OH DAMN IT!

"Vampire Flower"
oil on panel, 2014
5" x 3.5" (12.7cm x 8.89cm)


Ever had a bad morning?

This started as a simple flower (see previous post) then when I moved into the painting I decided to make it a vampire flower that stayed up too late, a sort of OOPS! moment for it.

Here comes the sunrise and now it's too late.

Gives new meaning to sun damage.

Yep,  "The Savage Garden".12

Pretty L'il Floral

Still finding my way here. The anti-floral.
Ballpoint pen sketchbook drawing.

Doing this, I am having the feeling, maybe a series loosely titled 'The Savage Garden'.

Stay tuned for the painting. I will post it in the next few days.11

?

I know, I know, I need to get another post up here.

Face Off Sketch

"Face Off"
iPad Sketch, 2014
Brushes App

Here's a quick digital sketch for fun.10

FEAR

Painting:    SOLD
"Fear"
oil on panel, 2013
5" x 3.5" (12.7cm x 8.89cm)

Drawing:
sketchbook page, 2013
drawing approximately 3" x 2.75" (7.62cm x 6.985cm)
NFS

Fear, one of our most basic emotions.
With that in mind I kept it simple.
I will for search something as I do these. It may not be some big concept but at the very least I want it to have some kind of quality to it.
I immediately noticed in the drawing it took on a childlike quality. I wasn't even going for that but now it exudes childhood fear, an irrational fear or primal fear? It did not even have to be dark in tone or color. It did not have to be overt in its depiction, there are no looming shadows, the source of the fear is not shown, it's the reaction, the facial expression is enough.

From the drawing I made subtle changes in the painting. A slight tilt to the head made it better express the fear. Same with the white halo.
I do prefer the leaves in the drawing though, especially the one coming towards. It comes forward better (has better depth) and is scaled to the flower better.

The diagonals in the drawing are the ghost images of the next page.8,9

fish

Sketchbook drawings of fish in ballpoint pen. Imaginary of course.7

KLUD

A drawing from a sketchbook. Just letting it spill out onto the page. I didn't know what else to call it. It just looked like a klud, which is nothing. There is no such word.6

RISE PUMPKIN RISE!

This post is copied from my other blog Avid Art.

It was done just before Halloween 2013.

Although each is meant to be different it is one that fits both blogs Avid Art & Avid Art 2.

Industrial subjects are big over there on Avid Art but since it has that lively edge to it he easily made the migration here and settled right in. 

"Smilin' Jack"    SOLD

oil on panel, 2013

5" x 7" (12.7cm x 17.78cm)

I can't think of anything that says Halloween better than painted steel and asphalt, can you? ; )

At least in my version.

I could paint actual pumpkins but there are enough of those.

Every year the Phillips 66 refinery in Wilmington California paints one of their oil tanks, shaped like a pumpkin, for Halloween.

It takes more than 100 gallons of orange, white and black paint to cover the 3 million gallon tank, known as "Smilin' Jack". (update-correction : it is orange all year long and takes 100 gallons of white and black paint...)

In the spirit of Halloween I couldn't resist having some fun with it by churning up the sky and bringing the Jack-o-lantern to life rather than doing a more straight forward approach.

Even this view suggests he is rising from behind the asphalt berm.

"Smilin' Jack"

The seething cauldron begins its boil

Toward Halloween He starts his toil

His rise each season is his knack

For all who seek a holiday snack

What lies ahead is why He smiles

Ask those who have fallen for His wiles

His invite just might be a trap

If true, for you, will be your hap

-David J Teter-

Have fun sleeping tonight!5

Jobin Digital Painting Playback

OK, it took some research and doing but I learned how to get the playback (video) of my iPad Brushes painting here on the blog.
Note: the video playback is a bit blurry at fullscreen. I will have to look into why that is, perhaps it is a matter of settings.

I remembered a post on one of the blogs I follow, "Making a Mark" by Artist and writer Katherine Tyrrell, searched it out and then proceeded to learn how to do it. This is the link to that specific "Making a Mark" post.
Katherine's blog is one of the best. It is loaded with informative and thought provoking posts and links. It is one of those that really shortens the learning curve for the rest of us.

The short answer is it must first be uploaded to YouTube or Flickr then uploaded here to my blog. Of course that meant launching my own YouTube Channel.

As I said in my second post (below) I am having fun and experimenting.
BTW Jobin is a real cat with a ... um... difficult disposition. One of the challenges will be to capture her various 'states of existence'.v1

Maniacal Snow Drift

This post is copied from my other blog Avid Art. It's from 2011.
It exists better here.
I yanked this post from my other blog.
Well, actually the cat made me do it (copy cat).
Viscous.
You'll probably be seeing more of the like here on this blog.

"Snow Drift" sculpture

foam, plaster, wire, acrylic paint on mat board

"Jobin Study" painting

oil on panel,

2011, private collection

Sometimes you just have to break away and try something for the simple pleasure of creating. Something outside of the normal scope of work.

