New Goal

I want to paint the way Bukowski writes.
This is my new goal, I don't know how I'll know if I've achieved this goal or if it's even possible.
I don't really even know what it means, but this is my new goal.

End of Semester & Green Man Exhibition

The semester has come to an end and my work is now displayed for assessment.  It's been a good semester; I've changed my artistic direction a few times and tried a lot of new things but now I'm on a path which I'm very happy with and excited to see where it takes me next semester.  Here are a few photos.

Not enough wall space for everything so the four large canvases are on the floor

Yesterday was the opening night of Green Man, a small exhibition at Roseangle Cafe Arts, and I was lucky enough to get one of my paintings hung in the exhibition.  It's on for two weeks, so check it out Dundee folks.

Almost Assessment Time

I'm trying to finish one more painting before Monday when I need to have this semester's work displayed for assessment.  It's nearly done, I should be able to finish it tomorrow.  Here's what it looks like so far.

- Work In Progress -
Oil on wood
Music - Incredible String Band, Hijak Oscar and Grizzly Bear

Detail view

Detail view

Painting Update

I think these two are now finished.

Oil on wood
Music - Richie Havens and Elba

Oil on wood
Music - Ridin' The Faultline, Old Crow Medicine Show, Emiliana Torrini and Elba

Three Paintings...and a Drawing

I finished one of the paintings which I've been doing by using photographs as references and have started two others.  I'm not completely happy with these paintings so far but I am really liking the direction I'm going with them, and I'm excited to see where it takes me.

Oil on wood
Music - Gogol Bordello and Gillian Welch

- Work in Progress -
Oil on wood
Music - Richie Havens

- Work in Progress -
Oil on wood
Music - Ridin' The Faultline and Old Crow Medicine Show

...and here's a drawing

Pastel on newsprint

What I've Been Up To Lately...

Here are a few drawings from a couple weeks ago, unfortunately I can't remember what music I was listening to while working on them.

Pastel & conte on wood

Pastel & conte on newsprint

Pastel & conte on newsprint

Pastel on newsprint

Pastel & conte on newsprint

Pastel, charcoal & conte on newsprint

And here are a couple experimental collage pieces.

Pastel, conte & acrylic on wood & canvas

Mixed media

I've been working on this painting over the past two weeks.

-Work in progress-
Oil on wood

This week I've decided to paint using photographs and other references rather than completely from my imagination.  I started painting this one today, and so far I'm pretty happy with where it's going.

-Work in progress-
Oil on wood
Music - Gogol Bordello

And a drawing for the next painting.

-Work in progress-

Drawings on Newsprint

Today I decided to buy some newsprint and do a bit of drawing - here are some of those drawings.

Conte & pastel on newsprint
Music - The White Stripes

Conte & pastel on newsprint
Music - The White Stripes

Conte & pastel on newsprint
Music - The White Stripes

Conte & pastel on newsprint
Music - The White Stripes

Conte & pastel on newsprint
Music - The White Stripes

Conte & pastel on newsprint
Music - The White Stripes

Fourth Canvas

I decided to force myself out of my comfort zone for the fourth painting.  Rather than working mostly unconsciously and just throwing paint around without a plan as I usually do I thought I should actually plan this painting.  I'm painting a landscape which is very rare for me, and I'm actually thinking about each part before painting it - I'm even drawing preparatory sketches.  This has been an interesting experience so far and I didn't like the painting very much throughout the process, but I am now becoming quite happy with it.  I still have a bit of work to do.
Here is a picture from when I was still quite frustrated with it.

-Work in progress-
Oil on canvas
Music- The Band & Arlo Guthrie

And here is what it looks like now.

-Work in progress-
Oil on canvas
Music- The Band, Arlo Guthrie & Jimi Hendrix

Third Canvas

Here is a photo of painting number three, of four.  I'm not sure if it's finished, I may continue to work on it a bit more.

Oil on canvas
Music- Soul Coughing & TV on the Radio

Paintings

Today I put two of the four new canvases to use, I think I'm finished with one so far and still working on the second.  I really like the size of these canvases, 4'X3' is a great size to work with.
Here are some pics.

Oil on canvas
Music: Radiohead - OK Computer

Detail view

Detail view

Detail view

Work-in-progress
Oil on canvas
Music: Radiohead - Kid A

Detail view

Rubber and Plaster

One of the projects I'm currently working on has to do with making plaster casts from a rubber mould.  I sculpted a small and somewhat abstract head using tin foil and then made a rubber mould of the foil head.  Presently I am making a bunch of small plaster heads, I'll make about ten of them and I plan to manipulate each one to make them all slightly different than each other.
Here is a shot of the first head.

A Lot Of Canvas

Today I spent about five hours in the woodshop building four 3'X4' canvases.  Now I'm pretty excited to do a bit of painting.

Drawings and Sculpture

Some of the work I did last week

Pastel on wood

Pastel and conte on paper

Pastel and charcoal on wood

Pastel and conte on paper