Break out the Oil?

 The Green Door Leaves Home (detail of a work in progress). Oil on canvas.

Just added another love to my media list: Water soluble oil paint--in this case Winsor & Newton Water Mixable Oil Colour.

Watercolor will always be on the list, and while I love acrylics, and have indulged in them for years, they tend to frustrate me because they dry so fast on the palette.

When I began my quest for color control ( http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/2013/01/focus-and-attention-fix-part-2-black.html )

my biggest issue became mixing up a big grey pile of acrylic for color strings, and then having it all dry while I looked for a resource, fed the dog, or rummaged in the fridge. Scooping the paint into (so-called) airtight cups and storing those in baggies with wet paper towel kind of put me over the edge.

I am sure that a quicker brain (and slow-dry medium) would have helped, but my need for smarts proved unnecessary when a friend gave me a set of water soluble oils.

 They can be used over acrylics, they dry slowly enough for me to experiment, and they don't stink up my little studio space with solvents. 

Still life in progress

 Detail of still life in progress Oil on canvas.

Maybe I will stick with these oils exclusively, maybe not. Ambivalence strikes again. 

I've pretty much accepted that as my lot, so I'll roll with being decisively uncertain. And enjoy the daily medium-of-choice, whatever it will be.

As always, thanks for the visit!

Wizard of Oz Clocks

 The Set

Being pretty obsessed with clocks and faces, making new clocks is mostly a pleasure.  Although finding good, old, non-working clocks is getting more difficult, the hunt for them is also a good time. The clock repair that will fix a burnt out electric clock is rare-to-non-existent in these parts, so I don't feel bad gutting a busted one and replacing the works with a quartz movement.

In fact, that's usually the hardest part for me--jerry-rigging is not my strong suit. Almost always, figuring out a way to get the movements attached to the clock in a stable manner takes more time than painting the faces.

  http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/2013/05/oz-great-and-terrible-and-clock-assembly.html

Oz the Great and Terrible. Approx. 7" x 6.5"

The Scarecrow. Approx. 5" x 4"

The clocks really do have two hands--I just photographed them (unfortunately) at ten to ten.

The Cowardly Lion. Approx. 5.5" x 4.25"

 The Wicked Witch of the West. Approx. 6.25" x 5.25"

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-process-sequence-that-isnt-working-yet.html

The Tin Woodsman.  Approx. 5" x 4.25"

 I admire the John R. Neill illustrations from the Oz books, as well as the characters from the movie. Still, it's a blast to tackle the challenge of re-creating those kinds of iconic images.

I always swear I'll never do another clock after finishing a few, but that resolve has not proven out. Too fixated on timepieces and faces, I guess.

Check out a clock and face post here:

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/2012/02/clock-and-face-mania.html

I hope you like these clocks as much as I do. At any rate, they'll soon be in my Etsy store.

Thanks for checking them out!

Sketchbook Project, Part Two

A post with some of the sketches from the inside of the book.  

Most of them are about cigarettes, rather than coffee--tobacco is very alluring.  I'm not a smoker, but I have indulged off and on in the past. I'm pretty sure I could love it, but it's too risky.

 Some of the sketches took lots of time, some were quick and experimental--like this one.

Must have really gotten into this one.

The roosterhead is the smart one I guess.

I'll leave now, ending with this coffee drinker.

Hope you found this a bit entertaining--I appreciate the visit!

The Sketchbook Project Benefits

I love sketchbooks. I work in one of mine every day. So a couple of years ago I signed up for The Sketchbook Project.

An inside page.

This is the front cover. It's acrylic paint on thick brown cover stock.

I am impressed with the Project's increasingly creative scope--it's grown so much, even in the past two years. I don't spend enough time looking over their site, but every time an email notice arrives from them I get intrigued by a new creative challenge.

