Howard Salmon, artist

Space Farts

2012-01-18T20:55:00.000-08:00

Blowin' Smoke

2012-01-17T08:43:00.000-08:00

Light Bulb on a Plate

2012-01-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

Fight Of The Night

2011-12-19T15:51:00.000-08:00

Kitchen Countertop Clutter

2011-12-04T05:43:00.001-08:00

It was the middle of the night, and I got an impulse sketch all of the clutter on my kitchen counter. From left to right (more or less): books, paper towels, mail, box of chalk, some mugs, a thermos, a large plastic cup, a bottle of soda water, a canister of sea salt, soy sauce, hand soap, a baggie, a microwave pot, bottle of honey... snapshot of the artist as a consumer.

Whoa Baldy!

2011-12-03T20:00:00.001-08:00

At bald sweaty guy gets tough at some unnamed antagonist, while the lettering "Whoa!" takes on a life of its own... instant sketchbook comix...

Surreal Angst

2011-12-02T22:18:00.001-08:00

The latest from my "Comic Book Expressionism" series. They just keep comin'! Stay tuned for more chunky ambiguous drama!

More Comic Book Sketches...

2011-12-02T06:11:00.001-08:00

I'm feeling a strong urge to make a hastily drawn superhero comic book... there's no time to waste! I can't draw this stuff fast enough!!

Comic Book Expressionism

2011-12-01T20:20:00.001-08:00

Thought I'd do a litte sketch tonight. Feeling rough and chunky, artistically speaking...

Where's My Band? ( A World Rocked)

2011-11-14T06:05:00.000-08:00

"Where's My Band?"; approx 30" x 30", Sharpie on synthetic paper. c) 2011 by Howard Salmon

Just drawing, intuitively and spontaneously, seeing where it takes me. I like to work this way, because it keeps the process of artmaking (and art thinking) very "live" and in the moment. Since I'm drawing directly with ink (without a pencil sketch), the stakes are much higher (that I could totally botch it). One thing I did do to tie everything together was that after I made the drawing, I went back into it, closing as many open shapes as I could. This is just one of the things I like to do when I draw: I work towards converting my drawings into a series of interlocking puzzle piece. I often use this puzzle piece method to help my drawings "gel"...

Man, Machine, Woman

2011-11-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

End Of The Day

2011-10-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

This painting is a still life of some random objects, clustered together: a pair of shoes, a bike helmet, and a wine glass. Somehow, this piece evokes an apocalyptic feeling. It's that intense background... Is this the end of the day? Or is it the End Of The Day? Hard to tell...

In the background, some new "mask" icons: a "kilroy" character (who is supposed to look like someone clicking a computer mouse, or reading email on an iPhone). The other character is my "Alan Ginzberg 'Howl'" character. He's basically a shaggy looking dude howling ("ooo"), with an abstracted cityscape in the background. I've included a close up of my two new characters below:

ClickRoy and The Howler: my new cartoons!

Cuppa Wawa (Mug of Water)

2011-10-13T07:29:00.000-07:00

I found myself getting in a rut with my "masks" concept; it was starting to feel like a shtick. So, to shake things up a bit, I decided to just start drawing from life. In this case, I sketched directly onto my drawing surface with a Sharpie. The subject matter: my hand holding a bottle of water (and one of my Andy Iventosch mugs, on the far right). Then I went in and added color with several layers of acrylic, and reinforced some of those lines with more Sharpie. I worked in a very "automatic" way, not really thinking too much about the imagery I was laying down. My only concern was to draw from life,and have it all overlap and congeal together into a cluster. The result: a bunch of frozen moments that together describe the act of pouring water into a mug.

The Card Holder

2011-10-12T00:55:00.000-07:00

Self Affliction

2011-10-07T11:08:00.000-07:00

This is the season of Yom Kippur: the day of Atonement for Jews. This is where Jews ask each other (and God) for forgiveness, if they've offended anyone, or each other during the past year. It's a time of critical self-reflection, where you evaluate who you are as a person. Did you live your past year in an ethical manner?

But as an artist, this has given me a slight challenge: if my artwork doesn't offend anybody, does that mean that I don't really count (as an artist)? How is art and culture going to advance, if some artist doesn't stick their neck out? (little voice in my head: "define 'advance'!") Basically, I feel that any artist worth his salt should do the best to express his vision without self-censorship. But, this carefree attitude may result in some offensive imagery.

Should I care?

