Sketches to Watercolor III

Here are some watercolors from late spring and early summer that I fit in around the edges. Also the sketchbook drawings from which they emerged.

Tightrope

Anatomy

Obstacle

Bird Trainer

Common Ground

Word Drawings - June and July - 2014

I've continued this series, fitting a word drawing in here and there in my morning drawing sessions. I've almost completed an entire book of these drawing. As you may recall, this series was a reaction to the disappointment of purchasing several of these books with inferior paper. Whole story here. One down, two to go! Anyway, here is the latest installment.

Season of the Witch - 6-23-14

Stargazer - 6-25-14

World Cup - 2014

Cause and Defect - 7-21-14

Squall Line - 7-22-14

Futile Crescent - 7-24-14

Yarn Theory - 7-25-14

Derring Do - 7-28-14

What Was I Thinking?

Here's a new painting, a last bit of canvas on the roll painting, whose dimensions were determined by happenstance. As I got into this painting, it was reminding me of old camp blankets that I had seen as a kid. Maybe not design-wise, but the color combination stirred something in the nether regions of my mind. It recalled the scent of mosquito repellent and burnt marshmallows on a stick. So I thought I would google those blankets to see if I could find one similar to the one that I remembered. No such luck. I'm hoping that somewhere out there is a blanket that jives with my remembrance. A better look and more info here.

Blanket - Acrylic on Canvas - 18"H × 66"W

Close but no cigar.

I started this painting during my stay at the Vermont Studio Center (click here for that story). Here's what it looked like at the start.

Two Diptychs

I have been a bit lax when it comes to ordering art supplies. In fact, I recently ran out of canvas. In an effort to continue to paint, I decided to look through my paintings, pick out the one I liked least, cut it up and paint several smaller canvases. Because they were smaller, I was able to put up 2 on my wall at a time. The idea of creating diptychs was a natural progression,

Aftermath - Acrylic on Canvas - Each panel 12.5"H × 19"W

 Owl's Head - Acrylic on Canvas - Each panel 12.5 "H × 19"W

And here's the original painting formerly known as Fiesta. It was an earlier effort and in my estimation, not quite up to snuff. It's interesting to sees that some of the original marks are evident on the finished diptychs!

Word Drawings - late May - early June - 2014

I took a little respite from word drawings in March, but lately I've had the notion to continue. These drawing develop very organically. They start with a word or phrase and the ensuing design and subsequent verbiage develop from there. I've long been intrigued with Adolph Gottlieb's pictographs and the fact that each mark he made on the canvas was a reaction to the last mark. Even though these drawing are very different, I try to operate in that spirit. So here's the latest batch, ink blobs and all.

Nervous Laughter

Guided Missletoe

Monty Pylon

Hogwash

Age of Unreason

Sneeches on the Beaches

Sketchbook to Watercolor II

String Theory - 12"W × 9"H - Pen, Ink and Watercolor

Of late, Ive been focusing on the larger abstracts and smaller humorous paintings, but I continue to fit in watercolors around the edges. Here are some fairly recent ones with the sketches from my sketchbooks upon which they were based. See more of my watercolors: Click here.

Soaring - 12"W × 9"H - Pen, Ink and Watercolor

A Change of Scenery - 12"W ×9"H - Pen, Ink and Watercolor

What'reyagonnado, Eh? - 12"W × 9"H - Pen, Ink and Watercolor

Compartmentalization - 12"W × 9"H - Pen, Ink and Watercolor

Two New Humorous Paintings and a Twist on Presentation

I've tried a little something different in the way of presentation with these last two paintings. Prior to these I have always built a box on the back of the paintings which brought the depth up to 1 3/4". The sides were painted with a color that complimented the painting and the presentation looked fantastic. The problem , aside from building the box and sanding the sides smooth ( which took a considerable amount of time) was one of space. The finished pieces took up alot of storage room. So with these paintings, I built a smaller box, which, when hung, gave the paintings the appearance of floating on the wall. Also they take up much less space.

Prints of these paintings are available on my humorous print site: www.humorousprints.com 

The back, with hanging wire yet to be added.

What's Not to Like? - Acrylic on Wood Panel - 12"W × 16"H

Good Morning - Acrylic on Wood Panel - 12"W × 16"H