Rusty Sign Early Stages (Perhaps?)

Excellent working titles abound.  Here are the beginnings of Rusty Sign...

The first half of the first layer is down.

My gut instinct is for more lines.  However, I had a few artist friends over to the studio recently and they felt this piece was done.  Not basically done.  Not nearly done, but done.  I'm going to have to spend some time staring at this and see if I agree.

Dude Looking Even Upper

Happy accidents frequently turn into unexpected fuel for the studio process.

So while I was trying to develop the base layers of imagery for both Once Upon A Time... and Dude Looking Up, I had them in close enough proximity that I started to see the potential in pairing them up.

That pairing quickly became a trio and then evolved into a four-some (or more?).

The first step is to get some imagery down on the two canvases.

It has been awhile since I have just worked on a white canvas with black lines.  I find that I have missed the sharp contrast between the two.

Dude Looking Up at 80%.

Lines for Once Upon A Time....

80% as well.

The first layer for Dude Looking Up (mostly).

These two (or three) are going to need a while to percolate...

A Slight Detour (again) Playtime

With all of the painting and carving that I need to do to push some of my works-in-progress further towards completion, it would be highly irresponsible to just take a day or two (or four!) to start a totally new piece just because it struck my fancy.  If at this point, anyone mistakes me for a responsible adult, that's their problem.

This is another variation on my lone sign/silhouette idea I have been playing around recently.

Testing different towers that I have created, but are currently not being used in any specific piece (i.e. they are sitting on a shelf in a pile waiting to be incorporated into something).

Expanding some of the shapes along the bottom.

Testing out some arches in the composition.

The final configuration adhered into place and primed with several layers of paint.

After everything dried, I started in with the base layer/color of oil paint.  I wanted a warm dark brown for the base.  The final piece will be nearly monochromatic (white), but I want all of the nooks and crannies to be darker.

The second base layer of oil paint applied three days later.  (At least) one more base layer of color to go before I start any line work.

The third base layer of color.

Now it's finally ready for some line work.

The painting is pretty gooey right now, so it will be a few weeks before I can dive into the line work.

Carving a Panel or Two (or Three..)

I have several wooden panels lying around the studio awaiting some attention.  By attention, I mean hours and hours of carving with my trusty Dremel Tool.  Since I have been painting a great deal as of late, a day or two spent in the carve-a-torium seems like an acceptable reprieve.

In a couple earlier posts, I talked about making pieces/compositions with multiple panels.  At least two of these carvings will likely become part of that idea.

This first panel is likely going to be paired with the canvas Imminent Departure (I will show them paired together in a future post).  I am unsure if all of the individual components will been titled, or if there will just be a title for the overall structure/composition.  That definitely seems like something to worry about at a much later date.

The figure at the top right is a drawing I made based off of the marketing mascot Marty Mayrose from Mayrose Meats. My friend Terry Rathje loaned me a book entitled 'Meet Mr. Product'. The book is chocked full of various advertising mascots from the truly obscure to much more mainstream.

Let the priming begin! (scroll quickly!)

Priming finished.

Just a few peeks at the color.  Marty Mayrose is smiling down on the whole process.

The second panel I'm going to show is going to be paired with The Brain Jar of Dr. Pantalones.  Both pieces have a ways to go, but I like how they work together so far.

This last panel currently does not have a partner.  I combined some sketches I thought would work well together and went from there.

I will save the progress images of these three panels getting color for a future post.  I have a few more panels in the drawing stage as well...

Next time we'll take a look at some play time in the studio.