I tell myself that sparing the time for another one of their projects is impossible, so haven't taken up one of their proposals since Coffee and Cigarettes (my chosen theme). It didn't generate attention or financial gain--I mailed it away and it sank soundlessly into the sea of other sketchbooks at the Brooklyn Art Library, probably never to be seen again. 

But I need to do another! Why?

Because it was an intensely creative experience totally free from thoughts of profit. I LOVED THAT!

The dichotomy of creativity/selling art has been discussed countless times, so I won't go into it here, but committing to The Sketchbook Project ended up being a total gift. How? 

Among many things, it resulted in:

1. Pure imaginative play

2. Total freedom to experiment with media

3. Fresh ideas that spawned many more artworks

4. Stretching my creative brain like a balloon

5. Accelerating and firming up my increasing (and valued) ability to make what I want and ignore the "money" thing that lurks in one corner of my mind

6. Some discipline (even though I hate that word and concept, I do need a bit of it)

Was it a pain? Sometimes. But most times I looked forward to the relief of drawing in the book after spending the day working at paintings for sale. I managed, in about three months, to fill the sketchbook's 40 pages by the deadline.

If you haven't checked out The Sketchbook Project, do it! The people who conceived the idea and continue to grow it are geniuses, and their projects are varied and exciting.

 The inside-back cover.

I'll post more of the inside sketches next.

Thanks for the visit--and do yourself a favor; click the link:

http://www.sketchbookproject.com/

Oz the Great and Terrible and Clock Assembly

Oz the Great and Terrible. Watercolor.

The Oz watercolor really doesn't look like the above image, which is a Hipstamatic "tintype" version. I do love Hipstamatic.

 The clock bodies and all five completed faces, ready for assembly. 

Putting them together is the hardest part, as each old clock has a different type of interior, and I want to make sure the batteries are easily replaceable without a chance of messing up the faces.

So it takes a bit of thought, experimentation, and trips to the hardware store to get them up and running.

I'll post them completed when they are completed!

Thanks for the visit!

Return to Watercolor and Clocks, but a First Trip to Oz

Value control is always an issue--I find it difficult with all media, but especially when switching back and forth between watercolor and acrylic. Watercolors dry about a value lighter and acrylics dry nearly a value darker. And my brain just dries period.

Of course I squint and all, trying to see true values, but an artist friend recently suggested I use a "transparent red-something" to help. I rummaged through my father's old camera case and found this red filter. 

It's been an amazing help!  So thanks, Ruth (and thanks, Dad)!

 It also helps me to scan the work as a greyscale when I think I'm nearly finished. I can use all the help I can get.

 Here's the initial wash on the drawing--the final choice after the seventh approach. 

(approaches 1-5 here:

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-process-sequence-that-isnt-working-yet.html )

I used a mix of burnt sienna and burnt umber, then dropped in cerulean.

Face for Wicked Witch of the West clock (detail).
 Developed the painting with a variety of mixtures, but lots of sap green--a favorite.

I've never tried my own versions of  the Oz characters. It's been a blast! This old witch is complete, as are Cowardly Lion, Scarecrow, and Oz the Great and Terrible. Only Tin Man remains to be painted.  Then they will take their places behind glass crystals in a bunch of old clock cases--and eventually be available for sale.

You can see other, random clocks at my Pinterest page:

http://pinterest.com/tomsarmo/my-works-clocks

Thanks for your support, and for checking things out!

Broken Clock, Finished

Broken Clock (detail). 

The top section of the painting from the previous post--I took the photo in full sun, hence the glare. I'm not even gonna give an excuse for my photo skills/knowledge and lack thereof.

But the painting is complete.

Broken Clock. Acrylic on cradled hardboard, 6" x 18".

This is the complete painting. This time photographed in open shade. The top one is the most accurate color-wise though. 

For me, photographing my work (and learning about it) is about as painful and joyless as my 9th grade algebra class. I wasn't successful at that either.

A Process: Drawn From Life, Sorta.

