“Hammer in the Key”

Hammer in the key

Completed

Size:

Drawing: N/A

Oil Pastel: N/A

Re-experiment with Color: N/A

Acrylic Paint: June 8, 2017

Oil Paint: N/A

Hahaha. “Old” painting. Was experimenting with using some cheap Home Depot Bauer paint. Got little containers of paint for $4 each. What a deal right? Watched some Abstract painting dude on YouTube saying that’s his method. So give it a go and it came out like either a mailbox, a hammer, or a key. Sorta fun. Through it in the TV room and it’s adorned there since. Seriously, a lot of experimenting

“Delicacy in Asylum”

Delicacy in Asylum

WiP - Work in Progress

Size: 5.5x8.5

Drawing: May 25, 2022

Oil Pastel: N/A

Re-experiment with Color:

Oil or Acrylic Paint: N/A

I like this piece. Simple. Complex. Fragility. But the delicacy of age. Age is only a number. Our outside appease changes, but there is a wondrous adventure on the inside. Whether someone is cognizant or they, unfortunately, have a disease like Alzheimer's or Dementia, the mind is a wonderland. Throughout my life, i have had the opportunity to meet folks who were on both sides. While the diseases mentioned above are horrible and devastating, it's interesting to watch these individuals go about their lives. Thinking about how they get about, or some going back to a child-like mind. The mind is so complex. Fragile at that stage, but complex as well.

But also met folks who were cognizant at a very old age and got to hear some stories that really stood out. Their adventures. Both good and bad. But the adventures of their life. Hearing their stories is a movie being told, but you hear it and process it in your own mind. Beautiful.

#scribbleart #scribble #abstract #abstractart #MNartist

“Box Boy”

“Box Boy”

Original Idea: from Jarduli.

WiP - Work in Progress

Size: 9x11

Drawing: Sometime September 2016

Oil Pastel: May 23, 2022

Re-experiment with Color:?

Oil or Acrylic Paint: N/A

One of my favorite youtube channels that have gone dormant for 8 years now is Jarduli.  LOVE his paintings and his imagination. I took a go at his Amazon Box Boxer painting and copied it to paper. Gave it a pencil feel to it and was very please with it when I was done.  Lately, I’ve gotten some oil pastels and wanted to try this piece again, but in a different media. After Anna at Night (stip WIP), learned that if I wanted straight lines, I’ll still need practice, but for the time being, stick to pencil usage to keep the lines “straight”.   The color aspect was ALL over the place, and like the sorta final piece shows, there is still a lot I could do they improve on the effort will probably return and redo this piece again once I get the hang of pastels and doing nature pieces (namely grass, trees, etc). Not a lost cause, but definitely something to learn by. Just fun to learn. 

“Anna at night”

WiP - Work in Progress

Drawing: April 4, 2022

Color: May 2, 2022

Oil Pastel: May 22,2022

Re-experiment with Color: May 22, 2022

Oil or Acrylic Paint:?

This piece started as a landscape scribble. I imagined rolling hills, with a lake but just couldn't get my mind around it. Like many things, as a last result, flip the piece around and see if your “mind's eye” can make something. Low and behold, there was a lady drinking wine. I didn't do a Bob Ross and continue. I felt the piece was done and complete. I gave it a few days and scanned/printed and then the first iteration of color mixing. After some time off, gave it a go using oil pastels…..why? Cause I love the soft mixture of the colors that can start the process of a painting. Do I like the oil pastel piece? Not really. Don't care for the colors.  But I do like some elements that I will apply to the final painted product. And thought of a friend of mine that matched the piece, so hence, Anna at Night.

#artwip #scribble #scribbleart #stonepedal #eggpedal #pastel #oilpastel #pastelart #drawing #drawings #drawingsketch #drawingsofinstagram #mnartist #acrylicpainting #artprocess #artprocesses #colormixing

“Tree’s of Como Park”

Trees of Como Park

WiP: Work in Progress

Drawing: May 10, 2022

Color Mixing:?

Oil Pastel:?

Re-experiment with Color:?

Oil or Acrylic Paint:?

