I have been continuing with some atmospheric water and sky paintings but so far haven’t been too pleased with the results. Sometimes you can feel the magic, sometimes you are alone in a paint spattered room. In the interim I figured I would post some more of my poor sad cow friends.
Since I was a child I have always had an interest in skulls. I used to collect them and prize each skull I came across in my wanderings. At a certain point that sort of behavior becomes a bit “odd”. Luckily all of my interests were odd so it blended seamlessly into the patchwork.
A couple years ago I spent a bit of time painting still life images containing rocks and bones… This particular setup was in a box I lined with aluminum foil. As the title suggests, it is the skull of a peccary… a really interesting little pig like animal found in the desert. The skull is incredibly thick and powerful for such a tiny creature… and the teeth!
Oh wait, I did not!
Do you ever derail your own plans? I have been working on some ideas to move forward with for my next show. These water paintings are not part of that plan and yet I seem committed to them. I don’t know if I am sabotaging myself or just following my artistic spirit…
These are all 18×18″ paintings and I am thinking of bringing 3-5 of them to a finished state. Currently I am just roughing out motion and the gestures, really the heart. I am going to cull it down to my favorites and go from there.
I also plan on showing more “work in progress” if that is interesting to people? I know I like to see other people creating so I will give it a try. Either way spending my time in a filthy shirt with paint on my hands is the way to go!
This painting goes back a few years.
I was working with really thick translucent acrylic paint. I would pour it on and aggressively dry it in front of a heater and the surface would craze in unpredictable ways. A person can never entirely dictate the way materials will interact when used in unconventional ways. That unpredictable outcome can result in something that feels akin to magic but more often results in wasted materials. I was caught in a loop basically lured along by glimpses of success but wasting too much time. Quite literally hanging around watching the paint dry! The method of painting, used in this particular piece along with scores of others, I have moved away from. It started to feel more and more like that definition of insanity…
This blackbird painting was one I considered a success, he seemed to know the score.
Another moon related painting. This one had some interesting texture variations in the sky.
The moon always a powerful presence in the sky, night or day. It seemed like a good excuse to post the last few lines from a great song by an amazing songwriter…
Townes Van Zandt – Rake
…
And now the dark air is like fire on my skin
And even the moonlight is blinding
Another study in desolation. A large squeegee and a few different flat brushes were used to paint this one.
A moody landscape painting that is reflective of the gloom and rain of our November.
This is a 10″ x 10″ owl painting I did. Originally I was doing a set of three but the third one refused to pan out. This one featured nice loose brush strokes and the paint had a really easy quality that I liked. The second owl painting was sold before I could get a proper photograph. Both paintings were done on a really thick translucent acrylic substrate and feature exciting depth allowing the light to reflect through the paint.
Another empty water scene. I used a squeegee and brush to create this like most of the other water scenes I’ve painted. This one has some interesting and subtle texture particularly in the upper left portion of the image. I used interference paint underneath the texture that gives it a dynamic quality that you can see as you move around the painting. Most of these have been 18″ x 24″ and 20″ x 20″, I really want to make very large version at some point… so much to do!
brian sostrom 