Saturday, January 22, 2011

Wild Wild Life




Here are a few acrylic paintings that I have completed over the past few years. I did not paint with acrylics until the early 90's. Up to that point I was using mostly oils, gouache, and mixed media techniques for all of my commercial and personal work. When I decided to teach myself how to use acrylics, I turned to other artists who worked with this medium. The acrylic painters that I admired the most, at that time, were wildlife artists. I loved the work of Robert Bateman and especially Bob Kuhn. They were internationally known and I was fascinated by the range of effects that they could achieve with acrylic paint. I bought books that reproduced their art and tried to visually dissect their methods. I went out of my way to visit museums and galleries that collected their work. I spent hours studying these wildlife master's work. I also spent hours in my own studio practicing and experimenting with acrylics. It also helped me at that time to work with wildlife subjects as I had enjoyed drawing and painting animals since my childhood. I have quite a collection of these small paintings (8 x 10 to 12 x 16) , and I will post more of them over the next few weeks.

Monday, January 3, 2011

More Sculpted Weirdos!





I had planned to post a few more Christmas images, but I'm feeling "done" with the holidays, so I'll save them for next year. Here are a few more of my whimsical sculptures. I'm posting these because I've had the urge recently to create more of these. They are so much fun and every result feels like a surprise to me. Good or bad, they just emerge and reveal themselves as I am making them. No sketches. No plans. They are constructed of wood, sculpey, foam, and found objects. They come together quickly and I enjoy the spontaneity.