Sometimes you just really hate a painting.

Research Day

I've had a cold that has really put a halt on my work for about 3 days. I felt much better day though so I decided to go to the local library and do some research. I've been narrowing in on the artists and things that influence me the most. I've tried to think in terms of both contemporary influences and influences that have already made their mark in art history. Artist's such as Meggs, Greg Gossel, Shepard Fairey and the collective FAILE have really been shaping my ideas about the kind of art I want to create. All of these artist have come to prominence  in the computer age and are all still working. As such, they have been fairly easy to follow on the internet threw their websites, art&culture magazine blogs, flickr and even the news sometimes.

  Looking back into the height of pop art for influences however, I realized nothing was going to beat a good book with lots of commentary and high quality prints of the artists work. I set out today hoping to find a book on Robert Rauschenburg, I was hoping that knowing more about his 'combines' would help me with the layers of collage, paint, marker, tea stains and pencil that I've been building up as the base for my most recent pieces. I also wanted to find a book on Cy Twombly who's graffiti style scrawling across canvas might also shed some insight on the calligraphic aspects I'm incorporating. Of course the library didn't have books on either, so I went with what was available and read a book on Jasper Jones and another on Andy Warhol while I was there. I checked out Superman Vol. 1 and The Spirit Vol. 1 before leaving. So all in all I think it was a productive day of researching.

I have some questions I'm working through in my art, if you have an opinion I'd love to hear it:

What do you think of destruction as a form of creation?

What do you think of public art?

How far should public art go?

Is our society overloaded with imagery/messages?

Can we collectively have a conversation with the imagery we face every day or is it a strictly one way conversation?

Can you and I have individual conversations with the imagery we face every day or is it a strictly one way conversation?

How do you feel about appropriating images?

Is it better for your art to be specific to your particular views, beliefs, feels, experiences or just things a broad audience will appreciate?

Professor Crossman

Professor, 

I've tried e-mail but I think I'm more likely to get ahold of you this way. I wanted to know if it would be possible to join your contemporary painting techniques class, the list says the class is closes so I thought I should contact you before e-mailing records.

Also, do you know of anywhere I could get good deals on linocut linoleum or screen printing screens?

Portraits and appropriation

Untitled 7x7 each Mixed medium

Brant 11x14 Mixed Medium

Aaron 16x20 Mixed Medium

Detail

Detail

I've been appropriating a lot of imagery from comic books, book pages and odds and ends that get used in collage. People I know have also been subject matter as in two of these paintings. I've been using a lot of stencils but I'm also interested in printmaking techniques like screen printing and linocut, I just haven't had the money to invest in the equipment yet. If you want to see one of my influences toward printmaking check out Greg Gosel.

Narrowing in on my influences

Deatil

Detail

Detail

I have another like this that I wont have pictures for until tomorrow after I retrieve it from the county fair. For now however I hope you enjoy the second mixed media piece I've done and a vain of paintings that I feel are really narrowing in on my influences.  It's 24x36 and I don't have a title for it yet but I'm thinking about calling it The Beheading of All.

Tour influencing studio work

After I got back from tour I wanted to redo some of the concepts I used for performance paintings. The finished studio piece above and the performance paintings below. Tour really helped me hash out some concepts and experiment with composition, since I've gotten back however I've had the time to develop some of those ideas and incorporate other painting methods. I've become very interested in stencils and have begun using them in most of the pieces I'm working on. This is largely influenced my street artists. The street artists Meggs is likely my new favorite artist.

Updated photo quality

I had my friend at Bob at Sunset Studios (link in sidebar) shoot my paintings again so I could give you some better pictures. These are all from tour again, I know it's been over a month now but two are previously unposted. The thumbnails are a little desaturated so click to enlarge and see a better picture.