Well, my intention isn't to offend...it's to be honest with myself. So here it is, Yom Kippur is just around the corner, and I'm wondering, should I be apologizing for any of my paintings? The answer is...no! To do so would to be to commit self-censorship; The ethical paradoxes of being an artist wrestling with Jewish tradition.

About the imagery in the painting: the text in the word balloon says "If my artwork has NOT offended you this past year, please forgive me!". There are ten rabbis (a minyan), each blowing a shofar. The shofar is blown as an alarm, as if to say, "WAKE UP! Snap out of your daydreams and illusions!"

Out of each shofar comes a whiffle-ball of spirituality, which is supposed to be a "sephirot" in the kabbalistic diagram that represents the "Mind of God" (if you're interested in this subject, check out the Zohar, which is a masterpiece of erotic Jewish surrealistic writing) The nodes all link up, forming a conceptual structure of invisible intuited Reality--the Reality being the Mind of God, which I've suggested with that lattice-like structure all around the painting (which reminds me of a sukkah). (As an aside, this is an interesting philosophical issue: since concept precede creation, it's plausible to suggest that the Universe had to exist in the "mind of God" as an IDEA before it actually became a reality. Heavy.....)

The bowl of fire is an allusion to the "unholy fire" that the son's of Aaron brought into the Temple. The figure in the center represents the artist (me, and in a suit, no less!), wearing tefillin (which is Orthodox prayer paraphernalia), with a pallette and paintbrush in one hand. In the upper right of the picture are two of my "muse" characters, (and dressed respectfully in their Danskins). Those three floating heads hovering over my left shoulder are from my "Scholar, Prophet, Bum" painting. The entire background is painting with gold acrylic, to mimic the "illuminated paintings" of the Medieval era, where the backgrounds of religious paintings were inlaid with gold leaf.

Bus Ridin' Folk

2011-10-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

This painting is about some of the people I see on the bus, as it drives through South Tucson. The title is written at the top of the picture in Olde English, to reference all of the tattoos I see on the bus. At the top, is a big angry-looking guy in a Carl's Junior outfit, who has a big tattoo on his neck, written in Olde English script. In the second row is a raggedy-looking man who's holding a Big Gulp cup. In the third row are two characters: on the left is a student listening to her iPod. On the right side of that same row, is a well-groomed ex-convict. On the bottom row is a morbidly obese woman sitting in a motorized wheel chair. On the lower right side of the picture is a gold-plated Sun Tran bus emerging from a tunnel, which has a decorative border around it that resembles a sun burst or a spiritual aura.

Happy

2011-10-03T04:29:00.000-07:00

This painting is based on a birthday card that my wife gave me recently. The word "happy" was on the cover (as in "Happy Birthday") I thought, "is it possible to make a painting about happiness, without appearing childlike or ridiculous?" My aim here: to make a happy painting that actually feels happy.

I'm still working with the repetition of very simple repeated cartoon-like shapes (based on the idea of "masks"); in this case, the palm trees, the butterflies, and the glasses of red drink at the base of each tree. Everything else (the clouds, the trees...) are also all made from very simple repeated shapes and movements of the hand. The layers of color are what I really spent most of my time on here. Multiple layers of different colored washes created this feeling of atmosphere, which I really like. The letters at the top ("Happy") are painted in shimmering gold acrylic.

Canine Soul Mate

2011-09-26T22:30:00.000-07:00


"Canine Soul Mate", 30" x 39", ink, acrylic, & graphite on synthetic paper. (c)2011 by Howard Salmon

This painting is about the strong bond that people have with their dogs. The dog pictured in the painting above is MY dog; he lay at my feet as I was tacking the drawing surface to the wall, in preparation for this painting. This piece reminds of a combination of Marc Chagall and Walt Disney: those diffuse areas of primary color, as well as the way the dog appears to float...and also, the zany line up of cartoon characters that reminds me of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

I'd initially chosen a rainbow as a device to organize this picture, so I could have a rainbow land in a bowl of dog food. (The working title initally was "At the end of hte Rainbow...is your dog"). The dog's body position mimics the rainbow arc of the dog shape. I painted the dog in Antique Gold paint, as did I the dog bones in each of the four corners, just to emphasize how precious dogs are to people: might as well get 'em gold plated!

At the bottom of the picture is Charles Darwin, talking to one of his finches, and contemplating inter-species friendships between humans and animals. The top half of the picture shows double portrait of a dog and his owner (the bald bearded man), arranged in a heart formation. At the center is a fat laughing Buddha character, to reinforce the happy spiritual quality I was going for. Two of my Muses are hanging out in the right side of the picture.

