Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Shyline

I'm starting a series of works called the "Downtown" series. The toughest thing about it is naming all of the pieces. I definitely don't want to be one of those artists that defaults to the "untitled" title as that just drives me bonkers. I'm finding the thesaurus in this case to be my best friend.
Here is the piece in progress



not sure if I'm too into that foreground we'll see what happens with it

and finished

Monday, March 30, 2009

sun city

It's a lovely Monday, isn't it?

Thursday, March 26, 2009

photo restoration

Just a little photo restoration I did for a class.

Monday, March 23, 2009

waiting

. Just waiting around for the Office killing time with colors.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Happy Spring!

Now go out and play with some butterflies!

Friday, March 6, 2009

Classical Reference

Jan Van Eyck is one of my favorite classical artists. He is a Netherlands painter who is arguably the best from the 15th century. His paintings captivate me not only because of his amazing palette and light effects, but also because of his prevalent use of symbolism in his work. It's like he is painting secrets, beautiful secrets none the less. He takes these abstracted signs and symbols and puts them together in a work of art that is not only satisfying to the eye, but also to the mind.
This painting is titled Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife. It is my favorite classical painting because it is absolutely jam packed with symbolism. Everything in the painting from object to color to hand gesture has a meaning. The colors are just gorgeous. Anyway, this painting has stirred up controversy amongst art historians because it is unclear exactly how the symbols are meant to be interpreted. For instance, it appears she is pregnant which is a big deal because this scene is believed to be a wedding ceremony, but other art historians say this was just a fashionable style back in the day. I decided to throw in my own spin, with all due respect to Jan Van Eyck, and add a modern twist to the painting. It would not be uncommon in today's world for a woman to have a baby, and clearly it is not the husbands. Uh Oh!!! With the introduction of the little mixed baby, the mans expression turns from "I am the dominant worker bee" to something more along the lines of "HOLD THE PHONE!! That baby ain't mine!!!" Infidelity runs rampant in America, it breaks my heart but it happens all of the time. Also, the dog has been updated to look more modern as well, lol


Original



Modern Version