st. george & the dragon

Here's a little oil painting I did from an old Russian icon of St. George, with accompanying pen sketch.

winter in Southern California

As in, not really.  I like to look at paintings like this and remember how much I love/miss the snow, and winters which are, you know, wintry.  Also I enjoy the idea of depicting snow using black ink.  This is on rice paper.

owls: benign & fierce aspects

 

cardboard printmaking

I found these scattered among my things: some early attempts at printmaking, I made these by taking a thick piece of cardboard, and carving out the design with a knife.  Then I brushed over it quickly with various watercolors and quickly rubbed a sheet of paper over it to make the print.  It made some interesting effects after going over it several times with different colors.

 

 

sweet potato bread

It seems nearly impossible for me to fly on an airplane without getting sick shortly after.  So when you search for the best airfare price on kayak they should add: "plus $25 per checked bag, plus a week-or-so of cold/flu symptoms."  Consequently, not feeling very artistic, but hating the idea that Kant's severe visage is menacing the top of my blog for so long, I give you this photo K took of a lovely sweet potato bread I baked a few weeks ago.  I just love it when a bread rises so nicely.

Immanuel Kant, 1724-1804

I am not smart enough to read Kant, but I enjoy doing it anyway: it's a sort of meditative experience to read him, especially aloud.  Anyway, this is a linocut print.  I haven't quite got the hang of doing cuts--something to do with difficulty seeing in postive vs. negative space, I suppose--but it's a fun crafty art, even though it takes me a rather long time to do even a small one.

Barber Shop (oil)

William James

1842-1910.  One of the great American philosophers, and one of my favorites; his work on Pragmatism has been one of the most significant philosophical influences on my life.  (I may do a version of this portrait in paint in the next few days.)

Afghanistan

baseball hat

Let's call it a tribute to the World Series that no one seems to particularly care about, 2010.

Common Raven

I saw one of these birds on a walk recently (a huge one, like a small dog) and decided then to paint this (ink)--perhaps what I thought of at the time as its mix of ominousness and majesty is appropriate for Hallowe'en.

grey-toned paper

What I like best about this drawing is the reflection of the apple on the toaster.

blossoms

I guess it's the wrong time of year for this one, but here it is anyway, some delicate branches with blossoms.

mummy portrait

Here's the finished oil from the sketch I posted earlier after a Fayum portrait.  Paintings like these were buried with the mummified remains of the subject of the painting.  Some of them are quite beautiful, and pretty sophisticated considering how old they are.

kitty

So our little kitten friend died.  We hadn't seen it around in about two days, and then I noticed it lying in our backyard yesterday--I brought it some food, but it wasn't interested.  Then a few hours later I went to check on it, and it looked a bit odd, something in its eyes was different, and I had a feeling it was in trouble.  There were flies buzzing all around it, and it was convulsively trying to get the flies off of it, and its mouth was strangely open. Then it started to stretch out its limbs very slowly, stretched out onto its back, and then it was gone.  I knew it was dead when it didn't move despite the flies in its mouth and on its eyes.  As it was happening I just could not believe that I was about to see this creature die right before my eyes.  It was one of the most intense and upsetting experiences I've ever had.  I was glad at least that it wasn't alone when it happened, and that perhaps it was meaningful that it came back when it did, and that it died when I was present.  Anyway, we tried to help it while it was alive, and we're glad it's at least not suffering anymore.  It was a sweet little cat.

Fayum

This is a pen sketch I did after one of the Fayum Portraits, those amazing ancient works of art used to adorn the mummified dead in Hellenistic Egypt around the first few centuries CE.  I plan to do a painted piece on wood soon.

omnia mors aequat

I've always been somewhat fascinated by skulls, not in any morbid way really, but the shape of them (& likely the collective associations we have) make them, and have made them, a compelling subject for still life renderings; here in charcoal with conte.

frog on water lily pad

watercolor.

sanguine conte

This is a nice pose, I think, and I like the contrast between the sharp lines which define the form, and the soft sketchy lines which suggest the rest.

ink & watercolor

Ninja

There's an extremely under-nourished kitten living in our backyard that we've been trying to feed back to health. We decided to name it Ninja, for its uncanny ability to completely blend in with its surroundings: its coloring is such that when it lays flat in the dry grass, you really can't see it if you don't know it's there (and even if you do, sometimes.)  Anyway, I did some ink sketches of Ninja, and here's hoping that it survives.