On Male Friendship

2011-09-25T22:24:00.000-07:00

This painting is about male friendship.: guys who other guys can talk to about life. I often find that women are better at talking about life than are men. My experience with other men, when I want to talking about my marriage, or my friendships, is usually very awkard. This type of talk, I've noticed, comes very naturally for women. Why is this?? Why are men so uptight talking to other men...and women so comfortable? (of course this is a generalization...) I'm envisioning a world where men felt a little more comfortable around each other!

The imagery I'm using is supposed to be creative and positive. A mutitude of hands outstretched to grasp the hands of others--reminds me of those drum-circles in the woods that men were rumored to flock to in the 1980's. Other details in the painting: cool colors and plant-like imagery abound in the foreground; chunky stairstep-like architecture in the background suggest architecture, structure, and climbing upwards. Faces are merged together to suggest a sort of understanding.

Of course, this is an idealization. Real friendship between men is an elusive thing. But this is a dream of peace, brotherhood, or at least a certain comfort level between all men. So what's wrong with dreaming?

Virtual City, Bright Lights

2011-09-23T18:21:00.000-07:00

This painting is a virtual night life, filled with mystery and adventure. The yellow dotted border is made of "emoticons". It makes me want to read the painting as a computer monitor.

I'm starting to combine some of the imagery I've included in other paintings into my more recent paintings. I like to see how these various characters will interact with each other. On the left is my bearded balding man cluster character (Scholar? Prophet? Bum?) On the right is one of my "muse" characters.

Hey babe, take a walk on the virtual wild side! And the avatars go "doo da doo da doo..."

Heal Thyself

2011-09-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

This painting is about my secret natural cures for healing: coffee, beer, hot sauce, and art. In moderation, they can really enhance life (at least the first three; with art, it's okay to overdose on the stuff: its good for you...)! If you're feeling sick, try these home remedies before scheduling that doctor's appointment!

The image shows a face (repeated six times, on the left side of the picture) represented by these three items: a coffee cup, a can of beer, and a bottle of hot sauce. I've worked a caduceus symbol (which I associate with the medical profession) into the image of the face: but the two wings wrapped around the staff ended up looking like tufts of hair on a bald guy's head, and the two serpents facing each other look like attenae. Bozo the clown from Mars? Nope...that's the face of Mr. Salmon's natural healing remedies.

On the right side of the picture you'll see a doctor's clipboard with a prescription: coffee, beer, hot sauce, and art. In the bottom right corner, you'll see my recently created "Muse" "mask, who I've been flirting with lately...

Art Muses (Flying Around Two Rolls of Blank Canvas)

2011-09-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

This is a painting about artistic inspiration. As you can see, the picture is divided into two diagonals. The lower diagonal shows two rolls of raw canvas, leaning against each other. The upper diagonal shows six art muses, who look modern and stylish, compared to Raphael's cherubs. They've each got a severe Manga-styled hair cut. Their facial features include three eyes, two of which are lined up vertically (a Picasso-esque touch), and lips drawn in the style of golden aged comic book molls. Their skin is painted a metallic gold: a reference to the art and people of Mesoamerica (which I regard the Arizona Southwest as a part of). The muses actually look like bats with bosoms (or "angry birds"), but I'm cool with that: it has a certain "noir" quality that I like. The little line of a river in the background is supposed to reference the river in the background of the Mona Lisa (apparently, one of Leonardo da Vinci's artistic innovations was the addition of naturalistic background behind a portrait ;the river in the "Mona Lisa" was a new thing for portrait painters). At the lower left is a tube of paint, with the cap off, and with paint already squeezed out by some anonymous artist.

Scholar, Prophet, Bum

2011-09-14T05:40:00.000-07:00

The latest in my "masks" series: The Sage. Or is it? The image of a bald guy with a beard: is he a sage? Is he a scholar? Is he Socrates? Is he a bum? The image of a bald guy with a beard could be any of these...so I mushed triads of these identical looking characters together, as if they were a goofy-looking Venn diagram, or perhaps it's Manny, Moe, and Jack n old age...who knows? Symbols of knowledge and divine inspiration are strewn throughout the landscape here, with a few computer trash icons sprinkled about just to keep things tidy. This piece also doubles as a Ouija board (just kidding)

Study Group (cultural masks)

2011-09-09T12:01:00.000-07:00

"Study Group" 30" x 49", ink & graphite on acrylic sheet

Another in my series of cultural masks: cartoony "types" repeated over and over again, as a tradition. This one is about a cluster of different types of learners. A group of cartoony students, huddled together as a cluster, and repeated over and over again. Imagery in the backgroud has a structured look: everything's chopped into units and modules, timed, measured, and served up, like a bunch of nuggets. Still working with the idea of creating a few simple pictures on the fly, and repeating them over and over again...

