Tomato Art

"Tomzilla" acrylic on crushed can

"Tom-OWL-to" acrylic on crushed can

"ToMAHto" watercolor on paper

"Truckin' Tomato"   8"x8" acrylic on canvas

I am participating in the Nashville Tomato Arts Festival in Nashville this weekend. Here are the 4 paintings  (tomato related) that will be in the Art And Invention gallery. 

cAt

5X5 acrylic on Gessobord

Nope... rumors that I am dead are not true. I just have not posted in a while. Here is a little kitty cat that can be yours. You will not have to feed him or clean the litter box. 

Just hang him on a wall and enjoy. 

CLICK HERE TO BUY

Dorothy

4x4 acrylic on board

Yep, I'm still around. I have been busy with an assignment and then taxes came along. Now all that is over and maybe I can paint more. In the mean time I ran across some Ampersand Gessobord in an art store and thought I would give it a try. It is so smooth compared to painting on canvas. I had the idea of painting all the characters from the Wizard Of Oz on them. Of course I have to start with Dorothy. 4" by 4" is really small, though. Now I am wondering about painting them larger on the wrapped canvas I had been using. So many decisions! 

coffee 2wo

8x8x1.5 acrylic on stretched canvas (click to enlarge)

Another cup of coffee. I have had this painting sitting around for a while. I didn't really plan on all the dots... it just happened. I keep looking at the painting and thinking of ways to change it so the dots are not so abundant... but then talk myself out of making any changes. I can't really decide if I like all the dots or if I don't. Welcome to my world of indecision. I think since I can't really envision what kind of change I would make to this, it will remain as it is for now. Any thoughts out there from the internets blogosphere?

When I look at this too long I imagine my eyes are tingling... so maybe that is like a little coffee buzz, eh?

coffee

8x8x1.5 acrylic on stretched canvas (click to enlarge)

Fluid of choice? How about a little Cup o' Joe? I like the way the underpainting breaks through in places. I may do a series of coffee cups. We'll see...

Here is another view

Lady with Cat

14x11 acrylic on stretched canvas (click to enlarge)

Here is the latest painting I have been working on. I had it about 90% done and then had to think about it for a few days. I finally decided on what to do on the background. I painted a bluegreen over the orange underpainting... and liked it. Whew! If I didn't like it, I would be in deep doo doo... for there is no command Z when you are painting. 

The pose for this painting was inspired by a pretty famous image. But this time I am not telling. If anyone can guess what it is, you will win a fabulous prize. To be determined later. Much later. Much, much, much later.

This is the little sketch I did after seeing the inspiring image. I thought painting a lady would be fun and the addition of a cat just makes it even better. 

So... it is February. I have had this blog up and running for over a month now. I am happy to be making at least a painting a week. I wish I had time for more but this is OK for now. AND... I have 10 of the most intelligent, most awesome, most sophisticated people on the planet that have clicked to follow this blog. You know who you are. Thanks.   

Cherry Pie

14x11 acrylic on stretched canvas (click to enlarge)

How about a tall slice of cherry pie? My mom makes a mean cherry pie. When I am visiting her in Missouri, I can usually look forward to some pie. If there is any still around the next morning, then my breakfast will be a slice of cherry pie and coffee. Mmmm...

There seems to be a strange resemblance of my pie and a chicken head. Do you see it? I was told this twice by different family members. Yep, we have a 6th sense. We don't see dead people... we see chicken heads!

For several years I went out with a group of artists and tried my hand at plein-air painting. I learned several things doing that. I learned about using a limited palette and mixing colors, I learned about composition, I learned that you had to make a plan and paint quickly because the light was constantly changing... and I learned that painting landscapes just did not click with me. It didn't make my socks go up and down.  : )

As an illustrator, I have been putting a black line around things and tweaking images all my life... so I figured why stop now?  For me (at least at this point) it is a lot more fun to warp things and use odd perspective than it is to paint things realistically. So for now, that's what I'm doing. Doug just wants to have fun! I watched a great video recently of Ed Emberley. I have watched it several times. It inspires me. In it, Ed talks about doing what is fun and hoping other similar folks will find it fun too. I think that is my plan too. If you would like to watch the video just click HERE.