Here is an oldie. Actually it is my first painting from late 2001 I remember that specifically because I really started to paint because I wanted to get my mind off thinking about 911, I needed a diversion. You see we lived right across the river from that even and we all had ringside seats there in the Mile Square City also known as Hoboken NJ. Needless to say we were all going bonkers living so close to that smoldering crater and this seemed like the best way to get my mind off things.
Funny to see how my style has evolved from this early start this painting looks like primitive cave art to me now or maybe some type of naive American folk art, yes indeed. The two fish in this acrylic painting, were my two favorite pets from that time, you could say muses, their names were Solomon (orange butterfly koi) and Platinum (white koi fish) and they ended up in countless paintings of mine from this time. I really do like this painting and I keep fighting off the urge to go fix it, well specifically I want to go repaint the white fish which I don’t think I really captured in my first try. perhaps someday.
April 24, 2014
Digital Illustration of New York Travel Poster nearly finished
this one still needs a little work
Well, here we go, I haven’t done any graphic design in years. This is a little digital illustration I made in Photoshop from one of the shots I took on my way to work in Manhattan, I think I am going to upload it to Fine Art America when I am finished. Now for years I have been thinking about starting a painting of some of the local architecture but I could just never pull the trigger on that one because I came to the conclusion recently that I only enjoy painting subjects that are alive. Yep the way I figure is that straight lines are just no fun for me to paint, I just can’t get excited about it, I might as well do this type of “commuter’ art in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop it just makes more sense to do it that way. This type of artwork I am finding out is a good diversion for the more kind of ethereal stuff I do in my paintings, the two balance each other out nicely. Also it is taking me hardly anytime to do and you know how I really appreciate that. Anyhow I hope you enjoy, thanks.
April 14, 2014
Artist Lena Quagliato guest stars on TV’s “Pawn Stars”
some of Lena’s earlier paintings: “Trust” (left) and “The Dotted Line” (right
on the set
April 3, 2014
The Hamptons painting, the most difficult one to finish
Taming the beast
I found this article in my archives from when I had this other blog. This post deals with my attempts to finish my most difficult painting, thank goodness this ordeal is over, however I might add that I am pleased as punch in the way it all came out . . .
This one is so close to being finished, but as I go in for the kill, I keep finding these little things to fix, I am in the extra innings with this project. Now my wife, who usually never comments on issues dealing of my nocturnal hobby, is saying that it looked fine enough like a month ago and it looks finished. I am being referred to now as “the painter of sticks’, a subtle hint that I have been obsessing over this Hamptons vine painting for far too long. But to my defense, I need my obsessions, it just keeps my mind off what is happening in the real world which makes no sense to me whatsoever. Anyhow, I am going to have to lose this ‘stickman stigma’ in my house as soon as possible, so musical theme from this point on is of course, Momma Said Knock You Out.
It is not helping that my source material is an actual size blow up from a blurry cell phone shot which means I have to make things up and make my lines appear sharper than what I am seeing, even photoshop could not help me out with this. At least I am down to the tiny brushes now, so I am not too worried about totally screwing up. Words to live by: big brushes, big mistakes, little brushes, little mistakes.
This is a whole new painting for me. Quite a few of firsts in this one, lots of detail, a realistic style and most importantly my first painting with actual lines in it. I also broke one of my old taboos about never having any man-made objects in my paintings. Yep, out of the comfort zone with this one, most of my past work has been my koi paintings which are colorful and have very soft edges, I wouldn’t even call them lines. There is a certain level of discipline in this new work with the dynamic composition, strict attention to detail and hard lines that really make the whole process a tight ass venture, not that I am not happy about my results, its just not as fun to paint as my previous artwork. Also, my computer system has been down in my studio so I am without any of my music, this makes me uptight right there. I miss my headphones and my twentieth century bar chords. I am really itching to get back to painting something that is fast, loose, colorful and not so darn serious. However, just let me say that I have always wanted to do a canvas like this, I have always loved japanese sumi-e ink painting and I always wanted to capture that tense, dynamic energy of say a coiled vine or the branch of an apple tree so i definitely think I got my fill as far as that is concerned. Also, painting the deep contrasts of shadow and light and experimenting with the levels of depth in this composition has been and an extremely rewarding venture.