Traditional Masks

2011-09-02T11:02:00.000-07:00

I'm shifting direction. I've become interested in masks, but more specifically, in the concept of anonymous artists creating timeless forms and images within a tradition.

After watching a video on African masks, and looking though various books on art, I can see that most of the great art work around the world, the stuff your see in art and art history books, has been done by ANONYMOUS artists working within a tradition of passing on art and images to society and to successive generations. The tradition is to make exact copies of cultural images and icons; the individual subordinates his own ego and identity to the group or the tribe. Each artist distinguishes himself with the skill that he brings to the project. This is what I've done here: I created an image, and repeated it over and over again, redrawing it in the exact same way. The repetition is what creates the tradition.

Of course, you can see that there is a lot of variation within these "masks": that's where stylistic evolution happens. The top center was the first "mask" I'd created; the bottom right image is the last one I created in this painting. As you can see, there's a lot of morphing and change that happens even when working within the strictures of a predefined precise image.

Unfortunately, I can't be a purist here, because I can't resist the urge to sign my work! But I'll be working with this "mask" idea for a while...

Thugs on the Bus

2011-08-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

"Thugs on the Bus", gold acrylic on raw unstretched canvas, 36" x 46"

Here's my morning painting, about a slice of life in Tucson, AZ, riding the bus. Remember those SunTran commercials where people would get on the bus, meet the love of their life, and exit together, holding hands and laughing? Yeah, right! My scruffy little rag of a painting reminds me of Daumier's 1862 painting, "Third Class Carriage"

Rock N Roll!

2011-08-20T03:18:00.000-07:00

I felt like drawing something inspired by music...so I made this piece about rock n' roll! (size: 30" x 48")

Oldschool Androgynous Punk

2011-08-06T03:11:00.000-07:00

Felt like drawing some random character...ended up with a picture of someone who looked like an old androgynous punk. The rumpled stained paper helps with the effect. Reminds of some of the characters who used to frequent Tumbleweeds (in Tucson), back in the day (in 1980).

Woman with Part on Side

2011-05-06T22:12:00.000-07:00

"Woman with part on side" (Acrylic on canvas, May, 2011)

This is a painting I made of a student in a class I teach on Basic Design. Several people in the class wanted to learn how to paint a portrait, so I had them paint portraits of each other. This painting was my step-by-step demonstration.

Sketchbook Entry: "Bubbly Stripes"

2011-04-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

3 recent pantings (AZ Biennial entries)

2011-04-23T03:22:00.000-07:00

Here's the work I submitted for the Arizona Biennial 2011, taking place at the Tucson Museum of Art. My work didn't make the cut this year, so I'll share it with you before the actual Biennial. Brief commentary appears under each painting (all images and concepts (c) Howard Salmon)

"Hello, World" (2011), Acrylic on canvas

"Hello, World" is a painting that is about Facebook. The characters in this painting are based on some photos of a party that I found on Facebook. The image shows a couple showing the world that they're having a lot of fun, but as you can see from the dark background, they're actually quite alone. Something fascinates me about Facebook: people broadcasting their lives (Hey, I'm no different; blogging does the same thing) I added the big orange hand in the foreground holding the camera; the "flash" is what illuminates the painting. The title refers the the first exercise you learn when you're studying computer programming: how to create the phrase "Hello, World".

"Meta-Comix" (2011) Acrylic & collaged drawings on canvas

"Meta-Comix" is a combination of three separate works: a psychedelic self portrait drawn with assorted felt markers on paper; a comic book drawing on cardboard made of ink, graphite, felt marker, and crayon; and in the background, an acrylic painting of some imagined rocky landscape, as viewed from the interior of a red chunk cave. I also pasted on a word balloon that contain a design made of a word balloon motif. This picture is all four separate sources of comics (from my own portfolio) coming together to create a work about art and comix: Comics within comics within comics. Why am I doing this? I thought it looked cool! But you can have fun relating the parts of this painting to each other. It holds together, it's interesting, I like it.

