57 - Confined #1

Fell asleep on the couch (trying to brainstorm for something to paint). I woke up at 8am and I needed to leave the house by 10am. Holy crap! Will last night be the first time in 2 months I didn't do a painting?! I have trouble remembering my dreams when I sleep in my own bed, but usually, when I sleep in a strange place like on vacation (or on the couch) I remember something. I was dreaming about having famed Mad Magazine artist Sergio Aragones over at my folks' house for Thanksgiving. He's one of my heroes and I recently discovered he's not only a prolific, lightning-fast cartoonist, but also a trained mime, which enters into that other arena of my life. In the dream, as would happen in real life, all I could think to talk about with him was "well, it's nice weather for November..." I have always felt like such a dork around famous people, but I've always been told that I could be the cool one "in your dreams." Anyway, when I woke up, I was compelled to paint this. Maybe it symbolizes something about confining my soul around my heroes. Or maybe I have a fetish for naked guys in boxes with footall-shaped heads.

56 - Impression of Nature's Mysteries

I still don't see myself as deft with the abstract realm, but this is the second time I've come out with something I kinda like. Any women want me to paint their naked bodies and roll them around on canvases? Keep in mind, these are 5 x 7 inches!

55 - My Doggie

Who doesn't love huskies? You have to be dead in the heart and have a huge dead spot in your soul not to just melt when those crystal blue eyes and that innocently nefarious smile worm their way into your melted brain. He's a total mama's boy. He has time for me once the wife has left the house. But with him, I'll take what I can get. He's worth it, even if he snitches cat food (I painted that into his expression).

54 - MP3 Ugh!

This idea was probably first depicted in the 1980s with a Sony Walkman, but back then, we didn't have those spiffy in-the-ear headphones, so I'll take the credit for, if not innovating this idea, then at least updating it.

Besides, I like painting people who are happy doing their own thing, even if the mammoth is judging. Eff the pachydermal haters!

Day 53: I Tried

A friend of mine and I spent the day at the National Gallery of Art, looking at “important” works of the 19th and 20th centuries … most of it modern. This was a valuable experience since she’s been through art school; I dropped out.

I’m not a great fan of abstract expressionism, but I am tolerant and have tried to develop an understanding of it. That said, the first room we went into had a bunch of Rothko, Manet and Pollock. Yikes! Those were some disturbed individuals!

One of the other things we discussed was the Golden Mean (a Classical system of distribution of aesthetic elements), composition, and path of the eye ... ie. focal points. These are some things I’ve worked with since high school art, and I’m sure there was a passing mention in the 101 level college classes I went through. So in some ways, it’s old, and some ways, it’s new. And hopefully, you are always learning new ways to approach old problems.

With this painting, I tried very hard to incorporate the expressionism, the proportion, etc. Personally? I hate this painting. I hope someone gets some enjoyment out of it, otherwise, I’ve wasted paint.

Day 52: Alien Tree

After naming this 4"x6" work, I couldn’t decided whether it’s a tree on an alien landscape, or the alien is the tree. This was the quickest painting to date. I love it. I’m reminded of a story about Whistler (which I’ve long misattributed to Picasso) that a drawing he’d done in 30 seconds “actually took 80 years to create.”

What matters is not the time between the first brushstroke and the last, but all the life experiences that led to the work’s creation.

I’m selling this one for $1,750.00

Day 51: Floating Jawface

He is watching you. Somehow I suspect some detritus from various Salvador Dalì paintings ended up in my head. I like this, but then have always loved drawing funny faces. The human mind is good at picking out faces anywhere. It's part of the brain's mechanisms to make sense of the world around us.

:)