The Water Tower



This is a study of a water tower, Saturday morning light, downtown Apex, NC.

here's the buzz:
I Read this online
"The basic premise behind postmodern art is that all forms of novelty and rebellion have already been explored, and that even if that weren't true the particular emphasis on rejection of that which is old or already done is only handicapping to an artists self-expression."


So what I get from that is either everything art-wise has already been done (so why bother) or even if that isn't true, the simple fact that it might be true inhibits an artist from creating art.



(Detail of water tower study)

Really what I like to create would be considered Impressionism. But as we all know, Impressionism ended about a hundred and twenty years ago.

Then I thought about the line above and decided maybe I am letting my self-expression be handicapped by the very belief in postmodernism.

Here's another thought. Art "isms", like we had in the twentieth century are equivalent to the MTV generation's view of television. Everything must be new, must be now, must be wow. Don't bore me with something already done because something new is only a mouse click away.

The Renaissance was an art movement that lasted one hundred years yet Fauvism only lasted four years. Egyptian art remained virtually unchanged for 3,000 years yet pop art came and went before I had a chance to pick up my paint brush.

Perhaps modern art movements can last more than a week. Has everything thing that was impressionism been done? Did Monet really cover it all? Or could the movement continue on? Live side by side with other movements. Advance.

it's just a thought.

Rain Trees



I have been spending a lot of time sitting in my yard, studying the pine trees, especially the way the afternoon sun turns the branches a glowing orange. Those afternoon sits became the inspiration for my painting, Pine Trees.

The last few times I went outside it was raining. Not a heavy rain but instead that dreary, misty drizzle. I noticed how different the trees looked. The orange and yellow replaced by blues and purples. I thought this would be as interesting a study.

Rain Trees 4’x3’ mixed media (paint, pastel, colored pencil)



This is a detail of the lower branches.

Pine Trees



Every afternoon I sit in my backyard and gaze up at the pine trees. As the sun starts to set, the trees begin to glow orange and yellow. I stare and stare trying to figure out the shadows and the colors.

It’s only when the sun is just right that the trees look this way. Soon the sun will duck down behind the horizon and the trees will go grey.



Detail of the pine trees. 4'x3' mixed media (paint, pastels, colored pencil)

The Turtle Tank



Below are a few sketches of my turtle tank. The turtle tank is a good way to draw nature from life in the winter. It's much warmer inside than in the backyard. Plus the tank is on my desk so I just plop my sketchbook down and draw.



This is the baby musk turtle forging for food at the bottom of the tank. People think turtles are slow but this guy moves around a lot. I'm starting to understand why Monet focused on landscapes :)



This is the other turtle in the tank, the one from the photo above. Here I sketched him sun bathing on his log. He's much easier to sketch when holding still.



I bought these swamp plants from Lowes last summer. I originally purchased them for the pond outback but wasn't sure how well they would hold up over the winter. The turtles seem to like it and it makes an interesting subject to sketch.

National Gallery



I recently took my Art History class to the National Gallery in Washington DC. We had a great time. You can see some photos from the trip on the Apex High School Art blog.

After two tours with a break for lunch in the middle, we all had a little free time to wander the museum. I found myself back in the Monet room. I not only found my favorite painting of the gallery, but I can nail it down to my favorite brushstroke.



See that little stroke of blue on the bottom of the bridge? There is just something about the way the blue reacts with the burgundy that gives me a warm fuzzy. I have no idea why. I just love the combination. I sat there and stared for a long time.



This is a detail from a work by Odilon Redon. I really like his work, the colors and the style. It makes me happy.

Winter Fox



Bird's eye view (Phoenix is a bird, right?) of a fox finding its way through a maze of birch trees.
4' x 3' Mixed media: watercolor, pastel, oil pastel, colored pencil




Detail of the fox



Detail of the branches

Clear

I love a dark pond. Especially the way a pond looks in the autumn. The water has cleared of the summer muck and is now dark and still. Mysterious. This is my entry for this week's Illustration Friday.



This is the inspiration for a new story I’m writing titled, Shellless. It’s the story of a boy who is always ignored. His only friends are the imaginary shellless that live in a city park pond. But more on that later...

This painting is also a blatant Monet rip off. I saw the Monet exhibit at the NC Museum of Art last week. How can I do a pond without including Monet?



Sketches: I’m starting with a much larger sheet of paper than I normally use (approx 4’ X 2’ ½). It’s also dark, like the pond. So this is all new for me.



First layer: My biggest struggle at this point is style. Getting past Monet, getting past Pollock, and finding Ian. I know it’s in there somewhere. I just have to keep looking.

Last Thoughts: The final(see above) isn’t finished but it is as far as I’m going to take this painting. The new materials gave me some grief. The colored pencils wore down incredibly quick on the rough textured paper. They also didn’t write on the acrylic paint. I like the large sized paper but might need to switch to pastels to create the affect I’m looking for.

Pen & Palette Fall Issue

The Fall issue of the Pen & Palette, which is the newsletter for the Carolina’s Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators, came out today. Complete with my cover art. How very exciting!

The Aquarium

It was cold at the beach. Don’t believe me? Check out the video.



click here

That’s ok. We went to the aquarium. I took my sketchbook.

Fish move a lot faster than I thought. At first I tried to draw them regular like. Then I realized that by the time I looked at my paper, the fish had swammed away. So I decided to go with blind contour line.





Blind contour is when you draw looking at the object but not at the paper. It’s great for really studying the object, in this case, moving fish. But it sort of looks silly. Try it sometime.



I thought maybe the jellyfish might swim slower. Silly me. Those little things are pretty quick!