Here's more of that series that I'm working on. I thought that I would take to opportunity to throw these mid-process pieces in with the rest of these "finishes", because it gives me the opportunity to talk about my concept of a finish.

Basically, my excitement for working comes from not really knowing where the piece will end up. I've always considered there to be multiple "finishes" for a piece. I guess a more appropriate way of describing it would be that there are moments while working when everything just feels cohesive enough to leave it be. You can work past that, but then you're working on a new piece, if that makes any sense. You're taking it past one direction's end and bringing it to a new place. All of that is really exciting for me. So, with these, because I stopped, I'll come back to them and work off what's there and eventually come to a "good spot"; and that's just really fun.

So, here they are. I'm playing with colors. I'm layering and making a mess, all the while not knowing exactly where it'll end up. I guess that's not really the most efficient way of completing an assignment-based piece (which this one isn't, but it could be), but I think my true success will come from being able to do that. Get a commission, work more in the vein of that commission, and find a synthesis or compromise between that and the way I just happen upon or work towards a "good spot". I think I'll get there.


Take care,

Andrew

These two are the last ones I'll post up here for a bit. These are my most recent pieces, from a series that I'm working on. They're different from the others because I'm working on this nice, hard cardboard. It's close to masonite, but is more absorbent and has this nice paper bag quality to it.

I'm really looking to get a fresh way of working with these. I want them to group with my previous body of work, while at the same time be distinctive. I like what they look like together, so far (there are about 8 or so). So, we'll see how this one goes. The subject matter in each is more of the same - flat horizon line, free form concepts.


Take care,

Andrew

Power Rangers!

So, this piece was one where I started using pencil pretty extensively in the painting, and really just trying to accentuate the way that the medium acts, separate from the paint. This is also one of the first where I actually use hand-written text.

As for the content, I just got carried away and had fun with it. I had five little objects down at the bottom. So, I decided to paint a lightning bolt and paint them their individual colors. The speech bubbles were kind of an afterthought, but really help the composition along.

As for the surface, I love the presence of the wood. It's pretty large and pretty deeply set against the wall. I think it's 2 inches deep. It's a clunky piece of wood, and I'm curious to see how it looks with everything else.


Take care,

Andrew

This is also one of my favorite pieces from this year. It has a nice, small size, and I just really enjoy the colors. I also like how much I worked the medium into the piece. Everything in the piece is on the same level, which is nice. The pencil has the same quality as the paint. Everything is just rich.

Nice.


Take care,

Andrew

This is another one of my smaller pieces. Like the others, it's really simple in its execution and is really meant as an exercise in conveying my way of working to a smaller scale. Even more than that, I've found that I like the finished quality of these small pieces. It's almost like it's more fun to hold them in your hand than look at them. They're a lot like matchbox cars, in that respect. Go figure.

Maybe I'll start painting matchbox cars...


Take care,

Andrew

This is a mailbox vomiting. Let me know at any time in these posts if you need me to go further into detail with how it was made, why it was made, etc. For now, this is a sick mailbox.


Take care,

Andrew

This is one of my favorite pieces from this year. I like the surface I worked on (which, as you can tell from the scan, is quite difficult). I like the simplicity of color. I also like the way that I handled to figures in a subtractive, scraping way. I just really like this piece and I don't think I have much more to say about it.

I found the wood in my basement in Easton. It was really old and called for a lot of gesso to keep it from fragmenting under my brush.


Take care,

Andrew

This one also needs its levels fixed. Sorry about that. This piece is the estranged cousin of the "W P P" series. It's really just kind of weird. I like the colors and the content, for the most part. When I first finished it, I hid it away for months. I just don't think I was ready to look at it, yet. It's just really strange, but I like it. There are some wonky parts that fall down. There are some spots that are somewhat transparent, but, on the whole, I like this one. It's just really strange.


Take care,

Andrew

Speaking of loud skies, this is one of my later pieces from last semester, also. I like this one because I'm really just cutting loose and playing with color. Even more than that, I like it because I can't distinguish - in some spots - which layer of color is over which other layer of color. I didn't spend a whole lot of time on this one, but there was some pretty intensive layering going on.

This is also from the "W P P" series. The figures I intentionally left kind of scratchy and nondescript.


Take care,

Andrew

This piece is also a "W P P" piece. Here, I had to knock back the colors. What started as a deliberate attempt to create the most local color I could ended up being pretty obnoxious. I didn't like how lame it looked. So, I knocked it back with some variation.

Once I had the ground plane and sky where I wanted it, I almost literally dotted those red things on there in a matter of minutes, without much thought. I like the way this one turned out. That crack is nice. I also like the quality of clouds and the richness of the sky, in general. You won't see me using that loud blue too often. I usually go for a softer approach.


Take care,

Andrew