Here's a fun little project I did as a Christmas decoration.

My inspiration came after seeing the Tim Burton show at LACMA. I just had to do something grim and maniacal for a change. I love doing projects like these. It takes me away from the usual art I do and has a way of feeding my creativity when I go back to it. So I find it artistically healthy.

The recipient is a fan of this kind of art. I sent her two emails, prior to giving it her, as a teaser of what was to come and to arouse her curiosity. They were hints based on my ideas. The first an old (modified) philosophical question that was the basis for the piece. The second a short poem I wrote for it.

The first email:

If a tree screams in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise?

The second email:

Beware of Serene Scenes

Snow can be evil,

Snow can be grim,

It can rise up against you,

At its own whim.

The small cat portrait is of her (mad) cat,which isn't friendly to other cats, the mad catter you might say. Originally that was what I was going to give her. Upon finishing it I thought, how lame that would be to hand her that! But I still wanted to incorporate it into the sculpture though so I hung it as an ornament. It did not have to make perfect sense, this was all about the fun. No rules.4

Weird Party

With my new found joy...
Other than being forced to paint .... these things...

I thought they deserved a special happy place all their own!
I didn't quite know where to put them...

A sunny cheerful blog!
I couldn't put them on my other blog.

But, if it's for sale it will mingle on my DAILY PAINTWORKS gallery page like some really weird party. You know what I'm talking about, you step through the door and think... what the heck is going on here!

Yep.
(Sorry).

Yeah, it's digital. Done on the iPad in the Brushes app.3

BUNNIES! FLOWERS! KITTENS!

My first post... (it was the first in drafts, now it's the second).
So much for planning.

Not too long ago I said "If things don't start selling soon I'll have time to paint pink bunnies... and flowers, and kittens."
Not too long ago I said "If things don't start selling soon I'm going to HAVE to paint pink bunnies... and flowers, and kittens."

Woo hooo!?
Dang it!

And I'm glad, I love bunnies,... and stuff, really!
Crap, I wish I never said that. I don't even like pink (or lavender).
Besides, I was kidding.
Of course that doesn't mean I have to like it, and frankly I don't and won't!

... and I can hardly wait to get started!
... and I also don't have to paint perfect pretty little pictures for you to peer at while you sit perched on your porch drinking pink lemonade overlooking a placid pond on a pleasant play day ...   ...   ...   while reciting platitudes.

Jobin the (mean) cat. I should have posted a bunny (rabbit) but did not have any I liked so far.
This is another iPad Brushes painting. I'm just having fun experimenting and trying to avoid cute. Actually, it's not all fun since much of it is frustrating. {: (

I tried including the playback movie but am having some difficulty loading the Brushes movie (video) to the blog. I keep getting an error message. In fact what is really weird is I can't remove the "Uploading video... Your video will appear here when finished" image from the draft, it won't go away!
I may have to load first to YouTube then back to my blog as I have read online.
I will look into it.2

Avid Art 2 - What is it?

OK, so here it is. For now represented by a bunny... no, a rabbit (maybe I should call it rabid art?)

But please don't expect too much. I don't even know where it's headed.
That's the point.

What I do know is this one won't be too formal. I will leave it completely open to changing it on a whim if I feel like it.

I may change the header, the colors, the type, the format, the content, who knows. I might even have long run-on sentences (sorry High School English teacher)...  well, probably not that last one.

When I decided to do another blog I spent a lot of time thinking about what and how to do it all, nearly driving myself crazy with planning, then it dawned on me, STOP IT! Just do it like a chameleon would and change it if I don't like something. Not everything has to go down a paved road. Every so often it's good to suddenly turn left into the brush, prickly's and all.

It will primarily be comprised of anything and everything that does not fit over there on my Avid Art blog.
Oddballs, misfits and square pegs meant for round holes, it's got to go somewhere.

SPOILER ALERT/DISCLAIMER:
Oh yeah, this is the place for my SARDONIC side, (or maybe it's DEADPAN, I can't remember) so try not to whine about it or get all, like, you know, weird.

If you're squeamish, suffer from dizzy spells, have a weak heart, are easily or uneasily offended, are generally uneasy, get queasy, prefer cheesy, only like cute, wear a suit, or overly politically correct you might not want to go any further (or is it farther?), instead go pour yourself some tea and write your congressman or something.

It's not going to be pretty!

The drawing above is for now the official Avid Art 2 representative (unless I decide to fire him later).
It was originally a small ballpoint pen drawing from a sketchbook. I then sent it off to the iPad, worked on it there, rather crudely, sent it back and here it is.
I like it because it is not cute, is not too cartoony, is not realistic, is sort of deadpan in expression?
At least it just IS something. Mostly I like it for what it is NOT.

One interesting note. If you compare it to the header image, the eyes being slightly darker gives it a subtly more intense look.
I will keep this in mind since one plan I have is to do various versions of "him" over time.1

Stay tuned.

...and keep painting...

Oh, BTW... HAPPY NEW YEAR...!