Book of Spirits #2

Some of my friends are donating their interesting bottles while others I will happily purchase for the sake of art (Tank). I have 5 pages left in my Stillman & Birn journal and then I'm going to really challenge the paper by doing the flip side.

Book of Spirits

The collection is growing......

Last Assignment

Here's the last of the assignments from the online acrylic workshop. I have to admit, I did learn a lot of different things from the artist, Robert Joyner. One being how much I enjoy using the acrylic paints and inks with some mixture of charcoal and crayons.  The second is how free and liberating it is to use the abstract style and putting into a 1:1 ratio against the more concrete, realistic style of painting. I think I'm still weighing in more with realistic than abstract but I can work on that some more. It was a fun workshop for me and I'm looking forward to the next one at the Strathmore Online Workshops link. In May it will be on Sketching and Drawing with Toned Paper. Check it out and sign up....it's free!

Sketching and Drawing with Toned Paper

Roller Derby is making a ripple of a comeback. It's been struggling for the past few years. I went to a meet 5 years ago right in town at an old roller rink. They did have the sloped track and the skaters were able to get up to some fast speeds. Those two teams disappeared and never came back. Now I'm hearing some action is happening on the East coast and also on flat tracks. I don't know how the two tracks compare but having a skater get thrown half way over the rails would be missing on the flats.

 Getting Ready to Roll - Acrylic paint, acrylic ink, compressed charcoal. 12"x16"

Free Jammer -  Acrylic paint, acrylic ink, compressed charcoal. 12"x16"

Gone Fishing

I'm really getting into the loose style with the acrylic paints. The 3rd week of the workshop was to show reflections in water. I used a photo that I took a while ago at Dixon Lake of a fisherman out in one of the rented boats. Robert Joyner, the artist who is teaching this workshop, shows us to have a fairly even balance between abstract and actual to keep the painting interesting. I can't compare my results against his paintings but if I continue to practice at some point mine will get better. Until then, I'm having fun learning something new.

Robert Joyner

Robert Joyner

New Medium

Acrylics and a very loose form!

Both are with acrylic paints, acrylic inks, water color crayons, compresses charcoal on a 16x20" 500 series Strathmore mix media board.

Old Mill Tavern

Tavern by the rails in Rockaway, NJ.

Potbellys

Rockaway, NJ

Coney Island Beer

I'm having a good time with bottles.....especially when they're filled with something good to drink!

Weekend Van Gogh

I'm still having fun learning about Van Gogh,  copying his work and seeing how his style changed over the years with a lot of it depending upon his state of health. I have to say he's a very interesting character.   

I'm continuing using colored pencils as the medium of choice when I'm doing past artists work.  It's a much slower process than watercolors which allows me to appreciate the master's artwork even more so. I have a lot to learn about using these pencils, for instance I just found out about a blending pencil which should cut down some of the harsh lines. Anyway, I'm having a great experience and open to any suggestions too.

 And back to a water color....My oldest brother had requested a painting of this bottle so he could give it to his neighbor as a card for his upcoming birthday on the 19th.  I guess this is his favorite choice of drink. It gave me the idea of filling up my Stillman & Birn beta hardbound journal with nothing but bottles so maybe by the next to the last page I'll finally have more equal than slightly cockeyed sides to these bottles that is as long as I keep the bottles closed until the sketching has been completed.

The Art of Stealing

I'm reading a book that was recommended by someone in my internet circle called Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. In the book the author hi-lights various ways to unlock your creativity. The first chapter is about how nothing is completely original and that all "...creative work builds on what came before". And with that piece of knowledge you are free from being stressed out about creating something original because everything is a "mashup" of a few ideas. Some people might be offended with the thought about their stuff not being original. For me though I always was afraid to copy others work for fear that the plagiarism police would come after me. But now I know that to develop my own style, I need to study from other artists that I like. So I've chosen a few artists that have always appealed to me and with the help of the local library, will learn about their lives, pour over their styles and copy some of their paintings. And in a sense I'll be developing my own style by the teachings of the best.

Here are the first two artists that I have chosen to mentor me in style, light and colors.