Here are a couple things that I am going to do to finalize everything:
I believe that the whole war will be won with this painting when I can make the 3 elements on the right side of the composition (the white window frame, the dark barn wood siding and the faded sign on the top) connect convincingly on the same plane, instead of it being just 3 separate pieces. My plan right now is to first darken the shadows of the white window frame, that element needs to be pushed back from the foreground, there just needs to be more depth in this area. Second, I need to lighten up the barn wood and hit it with some long highlights. Third, I need to slightly darken the white sign in the upper right and work it out with a longer more convincing grey gradation over the entirety of this element. I hope that these moves will make these elements work together with each other and that this whole right plain looks like a real solid wall. The part of the vine in the foreground that reaches diagonally through the middle of the layout also needs to be modeled more, it needs to feel more rounded, it is very busy in this area but I am enjoying it, that branch looks yummy enough to eat, I just have to smooth it out more. Then I need to do a just a general examination of everything and hope that I don’t add any more things to fix on my list. Hopefully after all that, I can put this horse out to pasture and start painting something else, sometime thing more fun. Can’t wait to spray this thing, I love putting that final finish on the worked canvs, sealed for all eternity in a UV coating, now that’s closure!
April 1, 2014
The Train Station acrylic painting finally gets started
off to a slow start, but this might turn into a pretty good one
When I start a painted work i want to make sure that I don’t cover up any of the details from the heavy pencil tracing that i put down on the canvas. The first paint cover is usually thin, so my pencil markings show through. Also, I want to make sure that in my first round of painting the colors I choose are as close to spot on as possible because that is a huge time saver if you get it right in the beginning, you have to fight the lazy urge to just get some paint down there on your first round just to make it look like something. When i first started painting, i would just put down any color that was reasonably close enough to my source material and then I would eventually pay the price later with having to go back and repaint the whole thing. You want that first overall cover with the paint to be as accurate as possible to give yourself the most visual clues. In this way you will have a firm and stable foundation for the rest of the journey. Just remember that the less guesswork you have going foreword, the more confidence you are going to have and a more enjoyable experience it will turn out to be.
March 24, 2014
Painting Fish with Acrylics while on Meds
just can’t think of a good title for this painting
Yep, I took the plunge, I don’t want to delve into anything serious not on this blog, lets just generalize it and say that ‘old man winter was giving me the blues’. Why not? the rules have changed, everyone is crazy now, crazy is the new normal. Anyhow, my old 20th Century brain needed an overhaul, a little outside assistance getting through this mind numbing hassle festival that we call modern times, just a little tweak was all that was needed, a low dosage, nothing major, like the mayor of Toronto or anything, I am not starring off into space and drooling or something like that. That was a big concern, but the stuff they have now is different than it was when I was growing up, I think back then they gave everyone Thorazine to keep them quiet so everyone else could go about their day. So for years there was always that stigma in the back of my mind, my greatest fear was that I would become a total zombie, a total zombie who didn’t want to paint! but that did not turn out to be the case at all, in fact I have just upped my game, I am at a different level with my painting now, more focused in my execution and more confident than ever that I am improving with my progress at being a painter.
It all started the third day I started to take these pills, I was at work(as a digital retoucher) and I found myself writing the most eloquent emails about the most mundane work stuff, even my boss was like “I didn’t need a novel Bob, a simple yes or no would of done.” That’s when I realized that I was concentrating better, better than ever, I have always been easily distracted it is probably ADHD but we did not have that term in my day. I was always a poor student and If I had this stuff in high school I know I would of avoided that purgatory like stint at that community college. But I digress.
So along with the heightened concentration and the easing of distractions I am also finding that the extreme highs and lows that I have always experienced while I was painting have kind of melted away and has been replaced with a steady sense of quiet confidence and a little more optimism. If you have read any of my other posts you know that I am all about avoiding panic and ignoring self doubt these are the two culprits that had impeded my progress in my earlier experimental days and I am done with them, don’t let the door hit you on the way out fellas!
I would say also that I was greatly concerned that my desire paint would be diminished from taking these things which is not the case at all, the act of painting has become less of a struggle now so I am enjoying putting brush to canvas even more than before.
March 16, 2014
BUSY BRUSH CAFE 