white roses on red

white roses on red, 6x6 oil on cardboard

I used a new recipe for my medium on this one. A couple of years ago, I made some sun-baked linseed oil. I've used it on and off with various results, but I recently started cutting it with gamsol and some linseed oil and it makes for a great medium. It dries to a glossy finish that mimics a good varnish.

Pink lies under a fading star.

Pink lies under a fading star, 8x10 acrylic monotype

Tangerines with the mint

Tangerines with the mint, 6x6 oil on cardboard

These tangerines were as tasty as they were colorful. I did this painting as a demo for a student. If was the first time they had attempted alla prima painting and it was a fun session! 

Blue Flowers for Bonnie

blue flowers for bonnie 5x7 oil on cardboard

I bought these flowers for my wife, but they were so lovely I just had to paint them. This painting was executed on triple primed cardboard. I buy Kroger brand rice and chope down the thick, cardboard boxes that it comes in. It makes a create surface.

Blaster!

Blaster! 5x7 acrylic monotype, 2017

Here's a fun print from the gelatin plate. You can see the white lines along the edges of the shapes clearly in this one. Those are caused by the thicker paper. They can be avoided by using thinner types of paper to make your cutouts, but sometimes they are desirable. 

pass beneath the waters in silence lest we disturb the fantasy

pass beneath the waters in silence lest we disturb the fantasy. 7.5x11 acrylic monotype

more from this series.

red apples (of knowledge)

red apples (of knowledge), 6x6 oil on canvas

They listen and into the urns of their ears I pour.

They listen and into the urns of their ears I pour. 

I'm using getmosh.io plus photoshop plus premiere to create short animations like these. Instagram has a max gif length of 15 seconds, so there's not much wiggle room on what you can do. The basic process is to create a series of short clips and then use photoshop to make any changes (rotation, color enhancement, etc) and then string them together in premiere.

sunrise_over_neo_tokyo

sunrise_over_neo_tokyo, 5x7 acrylic monotype

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the_inversion_of_truth_through_memory

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the_inversion_of_truth_through_memory, digital 2017

Working in digital mediums again, using my gelatin prints as a starting point. Sometimes its as simple as a color inversion. You open a portal into a new space, an entire universe brought forth from the ether, or the either, or the neither, or the nether. 

Running parallax along the wintermute.

Running parallax along the wintermute. 6x6 acrylic monotype 

"'Most people are not looking for provable truths ... The moon did not answer."

"'Most people are not looking for provable truths ... The moon did not answer." 5x7 acrylic monotype

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Still working off the same gelatin plate I made last fall. I did a batch of ten using this color palate, and while this was my favorite of the mix, I think they all have some merit. I'm working smaller these days for two reason. One its simply more economical and two I can get through more iterations and therefore try more things. I'm going through a phase where I simply need to see what sticks.

the stinky salamander

the stinky salamander, 5x6 acrylic monotype

Finally received my order of new printmaking materials and now I'm back to the gelatin plate that I so love. I've already made twenty something prints this week, I'll be posting several more in the next few days so stop by. Unfortunately, my "permanent" gelatin plate is staring to break down so I'll need to create a new one soon. Love these crazy prints!

Slice of LIfe

Slice of Life, 6x6 oil on paper

This was a fun little painting. The juice from the orange was glistening under the light of my lamp. Punchy greens and reds compliment each other in a sea of blue. A slice of my life indeed. The orange was pretty rotten though, just fyi.

Summer Trees

Summer Trees, 5x7 oil on paper

Summer has come and the lush Tennessee landscape is ripe for painting. My wife and I trekked the hills to find this spot in a local park. From this spot there is a wonderful view of the mountains, but I was most interested in this tall tree that became the center of this composition. A few curious bystanders came by to see me begin the painting. Hopefully they were able to find me on Instagram and see the finished product. Follow me @joshpaints.

