Remember the movie Andre, about the seal? Well, that was dumb. The real Andre was a harbor seal, not a sea lion like in the film. I met the real Andre. I was even in the original documentary that eventually led to the film.
My grandparents lived in Maine, and we happened to see one of Andre’s performances. If you ever see that original film, I’m the guy standing on the rock with the camera. That’s about all I have to say about that. Don’t believe everything you see in movies.
I spent most of the weekend painting… Now this morning I’m a little worried. Are they too “cute”? I look at them and I love the quality of the line achieved by drawing with a brush, the subtle variations in line width. The absolute blackness of ink. I think of my own personal symbolism of a goldfish under a lilypad and the spiritual significance these images hold for me. Unless I stand there interpreting them, will anyone get a glimmer that they are more than just cute cartoon doodles? Or does that matter? I keep saying they are just meant to be fun. And maybe that is enough. I thought the speckling of the harbor seal’s fur was particularly effective and beautiful. Layers of watercolor, lifted here and there with drops of water, blotted.
The feeling is like stagefright. Now that I know my lines and blocking, I wonder if the script was ever that good to begin with. Always those doubts. But opening night is always such a rush. Same thing here. Friday and Saturday evenings will be awesome. Everyone will have fun. We’ll crowd into that unique space, shoulder to shoulder. Talk, laugh, love.
If anyone shows up at all.
I spent most of the weekend painting… Now this morning I’m a little worried. Are they too “cute”? I look at them and I love the quality of the line achieved by drawing with a brush, the subtle variations in line width. The absolute blackness of ink. I think of my own personal symbolism of a goldfish under a lilypad and the spiritual significance these images hold for me. Unless I stand there interpreting them, will anyone get a glimmer that they are more than just cute cartoon doodles? Or does that matter? I keep saying they are just meant to be fun. And maybe that is enough. I thought the speckling of the harbor seal’s fur was particularly effective and beautiful. Layers of watercolor, lifted here and there with drops of water, blotted.
The feeling is like stagefright. Now that I know my lines and blocking, I wonder if the script was ever that good to begin with. Always those doubts. But opening night is always such a rush. Same thing here. Friday and Saturday evenings will be awesome. Everyone will have fun. We’ll crowd into that unique space, shoulder to shoulder. Talk, laugh, love.
If anyone shows up at all.
I made the paper today! Joan printed one of my dream fragments at almost full size. It looks great. 🙂
Can’t wait for the party next week!
I made the paper today! Joan printed one of my dream fragments at almost full size. It looks great. 🙂
Can’t wait for the party next week!
These are a couple of my animal paintings… You can see them at my painting page. These are acrylic on wood. I sold a lot of this type painting over the last couple of years. One nice thing about them was that you could take them home and put them right on the wall. They didn’t need any framing and there was no glass to break. The wood was all recycled odds and ends from a cabinet shop that would have otherwise gone onto the burn pile. I think it’s a great way to paint, and I’m sure I’ll do more of this type as summer nears. For now though, I’m doing watercolors on paper. It’s good to mix it up a bit – keeps things new and fresh.
Oh, the supplies I was looking for yesterday came today. I’ll post brand new work tomorrow.
These are a couple of my animal paintings… You can see them at my painting page. These are acrylic on wood. I sold a lot of this type painting over the last couple of years. One nice thing about them was that you could take them home and put them right on the wall. They didn’t need any framing and there was no glass to break. The wood was all recycled odds and ends from a cabinet shop that would have otherwise gone onto the burn pile. I think it’s a great way to paint, and I’m sure I’ll do more of this type as summer nears. For now though, I’m doing watercolors on paper. It’s good to mix it up a bit – keeps things new and fresh.
Oh, the supplies I was looking for yesterday came today. I’ll post brand new work tomorrow.
Today I was hoping to get a shipment of supplies to get more work ready for my show next weekend. It didn’t come. Tomorrow. Hopefully.
I like this self portrait. It makes me laugh.
Today I was hoping to get a shipment of supplies to get more work ready for my show next weekend. It didn’t come. Tomorrow. Hopefully.
I like this self portrait. It makes me laugh.
Lately… The last few days… I’ve been painting in a totally different style. Then I occurred to me I’m doing something more like what I did when I was a kid. In Jr. High, and even as early as elementary school, I used to attract a crowd of kids watching me draw. Someone would call out “draw a horse” or “draw a squirrel” and I would. I remember they would ask me questions like “how do you know where to start?”
So lately I’m filling pages with goofy little cartoon animals and people, drawn with a small brush on paper, then watercolored in. Now I know about design elements like “horror vacui” and artists like Marc Chagall. A friend all but accused me of being trite with these. But I don’t care. They are fun. The images here are from my brand new as of tonight “Dog Vacui.” The painting didn’t fit in the scanner, so you are not seeing the whole image. I haven’t counted the dogs in the picture yet, but there are a couple of details to show you what it looks like up close. I did another one of woodland animals that live in this area (Moose, Deer, Bear, Fish, Fox, Bobcat, Owl, Eagle, Raccoon, Otters, Rabbits, Porcupine, seagull, Loon… you get the idea), and another of mostly fish. Anyway, there are 6 or 7 in this style that will be part of the opening on March 3 and 4 (had to get that in again). I would love to hear what you think. And later, I will post some of my more “serious” paintings. Today is a day for fun. And Puppies. 🙂