Labor Never Rests?

This image is waiting for a message to become a socialist poster.

real chicken

So, we've decided now to buy only organic, free-range meats (for many reasons, but having recently watched "Food, Inc." forced our commitment).  I've prepared whole chickens many times in the last few years, but I must say that having the head and feet still intact really affects how I feel about what I'm doing.  Not even having to actually kill it myself, and pluck the feathers, being presented with the head and feet enforces in your mind that this was a living creature that died so that I could eat.  I think this is an obvious, but important, thing to think about when we eat.  I felt like I was handling the bird with more respect somehow.  And while it was being cooked, and I moved it, and the foot broke off, I irrationally flinched a bit in apology.  If we're going to continue to eat other animals for our own benefit, it's important for me now that we don't think of this flesh as just another chunk of matter that comes conveniently processed & wrapped from the grocery store.

bird contemplating corn kernels

gallus gallus

This is one of K's favorites: a large, bold, poster-like image in watercolor and pen.

seated nude

I like how the sketchiness of this oil creates a sort of vibrating movement to it, despite being a static pose.  Also, I like how the curve of the arm rest has almost become one with her arm and hands.

charcoal & chalk

ink bamboo

Bit of a gloomy day today, perhaps a little of that came out in this painting.  Looking at it now, I see that I unintentionally incorporated the "S"-shaped movement in it that an old teacher of mine used to talk about.

Bos Taurus

For some reason, this is one of my favorite things I've done.  It's ink & a bit of color.

profile

Here's an oil painting I did a while back: I've always liked it for the facial expression, and the overall tone.

Vanco

Pen on paper towel.  Our friend Kory in hospital.

Lucy

When it comes to keeping still, a sleepy dog makes a pretty good model.

Lemon

Discovered lemon sorbet this year: a simple matter of heating roughly equal parts sugar & water (into a simple syrup), adding an equal part lemon juice and some rind (optional: whisk in a dollop of sour cream), and freezing in a shallow pan, remembering to stir the mixture every so often as it freezes to keep the texture right.

Rabbit's Coming Year

In honor of my own Chinese Zodiac, and the forthcoming year (I realize I'm jumping the gun, but I just noticed that my year was coming up, which is cool), I did this calligraphy of the Chinese character for Rabbit, "tu" in Mandarin.  The character's origin is supposedly an ideogram of a rabbit, but I thought it was interesting that it has a component part which can mean "evade".

orchid

I've been playing with ink painting for a while now, and have found that working with the traditional "rice" paper can sometimes come with as much frustration as joy.  So this painting was done on hot press watercolor paper with western watercolor pigments, with some nice results.

Daibutsu

This is an ochre acrylic paint sketch I did of the Great Buddha of Kamakura.  This is a beautiful area, and the surrounding towns and temples, especially the Hase Kannon Temple, are amazing.

hummingbird

Been seeing a lot of these little guys around our neighborhood recently, and they're always fascinating to watch.  This is pen and watercolor.  I tightened up a little when adding in the color to the drawing, which is a typical problem for me, so I remind myself to loosen up and release the fear of "ruining" a line drawing I'm happy with.

bird at rest

Sitting outside, this bird came and rested on the powerline, and I did this quick sketch of it, in ballpoint pen on an analysis pad.

year of the tiger

Here's a drawing I did for some good friends of ours.  It's charcoal & pastel on brown paper.

new web presence

I've decided to give Blogger a shot as a new way for me to post artwork and whatever else I can think of.  So, come with me now (or soon) on a journey through time and space...