Mobile Tangent

Occasionally, after a painting that requires intense focus I need to take a break. Recently, I have been playing a bit with making mobiles. I had a dream about constructing a wing. Here is what followed.

I started with this image that I snapped from the internet. I sketched what I saw at the scale that I had envisioned.

I cut out the pieces and selected several woods that I thought might be complimentary. I used the paper as templates.

Then, I shaped the wood using our belt sander and a dremel. Each of the separate feather pieces I attached using a dowel. I cut the dowel down the center using the bandsaw so the feather could fit.

Several coats of wipe on polyurethane and some work with #14 gauge wire. I balanced the wing with an egg that I carved several months ago.

I'll post a picture later when I have hung it in my new studio space.

Thanks for looking. Cheers!

H is for Horse

Some of the work that I have been doing in this off season has come from requests that I get at the shows. Alot of people love horses and so it is pretty often that we are asked if I have any horses. Here is a first try at a horse:

Thanks for looking. Cheers!

S is for Stegosaurus

Well well well. I have been a bum. I have been working like crazy since mid December, since I was able to extricate myself from the elementary school, and yet I have not posted once in this space. I have thrown some things out on instagram, but other than that nada.

Anyhow, my new resolution is to try to get back in to a once a week posting. Likely, for a while I'll post two-a-weeks for a time to share some of the works that have been missed.

This first posting is a new possibility. A long time ago I had a notion to make a stegosaurus machine. I collected some images for study and considered how appropriate a dinosaur seems with my machine constructions. As of this post I am drawing out a triceratops and then I know that there must be a T-Rex.

Here is that stegosaurus idea fully formed:

I began, as usual with an outline sketch of the figure I plan to sketch. Sometimes I work from several photographs. Most of the time I have a mental image of the animal. Even as far as the direction that the animal should face.  

The machine parts come out in several different areas first in my minds eye. Often, I connect bits that I did not realise would be together as the machine grows on the paper.

Once all of the machine parts have been sketched and most of the original outline has been erased I start adding color.

Depending on my mood, I sometimes work all in one color until I have blocked in all of that color that I intend. As I work, I visualise colors that will be a part of this creature. Generally I have the pallete in mind before I begin.

I knew, with this work, that I would use yellow-green, orange and purple. I cannot explain how I knew that these were what the colors should be.

After all of the base colors have been laid down, I begin to apply the layers of darker colors. I always leave the glass tubing for the final layers. Something about the glass just seems to bring it all to life.

I took this photo to try to give an idea of the scale that I have been working at. This is my third painting that measures 16" by 20". It's funny, but I struggle to imagine how I used to fit these beasts into smaller space.

Thanks for looking. Cheers.

Black Mountain Leaf

     Last weekend I was in Black Mountain for the Sourwood Festival. Sunday afternoon I was at the back of my tent when I saw a woman carrying a leaf. I asked if she would mind if I took a photo of her leaf. Here is that picture:

On Monday I decided to make a painting of it. Here is the process:

The original photo next to the finished piece.

This series of progress photos is my favorite so far. I'm pretty pleased with this one.

Thanks for looking.

M is for Marlin

     Last week I completed a Marlin for the alphabet book. Here are the process photos:

I decided to do a grey wash and here you can see the beginnings of the machine works inside my sketched outline.

I decided to make my central colors blue and green with golden accents.

Not the best photo of the finished work, but there it is. Right now it is at the print shop, so that I can have it for the show in Banner Elk this weekend.

Saltamontes

     Saltamontes is spanish for grasshopper. This week I completed a new machine towards the alphabet book. Here is the process:

Rough sketch from a photo I took on our trip out west.

Beginnings of machining. I like to study the forms of the different body parts and then imagine how they might be materialized and connected.

Wings are often difficult to conceptualize because there is so little structure.

For the grasshopper, I saw a palette of oranges, reds with bits of green. I like the contrast of those colors and felt that they were also representative of the insect. 

Dramatic lighting.

Nearly finished. I decide to add some black to the leg, reflecting the actual animal. Then I will work on glassing.

Here is the last photo I made before I shipped it off to the printshop. I'll post the finished piece when I get the image from Henco. Thanks for looking. 

The Owl

My brother requested an owl for their nursery. Here is the process of that work as it was created. Start to finish, I knocked this guy out in a day.

This is a fun fella. Measures 11" x 14" and really has a bright life in front of him. 

Thanks for looking.