Obsidian Carvings

Here are a few obsidian carvings I did recently, using a dental quality hand drill. Obsidian, or as some folks call it, Apache tears, is volcanic black glass that looks opaque, but if you hold it up against a light, it's translucent in a most spectacular way. Not the easiest material to grind on, as it tends to chip, but the end results are worth it.

eagle

rattlesnake

wolf skull

Brixey

This is a cat.

His name is Brixey.

He'll have the fish.

Br' er Rabbid

Here's a lovely pen and ink drawing/painting of a terrifying nightmare rabbit. I love using ink, sometimes more than watercolor. The colors tend to really stand out, adds a lot of depth. The brand of ink I use is Higgins, and they haven't let me down yet.

Fire Water Pissing Contest

 Acrylic on panel board
12" x 12"

Butterfly Boy

 This is the fourth commission I've done for Maria. It's acrylic on canvas, 11"x 14", and painted from a picture she took in Mexico where she used to live. The boy surrounded by the yellow butterflies is one of her four (soon to be five) sons.

I like how this one turned out a lot. I was trying out kind of an impasto style painting, putting down a thick layer of gesso with a palette knife to begin with, and then adding lots of heavy body acrylics atop that, resulting in nice thick textures and depth.

Gnomenclature

 

So I've always had an obsession for gnomes, elves, and the whole mythical fairy realm in general. I thought maybe I!'d grow out of by the time I was 30, and Im 32 now, so I guess I'm in it for the long haul. I blame movies like Labyrinth, Legend, and the Dark Crystal. Brian Froud is one of my all time favorite artists alive today.

Anyways, I drew this little pipe smoking gnome at work on a post-it note, and then drew a much bigger version on cardboard with a sharpie. Maybe next I'll recreate him in paint, or clay...I don't know, I just really like him!

Mini Canvas Green Man

This 2"x 2" acrylic on canvas green man type character is one of my son's favorites right now. Since I painted it the other day, he has been carrying it around the house and making it talk to his lego guys and mario toys. I showed him how to put varnish on the painting so it will have a layer of protection from scratches, scrapes, and anything else dealt by the hands of an imaginative 8 year old. I plan on showing him everything I know about art, little by little, step by step. I hope he learns to love it as much as I have. There really is so much joy and pleasure in creating art, whether it be an intricate painting that takes over a year to finish (see last post) or a doodle on a post-it note (see next post). I would truly love to be able to pass it on to him.

Love Liza

Love Liza   marker on paper  2007

Jack Kehler holding my drawing of
of Philip Seymour Hoffman and himself from
the movie Love Liza

This is a marker drawing of a scene from the 2002 film Love Liza, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Kathy Bates, and the man in the picture holding the drawing, Jack Kehler!

Mr. Kehler's daughter-in-law found the picture on this blog (I'm guessing through google) and contacted me through email the day Mr. Hoffman died (feb 2), inquiring about buying the piece for Jack. We agreed on a price and I happily mailed it to her.

Jack Kehler himself emailed me asking about the piece as well, it was funny because I couldn't mention that Id already sold it to his daughter-in-law, as she had told me it would be for his birthday. So I just told him all about the drawing and mentioned that he was in a few of my favorite movies (lost highway, the big lebowski, pineapple express).

After I received the pic of him holding the piece, I got another email from Jack. He was very happy to get the drawing, told me it meant a lot to him, as working with Philip Seymour Hoffman was a major highlight of his career. Its funny because this was definitely a highlight in my art life as well.

The whole thing was just so surreal. I loved it. Its not everyday I get contacted by famous actors about my art. Oh, and lastly, it was really strange...they came across my drawing on the day before Philip Seymour Hoffman died. Kind of eerie and sad.

Crytchel the Hobgoblin

Here's Crytchel. He's a hobgoblin.

Speed Drawing- two handed charcoal drawing

Two handed charcoal drawing of a devilish demon of sorts, sped up for your pleasure. Finally got a decent video editing app, although Im still not completely satisfied with the quality of video my phone gives me (haha, what a whiner I am:"The movies that my telephone records are not good enough for me, wahhh!") I just need a good camera, not to mention a new computer, then these will turn out much better. And maybe I could try turning my damn iphone sideways haha

Ambidextrous charcoal speed drawing

Here's a video of me drawing with both hands at the same time. Im using a broke in half charcoal stick. It originally took me about three and a half minutes to draw, but we sped it up , so you wouldnt completely shrivel up and die of horrendous boredom. Hope you like it:)