The Ringleader

The Ringleader, 6x6 oil on paper

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Lately I've been paying more attention to my edges, especially the transition between the cast shadow and the ground. Its difficult to get this area to feel right, and in alla prima painting you have only a few chances to achieve the desired effect before your begin to ruin the piece. The goal of alla prima is to get the right color in the right place with the right stroke. The desire to go back into the work with corrections must be suppressed or the loose quality of the painting will be lost to the muddiness of over-working it.

root beer

root beer bottle, 6x6 oil on paper.

Apples Orchestrated

Apples Orchestrated. 6x6 oil on paper

Those coke bottles go well with bright, red apples. I picked up some large sheets of construction paper recently and have been using them to create some new color combinations. I just needed to add a little jazz into the compositions. These saturated colors are great for creating a cheerful mood. Put on some smooth jazz for the perfect painting atmosphere.

two and one thirds onions

two and one thirds onions, 5x7 oil on paper

I love to eat onions! They the perfect compliment to so many different meals. If something is delicious, it will probably make a delicious painting too.

Kitchen Bossa

Kitchen Bossa. 6x6, oil on canvas.

My work has improved over the last few months and I am now painting more and more on canvas. Those of you who follow me will know that I mostly paint on paper because of its efficiency and economy, but nothing beats the presentation of a gallery wrapped canvas. Check out my shop if you'd like to purchase this or other paintings. Ars Vita

des oranges

des oranges, 6x6 oil on paper

sold

Some lovely fruit caught me eye. I wanted to capture their juicy color and bulbous shape. To engage the viewer, I included an playful color palate and a sharp diagonal above the center line. I'm striving for a liquid look.

The blue kitchen

the blue kitchen, 5x7, oil on paper

This was a quick sketch I did a few weeks ago. I thought it was a decent composition, even if the painting itself didn't land where I wanted it to. Daily painting has allowed me embrace the bad with the good, and learn to enjoy the whole experience of painting more. You can learn just as much from your less successful paintings if you are willing to let them go.

Fruity Group

Here are some happy little fruits, 6x6 oil on paper. I thought this trifecta was so vibrant and yummy I just had to paint them together.The colors are very strong and make from a powerful thumbnail in this arrangement. Painting small forces the artist to be loose and to concentrate on values. It takes a long time to learn that details are not as important as the larger constructions and the value relationships of the composition.

LudumDare 38

le petite isle

Ludum Dare is a game jam that takes place every four months. A game jam is competition where contestants, either in teams or solo, create a video game by a deadline. The Ludum Dare game jam is perhaps the most famous of these. Its free online for anyone to participate and you get three days to make a game based on a supplied theme.

The theme for this game jam was A Small World. I used the Godot Game engine and the animation tool Aseprite, bfxr.net for sound effects, and Fruity Loops for the soundtrack. It was an intense weekend of coding to finish on time. I had to work as well, which made for some added challenge. This was my second LudumDare.

You can view all the submissions, and there's a LOT, over at ldjam.com.

African Violets and Orange Slices

African Violets and Orange Slices, 6x6, oil on paper

My wife brought these beautiful little violets home to grow on our window sill. Of course I had to paint them, and with a lovely compliment of orange they really sing don't they?  

coke bottles

Coke Bottles. 6x6, oil on canvas

I keep a couple of these old glass coke bottles around in case I feel like indulging my inner pop artist. Andy Warhol references aside, These symbols of consumerist frenzy worked quite well in this colorful still life, Composition is probably the area that I've struggled with the most over the years, so its nice when I get a set up that really sings to me. Let there be color! 

Fruity

Fruity. 6x6, oil on paper

The still life train never stops. I've got about a dozen of these guys fresh off the easel. As you can see, I'm still working on loosing up my brushwork and painting with clean, simple shapes. The orange could use some work, but the pear and the apples are okay. 

Glitch art from The Cartesian.

This is a screenshot from my game The Cartesian. In truth, its less of a game and more of a glitch art making tool, but you glitch images by playing this little character (the little orange square in the center). This image was created by first loading a small jpg into the program and then wondering about with the little guy who I named the Cartesian (after Descartes the Cartesian coordinate system). You can download this game for free here.