#2 pencil……Very sharp. Uni-Ball pen…well ink. 5 am scribble and draw. This honestly started  as a scribble (all my drawings start as scribbles, with exception of a few), and after about 20 minutes, saw the picture materialize. Honestly, this was satisfying, with somewhat clean lines to demonstrate the image better and makes it easier to color mix down the road.  Deb and I used to live near the lake on Dale street and would walk there with my treasured dog Cole. Oh, how I miss the dog.  But we would walk around the lake, me working off stress from work, Deb with the stress of teaching, school (she was going for her masters), and just daily life. Lived around that area from 2010 to 2011. Just the smell, the sights, the people, it was a grand ole place. Would recommend it for anyone to try.   #scribbleart #scribble #art #artist #abstractart #impressionism #mnartist

“Mirror, Mirror”

“Mirror, Mirror”

“Mirror, Mirror”

Drawing - January 20, 2020

#2 pencil…….dull

Uni-ball pen…..well inked

On a business trip to NYC for a Google session. Scribbled this in a hotel late at night, wishing I was home with my girls, and just lonely in New York. Odd. Though I love walking the streets of New York, the architecture, the attitude of the City, and the environment, I just felt lonely.  So after a while,  Went back to my hotel room, plopped on the bed, and started scribbling on a pad to get some emotion out. Afterward, it was just fun just to find a tangible picture out of the mess I put down. In the end, I was pleased as I didn't see it immediately, it eventually came in the end. I won't deny that I was a little frustrated that nothing came out till the end, but patience was on my side that night. 

“Child playing at the park”

Child Playing At The Park

Drawing - January 22, 2020

#2 pencil…sharpened. Uni-Ball Pen……Well inked.

Drew this while on a flight back from New York. It’s funny how you can look at a picture that is dated, and remember where you were, what you were thinking sight, and smells. I was in New York for a Google EDUcation at their New York campus. Mostly cold, but not too cold. Reading articles on SmartNews about some virus from China that was locking things down. Thought that this would be like the swine flu, bird flu, and it would never make its way to the US as we have safeguards in place (I mean, they caught Ebola while in transit and quarantined folks). So went about my business without much care for the world. Yes, ANOTHER blog post about that. but to the picture above, I was in flight, and did some simple scribbles and tried to see a picture there. I must have sat in the seat staring blankly at this scribble for 40 minutes before I just gave up and started tracing lines and seeing what I get. I’ve come to believe that every picture is not perfect, but sometimes starting with the unknown leads to something great. This was the case for me. I was a quarter way threw, stopped and STILL couldn’t see anything. But once I turned the picture around (a good way to see “something” when there was nothing), there it was. It slapped me quickly. I saw a child playing, happy, and I immediately saw my daughter. At this time, we’ve only had her from India for about 6 months, and being away from my girls was painful. Seeing that, continued the drawing and realized that this drawing reminded me of my daughter playing at our neighborhood park. Joyful. Happy, Carefree.

“Vibrating Bunny”

Vibrating Bunny

Painting: 2017

Had the inspiration to try the vibration or wavelength look after going to an art fair in Uptown Art Fair, MN. How the artist (name forgotten) created the vibration mesmerized me. I probably stood in front of his stand for 20 or so minutes with my mouth open, just dumbfounded. Have you ever had that moment when something clicks? That was for me. My wife and I went home later and I gave it a go.  As always, I threw down some Acrylic as my backdrop, in this case, black.  Why black? I wanted something simple that would make any foreground pop out. Don't regret the decision. Then I pick up some bright oil colors I had around the basement and made a few drops in a line across the canvas. Grabbed my mixing knife and used it to mix the colors and make the vibrating/wavelength look happen. I thought the picture looked pretty good, but since I saw what I could do, I took out a tube of titanium white and tossed it on. I was quite surprised to see a bunny off the bat and stopped dinking with the picture and called it done. 

 #abstract #abstractpainting #vibration #wavelength

“Hang Over”

“Hang Over”

Drawing: 2016

Started this drawing as I decided at the time I was going to quit drinking. It was a big moment for me, as I was doing it in solidarity with my wife.  I never knew where we were going with our marriage or what was going to become of our relationship as drinking always was a way for us to speak openly to each other. Both positive and negative. When I look at this picture today, I feel all the trials we had to go through after that decision. The challenges that we simply had to relearn to talk to each other. That's odd really. Learning to talk to each other. But we found when we went out to eat, for the first year, we just sat there. Nothing to say but light conversation. It showed us how much drinking was part of our relationship. It took us a year and a half to relearn ourselves and each other. That is why this image to me is so perfect. It's imperfect. There are some lines in the boxes that shouldn't be there. Boxes are all over the place, leading to the bottom/middle of a complex maze. Simple, but very complex. Hence why I choose to name this “Hang Over”.