Alleluia Abstracts

These four abstracts were created from the Praise painting that I posted on Easter. The only alterration that I made is the orientation. Simple mirror images placed side by side can often create some pretty cool designs. I've been fooling around with this trick on my paintings for years and I am still surprised by many of the results.  Sometimes computers are really fun!

Ductopus

One of my favorite creations is the ductopus. In my basement, I fashioned a love nest out of ketchup packets, a tuba, and nylons. Then I enclosed the nest with an old baby gate. After several failed attempts with non-compatible species (possum/snake, puma/cougar, potato/skunk), the combination of octopus and duck breeded successfully. The ductopus went on to have an illustrious career as an abstract painter. Here she is posing with her piece titled The Child of Nature's Kiss has Deplorable Intentions. Deep.

Ghosts

This abstract is about a year old. It is a 2' x 4' canvas with acrylic paint. It's my favorite abstract so far . I called it Ghosts because I think it looks like a crowd of creepy figures.

I've been splashing some paint around the last couple of nights. I have some nice textural layers on 6 or 8 canvases. I need to make an art store run for a few specific paint colors. I hate when my supplies start running out. That stuff is EXPENSIVE! Guess I'll have to choose steak or lobster for dinner. It's ok. The sacrifice will be good for my brooding artist image.

Thanking the Computer

I still love to get out real paints, pencils, inks, etc., but I've found computers to be incredibly helpful with my artwork. These are three of the greatest benefits of working digitally:

#1 Time Saver! When I sketched the little guy above, I didn't know what color he would be. I scanned the sketch into a vector program (FlexiExpert in this case) and started experimenting with color fills. Sketching, scanning, coloring, and uploading to this blog took less than 15 minutes. This is a quick way to see what direction I want to take.

#2 Ultimate Eraser Some artists argue that computers steal all the "happy accidents" that happen while working with traditional media. I can agree with that, but I've had plenty of "happy accidents" using the computer as well. I have had "Unhappy accidents" using traditional paints, inks, etc. that have completely ruined a piece (sometimes 3 or 4 hours into a project!). I am a fan of the undo button.

#3 Easy Access to multiple projects. I have a fairly large library of original sketches and paintings in my computer. They are at all different levels of completion. Having most of my work digitized allows me to access it for things like online portfolios, this blog, and hundreds of other digital applications. I can pull them into various programs as reference or as an actual part of a project. I often use my original abstract paintings to give my digital work a more organic/handmade look. For example, I think the little guy above looks good in red. I looked through my digital library of abstracts for some red areas and then combine them with the sketch using the mask tool. From this point, I could open one or more of these little guys into Photoshop or Painter and add some shadows and highlights or play around with some of the other great tools and tricks in those programs. Sometimes it's the subtlest variation that makes a piece work. Computers allow me to experiment without destroying the piece in the process.

Back and Forth

I painted a bunch of abstracts with this back and forth theme. These are all acrylic on canvas. The back and forth theme carried over into some of my other paintings. You can see it in the background of this 4' x 5' painting that is hanging in our living room.

Freedom Part 2

Freedom Part 1

I love to make abstract paintings when I want to relax. They are relatively unplanned which is very liberating. I can move fast and use large and rough strokes. It's a loud and messy process and it feels great. It's similar to playing drums. I use palette knives and brushes that leave a thick texture. As the paint dries, I move on to another canvas. I usually work on three to five pieces at a time. I have a long work bench in my basement where I line up the canvases. I move back and forth as they dry, building layers of paint. Acrylic paint works great because it dries fast. To me, these pieces are the definition of "happy accidents".

Do Do Do Looking Out My Back Door

High of 68 tomorrow. The family goes back to school and daycare on Monday. Autumn is coming. I took the above photo out our front door last fall.

I love natural and organic design. There are wonderful lines and shapes in nature. I always feel content when I am surrounded by woods. I can spend hours absorbing nature photography and artwork. I did a whole series of abstract paintings inspired by natural forms.

Here are a few examples:




This is a clip from the documentary Rivers and Tides. It is a film about Andy Goldsworthy's wonderful work. He alters the world using only naturally found things and then lets nature do what it will. It's awe inspiring to see the time and effort put into the pieces and then to watch the "life" and eventual destruction of them over time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9TyHzP-8b8

Trippy Computer Trips

Some old vector based computer designs. I've made dozens of these over the years at work. The best way to learn the capabilities of a program is to have a little fun fooling around with it.

Sloppy with Paint

I love thickly textured paintings. I painted this pig with pallette knives and acrylic. I do like the sloppy look of it. (It is a pig after all!)

I used this painting to create this cd cover

I have plenty of clothes covered in paint and my basement floor is turning into a pretty cool abstract piece.

Here's a picture of my basement floor where I paint.

My kids have had a huge effect on my artwork. Seeing some awesome creativity in picture books and animation has shifted my work towards a more character oriented and illustrative style. Sometimes I wish I had focused on this earlier, but I've found great use for all of those old abstracts as texture and background. (See previous post.) And there's still nothing more relaxing than a beer, headphones, and being sloppy with paint.

Speaking of pigs, music, and the influence of children's media:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l33g5jn7p18

Texture and Color with Alan and Gary

"This is a bumpy wall," said Gary.

"It sure is," said Alan. "Let's touch it."

"Hey Alan, Did you ever notice that we look exactly the same?"

"Nope."
"Sure is a bumpy wall though, huh?"

Over the past year or so I've been experimenting with some art programs. They are alot of fun but frustrating as well. I'm sure that I end up doing way more work than I need to to get the effect I'm looking for. I wish there was a way to just tell the computer what I want to do, and it be able to show me the steps. Through books, podcasts, and the internet, I'm slowly getting more of an understanding on how these programs work. I'm sure the best thing to do is just spend as much time as possible playing around with them.

I have been digitally combining some acrylic abstract paintings with some of my sketches. It's a common technique to bury subtle textures in Photoshop and Painter. I'm not subtle. I finally found a place to show off my abstracts! Here's what was used to make Alan and Gary.