Cartoons: The start of something new

I've always had ideas for satire that lends itself to cartoons but never really did many cartoons.

Just recently I have started diving into things that are not necessarily my forte and I believe the results have been not only fun but challenging.

All the sea creatures agreed to coexist....that is except the shrimp, for some reason he wasn't having it!

Multiple Series Simultaneously

The Guardian

After the initial inspiration everything seemed to just go flat and I had nothing.Suddenly I have the resurgence of the ideas but this time I'm sure of what I need to do. I have been a whole lot more purposeful in my composition and more particular about shapes and details. I have a few animal portraits in the works and with the strengthening of my attention to details plan on trying several portraits of people as well. 

In the middle of the series, perspectives I have begun sketching in acrylic paint on paper. The first one was a horse, just a study that I did from a local horse stable. I won first place in 4x6 division of Paint Rowlett plain air competition 2015. I've started a lion portrait and have several more ideas on what portraits I want to try with acrylic.

I just took down the display from North Haven Gardens and hope to be showing again perhaps in 2016, I'll share details but the images will be quite different. I am also possibly going to be teaching classes on painting pottery there, no dates as of yet but making plans.

The window series is growing in scope and broadness of spectrum. This whole series has a mind of its own and I feel like I'm just hanging on for the ride.

Paddling Texoma

I have also gotten back to be more distinct with my water, back to the basics. I want the viewer to feel the wet, to be able to see the rocks on the bottom.

My pastels are getting a bit simpler and perhaps more atmospheric and yet I still have a need for strong perfection and clean definite lines, I want the architecture of the shapes to be true and bring the viewer into seeing reality with a twist, that atmosphere that attaches to a landscape that is a bit haunted. I hope you enjoy the series in the works, stay tuned for more.

Halloween Pastel

Halloween 2015

This was the pastel for Halloween 2015. I tried to keep it less detailed. I reminds me of when I was very  young creating paper cut out designs for Halloween.

It has always been one of my favorite holidays simply because of the atmosphere and if the day is especially gloomy or rainy that just added to the feeling.

This is actually from memory, a scene I saw that evening, I wasn't involved in the festivities but I got to watch the trick-or-treaters haunting the neighborhoods.

The orange is because of the way the sky looked that evening. One of those autumn evenings where the sky has that spooky orange glow and it reflects in the streets. I tried to keep it almost child-like.

Halloween 2008

New Pastels

My pastels often form over time. I have been working on several that just never seemed to materialize until yesterday.

Sometimes I just stare at all the unfinished works and have a problem getting started. Having the time to create and a great inclination without any focus or direction is a very difficult situation for the creative to experience.

Yesterday I decided to play with some existing pastels, a term I have recently started using. There are two very different states in the creative process and I enjoy each for different reasons.

There is detail, trying to perfect what you see which is very disciplined but can get a bit overwhelming, I am working on a very detailed dog staring out a window, a large oil. The other state is play. The idea that you can just play with color, texture and shapes-there is something quite liberating about “play”.

Spending some time in Oakland California with many very talented artists has inspired me to be bold and more adventurous.  They live in an artist coop, they eat, breathe and live art.

One artist particular artist is Teresa Kalnoskas, her rich colors and bold expressive forms made me want to dive into painting and creating more aggressively. She hangs things in her studio that inspire her, has large and small canvases all about her neat and ordered studio and many of her techniques are brilliant.

With this renewed inspiration,I have added a new dimension to my pastels; acrylic paint and oil pastels. I get to dab bits of wet acrylic into pastel, I smear oil pastels, something I haven’t used in a while and quite miraculously I am free to explore more creatively.

I am excited about seeing new and bolder options as well as perfecting the quality of craftsmanship by doing portraits of animals and for the first time, people.

I am very excited about these new series that seem to be taking shape simultaneously. Stay tuned for more works.