Across the sky

 

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18″ x 18″ acrylic painting

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.

Heard of the dead?

IMG_8950Here is the complete collection of bison skull paintings I have been busily working on in recent weeks. It is nice to see them all together, feels like a small accomplishment! These will be part of my “Shadows of the West” solo show that is taking place in late March. I still have so much more I want to do…

All of the paintings are acrylic paint on acrylic plexiglass. They are 18″x18″ and 20″x20″ in size.

Do you have a favorite in the group? Thanks for taking the time to check them out!

Blue & Bone

 

Blue & Bone
Western Shadows IV

This is the last bison skull painting in the series, the last one I am going to do for a while. I experimented with a bit of blue which gave the painting an interesting look. Along with the texture it has a bit of an underwater feeling to it.

The painting is an 18″ x 18″ acrylic painting.

 

 

Western Shadows III

This is the third bison skull painting in the series of “Western Shadows”. As I type this it dawns on me I’ve adopted the Led Zeppelin naming method… which means that number IV will be the most popular and this one will be my personal favorite… tangent!

This painting is 18″x18″ acrylic on plexiglass. I’ve developed some very heavy textures on the back of this piece as you can see there are interesting crater shapes and extensive cracks that catch the light. I’m taking a very basic subject, one that I adore, and experimenting with different ways to visualize it. I am currently working on the fourth one so before long I will be able to have all four up on the site for comparison.

Lulu decide to come by the photo cube and inspect the progress, she didn’t have much to say. But what is there to say?

Final Word

This is the completed version of “Western Shadows (bison skull) II”. It is, for some reason,  particularly difficult to capture this painting digitally, it just doesn’t seem to represent the final piece properly. I am including some detailed photographs that display some of the intriguing textural elements that make the physical painting so much more compelling (at least to me).

This is an acrylic painting that is 20″ x 20″

 

 

Western Shadow (bison skull)

IMG_8644This is the newest acrylic painting I have completed. I am putting more pieces together for the “Shadows of the West” show. My goal here is to create what amounts to a really atmospheric still life painting. I want it to have a very ghostly ethereal quality, not entirely there. I found a bit of success with this particular painting. I am currently working on a couple other paintings with a similar approach, hopefully I will be able to post another one next week!

 

 

Shadows of the West

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I’ve wrapped up my herd of cow heads so now I’ll move on to other paintings. I’ve decided to use this particular painting for the promotional card for the show “Shadows of the West”. The show is going to start March 31st of this year. I have a lot more work to do before now and then! I will post more information about that as the date looms closer.

I am attaching an image that shows three other paintings that are part of the 5 cow heads I recently completed. I still need to take final photographs of one of these.

Ballad of the fatted calf

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The fatted calf scampered over to the fence. He assumed my presence at the wire signaled it was time for me to feed him! ‘Twas  the other way round.

Note: This is a work of fiction. The calf, lovingly called “fatty”, has many sunny days ahead, presumably.

This is a painting I just varnished today. It is an 18″ x 18″ acrylic painting. The unusual textures throughout were predominantly created with a small squeegee and a palette knife. The very short story was something that occurred to me when I was out shooting reference shots of cows in some of the local fields. I felt guilty the way they would come running up to the fence and all I had to offer was a smile…
Brian

Sea & Sky

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.