Sketchbook

What free time I've had lately has been monopolized by sleeping and/or staring blankly at walls, so here is some recent sketchbook stuff rather than a finished piece.

"Solemn princess Isadora carried aloft by the amorous dragon". Acrylic on masonite, 11"x10"

I haven't done any personal work in color in so long, I kinda missed it. So there you go. Perhaps I'll set the wood aside for a bit. You can't tell in the scan, but the gold border is done in a metallic paint. We all like shiny things don't we?

Partridge in a persimmon tree

house painter

Imaginary house!
Just did this for fun, it's based on a childhood drawing of mine. Acrylic and a little gouache on masonite, 16.5" x 12".

Tonight!

For the past few months I have had some of my work displayed at Harvest on Cooper, here's what it has looked like...














You can see a glimpse of one of Marvelous Mr. Mike's paintings on the back wall.
























There will be an opening tonight (thursday,Nov. 6) as part of the Cooper Young night out and the works of the incredible Mr. Hildebrand will also be on display.
Thanks again to all the talented guys at Harvest!

Wait... where'd that year go?

I'm not entirely sure, I think it was spent working a lot... or something. Here are a couple of paintings that came into existence somewhere in that span of time.
"Along the Way"
"And Never Again Shall It Be Mentioned"

Books

Two new books, the first I just completed a couple of weeks ago.












Memphis: a Children's History by Perre Magness, available locally at Davis-Kidd Booksellers and Burke's Bookstore, or send an email to pmagness@att.net . I also did the graphic design on this one (many thanks to Michael for all his indispensable help with that).













The Most Beautiful Color of All with Kelly Fischer. Amazon it!

A host of angels

Ink-topus

"En Route to the Promised Land"

Second book

I have another book out now, my second with the same author. You can find it on Amazon.

Charcoal gator man!

I decided to try something different and do the drawing with charcoal rather than ink on this one. I am undecided as to how I feel about that. So, friends... good, bad or indifferent?



















And another of these things (in ink). Kind of a furthering of the conflict depicted here.
That black border was perhaps a poor choice, now that I look at it. Should have been walnut. I guess I ought to pay attention when I make things.

There are no turkeys in this post

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so to commemorate the event, here is some art that has nothing to do with it.

Not sure how much I like this one yet..
"Never Entirely"

















A box I painted on.











It's a really crappy one from the craft store.













Michael has posted some pictures of a very brief, all-of-a-sudden art show that we and our talented friends had some stuff in a couple of weeks ago. (There aren't any turkeys in that post, either)

"Making Ends Meet"

the remainder of an island and a new thing

Firstly the new thing...

















...and then the other pieces from the Horn Island show



















"Against Their Very Natures (Or So They Said)"
"The Dangers of Bathing I"
"East Tip Dragonflies"
"The Dangers of Bathing II"

An island and a book

"Horn Island Harpy At Meal Time"

This is one of my pieces for the Horn Island show, and it has three siblings. If you happen to be in the neighborhood of the Memphis College of Art on September 8, between 6:00- 8:30, swing on by the opening reception and check em out.












Also, the children's book I illustrated is currently on sale over at Amazon.com.

Did this instead of a medallion this week.


















"Yet Another Sacrifice"

No. 12

This week's











And a couple of sketchbook harpies

No. 11

I just got back from Horn Island and it was a pretty amazing trip, I wasn't quite ready to come home. Sigh.
A couple of people found a Portuguese man-of-war washed up on the beach one day. I didn't see it, but I did see a teacher from MCA jump on the back of an alligator and a bull shark getting whacked on the head with a sledgehammer. And lots of sand.

9 & 10

My goal is to produce at least one of these every week. Next week, however, I will be busy idling about in the sand-strewn wilderness of Horn Island, so here's two.























I don't really like the alligator-baby one, especially that chicken. And the woman's hair. But I thought I'd post it anyway.

Can one be "busy idling"? Hm. I intend to prove it is possible, as I will be working hard at being my idlest next week.

Deer!

This piece was created to immortalize an epic confrontation which took place in my backyard this morning. A deer wandered into the backyard and one of the stray cats decided to stalk it. The deer showed a great deal of fortitude, however, and did not back down from the challenge.



















(Sorry about the blurriness, I had to take the picture through my filthy window.)

more medallions

The smaller ones are 4" in diameter, the larger ones are 5.5" at the widest point. (the dog is one of the larger ones)

Medallions

Discs of wood, each about 4" in diameter. I started doing these this weekend and they are a lot of fun to make. I'm not sure if they are quite "there" yet, though. Any suggestions?

Coloring!

There are many things I somehow managed to not learn during my four years of art school, one of them being coloring with Photoshop. Some of the others include anything to do with Illustrator, and most aspects of painting. Luckily for me, Sir Priddy of the Nimble Brush has so kindly posted a tutorial on computer coloring on his blog. (Thanks!) So here is my attempt at that.

More girls and birds

Acrylic, watercolor & gouache, about 11" x 15".


















A detail:












And a doodle:

sketchbook

Practicing with the brush and ink, which I haven't attempted in quite a while.

...

Sketchbook

What I did tonight instead of real work

snow in april

Acrylic and gouache on masonite. About 11"x 12.5", or 12.5"x 11" (I never remember how that goes)

















The painting is based on the first little story-thing below, as is this from a while back.

The first story-thing I'm going to call "Two White Dogs". I don't really feel compelled to title things most of the time, but the overuse of "untitled" can get kind of annoying.

-Cast aside in undone importance, an Empress wrestled through the snow in silk. Two white dogs were her only companions now that things were turned fully askew. They kept her warm on the cold nights and lit her way in the dark. But she soon grew envious of their gleaming coats and the way they spoke to one another without words.
As they slept, she stole their coats from them, tossing their bodies into the cold to be devoured by roving wolves. She made a cloak from their fur, but it was thinner than she’d thought, and she wondered why it had felt so much warmer on them.
A lost traveler stumbled over her as she lay huddled in the snow. Thinking of the warmth he may provide, she offered him a place inside her cloak for the night. She awoke to find him wearing it. He leaned over her saying that silk was never his favorite, and then he tied a bag over her head and she fell asleep like a canary.
When she opened her eyes she was lying on a frozen stream in a canyon. She cried at the thought that the dogs would have torn the thief to pieces for her.-


Aaaand another more recent one which has nothing to do with anything.


-A non-subtle salemaker emptied his pockets into a stream of swift gold, hoping it would cling to his worthless baubles. The hungry current swallowed them in an instant, and he raced along the bank in pursuit. Eventually they came to rest in an entanglement of weeds just below the surface. Shrewd and observant at times, he decided to ask a beautiful boy passing by if he would reach in and pull up his trinkets. The boy kindly agreed, but when trying to retrieve the items, found he could not remove his hand from the stream. Both men tugged and cursed the current, but to no avail. The salemaker said the only way was to cut off the offending hand. The distraught boy was too horrified at this to even speak. He wailed of his distaste for pain, and protested that he could not go on living as a hideous cripple. The sun went down as he continued to cry and scream like a child. The salemaker grew so tired of this that he kicked the lovely boy, who then vanished into the gullet of the stream. The man sat on the bank staring into the golden water for several hours. He finally decided his action must have been some god compelling him toward an act of uncomfortable mercy. With a sated conscience, he walked home.
Several weeks later, in a land quiet and remote, a shining gold statue of a beautiful young man washed ashore. The people were so captivated by it, they had it put up on a high pedestal in the town square. It still stands there to this day, despite the protests of certain citizens who are disturbed by the look of terrible apprehension on the figure’s face.-