Broken Clock (detail). Acrylic on cradled hardboard.

The complete pic shows the whole bookcase and a little metal clock that my parents bought for my birthday some years ago.

Still mulling this painting over--letting it sit for awhile. I'm fairly certain it is finished, but a few days in cold storage always helps me make up my mind.

But I wanted to talk about a process, (because it's process--ever-changing process) that keeps me going:

For me, there's no one way to do or be anything (including being influenced/inspired): 

Drawing and painting from life is my least favorite way to work, but that doesn't mean I don't like it at all. 

I always learn a ton from it, but I make art using photo refs too. 

Nature is a constant influence, but my ol' Muse is also hyper-stimulated by the artworks of others. 

Is drawing from life better than drawing from imagination? They are both awesome tools for progressing where I think want to go with my work (at any given time).

So I try to do a lot of all of those things. And I get it mixed up.  And I try to ignore the rules and the "shoulds" that some artists and schools want to prescribe. Sometimes I fail miserably at the doing and the ignoring. Sometimes I fail at the doing precisely because of the ignoring.

I awoke the other night and had to draw. What you gonna to do when The Muse calls--even at 2 am?

So I went downstairs and drew this little clock on a small bookshelf in the extra room, from life. Had a good time, and like the little sketch quit a bit. And I wanted to paint it. But didn't think my vision would work if I painted the bookcase from life. Plus, the guest-bed is in the way.

So the next morning I took photos of the bookcase. Here they are:

Using the photos and the sketch and my imagination, I did the painting, of which the top pic in this post is a detail.

(This is what the first stage of the top of the painting looked like.)

So that's a part of the process--for this painting anyway. I'll post more next time.
Thanks for reading!

A Small Spiritual Work

The Angel Gabriel. Acrylic and mixed media on wood.

We were fortunate to find a great show by five local Santeros a few weeks ago. The works were fresh and inspiring--lots of very exciting paintings and carvings. Some of the retablos were painted with the traditional methods--natural, hand-made  pigments, gesso, and Pinon sap varnish. I admire that so much, partly because I know I'd never have the patience to make my own materials, and muchly because those handmade materials result in such beauty.

Here's the link--you have to scroll down the page for info on the CHAC exhibit and the artists:

http://narchuleta.hubpages.com/hub/santos-art-in-denver

If you are in Denver, it is definitely worth a visit!

I have my own approach and need to create spiritual images. Being of Italian descent, I grew up around many images of saints. They were common in the houses of my relatives, and I looked at them very carefully as a child. For a look at an antique print from Italy:

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com/2011/02/st-benedict-leaflet.html

Completely inspired by the CHAC show, I used up some blocks of wood from the garage, and am trying a couple of different approaches on a crop of new saints. This one is painted on a dull red ground. The others are on natural wood, but they're not finished.  This one probably is. I will live with it for a few days before the varnish is applied.

I have a good time using combinations of media, and really like this part of the painting.

Thanks for checking this, and the CHAC show, out!

Origins, Influences, and Not Quite Symmetry (revisited)

 I have a difficult time verbalizing the imaginative origins of my individual works.

I can easily discuss the influences though.  Illustrators past and present are always at the top of the list, as are objects from the natural and man-made world. And then there's music. I'm no different than any artist I know; the influence list goes on and on.

In this case, one of the the stimuli for Distrust--of which these are details--was symmetry. 

Well, not-quite-symmetry. I love it.

 I also love wood and wood carvings.

Distrust (unfinished). Watercolor, 5" x 8".

The only thing in this photo that's not completed is the bird's walking stick. I didn't realize that when I took the pic.

And the reason I uploaded this painting as unfinished? I seem to have lost every image of the finished work. No kidding. So sometimes I can be pretty good at painting watercolors with not-quite-symmetry and carved wood.  I am never good with organization. Technology has only made it worse, and that's a fact.

As always, I appreciate your visit!