The Ballad of Big Cheese Monkeynuts: Vol. I

So here are the beginnings of Big Cheese Monkeynuts...

Needs just a little more line work in the upper right hand corner...(?)

So let's finish the line work and let this piece dry for a bit.

Here it is with all of the base elements in place.

Before I wrap this post up, let's see what we've got with the introduction of color(s).

Next time we take a look at Big Cheese Monkey Nuts I'll be starting the second layer.

Sloganize: Vol. I: The Only Volume You'll Ever Need...

Sloganize.  How did we get to here?...

...from here?

Like several of my pieces, Sloganize started by laying down some shapes (fabric-wrapped cardboard to be precise) on canvas and riffing off of what was there.  The original shape had both the negative shapes of a thought cloud bubble, and the head silhouette of Frankenberry.  Since I had the head shape, shortly after I added the negative shape of the body to help strengthen the idea of a figure.

Sloganize is a word I bat around from time to time, and it seemed appropriate given the source inspiration material for the head.

With the base colors in place, I added some more color complexity.

Dried and ready for some line work.

Normally here is when I would show several images of just the line work. However, it's highly possible that I was so excited to add colors to the first layer of line work, that I forgot to document just the line work.  I apologize for this slight breech of etiquette...

A few more colors to finish of this first layer.

Sloganzie is gonna sit around for a few days (weeks?) so I can live with it and see what it might need (visually) to go further.  That being said, this is one of the rare instances in which I am quite satisfied with how the piece has turned out, so there is a good chance that this might be its final iteration.

Roadside Attraction. Mile Marker #148: The Road Out Of Town

 Back in March I was working on a series of ceramic pieces that I abruptly had to walk away from because of the lock down/quarantine.  I was unsure if/when I'd ever get back to work on them.  The building in which they were stashed was due for some maintenance, so their survival was not guaranteed.  So basically, I had to write them off as lost and forget about them.  I had a lot of time and energy invested in them, but if they were gone for good, dwelling on that would have reduced my ability to focus on projects I could work on.

Anyway, a couple weeks ago, I was told they were still intact and I was given a limited window of access to finish them up and get them transported to my studio.  Just like that, I put the brakes on what I was working on and spent several days glazing and firing these pieces so I could get them back into my fiefdom.

I documented them as soon as I got them into my studio.  These images don't have anything that resembles flattering lighting, and obviously I need to repaint my studio wall a solid black again to get rid of all of the paint drips.

Two piece fragments being united to form one piece.

When the dust settles, I will have about 20 pieces to add to my oeuvre.  Several of them as small freestanding sculptures, and a not-insignificant number will be displayed in wooden boxes (with and without accompanying carved panels.

This is just the beginning... 

More Colors For Detour Crossroads

The second and third passes of color(s) for the first layer of Detour Crossroads.

I let this dry for several weeks while I worked on other pieces.  When I came back to it, I hit it with a couple warm tones (a peach and a dull-red color).

Here we go!

Here's where it stands right now.  Unsure what, if any, more layers I will add to Detour Crossroads.  It's gonna have to sit around and be stared at for a while.

Playtime: Vol. I

The evolution of the first layer for Playtime.  It all started with a scrap of cardboard that reminded me of a tank turret.  I'm of the age that the Atari 2600 was about as big of a deal as one American child of the early 1980s could grapple with without losing his mind entirely.  Our Atari 2600 came with the game COMBAT!.  Tanks, planes, shooting, pixels, minimal sound effects -so good.

Anyway, with the memories of COMBAT! inspiring me, I made a tank body for the turret and some simple opponents/antagonists to adhere to the canvas. 

I have the desire for the final piece to return to this kind of minimal arrangement (in keeping with the simple 8-bit nature of the Atari games?).  But to get to simple (or at least simplified) I need to make things a bit more complex first.  I gotta give before I can take away...

So here is the first layer of imagery.

Taking a quick break so things can dry.  That way I don't drag my hand through wet paint.

A few weeks later, I am ready to dive back into the piece.

I'm excited to return to this piece in a week or two and start adding colors.  As you can already tell though, the tank and its opponents nearly disappear in the tumult.

Next time we check in with Playtime, there will be color!