x.33

acrylic on Fabriano 300 watercolor paper 8" x 10"

Happy Year of the Horse!

no comment on my absence from blogging except to say I'm glad to have something new to share. Happy Year of the Horse!

acrylic on Fabriano 300 watercolor paper 8" x 10"

~the evolution of a horse.

新年快樂

새해 복 많이 받으세요

chúc mừng năm mới

Happy Lunar New Year!

alien menagerie #7 • spring

This is a painting that I've had around for quite a while in a mostly completed state. I added the final bits to this last month and I'm finally comfortable with calling it finished.

oil on wood panel 18" x 20"

Alien menagerie #7 is "SPRING" from a series devoted to the four seasons. 

I haven't done these in any particular order, but three are now finished.

It's the first day of autumn here in the Northern hemisphere, but south of the equator the September equinox brings spring!

alien menagerie #12 • the atomic alien

The atomic alien #1 tunes in from the new frontier, a retro-future where bubble helmets are all the rage and time stands still. I bet they listen to Dave Brubeck out there. This one is a small, 6" x 8" painting. I'm pretty sure there will be more...

oil on wood panel 12" x 12"

alien menagerie #9 • the red alien

I've recently completed a few paintings, two of which have been on and off my easel at various times. First up to share is The Red Alien. I concepted this a couple years back as part of a Red/Yellow/Blue series of paintings. Pretty much everything I plan for alien menagerie is, or could be part of a small series of works.  The thing is, I get more ideas for pieces than I have time to paint so for now the Red Alien hangs alone.

oil on wood panel 12" x 12"

Color theory in the foundation studies at the art school I attended, the Columbus College of Art & Design is built around the Munsell system so it was about this time of year in 1980 that I first encountered it. The first project is learning how colors can be understood as a combination of hue, value and chroma and starts out as loose color chips:

to be assembled into a set of 10 color charts

After that, it's a year long series of small gouache paintings looking at different aspects of color and their combinations. Mixing and organizing colors by these principles has been a natural part of my work ever since then. I couldn't imagine doing a series of aliens organized by color without building in an homage to Albert Munsell.

I'll be showing this, along with several other new Alien Menagerie pieces at Illuxcon later this week in the Allentown Art Museum.

x.32

acrylic on Fabriano 300 watercolor paper 8" x 10"

I've been moving from one painting to another, so it's been a while since I've had a new alien to post. 

I finished x.32 last week, but I started it earlier this summer. After painting for a while, I changed my mind about what color I wanted the polka dots to be, and started another version. Then I changed my mind again, and went back to complete the original. Alien x.32 was delayed by indecision over blue or yellow polka dots.

It will be available and on display at Illuxcon 6  September 14-15th.

Aliens for sale:

I've restocked my web shop with nine originals. These are acrylic on watercolor paper - 8" X 10"   Only $150 for a piece of original art from my alien menagerie project.  **shipping is free**