Ode to Jasper Johns

Here's a new watercolor painting with a touch of 9/11 in it. I worked it over with a lot of surface techniques so as much as I want it to be like a Jasper Johns, it has plenty of Jackson Pollack in it too.

Purple Blues

Almost there

I'm not quite sure what else I need. I don't want to go too far, but it hasn't told me that it's finished yet.

Day Three

It will be interesting to see where this painting takes me tomorrow. I know that it's not where it needs to be just yet. I know his eyes need to be darker. At least I'm getting some serious layers, range, contrast, and density- these are what a monochromatic painting should demonstrate. Check in tomorrow afternoon to see what happens.

Presidential Painting

Here are the first two days' progress on a new watercolor painting I'm doing. The assignment I gave my students is to create a monochromatic portrait, and include a value scale along the side.

I tried to find a fairly serious photo of the President. I wanted to avoid cheesy, overly exuberant, or angry. I think the one I found was pretty somber- although I suspect that my own disappointment in yesterday's mid-terms may  be intruding because he looks particularly melancholy. I was looking at the photo upside down, trying to render it as clinically and visually analytically a manor as I could. It will be interesting to see how this one progresses through the week.

March Maddness

Still working in watercolor, and this time ventured a little into gouache for this imitation of a Gustave Courbet self portrait. Thought this would actually be a good way to ease Painting students into Edvard Munch because it is so expressive.

Viktor Frankl

 

Here is an image taken from my own painting, but adjusted some in Photoshop, to create something perhaps a little cubust and a little surrealist. I tried to be as subtle as I could, so that it's not rediculously obvious that I monkeyed with it in Photoshop too much.

Here is a detail frm the original painting, revealing some of the brush work and layers of transparent color.

And here is the original watercolor painting of 20th century existentialist psychologist (he might say "logotherapist"), author, and Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl. No, I didn't mean to make him look like the Hulk or an alien- I was simply using analogous colors (colors next to each other ont he color wheel), in this case, blue and green. Believe it or not, I used very little black, but tried to build up blacks from all the layers of blue and green.

Christmas Cactus

I should really paint in watercolor more often. I just introduced my Painting class to the media today. I'm not all that great at it, but boy it's pleasantly therapeutic.

Historical portraits

Henry A. Wallace, Iowan, scientist, farmer, publisher, US Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Vice President, Progressive Presidential Candidate. Monochromatic watercolor.

Layers of water and pools of color

Just playing around while my students work on their assignments in Painting class.

Happy President's Day

Has anybody seen my good friend Bobby?

Above is a watercolor of Robert Kennedy that I did while my Painting class were working on their own historical portraits.

Miranda

Just a quick water color study of a student model.

Watercolor self portraits

April 2007

"Write something worth reading or do something worth writing about" ~Ben Franklin

There's definitely a problem with the upper lip, and with the mouth and nose not lining up, and I'm still not happy with the right eye. At least by posting this, you can compare it to the previous version.

"Nobody sees a flower really; it is so small. We haven't time, and to see takes time—like to have a friend takes time."
~Georgia O'keefe
Mallory

April. Watercolor 2002
Mallory

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country... Corporations have been enthroned, an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."
~ABRAHAM LINCOLN, November 12,1864

Mallory

Kristin. Analogous colors, watercolor, 2003
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Tired self portrait sketch in watercolor, 2003
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