Gaspard

I created this small game for the Indie Bits game job. Indie Bits in a festival for South Eastern game developers. Game development is a hobby I picked up a few years ago and have been steadily working on. Gaspard is a 2d side-scroller about a swashbuckling hero seeking revenge. It was a lot of fun to make this project and I learned quite a bit in process. I'd say my animation skills went up a notch or two. The download is free if you're interested in playing it. Take up your father's sword and fight!

Island_8

Island_8, 5x7, acrylic monotype

This piece is from my island series I created last fall. The textures really lend themselves to a watery type of atmosphere, which in me evokes a certain sense of calm or serendipitous environment. In a word, its meditative. And of course a blue and grey palette is one of my favorites.  

The Cartesian

So this is something different. Some readers may already know this, but on top of fine art I also like dabble in other areas like music, design, and computer programming. The Cartesian in a small project I created last fall as a way of furthering my skills at the Processing programming language. In the game, the player must provide an image to serve as the background and level generation guide. Players can then explore the created world and create glitch art in the process.

Floral Violet

Floral violet. 6x6, acrylic monotype

I loved the play of texture in this monotype. It really shows the fun variety that can be achieved with the gelatin plate. I've had my plate for about six months now. It cost me about twelve dollars to make. Its not problem to buy one, but they're so cheap and the ingredients are common so why not DIY?

Apple Stack and Chrome

Apple Stack and Chrome. 6x6, oil on paper

Unfortunately, I've had to cut back on my painting time these past few weeks. I had been maintaining a solid schedule of one or more paintings everyday, but other projects have come up and I've had to cut back to only doing a few a week. I turned out this piece a few days ago and was pleased with out the reflective can turned out. It has a real juicy look that can only be gotten with alla prima painting. 

Besides these daily paintings, I have also been keeping a regiment of drawing from life. I have filled several sketchbooks over the past year of figure drawings and anatomy studies. Hopefully, I'll be able to photograph some of the best of them and I'll post them soon.

Salvation Army Cup

Salvation Army Cup. 6x6, oil on paper

I got this thick glass cup from the salvation army for a dollar. Its nice to have variety, especially when you paint as often as I do. Making a painting is a lot easier if you're excited about the subject and composition. Taking your time to find a set-up that you're happy with is essentially. If you don't find the work exciting, then its doubtful others will.

Breakfast of Champions

Breakfast of champions. 6x6, oil on paper

Two cups of coffee and a hard-boiled egg, that's how I like to get my day started. Of course, enjoying that fresh cup of joe is a even better if you happen to be reading a copy of Kurt Vonnegut's iconic Breakfast of Champions as well. We're both avid readers in this house and Vonnegut is one of our favorites. 

Gateway to Luna

Gateway to Luna. 5x7, acrylic monotype

I made a series of monotypes one afternoon this month that revolved around that crescent moon, which is a shape I've returned to time and again over the years. The moon symbolizes the subconscious and the mysterious, two themes I have always found fascinating.

Sometimes my gerbils take baths in that purple ceramic

Sometimes my gerbils take baths in that purple ceramic. 5x7, oil on panel

I've been painting that purple ceramic since I started doing still lifes. It and the blue vase were in my very first alla prima painting. I like to return to these subjects because its helpful to compare the old and the new, but I also just love these colors. Adding the yellow cup is what really brought this composition together.

And yes, sometimes I fill that purple ceramic with sand and let my two gerbils take a sand bath in it. They love it.

Tasty Fruit

Tasty Fruit. 5x7, oil on panel

Juicy fresh fruit are a joy to paint. Truly, delicious snacks make for delicious art. I try to find really good looking fruit when I'm at the grocery store. It has taken me a long time to learn how to get those saturated colors using alla prima methods. When I first started painting this way, I would usually mix too much white into my paint and get chalky color or else I would fuss with the paint so much that the colors lost their punch. Big shapes, pure colors, and no fuss, thats the key....that and strong values of course.

Two apples and a silver cup

Silver cup and two apples. 6x6, oil on paper

This piece took just over an hour to complete. My wife wanted to do some drawing so I set up this little still life to paint while she worked on the apple. I liked vibrant it turned out, the saturated blues and reds really read well together. And silver cups are always fun to paint.

