tonterias

Website Updated, woo hoo

2011-11-30T10:16:00.002-06:00

New

2010-06-24T07:32:00.002-05:00

Finally got some painting done...
Left: Torrit Grey competition entry...if they ever get around to beginning it this year...
Right: Wall

Both Oil on Panel...bit o' wax thrown in for good measure here and there...Tried out some Venetian Turp on the Wall piece...lovely stuff, very thick...Usu. use a stand oil/OMS mix, a thick glue-y medium is nice...Venetian Turp smells fantastic...

T&Z and Lil' Joe

2010-02-18T07:42:00.004-06:00

Zoë's Family Portrait

2010-02-17T19:56:00.002-06:00

Our 3 yr old drew this while we were waiting for her sister...she's got some skills!

Who is this by...?

2010-02-16T09:56:00.003-06:00

It is driving me nuts....

Found it...finally...Jean Jansem

drawing on Plastic

2010-02-09T13:38:00.003-06:00

drawing on plastic...real fun, smooooth and blends loverly...this is Yupo, want to try regular Mylar, mostly because it's cheaper...

this guy does it, looks fantastic...Neil Plotkin

Lost & Found - Oliver Jeffers

2010-02-01T22:32:00.002-06:00

One of the most fantastic and amazing books, kids book, has been made into a short film...and they didn't mess it up...

http://lostandfoundartblog.squarespace.com/

http://www.oliverjeffers.com/

Tom Fath

2010-01-26T21:35:00.005-06:00

These are by an old friend, Tom Fath. Met him when I worked building frames for art, more so he taught me the trade, and a lot more. As an artist he opened my eyes to so much, as a friend so much more. He went off to study painting in Ohio I think...Visited once and left some pics for us of his new stuff. Will have to hunt up the one (sadly one) image of Sunflowers I have of his that he did before he left to contrast these. The above was Tom being taken out of his comfort zone I think, quite admirable to say the least where he ventured...I believe all the above are Oil on Canvas, the bottom on paper, oil being a new medium for him somewhat as his previous work was mainly in acrylic.

A notation on the top picture has the measurement at 7' x 4', if so very monumental, esp for Tom as most of his work I had seen before consisted of smaller (much so) pieces, still lives the largest about 12" x 24" I believe, and a few he sold at the gallery were either 6" x 6" or 8" x 8"

I post these because every now and again I think to search him on the net and nary a thing comes up. To give him some web presence I post these, mostly so I can see them regularly, and for anyone else interested. Tom, should you not like these up, just let me know, I will remove them.

I Come From the Water....

2010-01-20T09:29:00.009-06:00

I Come From the Water...both pencil in 8.5 x 11 Moleskine

A fun character study, Anna Rose...a little bit David Shannon maybe, but mostly Glin Dibley, a great painter/illustrator...whom to be quite honest is just completely ripping off Joe Sorren*...so I do not feel too bad about it...regardless this is in no manner definitive for dear AnnaRose, she's evolving page by page. Some of the earlier sketches channeled Watterson too closely...

*whether he studied w/ Sorren or what ever the case may be, the so close approximation of styles is disturbing...At least he is venturing in an area not (to the best of my knowledge) tread by Joe...He could be doing gallery shows and what not like those hacks whom drag Liepke's style through the mud...It is one thing to paint in a similar style, but to paint the EXACT same images shows lack of creativity...(Martinez, Roberti, Smith, Carson(the worst of all!)...)

A memory pic of my younger brother, Vere...is a vague memory at that, we weren't the most prolific picture family....do not remember there even being a camera in the house from '84-90...at least there are very few of those embarrassing awkward teen years pics...

A Summation...

2010-01-06T11:41:00.008-06:00

"Most of the time I had no idea what I was doing which was great."

That quote holds so much truth in all applicable senses that it's mere simplicity denotes it's plumbing depths...

It came from this fantastic artist...