"A Cowboy and his horse mosey through Modern Art History" (2011) Acrylic & Permanent Marker on canvas

"A Cowboy and His Horse Mosey through Modern Art History" is another older work that I went back into and changed completely. Originally, this picture was a magic marker drawing on canvas, and then colored in with acrylic paint. I original image was a cartoon cowboy standing next to his horse, drawn in a very loose and cartoony way. I then went back into it, combining and joining lines in the picture into bigger shapes, breaking the old image apart. I went back into painting, using the existing painting as a ground, with little regard the the imagery that was already there, but still allowing some of the old history of the work to peek through. It's flat, it's surreal, it's non-objective (in places), it's "pop" (in it's cartoony quality), and it's also cowboy art! I really think that this piece is great.

Dark Bumpy Masses (graphite on paper)

2011-04-19T04:54:00.000-07:00

"Dark Mass" (2011)

"Bumpy Mass" (2011)

Here are some of my drawings from the past few days, part of a series of "dark masses". Drawn with a dark mass of graphite (graphite stick) on paper.

Radar Love

2011-04-05T05:49:00.000-07:00

This is the kind of work is a lot of fun to do: free-form cartoon drawing. This one is done with ink on gessoed canvas

"Hangin' Out"

2011-03-17T02:37:00.000-07:00

No deep meaning here. This painting is about the simple things in life: hanging out with people and creatures whose company you enjoy. This painting is is made of acrylic paint (on canvas), and collaged cartoons and doodles. The first layer is the abstract rhythmic design layer. It's supposed to look like a comic strip, or old newspaper funnies in the background. In the foreground, I've cut out some black and white cartoons I'd created on a separate piece of paper, and collaged the on on top of this painting. I then went back into it and added some color (acrylic paint, felt marker, and crayon). I've made a series of this type of work, which I'll be posting soon...

"Healing Powers" cardboard wall sculpture

2011-01-31T09:24:00.000-08:00

"Healing Powers" (2011); this piece is made with acrylic, tempera paint, and ink on cardboard. Various imagery, representing inner peace and harmony, love, physical strength, vision and wisdom...all fanned out like a series of cards or coasters. Currently on display at the Raices Taller Gallery, in Tucson, AZ

doodlecomix #2: Overlapping Word Balloons

2011-01-13T00:15:00.000-08:00

Here's a video from my new series of free online art lessons that explores doodles and comix! This installment briefly explores the "word balloon"...and has a little fun with it. (This vids are also posted on my site called doodlecomix.com)

Sunflowers

2010-12-23T13:34:00.000-08:00

"Sunflowers" (Dec, 2010) acrylic on canvas (24" x 28") This was an Xmas gift comission

Guacamole

2010-12-21T19:36:00.000-08:00


ink, crayon, & graphite on paper. Approx 2 feet x 2.5 feet.

Another of my rececent "comic strips". This one is someone (I wonder who??) recalling how he ate an entire tub of guacamole, with chips!

The Illusion of Comix

2010-12-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

This drawing is made to look like it's a comic strip, but it really isnt....or is it? Are a few boxes and some word balloon shapes all that's needed to make a comic strip??? (Oh, the burning questions I come up with!) An illusion within an illusion! Very interesting...! (ink, ink wash, Sharpie, graphite, and crayon on paper. Approx 2 ft x 5 ft)

Captain Eyeball

2010-12-13T06:48:00.000-08:00

Ink, crayon, Sharpie, graphite, tempera paint on paper. Approx 2ft x 5ft (Dec 2010)

King Eyebeam

2010-12-12T13:59:00.000-08:00

ink, graphite, Sharpie, crayon, and tempera paint on paper (approx 2 ft x 5 ft)

Calling All Clouds

2010-12-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

Acrylic, graphite, & Sharpie on paper

amaryllis flower (watercolor)

2010-12-01T01:09:00.000-08:00

ink & watercolor on bristol board (c ) Howard Salmon

Sketchbook update

2010-11-30T06:10:00.000-08:00

A recent drawing from my sketchbook

Old Codger

2010-11-28T18:57:00.000-08:00

Portrait comission, acrylic on canvas, painted from a series of reference photos (November 2010)

Tissuebox Flourish

2010-11-09T07:59:00.000-08:00

graphite on paper, 11" x 14". The first in a series...

