Here is a photograph of two large water pieces I recently finished. Both of these paintings are acrylic and three feet by four feet. It is exciting to paint larger pieces again but of course they also take up a lot of room!
Tag: landscape
Big Water
Big Water
For a long while I have been meaning to paint some much larger works. I finally finished one of these paintings. It is 3 feet by 4 feet (not huge but for me very large). It is tricky to work on a surface this big as you not only use a lot more paint it also feels like it is drying faster than normal. The painting also got heavy and difficult to move around without bumping the ceiling or walls in my work space. I tend to move paintings around and look at them from various distances and angles, tricky with this one.
This painting morphed and just about fell apart but then I switched to a small squeegee I occasionally use and suddenly it really started to work. Most of the mark making is done with a squeegee tool that is maybe 1.25″ in width… it leaves very decisive and clear marks. Once I found the rhythm it painted itself.
All the difficulties aside it is exciting to see something that feels like it has some legitimate scale. I am really hoping to do a couple more paintings of this size in the coming weeks… we shall see!
It is also a bit challenging to take photos of a painting this large! It doesn’t fit in my photo cube and it is difficult to get even lighting on the surface. I have attached a detail of some of the brush work so that you can get a little better sense of the surface. Still these photos don’t quite do it justice.
Three Paintings
I finished these there paintings this week. I still need to sign them and mount hangers on the back but the art is done. They are all 18″ x 18″ acrylic paintings. I’m getting down to the wire for my solo show (it is the end of the month). I have a handful of additional paintings I am currently working on which may or may not make the cut… plus there are three paintings I’m really hoping to do before the show.
Which of these three paintings do you like the best?
Across the sky
I’m continuing to flesh out the cloud series I recently began. This is an in studio iPhone photograph of the most recent piece. Once I finish the painting I’ll take a proper photograph!
I will paint a couple more of these… Easy to get lost in this stuff.
Sea & Sky
Coud & Sea
I have finished two more paintings recently. These are continuations of a theme I started last spring. That theme is essentially a study in atmosphere and emptiness in landscape painting.
Both paintings are acrylic paint on plexiglass. “Cloud and Sea” is 20″ x 20″ and Water’s Lullaby is 18″ x 18″. I think the cloud painting is the most successful, it has a moody ethereal felling that I like. Which painting do you prefer and why?
More and more I want to reduce my imagery down to a minimal form and allow the paint to be the subtle star of the show. If only I didn’t have to work a day job! But the isolating night is a pretty ideal setting for this type of imagery… the trick is staying motivated and awake.
Clouds in my mind
This is a cloud painting I’m finally getting close to finishing. I guess when something is “finished” it has officially run out of potential? Maybe that’s why I’m dragging my feet these last few weeks. I am trying to wrap up a number of paintings… Of course I have to start some more to keep the wheel turning.
I’m also attaching a photo I took last night. I was thinking this particular corner of the studio had a lot of interesting things happening. It isn’t the “landfill” style of decoration I have used around the rest of the space. Anyway just got nostalgic looking at objects representing the last 6 years or so. One of the last crazy Halloween masks I made was in the shot along with paintings and show flyers. I did a terrible job framing the shot but it was good enough for Instagram!
A little more nothing
working late in the studio with a ridiculous number of unfinished pieces. I keep starting new things and jumping around. Generally I think it is a good approach to have a few works in progress. It keeps them fresh to the eye… allows for drying etc. these days I feel like I am always starting projects but nothing seems to roll across the finish line. Maybe best not to over think it.
Sunday Drive
I spent much of the afternoon driving around on the Oregon Coast. I took a lot of reference photos. Here is a collection from the day. Difficult to take a bad phot here!
Gallery Wall
I have three paintings in a group show at the confluence gallery. The show is called “Shadow & Light”, a pretty nice theme for an art show that can be extended in a lot of psychological as well as literal directions.
These are 18″ x 18″ paintings, they appeared gigantic when it was time to box them up but they look so small here! I will not be able to attend the opening of the show so ended up mailing the paintings… always seems a little scary!
Shadows in the Light
This is an atmospheric painting I have just been working on. Working with thinly applied paint with very little opacity. I blend and remove paint while it is still wet and try to work out a sense of shadow and volume. It is an exciting and odd method of working that can help create that haunted forsaken feeling that seems to be my endless goal. I struggle not to overwork the image, it is incredibly difficult to find a balance between not enough and overwrought (it turns out too much is never enough! is nonsense 1980’s MTV!). I continue to create a large body of unfinished work. Ultimately I need to step up my game so that I can put together a proper show by late March.
R.I.P. David Bowie
brian sostrom 