Jack

So, it's Christmas already.  Dog commissions due.  I read an interesting quote this week:
"Do not hurry. Do not rest."  Goethe

Mugshot 56 Zombie.

I just felt like a Zombie.

Mugshot 53, Mad Baby and Value Study 8

Above is a mugshot of a mad baby, below is the value study for today.

Blue Bonnets and Striped Napkin

This one, not so weird....I kept it to all blue and some form of blue as much as possible. It was a good color exercise and I also kept the paint relatively fresh. What I want from the flowers is a particular energy separate from prettiness. I know this is possible, because I have seen it done: Van Gogh, Alice Neel, Redon, to name three, I know there are more...also, Jane Freilicher, also Wayne Thiebaud, who did plastic ones that knock you out.

Texas Wildflowers

Ai yi yi.

It's blue bonnet time again, and they must be painted. So I tried some more robust color combinations and crammed all the wildflowers together in my thrift store loving cup. More exploration.

Blue Bottle #1

This blue bottle is the fish oil bottle I have been saving to paint, and I've been looking at in the studio for a few weeks, thinking, I will have to get used to it first and do a get acquainted painting. I also made a gold foil box to use in set ups for some reflective surface. I learned a lot on this one, particularly with edges and color.

Mugshot 40: The Splendid Linda Popple

Linda Popple sent me these pictures so that I could do her mugshot. Her own mugshots are very lively and interesting, please stop by and see them: Click here.

Lemon on Oriental Rug

This is after Robert A. Johnson' s Pear on an Oriental rug. It's a great DVD, I recommend it. One of the most valuable things he discusses is how to keep a painting from being overworked and yet have a high degree of finish. I am not so interested in having a high degree of finish, however all the issues he addressed were interesting and helpful. Also, the way he put the paint down was wonderful - there nothing like seeing it done to help you get the idea.

Pig's Feet on Black and White

I don't know why they saw the feet in half...I tried matching up halves of the feet to make a whole foot, but the cuts occurred at different angles, so it was hopeless to try and make a standing one. I will have to explore other markets, maybe the Asian market, to try and find paintable animal parts.

Pig's Feet

Another small one because I don't have a block of time today for a mug shot. These are pig's feet, which I remember my father eating when I was a child. Fascinating and grisley.

Three Shrimp

I am taking a tiny break from the mugshots to do a fun painting, slightly more restful...

I did a quick practice on one shrimp yesterday and you can see how the lights cooked it, it is the pink one. I think it had row in it -- the coral color on that shrimp had to be eggs, right? I see I am uncertain about shrimp reproduction. I tried to use thick paint here which doesn't show much, also I used my very small bristle brushes as opposed to my larger flats and brights. I am learning my way around the brushes at last! In addition, I purposely used a larger panel, thinking to have the empty space around the forms have more importance. Or the colored space give the forms more importance. Whichever.

Mugshot Eighteen

I painted this six times, the first 3 I didn't post. She had these red rimmed thyroidal eyes that I just couldn't get down and this pale yellowish translucent skin. These mugshot people aren't healthy for the most part. And I want to say only once without defensiveness, that it is hard to get it all when jailbase.com is repeated every inch across the faces, because often the type will cover a tricky shadow at the corner of the mouth or eye and it can't be seen clearly. Not that I'm whining. But the more I couldn't get it, the more determined I was to keep at it. The top one is good enough for now, I can't stand to look at it any more. As they say, the line is oh so thin between the heroic and the pitiful.

Thank you everyone for such nice comments on the last study.

Brianna,

This is a mugshot of my neighbor's grandchild. I like this kid a lot, she is smart and really present and interested when you talk to her.

Thanks everybody for your very upbeat comments on the banner project painting, I really appreciate it!

Mug Fourteen

This guy's hair was truly this big.

Mug Thirteen

This guy had such an unbelievably long face it was quite challenging to jam him into an 8 inch square. Since my own proportions are all short and compact, I naturally see things that way and had to keep checking the measurements and then make him longer and longer. He must have been 7 feet I figure.

Mug Twelve

I rarely see the crime listed with the mugshot, but this time I went to a criminal speciality, gang crimes, and found this guy. He was so serene, like a Hindu god. The background he came with was a deep cobalt blue which I loved and intended to use, but I did a yellow wash on the panel before I started and then I was feeling he needed a sort of religious golden surface behind him, to emphasize his perfect equilibrium.

Mug Shot 11

In this one I used a huge flat brush for the most part, with some effort to find larger planes of color and get that down in minimum stokes. I sort of forgot my intention as I worked, but it was a good beginning. These mug shots are great for practice -- maybe like running sprints, not that I have ever run one, but I think it might help mesh all the necessary skills.

Mug 10

This girl was cadaver pale. I actually got too much color in here, it was mousy grays everywhere. I will have another go at her soon.

Mug Shot 9

Mug shot number 9....

This woman had unbelievable hair, flowing and shiny and soft looking.

Mug Shot Number Eight

A cautionary tale concerning hair color. She had her chin cocked way over, I think from disgust.