Sentient Clouds

2010-11-03T22:27:00.000-07:00

"Sentient Clouds", mixed media on paper, 18" x 24" (created Nov. 2010). This picture started as a series of random marks, squiggles, doodles, gestures, and icons, and I worked straight through at a fast rate until completion. As I worked this drawing, it evolved: I grouped clusters of marks into shapes, and then continued adding more marks, patterns, and shading. Disparate marks and patterns came together to form a cluster...and those clusters I grouped into still larger clusters. In this way, this work felt very organic--since it grew naturally! It reminded me of one of those "Sim Life" games. I was under a time limit with this drawing, so I had to resolve it quickly. Thus, I cut out a cartoon painting from one of my sketchbooks and collaged it into the picture (for a focal point), and also added some additional color. Working through a drawing like this really feels like a marathon. When I was done with it, I felt spent!

Fear of Mountain Lions

2010-10-31T02:24:00.000-07:00

"Fear of Mountain Lions" (2010) Ink & graphite on paper. This is an illustration for a chapter in a story. The story is about a man who is alone in a remote mountainous area known to be inhabited by mountain lions. Suddenly...a thrashing about in the brush nearby! What could that be?! A mountain lion?? My task for this piece was to create a series of patterns, strokes, an textures that representted whatever I was associating this scene, and then rolling it all together into a sort of pastiche. So in this drawing you'll see fear, rocky cliffs, mountain lions, big fangs, shredded clothing, scrubby scruffy desert foliage..and so on. Oh, I didn't draw those things literally; it'all implied here.

Facebook Quick Sketch

2010-10-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is a new picture of a Facebook friend, who's portrait I drew from one of the pix in his Facebook photo albums. He's wearing a construction hat. Size is roughly 9" x 12". I used a felt-tipped pen & wax crayon.

Irises

2010-10-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

A recent drawing of irises, drawn from life. (ink on paper)

Spooky

2010-10-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a recent piece I did with a "Halloween" theme. Ink, graphite, watercolor, and watercolor crayon on paper; 9" x 12" in size. I like the fact that it's kinda hard to see what's happening, as if you were looking out onto a dark night, and saying "what's going on out there??!"

Amaryllis flower

2010-09-27T23:57:00.000-07:00

Drawn from life; pen & ink on bristol board, 11" x 14" (2010) . An amaryllis flower in full-bloom. It just as easily could have been a flowing robe. The folds, textures, and color are really pretty incredible.

Mother Nature Saves The Day

2010-09-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

(Ink, goache, colored pencil, & Sharpie on foam core) Roughly 2' x 3' in size. I'd created this piece in March of 2010 specifically for a show about "Earth Day". It was rejected, because of it's over-active design, and for some graffitti I'd posted in various places with Sharpie --but also probably because I'd painted it on foam core, a material you buy as office supply stores! One graffitto says "Save the f**king world already!", while another says "I fight Evil in the nude!" (I've blurred the offending text) Chock it up to too much comic book thinking, but I thought it was great. It's basically a design with some "Mother Nature" superhero character surrounded by all kinds of life growing, evolving, spurting, and floating all over the place. The curators of the show were worried that schools that take their classes to this gallery on field trips might be offended. Perhaps they would...but perhaps they might also think it's hilarious and full of spunk! No dice. "Mother Nature Saves The Day" was consigned to the compost heap. (Not really, it'll just have to resurface in a more appreciative environment)

Portrait of My Mother

2010-09-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

Every artist should paint his mother! This painting is acrylic on canvas and is roughly 2' x 3' in size. Painted from a series of reference photos in 2006. I took about 10 pictures of her posing at various angles, so this picture is actually a composite. Sketched and painted by hand; no projectors or grid lines. Probably the best portrait I've ever painted.

Nighttime Floaters

2010-09-24T07:22:00.000-07:00

(Acrylic on unstretched canvas) I painted this several years ago, and it no longer exists...I've since painted over it. But I include it here to show how, at some point, I became interested in started a painting with a series of abstract shapes, instead of starting from a sketch and transferring it to canvas, as is the method used by many (less brave!) painters. I usually create the shapes as a result of drawing (with a fully loaded paintbrush) all sorts of intersecting lines and shapes on the canvas, and then, choosing the ones that appeal to me or are part of a general compositional sweep (say, as in this case, they are all part of an upwards movement going from lower left to upper right) From this point, I can either leave it alone (as I've done here), or I can turn these shapes into recognizable things, and thus come up with some sort of story or narrative...then the narrative would be what the picture is "about". But even without a narrative, the picture is about a series of shapes and their interrelation with each other. That alone constitutes another world in which you can totally get absorbed. I find this picture very calming. I'd used several layers of light washes to create the blue and purple tones in this piece.

