Green and Red

So another Monotype Print.

I worked back through this one with color pencil adding the green and yellow highlights to the piece. I thought the shapes looked like banana leaves and that was how I colored them. I really like the complementary color play between the red block ink and the green color pencil.

Chris and Sarah around the Game Table

"Talking with a friend is nothing else but thinking aloud. " ~ Joseph Addison

So while playing D&D, I decided to make a quick sketch of my friends. I may have overworked Sarah on the right but I really like some of the details in this painting. I may have to do an oil painting of my D&D table. Sounds like a future project.

Student on the Computer

"Love many things for therein lies the true strength, whosoever loves much performs much and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well." ~ Vincent Van Gogh

This drawing has a good feeling to it. I am a little disappointed in how much I ended up fighting the watercolor pencil in this drawing. The brown in it is just a little consumptive of the other colors.

Monotype - Figures in the Ink - 4

I had a lot of fun with these prints.

This was a really light press but all the figures are very dynamic. It was a difficult choice whether to rework this one or not. I eventually decided not to.

Monotype - Figures in the Ink - 3

"Love is the greatest refreshment in life." ~ Pablo Picasso

This was another Monotype Print. I reworked the left side with watercolor. I really like the contrast between the crisp lines of the monotype and the soft flow of the watercolor. I think the head of this figure is dynamic, it sort of reminds me of a Picasso face. It looks like multiple sides and views of a face expressed in a single image.

Monotype - Figures in the Ink - 2

This is a series of gesture drawings done on the Plexiglas plate. Unlike many of my other mono-type prints I didn't rework this one with watercolor of pencil. I think the figure at the end makes this piece.

Waiting for a Call

So I was working over at Kahuku High School one day. When I saw this kid talking sitting outside on the bench next to mine. I quickly sketched him in watercolor pencil, then went back later and added the details. After the phone call, he sat there staring at his phone for about 10 minutes and it was that moment I captured here. I really didn't eavesdrop on his conversation, but I do not think it was a good phone call.

Ko'olau Triptic

Ok, I posted these as three sepreate pieces, but in all honestly they are a triptic that create one senic view of the Koolua Mountains.

Drawing of Flowers in a Vase

"Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day - like writing a poem or saying a prayer." ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I had a lot of fun with this drawing. First of all I drew it as a part of a drawing class I took in Italy. The exercise was really about playing with materials and media. This is a large drawing, about 3'5" by 5'2" (The actual measurement is in Cm).

I started the assignment by arranging the still life, then quickly applying the white wash on the right side of the painting. I then began with a drawing in various colors of conte I really wanted to give a range of completion for the piece. Some of the flowers are very well rendered and utilize many different colors while others are simple drawings. I really like how the large open flower on the left came out.

Mom Sitting in the Living Room

Mom...

So this is a really large painting 6'x 4'. I worked from life for the underpainting then used sketches for the other parts of this painting. I really like the 'landscape' of pillows behind her.
"There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and intelligence transform a yellow spot into the sun." ~ Pablo Picasso

Woman Sitting in a Chair

"The object of art is to give life shape." ~ Jean Anouilh

I really like how this painting came out. I had at this point created a lot of portraits where there is a cloud of color behind the figure. I really like that this figure is in a space. I also like that background; it gives the viewer a look into the Windward College Painting Studio.

A friend of mine, Hinano

"Two things make a story. The net and the air that falls through the net." ~ Pablo Neruda

This is a oil painting of a friend of mine, Hinano. She was modeling for the class and I really wanted to do a painting of her face. The panel is 2'x4' and honestly was different proportion then I was expecting to work with. I added the shoes at the bottom to add interest to the space. I really like the feel of this painting. The blue hue throughout gives a nice mood to the painting and creates a heightened contrast to the figure. I also like how the patterning of the couch came together. There was a lot of debate to the 'story' the painting is trying to tell. My favorite was the 'cheating wife story.' It goes like this, this woman is reclining in the chair as her husband arrives home. She just had a torrid affair with a man who is hiding in the closet. He managed to grab all his clothes but the pair of boots in the foreground.

Cast of Voltaire

"The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude." 
~ François Voltaire

So this is another Painting from the Windward Atelier. I linked to a very neat page of quotes from Voltaire brought to you by dailycelebrations.com

Cast Painting

So this is one of the first paintings I did in the summer of 2002. It is a cast painting from the Windward Atelier, a Hawaiian art exhibition, inspired by the traditional Italian atelier, or studio, approach to art education that developed in Europe during the 19th century. Windward Atelier used a reproduction of this piece in the advertisements for the class. It's a shame they only had a mirror image of the piece. I think it looks so much better in its correct orientation.

Cast of Ceasar

This is one of my cast paintings from the Windward Aterlier. I spent a little bit looking around for stuff on the web about this program. It is a great video article about the 6 week summer program. It amazes me the quality of work that comes out of that class every year. I have taken the class twice once in 2002 and again in 2007. This painting is from the 2007 class

Mom Looking Down

"The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray." 
~ Robert Green Ingersoll

This is a palette knife painting I did of my mom. It was my first real attempt at a Palette Knife Painting and all in all I'm pretty proud of it. I worked from a forgotten photo in my desk. I must have taken the photo when I was playing around with camera, hence the reason she is not looking at the camera or smiling.