Wave

Wave. 6x6, acrylic monotype

Another of my geliplate prints, Wave is a good example of how to make the technique work for you. The textures and the washed out effect of the ghost contrast well with the opaque sections. The nature of the method means that it's very difficult to predict exactly what you'll end up with, so it's usually best to shoot for quantity and let the art surprise you. Patience and flexibility are the key here.

Slay The Beast

Slay the beast. acrylic monotype

This is another print from the science fiction themed set that I mentioned in my last post. It depicts a type of great monster, his head like a lizard with the body of a man. He's seated much like the Mayan god Pakal in those famous carvings. A spear is being thrust into the beast's armpit.

Intergalactic

Intergalactic. diptych. acrylic monotype

This interesting little diptych came from a batch that gave me some good ideas for a new science fiction story. There were about nine images in total and they suggested a type of narrative to me after I had finished the work. I wasn't sure about this piece at first, but its grown on me.

Silver Bucket

Silver Bucket. 6x6, oil on panel.

I use this silver bucket in the kitchen to hold my cooking utensils. I ran out of linseed oil just before this painting and so I made a medium from stand-oil and gamsol. It makes fat, juicy strokes with my hog hair brushes.

Bowl of Apples

Bowl of Apples. 6x6, oil on panel

I was lucky and found some free hardwood, also known as Masonite. You can pick this up at Home Depot or Lowes. Its fairly cheap and makes an excellent support. Some people prefer the tooth of canvas, but I prefer the smooth surface of a hardwood panel. Whatever you choose to paint on, be it canvas, panel, or even paper, make sure you use plenty of good gesso!

You guessed it

cup and apples. 6x6, oil on paper

That's right, more cups and apples. Painting these subjects is a great way to improve your skills. Work from life and give yourself a time limit. Painting this way is about expressing the subject in simple terms as accurately as possible. Always start with the main subjects, their shadows, and then paint the background. Save the highlights for last. The goal is to work this way covering the canvas without little or no fuss. Its not easy to do!

The Reflecting Pool

The Butterfly Sojourn 

The butterfly was desperate to escape and find his way back to the prairie. As he struggled on, he caught a glimpse of light. 
“Its her!” he cried and flew faster. 
Dodging trees and slipping through the leaves, he saw that she was coming toward him. He called out to her. Something seems odd about the way she was moving. He dove toward the ground to meet her.

It was only his reflection in a pool of water.

cups and apples forever

cups and apples forever. 6x6, oil on paper

I painted this one late last night. I don't usually like to paint at night, but I had the chance to stay up late and so I brewed a pot of java and set to work. Part way through the piece I got into a debate with a friend via text message. Somehow I managed to finish the piece while making my case without getting paint all over my phone. Paint is always messy, but its gotten less messy as I've gone along. I can't say the same for politics.

Owl Attack

Here's another watercolor from The Butterfly Sojourn, along with the accompanying passage.


Suddenly, there was a great crash from above. The mouse cried out and tried to run, but a large owl grabbed him with its mighty talons. The owl screeched and flew into the night carrying the little brown mouse.

Flowers

Flowers II. 5x7, oil on paper

My wife brought home these flowers last week and I couldn't help but paint them. It had been awhile since I painted a floral arrangement and I thought it was time to test my skills. Flowers require a nuance that's difficult to achieve, much like portraiture. This was the second of seven paintings I created from this arrangement. I might post more in the future after I've photographed the rest of the set.

Ico

Ico. 5x7 oil on paper

I used the 3d printer (a lulzbot I believe) at the school to make this plastic icosahedron. It was for a electronic project from a little over a year ago. I kept the ico around because its a neat like object to have on a bookshelf. Maybe I should do a painting of all the platonic solids because they're really interesting to study.

Green Apples and Steel Cup

Green Apples and Steel Cup. 6x6 oil on canvas

I got a new set of rosemary brushes in this week and so far they are a pleasure to use. For this piece I used a set of long flats and a small sable for the details. I've been working on saturation and tone, trying to keep the brush strokes simple and the color intense. I also added some new work to my etsy shop, including this piece.

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