Rich Pellegrino

Finished

2010-01-04T12:14:00.001-06:00

Finished
Originally uploaded by The Staggerlee

spaces & a dad...

2009-11-20T18:53:00.007-06:00

••furthering the "kingdoms" idea mentioned earlier...••

sitting at our daughter's school, he came in and sat down to wait for his son. he didn't fall asleep, just rested for a moment, but he did sit still long enough...

all graphite in Moleskine

• recent watercolours •

2009-11-17T10:53:00.005-06:00

All roughly 7" x 4" watercolour/gouache on 300# Arches HP....

The bowl on the table like thing owes much to Wayne McDowell in composition / inspiration*(here too)...his still lives are deceptively simple and mindblowing...the landscapes are...just go check it out...

*you could say I blatantly ripped him off, with out intention though...

(side note, just got some 300# Canson CP/R...really do not like it, holds a wash horribly...)

My Mongol and other wanderings

2009-10-29T17:37:00.008-05:00

one day sitting in a waiting area there was no one to draw...so

Perhaps one of the nicest people to come across, she saw me drop my sketchbook in a parking lot and drive off, followed me to return it...

All graphite (Mongol # 1s for the most part) in Moleskines

C2 and a Kingdom

2009-10-26T20:22:00.006-05:00

There's a story to go with the above...soon enough told, though some of it is in the words there...

Scot girl 2, getting to where the idea of these portraits is leading me slowly...a bit more personality, less of that "posed for a photo at Sears and had an arteest draw it" look...More on this thought in the (near) future...

T redux & the Scot Girl

2009-10-19T17:38:00.003-05:00

both pencil in 12 x 16 moleskine

TRF & Shape Praise XXII

2009-10-08T08:39:00.004-05:00

TRF
graphite

In Praise of Shapes XXII (are you listening)
pencil in 12" x 16.5" Moleskine

•girlies and a boy•

2009-09-26T12:18:00.006-05:00

-(wave)-

2009-05-23T12:54:00.004-05:00

-(wave)-
oil/Wax on canvas
3' x 6'

Dub, art in such..

2009-04-27T08:16:00.002-05:00

Some of the pieces have "Dub" in them. I like the idea of it, like the music, "involves revisions of existing songs." I think it was Magritte that would do further "versions" of some of his work...revisiting them. Sometimes I like an idea and in the sketch book the evolution can take a piece in different directions...sometimes more than one path works to get to the end...I think, why edit that...sometimes...

-Shapes & Dimensions-

2009-04-08T10:55:00.011-05:00

-a not altogether inaccurate representation of a cube-

oil on prepped paper 6x6

The Sums Total(ed)

watercolour 5x10

-non4-
9x6 oil & wax

surface

sourcecode(s)

2009-04-03T09:10:00.010-05:00

sourcecode
6x8 watercolour on paper

tuhgra
10x10 casein & w/c on paper

in praise of shapes III (dub II)
oil on panel 6x6

Nod Remnants
w/c, wood, fibre paste

Whale

2009-03-27T15:07:00.003-05:00

Schminke watercolour ground on panel, top with their fine ground over some Golden Proceed Smooth Absorbent Texture, that weird grey mid line with their course W/C ground, bottom textured with Golden's Proceed Rough Irregular Texture w/ same ground as top...
Schminke stuff is none too shabby, bit better in performance than Golden's Absorbent ground, about one step behind Ampersand's Aquabord in performance (liftability, glazing, brightness...)

Oh yes, there is some hemp Jute on the panel underneath all the gesso and texture stuff, not really visable but there nonetheless...a left over from an earlier experiment...

Richard Bunkall

2009-03-22T06:16:00.001-05:00

Amazing...

Richard Bunkall works in a slideshow. Click his name above and treat your eyes and mind to something special today...

