image the act of putting it on the canvas becomes, to a point, more physical than mental. I'm still extremely focused, but it seems to me that my mind is engaged on another level. Like an outside observer. When you hit that state you take away the potential of over-analyzing your actions and paint instinctively. The results can be startlingly good. But as with anything else your mileage may vary.

It's supposed to be warm here in Iowa so I'm looking forward to getting out and getting some more photos.
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.


Cheers,

R

NYC Rain Update and the Sowers of Strife

I've had a chance to make a little more progress on my latest NYC painting. I'm approaching this with a fair bit of ecstatic energy. I'm using big brushes. I'm attacking the canvas. I'm working up a sweat. I love it. I mentioned in my last post that I'm determined to loosen up and stop nitpicking my paintings to death. They start out with so much energy, but I feel like they get bogged down. It's all part of the process of learning so I'm good with it. I want to spend my time in the studio not trying to churn out masterpieces (which, in my opinion, happen on their own), but working on myself as a Painter and Artist. The Artist paints him/herself ultimately. One way or another our work reflects who we are, what we're doing, where we're at. I think most things we do are opportunities for personal development.
Which leads me to something else... The other side of that coin: The Sowers of Strife. Those of us who spend our time trying to better ourselves, trying to help others, trying to raise families, or whatever have got to be baffled by people who spend their days trying to foul up the lives of others for their own gain. Dante maintained that the 8th circle of Hell was reserved for these jackholes. I personally don't think that's deep enough. These are the people that scam retirees out of their pensions and candy right out of the mouths of children. In the last year I've been targeted by a number of scammers. Email scams are the order of the day. So far I've yet to be taken, but I know those who have been. I have the benefit of having been an administrator for a corporate email system for a few years. You see all kinds of great stuff. I'll admit they're getting better, but since New Years I've been solicited no less than five times to help some poor, hapless soul get out of being "stranded" in a foreign country. Last January it was a bogus painting purchase offer that involved me paying for "shipping" costs up front, but only AFTER the receipt of a "completely varifiable" cashier's check. Point being the age of internet commerce has been a great boon for artists. We can get our work in front of an amazingly wide audience. It increases the potential for sales, shows, you name it. The other side is that it increases exposure to these pathetic wastes of oxygen. Keep sharp and always check your sources. The ubiquitous nature of the internet makes anonymity a forgone conclusion for those you are dealing with. Don't let that keep you from engaging in e-commerce. It's a great way to do business. I, myself have an Etsy store and have made some great sales through there, email, and Facebook, but you never really know who's on the other end of the line. When in doubt use your tools. Check your sources. I always confer with www.ArtScams.com if I'm sceptical about an email or offer. I'd suggest you do the same.
Best of luck, and... Let's be careful out there.


Cheers,

R