A Really Big Blank Board

     I bought this ampersand gesso board 36" x 48" a few years back (when $$$ was more plentiful) and although I had a project idea in mind then I put off working on it (...esp. since lately mistakes & materials are more expensive for the budget than they used to be).  Well knowing me, instead of finishing some of my other projects I find interest in restarting this one.
I have to admit I envy the clean, white, blank state of this board---on those insomnia-full nights I wish I could exchange the sleep-depriving contents of my mind for such but I digress.
 
     Although the board comes with a gesso surface, I sprayed a few coats of Krylon Spray Gesso which seems to help grip and absorb the first few layers of paint a little better.  Next I trace some of my drawings (I worked on previously) and use these to come up with an arrangement to transfer to the board.

   And thus a beginning.  Now to figure out how to obtain enough paint to cover.  In case there is any future curiosity about my subject choices I took inspiration from a marble soda, 16th-19th century Indian Court paintings, the pelican, & Shiva's self-sacrifice in the Samudra Manthan (you can read about the latter here if interested Samudra Manthan ).
More to come.....

In Memoriam--2011 Figurative Artists

     Like many others, I was saddened earlier this year to hear of the loss of the figurative artist Lucian Freud.  You always wonder about that last work in progress that may have gone unfinished, where it ends up, and if anyone was privy to knowing the artist's thoughts about it before his/her departure.

Another artist George Tooker, one of my favorites (who may not have been known as well as Freud) also passed on at the beginning of the year.  Tooker worked almost entirely with egg tempera paint and is probably best known for his paintings done during the 1950s which depict a Kafka-like modern social environment.  They do a good job of expressing that alone in a crowd feeling; human disconnection resulting from a system designed for the masses that overlooks the individual.
     However, Tooker's work is not limited to this subject---he has many other works showing the warmer side of human emotion.  He seems to have a unique way of rendering an expressive face.  I also like the use of perspective in many of his works.  It is interesting to see the pencil studies of these.

Here is one of his works from the Whitney Museum of Art collection, The Subway (1950).  The link to the museum and work is referenced below.

http://www.whitney.org/Collection/GeorgeTooker  
    

Creativity & Vik Muniz

Older but worth watching--here's an interesting talk with artist Vik Muniz

This video among lots of interesting others can be found at the TED website  http://www.ted.com/talks/tags/art.  

If you are curious what kind of art can be made with chocolate syrup, diamonds, and thread check out the artist's own website here http://www.vikmuniz.net/ ( Vik Muniz's oscar nominated documentary Waste Land is also noteworthy.  I love it when art is mixed with social issues and collaborative effort.  On the same topic Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds is another project that comes to mind.)