California Landscape

20 X 24
oil on canvass

As a native son of California, I imagine myself to be part of a long lineage of pastoralists who lived off the land and among its beasts.  These men grew their hair long, packed serious heat and fed off the corpses of brilliant and steaming buffalo.  Many of these men held sway over entire populations of Grizzly, carved towering monoliths with their bare hands, and danced amazingly well.  It is clear they lived idyllically and were the most interesting people in the world.  Yet, I only imagine myself to be among this beefy and mythological fraternity.  The fact is, I live in a modern suburb and all the beasts are people.  People who drive cars.  

I have gotten over this.  In fact, I am more into the pastoral vision as it is portrayed in art.  This art is often religious and sublime in nature, and California has just the landscape to inspire it.  It was only a matter of time before I attempted such a landscape, and I imagined I would do something resembling the Coastal Range around the Bay Area - with that dreamy inspiration of pastoralism.   Lastly, I also tried to capture a billowing Thomas Hart Benton-esque feel.  I recently looked at a number of his murals and they were quite great. I suppose I tried to capture a region and it's spirit as he did. 

A Self Portrait

ECCE HOMO

Floppy the chicken

Oil on canvass  9 X 12''

This is Floppy.  She is a very special pet of a friend of mine.  Floppy lives a happy life in a spacious backyard, though has no reservations when it comes to traveling the neighborhood.  She has been known to scale fences in search of the best insects.  She doesn't even ask.  She pretty much does whatever she wants. 

Floppy is also a guard chicken.  She can be seen standing watch all night in her tree - well, its not her tree, but she thinks it is.  She thinks she owns everything.  This also reminds me of another one of her most pronounced traits. 

Floppy is very bossy.  For example, she will not hesitate to jump onto a breakfast table and interrupt one's meal or conversation.  She has done this on multiple occasions.  Her ill-mannered ways are abounding, yet she is a chicken and understands how the human mind works.  She always seems to get her way even when on her worst behavior.


Floppy is still a beloved pet.  I chose to create a portrait of her because of this fact.  I hope she appreciates this kind gesture on my part, though I feel that she is rather indifferent. I am not surprised, however.  She is always thinking of herself.   I don't take this personally.  Actually, I think she is just not that into art.  Some people are just not really into art.

Flowers are not just for girls. They are also for male botanists doing research.

Poppies



 O.k, I'm only kidding - all guys (botanist or not) can and should appreciate their beauty. I certainly do, and it just so happens that there are a few fantastic patches of California poppies on my street.  Three houses in a row have literally hundreds of them splattered everywhere right up to the sidewalk.  Needless to say, I was impressed and told myself I should do something to commemorate this great display.  I also noted that I have yet to paint any natural scene, or anything outdoors for that matter.  This was a moment I had to seize.

It is also a fact that the poppy (California Poppy) is the state flower of my home - the great state of California.  They are everywhere, including other states, but that doesn't matter because California called dibs first. Anyways, this was another reason I thought it a nice opportunity to take a stab at painting flowers and grassy stuff. 

 
These are all snippets from a painting that is 12 X 16 inches.  It is a regular oil on canvass, and the painting drawn from various photos I took of those great poppy gardens my neighbors have. 

I will definitely return to this subject in the future (maybe even get a little crazy with some plein aire). 

On Disgust

Oil on canvass 24X36''

Disgust is experienced primarily in relation to the sense of taste (real or perceived), and to anything which causes a similar feeling through smell, touch, or sight.  However, this feeling can occur in other instances.   For example, an blatant non-call by a line judge in a football game, when the quarterback clearly made a lateral pass resulting in a first down.  This is absolutely going to make you feel disgusted. And for those of you still unacquainted, allow me to introduce to you: Bill Cowher - the Disgusted Coach.

Cowher epitomizes the familiar scene in youth and professional sports of a coach, who - vis-a-vis the ref - simply begs to differ.  He has also become the face of this sentiment mainly through his scowls.  They (his scowls) actually have varying degrees of disagreeableness.  He might simply frown, a sign he likes you.  He could show his teeth, another indication he is rather relaxed and enjoying himself.  It is the last, and worst scowl (seen in this painting) which is the one to watch for.  In this example, Cowher appears to have just discovered a huge plot in which the ref conspires to having his entire Special Teams ejected for no apparent reason.  Actually - and I asked him personally - he was just asking the guy how his weekend was.  That's just the face he makes. 

Charcoal Studies

I took a life drawing course this past spring.  The class was open to anyone in the community and met weekly on my school campus.  I enrolled in the class for a three reasons.  First, I enjoy trying new stuff.  I have tried to enroll in one unique activity each year during my college career.  I also appreciate the fact that charcoal and live models are an essential practice towards improving my ability as an artist.  The most influential factor for signing up, however, was that the class fit perfectly with I.M softball that night. This is crucial because I don't let anything get in the way of I.M softball.

20 minute pose

35 minute pose

The class had a precise sequence.  I arrived at 5:50pm, set my easel up, waited with a few charcoal sticks, blending sticks, pieces of white chalk and paper, ready to go at any second.  At this time, the model always stood in a faint terrycloth robe, chatting colloquially with the instructor. Things began promptly at 6pm with quick gesture poses.  This was a warmup in which I had to capture an image in 4 seconds without watching my hand on the pad.  This led to a second warmup of a dozen, 1 minute poses.  Then, we would follow with a 10, 20 and 35 minute poses.  It was a deliberate procession, shifting our attention from general form to more detail.

For the 35 minute poses, I approached the drawing in layers.  I would  begin by lightly holding my charcoal stick and drawing a faint outline of the body.  My eye would fix on a point on the model and I would move my hand, only checking the paper every 30 seconds or so.  For a 35 minute sketch, this would take up nearly 20 minutes because I would correct the scale and proportions of the outline and draw multiple layers of darker line onto the coalescing image.


Following this, I would outline shadows and segregate highlights.  I used my fingers to blend and design the overall picture as I saw fit ( I remember feeling that this was a major faux pas but learned everyone uses their hands and that they are the best tool). I spent the remaining 10 minutes sharpening edges and adding details to the picture.  By this point the model was less a factor and I was finishing the picture based on its own appearance.  In one class I would draw three 20 minute poses and one 35 minute pose. I enjoyed charcoal enough that I practiced at home a bit.

I did some charcoal drawing while I was taking the class.  Sometimes I would use an image I saw in magazine and turn it into a black and white charcoal - as in the one of a man holding a gun - or combine a few pictures and ideas into one - such as the landscape and walking man. 

This was a large portrait I completed using both graphite and charcoal powder