Saturday, November 5, 2011

New Painting


'Abraham Sacrificing a Ram', Watercolor, Gouache and ink on board, 9" x 12"

California Art Studio, November 2011






These are some views of work in progress in my California Art Studio.  The first and last views are my work table where I do smaller study works; the middle two views are the wall that I use for larger works.  These images give you an idea about the materials, etc. that I use in my work.

Desert Vista outside Desert Center, California


Here's a shot out of my vehicle window driving along Desert Center Rice Road during the storm yesterday, 11-04-2011.  Quite a haboob in Phoenix, didn't get a picture of it since my view was mostly through a brown mist, but I am still coughing up remnants of it this morning.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

New Drawing


'Landscape Study', graphite on paper, 10/2011

Friday, October 28, 2011

New Drawing


'Intervention of Madyson', graphite on paper, 10/2011

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

New Drawing


New drawing, 'Three Figures in Landscape', graphite on paper, 10/2011

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Study Drawing


Study from Goya, 'Saturn Devouring His Son', graphite on paper, 10/2011

Drawing 10/2011


Graphite on paper, 'Landscape', 7" x 7", 10/2011

Sunday, September 11, 2011

9-11 remembrance - Elijah Grubbs Drawing






This is a picture my son, Elijah, drew on the evening of 9/11/2001.  He was 5 years old at the time.

While we were watching the events unfold on TV, I asked him to take a break and go to his room for a while, and he drew this image.

I'm always amazed at the way children view the world - that he pieced all of the events together in a prescient moment; in part because that is the way he perceived it from viewing the unfolding events through the media, but another perspective is that by placing the planes apart from the buildings that it is an act of intellectual resistance - that it might be possible that either the event doesn't actually occur or that it could somehow be prevented.

The image depicts a frozen moment in time before the world changed.

9-11 Remembrance






Study of right panel of 9-11 remembrance triptych.  Gouache on paper.

9-11 Remembrance






Sketch of right panel of 9-11 remembrance triptych.  Graphite on paper.

9-11 Remembrance





This is a study of the right panel of the 9-11 remembrance triptych.  Oil on panel, 48" x 72".

9-11 Remembrance






This is a sketch of the center panel of the 9-11 remembrance triptych.  Graphite on paper.

9-11 Remembrance






This is a graphite on paper sketch for the left panel of the 9-11 remembrance triptych.

In Remembrance of 9-11






Memory of 9-11, Gouache on paper.  This is part of a series of studies for a 9-11 remembrance triptych I've worked on annually since the event.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

California Studio, July 2011

This is a recent photo of my California Studio. Yes, its a mess. Enjoy!
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Competition - Three Figures


Acrylic on canvas, 'Competition - Three Figures', a recent painting from my California Studio.
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Recent Painting, Seated Figure

Acrylic on Canvas, 'Seated Figure'.
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Study Painting - draft version

Acrylic on canvas. This is a draft version of a study painting that I'm working on. If you were interested in buying it, sorry, I've already painted over it. Don't worry, the new version looks better!
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Recent Paintings, 7-29-2011, California Studio

Painting, acrylic on canvas, study sketch of figure in landscape.
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Recent Work in California Studio

Sketch, graphite on paper.
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Recent sketch in California Studio

Recent Sketch, graphite on paper.
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Sunday, July 10, 2011

Recent Work in California Art Studio


Acrylic on Canvas, 'Sports Play'.

Recently, I've been working primarily with charcoal, pastels and acrylic on canvases.  Some are stretched over wooden frames, others I'm stapling directly to the wall of my studio.   I'm saturating the canvases with water and keeping wet while working - the air is very dry in the California desert, and the heat tends to make the paints dry quickly.  Each painting is developed over multiple sessions, and worked at varying levels of impasto and dryness.

I'll update the blog with some of my larger works in the coming days, so stay tuned.

Enjoy!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Recent Work in California Studio


Acrylic on canvas, Seated Figure

Recent Work in California Studio


Acrylic on canvas, Two Figures.

Work in California Studio, continued

Crayon on Paper, Portrait

Work in California Studio, continued


Mixed Media on board, Seated Figure

Work in California Studio, continued

Crayon on paper, Untitled

Work in California Studio, continued

Crayon on paper, Seated Figure

Work in California Studio, continued

Acrylic on panel, Seated Figure
Ink on board, Portrait

Recent work in California Studio

Acrylic on canvas, Untitled
Ink on board, Figure in Landscape

Friday, July 8, 2011

Acrylic on canvas - 'Seated Figure'

Saturday, July 2, 2011

California Studio - the 'Desert Hut'




This is an interior shot of my studio in Twentynine Palms, California, known as the 'Desert Hut'.

The painting on the right is 'Competition', the painting on the left is a portrait with a series of other canvases that are stapled to the wall beneath it.

When working like this, the painting on top leaves a residue on the painting directly under it. Architects often speak of the notion of palimpsest, where an aspect of the city or a previous building are left as a residual element in a new architectural construction. Extending this concept to painting, I'm discovering similar possibilities with the stacking and subsequent removal of paintings stapled directly to the wall one atop another.

This image can give you a sense of the various scales of work that I'm engaged in developing, ranging from small sketches to what I would call mid-sized canvases.
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Saturday, February 19, 2011

CA Sketches


Acrylic on Canvas.

CA Sketches

Graphite on Paper.  Seated Figure study of a work in progress.

CA Sketches

Graphite on Paper - developed study of the 'three figure' composition.

CA Sketches

Acrylic on Canvas, study of three figures.  I'm working on a 6' x 8' canvas of this concept, this is a small black and white study of the relationship of the figures compositionally.