Melancholy Head in Blue

New drawing-that-became-a-painting:


Melancholy Head in Blue, 2009, ink & acrylic on paper, 17" x 14".

The Pugilist

Another new piece on paper:


The Pugilist, 2009, ink & acrylic on paper, 17" x 14".

This was a tough one. The pugilist of the title refers as much to the artist as to the work, as I fought with this one for quite a while in its incarnation as an ink drawing, but it refused to go in the direction I wanted it to (though I'm not sure exactly what direction that was). With the application of acrylic paint, the piece began to take its true shape, oddly falling into a kind of Redonesque tranquility. You can never tell how these things will work out...

Mercury

A new drawing of a head:


Mercury, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 17" x 14".

Just a warm-up exercise in my studio this morning. Always wanted to draw the wing-headed guy...not sure if this is the one I wanted to draw...

The Architect

New painting:


The Architect, 2009, acrylic on canvas, 20" x 16".

A very simple, pretty minimal painting. It might be a study for something, or it might just be this. It's nice to strip things down to the basics once in a while.

Nero After the Fire

New large drawing:


Nero After the Fire, 2009, 23.5" x 18".

I simplified the drawing down to mostly an outline, for a change. The shadows on the page are due to shooting indoors under dubious lighting conditions...[note: new photo uploaded May 1st]

The Petrified World

Yet another new drawing.


The Petrified World, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

The face in this one reminds me a little bit of photos I've seen of J.G. Ballard, the visionary science fiction writer who just died. Over the years, I've read several of his books, & liked his work, though his style was a little dry, clinical & detached for my personal taste. He had a tendency to write apocalyptic novels, such as The Crystal World & Drought, envisioning different scenarios whereby the world would come to an end. As far as I know, he never wrote a book called "The Petrified World" (though The Crystal World was close), so here is an image of that...

Here's to you, J. G.

Young Man Among the Ruins

Another new drawing, I seem to be cooking now...


Young Man Among the Ruins, 2009, ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

Under the Debris

Another new, large-ish but loose-ish drawing.


Under the Debris, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18". My drawings seem to be loosening up somewhat, which I think is good...

Sphinx

New drawing of the Sphinx.


Sphinx, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

Maybe one day I'll go to Egypt & see the real thing...

Stranded

A new painting -- I'm starting to work on a slightly larger scale again...


Stranded, 2009, acrylic on board, 20" x 16".

Alone Among the Ruins

A new small painting:


Alone Among the Ruins, 2009, acrylic on board, 10" x 8". Continuing with familiar themes. The photo is a little bit blurry, I've tried several times to get a clearer version & this is the best I've gotten so far.

Two Heads

New drawing:

Two Heads, 2009, ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

Again, this drawing has its flaws & is not exactly where I want it to be. Still, it's close. I could've called it "The Lovers", but that might have been verging on sentimentality. I prefer the woman's head, even though only half of it is there, it's suggested more effectively than the man's, I think.

Ruins with Dome

Ruins with Dome, 2009, acrylic on board, 14" x 11".

A new painting I did a short while ago. Concurrently with doing the large, detailed Entropy drawings, I've been working on a series of smaller color paintings, which mirror the drawings in some ways, but in other ways act as a kind of pressure valve to stop me getting too intense...though maybe that should not be a problem...we'll see how things develop. It's been a quite productive year so far, and I feel like I'm only just getting started.

Romeo and Juliet

New brush & ink drawing, Entropy series:


Romeo and Juliet are Together in Eternity, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

There is some shadow on the image -- I'll see if I can get a better shot. Kind of windy today, so I had to shoot indoors. Love conquers all, they say, so in the future when we're not really human anymore, maybe we can still love...

Thanks to BD for coming up with the title.

Note: looking at this piece the day after, there are a number of obvious flaws in it. Maybe I'll redo it. I kind of like it the way it is, though...

Weaponized Head

Weaponized Head, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

Another new Entropy drawing, also an anti-war image (again).

The Towers of Technology

The Towers of Technology, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18".

New large-ish drawing from the "Entropy" series, dealing with order turning to chaos, disintegration & collapse. What else is new?

Ruined City with Sphinx

Ruined City with Sphinx, 2009, acrylic on board, 16" x 12".

I've always liked paintings of ruins, & this came out of a dream I had recently where I had a massive studio in an unnamed city (might have been Brooklyn, but it was a dream anyways), and in among the industrial buildings were stone colossi...not sure where that was coming from (paging Dr. Freud...)

So, this is a continuation of my "surrealist" (heavy quotes) painting method where I fill in the background/sky area first with blended colors. This is partly supposed to make things easier & quicker (Marcel Duchamp didn't like to paint in backgrounds either), but I found myself pretty much repainting everything. I guess I'm a control freak or something...I like the way the sky looks like waves, btw, a nice inversion...

The Citadel at Dusk

New small acrylic painting:


The Citadel at Dusk, 2009, acrylic on board, 12" x 9". Click image for larger.

I was experimenting with a return to a type of "surrealist" painting, as made popular by Dalí, Tanguy, Magritte, et al, where the background seems to be brushed in first as a kind of gradated field, and then the foreground elements (or, in this case, background, I guess) are added afterwards. It tends to give things a smooth, photographic look if used in a certain way. I'm trying to use this method in a slightly more painterly way, I hope, to roughen things up a bit, and the end result reminds me of Richter, to a certain extent. Anyhow, I thought this was worth posting here. I have a little production line thing happening right now with this experiment, so I'll probably post a few more if they turn out OK...

The Beauty of Entropy

New large drawing:


The Beauty of Entropy, 2009, brush & ink on paper, 23.5" x 18". From the Entropy series, of course...

Just some clouds at sunset

Click on the photo for a better view.