Disposable Coffee Cup

2010-09-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

About two years ago, I ordered some coffee from some chain store, sat it in front of me, and did what artists do: I studied it for all of its wonderful textures and shadows. I drew this in my sketchbook with a big nobby piece of graphite, about the size of a large crayon. The odd texture on the side of the cup is one of those paper sleeves, to buffer the heat from the coffee from burning your hand. Even in a well-lit space, with multiple light sources, you can still get interesting shadows. Notice the cast shadows on either side of the cup, caused by the spotlights the were above me, while I sat there in the restaurant.

Tilted Hulk

2010-09-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

This a pen & ink drawing that I made in early 2008. I've got a whole series of these. I drew them all, very quickly, one after the next after the next. When I was done with one, I ripped the page off the pad and started another. I continued like this for about ten drawings...then I felt spent. Working with pen & ink like this has some inherent problems.

First, there are all the interruptions caused by having to reload my ink by dipping it into the ink bottle. My having to reload my pen every 15 seconds actually has an effect on how the artwork looks; it looks like it's...full of interruptions....which is a look that I like! But mentally, it becomes a nuisance. That's why I switched over to Sharpies a while ago, so I could draw away, smooth as butter, without having to worry about my pen drying out, or my flow of creativity running up against a sandbag.

Now I'm back doing pen and ink...and I like the results. I'll post more of my pen & ink "doodles" as time goes on.

Vague Pompadour

2010-09-21T08:32:00.000-07:00

I like to look at this acrylic on canvas painting as a sort of "relaxed" comic book panel. Starting from a series of loose gestural shapes, I saw a red-eyed character staring right back at me, with a wavy jet black pompadour, greased all rockabilly-like. Some wordless word balloons hover in front of this character's face, to the right of the picture. Colored with bright and simple colors that I usually associate with kids pop culture, such as comics, candy wrappers, movie popcorn boxes... it also reminds me of a rolling landscape. How about this: a red-eyed dog-faced character runs out of a comic book and across a rolling landscape saying...nothing. Works for me!

Seriously though, it's really not important to me that I have a "message"; that really must come from the viewer. As an artist, I concern myself with making an interesting picture. Your associations are the ones that really matter. But since we all live in the same time in history, and experience the same mass media, and are familiar with what the world is like now (and then) there are cetain that things and references that you and I will pick up on together, and those things will come out in how you see my artwork. Although my way of seeing the world may be a little different from yours, the graphic symbols, shapes, forms, and artistic approach may strike a chord within you. When I look at this piece, I think of old campy movies, probably when I used to go to the New Loft Theater as a kid, when it was on 6th Street, on the UA campus. But if you don't see that, that fine, because art is like people: you develop your own relationship with it in a way that best suits your personality and temperment. (Acrylic on canvas, roughly 24" x 18" in size, made in 2006; I also made the frame out of stained plywood)

"Radiant Energy"

2010-09-19T08:56:00.000-07:00

This recent painting, called Radiant Energy, is from my Fine Pulpe Arte series, which takes its inspiration from old paperback novel artwork, and old comics from the Golden and Silver Age of comics. (As background music, perhaps you can image an old radio drama playing, such as "The Shadow"...) This piece is supposed to be about inspiration, but from a campy place that references Jewish contributions to popular culture. Jews had a big part in the creation of comic books and pulp novels, so this painting is sort of a tribute to all of that. Made with the methods and materials of old comix: Painted with tempera paint and ink on corragated cardboard, then stapled to a sheet of plywood, also painted with tempera paint. It's a large sucker: about 4 feet x 2.5 feet. People have told me that my work reminds them of Philip Guston's..and I can see that. I like this piece!

Unidentified Flying Idea

2010-09-16T03:32:00.000-07:00


Unidentified Flying Idea

(Acrylic on canvas, 2010) Large red chunky forms on the right, a doodle-design that seems to be pointing to a word balloon in the top center, and some goofy grinning guy floating in the sky on the right. And who is that in the lower center part of the painting...The Yeti?! A lost caveman? Alley Oop? Unfortunately, I cannot answer these questions for you.

Mystic Jalopy

2010-09-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

After pushing paint aroud this piece over and over, suddenly an image appeared to me out of a bramble of doodles and strokes, like out of some weird hallucination: a floating cactus ball hovering over the discarded hull of an old car...made of rock...immersed in water. The sound of a babbling brook and chirping birds wafts in just over your shoulder.. the air is crisp and clear. A lone ciccada revs up his buzzer and makes a huge racket. All the while, an oddly shaped mutant cactus ball floats over the right side of this picture.

What does this all mean??