Some things new and a bit o' blue

2009-03-20T14:50:00.014-05:00

Roxelana's Wall
10x10 Casein & Watercolour on 300lb paper

In Praise of a Simple Shape
9x12 Watercolour on 300lb paper

graffiti on a wall in Nod...
11x17 Watercolour/Casein on panel
Another series of sorts..the idea of Nod...

something embedded
6x6 oil on panel

In Praise of Simple Shapes II (dub version I)
Watercolour on paper
there's more in this "series"..there's cool dub in music, why not in painting....

Float
6x6 Oil/Wax on panel

Shapes...just shapes are fascinating me at the moment...

2008-04-17T19:42:00.002-05:00

tout goûte meilleur avec du beurre

poire de merde

2008-03-12T17:39:00.004-05:00

elle stretch study

•la modiste•

a colour by number

Distracted 1

2007-12-04T17:48:00.002-06:00

distracted

longueurs

2007-08-28T22:07:00.000-05:00

Sancho Nada
"es todo muy tonterias!"

tonterias:
Function: feminine noun
Usage: Spanish word
1 : foolishness
2 : stupid remark or action
3 decir tonterías : to talk nonsense

2007-08-28T22:04:00.000-05:00

My Anne Bonney
mi chica bonita...

w/c on paper

2007-08-27T20:09:00.000-05:00

A lil' freelance illo...t-shirt pic.

2007-04-28T11:58:00.000-05:00

a brown bottle, found in a burn pile and cleaned up a bit. oil on paper...the drawing is a bit wobbly to borrow a phrase from another...but more importantly, to me at least, were the brushes. Robt. Simmons Titanium rounds. just got them, on the mention from another artist (Duane Keiser mentions them in his "on painting" blog, linked over on the right thru his daily blog), they really are a synthetic bristle, they keep their point very very well, i'd call them a pointed round. Really like pointed rounds and filberts. Got a filbert too, another must have, haven't used it yet though...

T1 oil and a watercolour

2007-04-23T17:49:00.001-05:00

two of tr. one monochrome W/C, other oil. oil is unfinished, to stay that way. working up anew, with better draftsmanship...move on and learn from it.

T - Oil

2007-04-23T17:44:00.001-05:00

the oil portrait of T - finished. on w/c paper. very happy with it, tried out marogers, first time, also some glazing medium with canada balsam in it, pretty cool stuff.

T Watercolour

2007-04-20T16:38:00.001-05:00

T - watercolour on gessoed paper...monochrome...mostly...have an oil version. love w/c on gessoed anything, slides around really nice, absorbs well....fun.

2007-04-20T16:35:00.000-05:00

forward motion at rest...oil on paper...

2007-01-10T09:09:00.000-06:00

found a fabulous pencil place on the world wild webby...

http://www.pencilthings.com/servlet/StoreFront

Great drawering pencils and other neat stuff for those afflicted with
OCD pencil related disorders ,like mine own burgeoning ones after visiting and finding
they carry #1 Mongols!!! Forget #2s, #1s got the dark lead...

This nice chap, Don runs the place, real nice one there, and good quick with the service...

2006-09-05T13:49:00.000-05:00

someone painted from memory utilizing the pose of someone unrelated...huh?
started out just painting a face, began to look like some one i used to work with, so it became a portrait...

2006-09-05T13:46:00.000-05:00

lily the putian...needs a revisit, somethin' real cool in there...

2006-09-05T13:42:00.000-05:00

elle stretch (unfinished) and nowhere'sville...not in a 'skine, have to get one of those new W/C ones to try out soon...

2005-07-29T09:15:00.000-05:00

the one i'ed man....

our land of blindness, deserved of none royaler...the constitution of the self, the i, selfishness can be ugly though a necessity at times...constant abuse breeds addiction in the weak.

applied indiscriminitly the warts and all show...be delicate in use, firm in application.

don't lose the self, just do not bow down before it

2005-07-21T06:48:00.000-05:00

sad little breathing machines...
these, this one here in two of it's sketchy forms, came about around the time I discovered for myself the poetry of one Matthea Harvey...truly surreal, syrupy stuff. That may not do her work justice, that description, but it is truly something to behold and beheld...

