Thursday, November 30, 2006
Face Off Time!
Thanks to my friend Scott Newcomb I found out about Art Face Off, an online competition open to artists world wide. People visit the site and rate your work on a scale from 1 to 10; I think. The site also holds monthly competitions between different artists to determine who's the best. Although this may sound competitive it's also a good way to get your name out there and meet different artists in your area and internationally. You may also come across future patrons, and that's something no artist should pass on. About more than 3,000 visitors voted during the first round of face offs, different blogs are writing about this online competition and Europeans are digging it as well. Last night I joined and my work is up ready to be rated by you. Everything is anonymous so you can be as honest as you like. On the home page click on the top tab "Vote Gallery" and then click on "search artists" on the left panel. Type in my name on the keyword area and then pick the work painting from the drop tag. You'll find me right away. Hope to see some of you in this site soon.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
When a Painting Goes Wrong



Friday, November 24, 2006
Ghost of Paintings Past




Tuesday, November 21, 2006
A Brice Marden Retrospective





Brice Marden, Dragons, 2000-2004, ink on paper, 40 1/2" x 29 1/4", Private collection
Marden unleashes his use of color even more in his recent work, with rich reds, purples, and oranges. What at one time seemed to be natural light has now been replaced with "color light." Paint layers are more opaque leaving saturated color to reflect light its own way, with no connections to landscape. Even though the newer paintings don't have the misty feel of earlier work, the idea of nature is still present. Some the most recent work deals with the imagery of rocks; not representative but inspired by their shapes. Marden has also been inspired by Asian culture, especially Asian art. Dragons, an ink drawing/painting is a perfect example of that.
On November 20, I had the privilege to attend an artist talk with Brice Marden at the Strand. This was a very informal gathering as the artist, after being introduced by the Co-owner of Strand, Marden opened up the discussion by taking questions. It is here when I get to find out the meaning of "rocks" in his work. According to the artist, rocks were used by Chinese scholars in their studios as way to remind them of nature. And as mentioned above, his work is based on nature, not as "depiction" but as capturing the feeling of being in it; and about free association of energies like the energies of water and land used in Asian landscape painting.

Here I am standing next to Brice Marden as he signs the catalog for his retrospective.
On this occasion I wrote down a few quotes by Mr. Marden that I thought were right on point:
"Nature is everything but us."
"You take this colored dirt and make magic." (Talking about pigments)
"Andy Warhol is over appreciated."
"A work of art is a renewable source of energy." (Marden here quotes one of his favorite writers.)

Sunday, November 19, 2006
Workbook Pages 2
For Red Top the ink application was made up of thin washes, a common use of ink. But on Orange Blast the application becomes heavier. The good thing about Kremer's Shellac Ink is that they are so heavily pigmented that the pigment forms a buttery paste at the bottom of the jar, which you have to stir before using. But what I like about that is that I can take a small palette knife, scoop the color out and apply it just like oil or acrylic onto the paper. On Orange Blast the white specks of color were applied with heavy white ink using the bottom of my brush handle.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Stay Loosey Goosey
Friday, November 10, 2006
Study of Lemons
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Kicking it Up a Notch!
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Year Long Obsession




Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Orange Juice
Friday, November 03, 2006
Red Bartlett Pear Study
As many can see, I have not been posting as often lately. I have been focused on a few personal things along with the large portrait of my roommate Steve. I almost became obsessed with this painting for great part of the week, trying to flesh him up. Thursday night was a lazy night, and at the very last minute, right before going to bed on the wee hours of Friday morning I decided to do a painting and try a new set up.