It means that when I'm standing up for hours working on pulling a composition together, sometimes I can get ridiculous!

This picture is acrylic on canvas, and uses primarily four colors: green, orange, blue, and yellow. I'd just rececently seen a show about Impressionist artist Paul Cezanne (at the Phoenix Art Museum), and I noticed something about his work: he didn't use black; rather, the darkest color he'd use (at least in the painting I was staring at) was a thalo blue (that is, a very dark blue-green color) What happens when you use only colors (as opposed to using black, which isn't technically a "color", but rather, a "value") is that the colors you paint interacts with all of the other colors on your canvas. Not so with black; you won't find black on the "color wheel", thus, black isn't part of any "color scheme"; it just sits there, announcing its presence, but not really contributing to the harmony of the color balance in a painting. Black can, however, add a lot of value contrast, which can help a picture really "pop", but if you want vibrant color interaction, it's best to stay away from it (unless you mix it with some other color)

Mutant Turkey Man!

2010-09-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

Art as comics...art as comics...my ongoing aesthetic exploration in mixing comics and fine art. This painting reminds me on those old Japanese monster movies, like Godzilla: the cityscape in the background, the creature in the foreground; the "heroic" composition, looking up at the figure....yes, comic books have definitely influenced how I look at art. To me, this looks like it could be the cover of some odd sci-fi story magazine, or some off-beat movie poster. This painting is actually painted over another painting ...which was painted over another painting. This is what accounts for this piece's chunky built-up texture. Once again, I stuck with a color scheme that reminds me of...Spiderman! Of course, that's not what I was thinking when I made this painting; I was thinking of shapes and forms. The comic book quality is what happens at the very end, when I'm tying everying together. But what lies under this picture, as far as composition, and color, and values...is the same that girds the a million others: a solid abstract foundation. That's really the main thing.

A Rubbery Desertscape: "Martian Goldrush"

2010-09-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

Martian Gold Rush

I was happy with how this painting initially ended up--as a Dr. Seussian set of rock formations; very Southwestern, in a sort of surreal, Salvidor Dali sort of way...but something was missing...that extra special bit of spice. What could it be? Of course! One of my comic book drawings pasted right into the painting! (He a little hard to see in this photo, but he's there, standing atop a cliff in his cyan blue space uniform) So there you have it: a crazed looking astronaut character staking a claim (with his flag) in the middle of nowhere atop some Martian cliffs.

Ideally, I'd like to go back into a lot of my paintings, and start pasting my own comics back into them, out of respect and reverence for my artistic roots (that is, comic books), but also...because I think it would be a lot of fun, and would make the work more interesting! Cartoons being happiness and joy! So why not insert a little nugget of joy into my own painting, in the form of one of my own cartoons? Sounds like a good idea to me! Besides, collage has a rich history; just ask Picasso or Kurt Schwitters. And what's more, now the work doesn't feel so lonely. The colors here, also, hearken back to comics: the orange and blue are the same colors that you'll find in old Donald Duck comics.And you thought art was just about being a free spirit? Ha! It's a lot like engineering too. There's a lot of tweaking that you've got to do to get things to feel just right.

Cartoony Surrealist Landscapes

2010-09-09T00:34:00.000-07:00

This is another piece in my series of cartoony abstract paintings. I painted it about a week ago. This all start out as very loose sketches, more of an explorations of lines, shapes, and patterns, more than anything else. In short time, images and forms begin to appear; it has an "evolving" feel. I help along shapes and forms that look promising, like they could be interesting in my painting. So, I clump some together, erase other, and in this sort of artistic negotiation, I get to know my painting, I see what it is that's coming into view, and when it becomes clear, I strengthen it with some light and shadow. My abstract work usually looks like some sort of cartoony surrealist landscape, which is a great way to describe Tucson.

Abstract Chunky Style

2010-09-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

This piece is a sample of my newest painted work (painted in late August, 2010). It is acrylic on canvas, roughly 2.5' x 3.5' in size. It is part of a series of "abstract" work. This series I'd created based on a request. So...this is the lastest example of the type of work I do as an artist. I've always gone back to the qualities of superhero comic books, which were my first introduction to art, back when I was just a kid. The attaction of rough chunky forms, bold colors...basically, the whole "muscular" quality of it all, still inspires me. I've lived in the Lower Sonoran Desert for most of my life, the the shapes and forms of the landscape and scenery (mountains, rocks, cactus) have obviously inspired this whimsical and imaginary painting, which you see here. More about how I create these images, next time.