Making "Snack Time! RAWR!"

Lana Purnell and Xiau-Fong Wee at Studio Gallery

Featuring Lana Purnell's still life and my cityscapes, this exhibition is up August 7 to September 1. The opening reception is not until this Sunday, August 18! Stop by STUDIO Gallery to say hi!

The Making of Riches

Just for fun, this is how I went about to paint "Riches." Click on the images to make them bigger. Thanks for viewing!

 

 

Moleskine Project #2

I am excited to be a part of this show with over 50 amazing artists from around the world! The show consists of pages taken out of artists' moleskine sketchbook. Many will be creating images on the front and back of the pages, so it is like two pieces in one. Custom frames for the exhibit will also be double sided to show off both sides. The Moleskine Project will be at Spoke Art in San Francisco. Make a note on your calendar and come check it out!Click on the image below for a list of participating artists:

So naturally, having three different bodies of work, I had to decide between drawing and painting.

I could not decide so I did both, a page with a painting on both sides, and a page with a drawing on both sides. Also I took my concept of animals with guns and glasses and gave it a twist! A boston terrier and a tabby cat holding water guns from the 90's and wearing shutter shades, and in color! (click on the image for a larger view):

Power Pet (side 1)

Power Pet (side 2)

Insect Juice (side 1)

Insect Juice (side 2)

Another decision to make- I am to send only one page! So I have to decide which to put in the show....hm....

Making of "Slow Motion"

With ten days left until Corporeal Clusters ends, I thought I would share a couple beginning stages of "Slow Motion."

"Slow Motion"
Acrylic on Canvas
40" x 54"

If you want to see this painting in person, along with my other recent Concept paintings, head on over to 111 Minna Gallery! November 10th is the last day to catch the exhibit!

A Few Days to Finish a Few Dozen Things

Exactly as the title says.

Here is a detail shot of one of the paintings I am finishing up.

The disadvantage to viewing art online is you cannot really get up close to look at the brush strokes and textures. I might just start posting detail shots of various paintings. As always, you can click on the image and then click again to zoom in for a better look.

In the future, computers will have a hologram option that will enable viewers to see the whole actual painting and rotate it 3-dimensionally so that the textures can accurately be portrayed... one day...

Beyond the Horizon

Juggling acrylic painting, oil painting, drawing, and other activities, there is just too much to do!

In the process of making a lot of stuff, and while painting, I was greeted with this pretty mini brush-stroke scenery.

I love it when art just happens.

There will be a new page added to the top menu, can't wait.

10 Annoying Things to Happen while Painting

I love painting. But sometimes things happen while I am working that really annoy me. Here is a list!

1. Nature's Call
I really really really have to go to the bathroom.
I hate to break my concentration. Cant. Stop. Painting.

2. Hair
Hair gets trapped on the painting. I don't know how it flew horizontally from my head to the canvas. I don't know how I did not notice it. Either I pick it out with a needle and tweezers or paint thicker over it and hope that it blends in with the brushstrokes.

3. Aliens
Foreign materials invade my palette. Like outer space aliens invading earth, dust particles, paint skins, bits of paper towel, food show up on my palette suddenly. I don't remember when they have landed, but they are there, and my brush picks them up and they mess up my strokes. The coating on my paint brushes also flake out everywhere. And again, my HAIR!!! It gets on my palette and I have long hair so it is annoying. I shed so much it is a wonder I am not bald!

4. Holes
I throw my palette knife into my paint box. I see the blade sticking out of a tube of cadmium red oil paint. Fuck.

5. Itches.
My hands are dirty and gross. My forehead itches. Cant. Stop. Painting.

6. Crashes
My computer crashes and I lose all reference material.

7. Materials
I run out of paint.
It is an important color, like white.

8. My decisions.
I change my mind. I change my mind about a color, I change my mind about where to place what subject, I change my mind about the size of something in the picture... whatever it is, I change my mind and there goes a few wasted hours of work :-/

9. Delusions
I am more than 50% through when I realize that the painting is stupid.
Whether it be the concept, or the color choices, or the execution, whatever it is, the painting was not worth starting in the first place. What was I thinking!?!?!

10. Magic
Paint on my ceiling. Paint on my t-shirt that was under my sweater. Paint under the floor mats. Paint can show up anywhere and there is no explanation. It is magic.

So that's it. If there is anything else that I may have missed, feel free to leave a comment below.