Update

I've really been struggling with the robotic hands in this piece. Just today, I think I might be getting somewhere. I'm rushing to get this done to enter a competition that will compare pieces done with references to those done without. I rarely look at references; I generally just make things up as I go, so this show sounds like it might be a good one for me.

The Reckoning

For IF: Burning

For me, this drawing is about damage control, whatever forms it might be taking at one time or another. This drawing was done with charcoal on coquille paper.

Family Portrait

For IF's topic this week: similar


This is a drawing about grafted families. It was done with graphite on coquille paper.

The Oni and the Tomato

I read a story once about an oni who came to an old woman's house and said he was going to eat her up. She told him that she would be much too tough and stringy, and wouldn't he rather have a nice tomato instead? She offered him a basket of tomatoes, still warm from the sun. In it, she had hidden her pin cushion, which looked exactly like the tomates from her garden but was full of pins and needles. The oni took one bite and went howling away down the lane. I've often thought about how the old woman prevailed over that bully by using her wits instead of violence. I'm posting this today for IF's topic, Giant, because the old woman beat a giant problem, literally and figuratively. Also, in this beginning summer season, I have Giant tomatoes on my mind.

This is an egg tempera painting on panel, with gold leaf.

Navigator

This is an older image, but it still has a story for me. It originated from a dream in which a dog/wolf grabbed my pocket and helped me across the street

Journeyman

Today's IF topic is Muscles, so I reckon this guy fits.

When I first posted this drawing, I was reading a lot of Japanese folk tales, in which there are lots of beings imbued with a sort of divine spirit. The spirit is called 'mononoke', which might sound familiar because of the excellent anime film by Miyazaki called Princess Mononoke.

Sometimes, when people can do something really well, it seems like they tap into a spirit like that. It usually takes a long time to develop such ability. Maybe that's where he got all his muscles.

Progress report

I'm a very slow painter. The paintings in the blog represent months of painting time, and the drawings take about a week. It's partly because I have quite a few plates to keep spinning at once, and partly because my technique just takes time, both in the sense that I work in many thin layers of paint that have to be built up over time, and also because it takes my brain a long time to see what needs to be done. Since I generally don't use visual reference material, I tend to fuss over things like perspective and proportions for a long time. I also find that the idea continues to evolve as I work, and I go through many titles until I find one that works. This one has the working title of Scaffold. Some others that I am considering are Modernism on a Subway in D.C., Innerscape and Study in Grey on a Subway in D.C.