2005-07-18T16:03:00.000-05:00

lamenting the urbanization of rural america. while this has been an ongoing travesty for quite some time, it is still a sad state and deserved of comment. no, we cannot stop progress, and no things were not all bucolic and purdy in the Mayberry days (rampant racism, chauvinism etc.- hell, the same ol' shit as today) though something, some thing, is lost in the shuffle....

presented:

"AmeriArcana Gothica I: From Heartland to Heartbreak, What's happened to the Farmer's Daughter? She's not in Kansas anymore."

2005-07-15T13:50:00.000-05:00

imagined situations, loosely based on people one may or may not know...basically what any art is, in a short possibly mindlessly determined manner...whatevernot, this one's for the ages...have not gone past this sketch on this one...love the image and am happy with all it is...

some times a piece I come up with, conceptually and stylistically pleases me to no end and going beyone the initial burst of creativity loses what the sketch originally wrought in my thoughts...so this one has sat, untouched for well over a year now...maybe soon I will try to walk through that door, straighten the curtain, or rumple the bed spread a little and start anew...

perhaps coming up with short word sketches, lil' bits of inner dialogue would work with things of this nature....I like that, maybe...........

2005-07-15T13:47:00.000-05:00

what's she thinking about? Her opinion of you? The wine she had with dinner? The state of world affairs?

2005-07-14T11:03:00.000-05:00

The recipe I found in the GREAT "Blues for Cannibals" by Charles Bowden. I believe it (the recipe) is a recollection of his on something he had read about Dumas. He had a dream in which this recipe came to him...the picture (2 degrees of Olive) was drawn that day, not influenced by the reading, think i named the pic before reading the passage...memories hazy, the "driving down a night time road through patches of fog at high rates of speed" kind of hazy...just the way I like it...

Alexander Dumas Dream Recipe: Pitted olive stuffed with an anchovie fillet. Put the olive in a Blackbird, Blackbird in a Quail, Quail in a Pheasant, Pheasant into a Turkey, Turkey into a Pig. Over a huge roasting fire, cook.

When done...eat just the Olive.

Is there a better definition of Art?

2005-07-12T09:31:00.000-05:00

"...and I laid the blame on the malice of time,
the devourer and consumer of all things..."

sketchavolution: the evolution of a sketch to a painting, not necc. a direct line, not always an ending in and of itself. objects need not only move forward or back on the plane, as in a parabola, the idea may continue to expand and evolve, consuming more meaning or devolve to another distantly related item...

presented here:

"She said all the things she had to say and nothing more" in original and painted form, then "Carelessly Careening" in her quick, sketched out in the kitchen one afternoon form and a painted final.

Both have also evolved in different manners, and forms into others...

2005-07-11T16:46:00.000-05:00

found these in an older 'skine, one of the first for a series of sketch fictional rememberances i've been inking around for a while. Loosely inspired by Lautrec's Elles (or is it just Elle, i remember not) portfolio of sketches (and based on a disturbingly deep and to some, randomly odd philosophical / psychological method of mine).

The 'skine paper takes rapidio pen ink so well, brush pen too, just have to refill it yourself as the ink supplied is really lame on their paper. And I am nothing if not a paper junkie (it can become frightening with me at PaperSource and other places of the same ilk). The finals of these are on Borden & Riley #234 Paris Bleedproof 14 x 17, yet another superb surface for ink work and lite washes. Not off colour as is the molskine paper, but lovely in it's own right...Will have to find a way to digitize these large lovelies in the near and near...

the car is a study of a ol' timey hot rod (some call them rat rods) done in casein, another medium which can lead to hours of giddy excitement (another addiction, waterbased mediums, esp flat / matte ones).

2005-07-10T22:32:00.000-05:00

a head and hand pose study...first piece sold ta'boot!

2005-07-10T22:28:00.000-05:00

in the beginning there was...the waiting amy.