WELCOME TO MY 2ND BLOCK PARTY!

So this was the 2nd CN BLOCK PARTY from DC COMICS I did a few months back. Hitting stands and general populace a few weeks back, this was ISSUE #43, which was alot of fun--and not just because in their ads for it, DC Comics accidently called the main character "Andy", instead of Adam. Sorry Julie! hehehe This particular story was extra-special fun because it was written by series writer and all-around-talented-nice-guy TOM SHEPPARD. His script gave me lots of room to play and be creative. And bigger thanks to the CAHILLS and my editors who allow me to stray slightly on a few models. I remember loving those old GENE HAZELTON Yogi Bear and FLINTSTONES strips...which is probably overly ambitious for me to strive for, but you knew where/what show the characters were from, but he had this ability to breath into them another life in a different medium. Maybe I'm going about these freelance gigs all wrong--but I believe kids who read these aren't stupid and hopefully appreciate that little extra effort or gag.

Anyone recognize this petshop on page one...?


And it's finished counterpart...


PAGE 2's



PAGE 4



PAGE 6



PAGE 7



PAGE 8

VIRTUAL ART GALLERY VI: CHILD ENDANGERMENT

Not the best quality jpegs; soon to be updated, hopefully.


"CALAMITY IN THE VALLEY OF THE CATS"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
60"x70"
(SOLD)



"WHAT'S THE LION'S NAME, ANDY?" (GIA'S DREAM)
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
60"x70"



"SALLY PLAYS WITH SNAKES"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
22"x28"
(SOLD)

VIRTUAL ART GALLERY V: TALES OF THE SEA

I think inspired by a large part of American Folk Art, my fascination with this subject matter led me to purchase a couple amazing albums by WHITE WHALE and NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL , which, along with old Roxy Music, provided the soudtrack by which I painted to...


"LIKE TWO SHIPS: THE FISHERMAN AND THE MERMAID"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
18"x36"



"BEWARE THE WHALE THAT READS CROSSWORDS"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
18"x36"


"A STRANGE DREAM I HAD ON SEPT.25th, 2006"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
24"x48"



"TOILERS ON THE SEA"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
10"x20"
(SOLD)



"THE WHALER"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
24"x48"



"ULYSSES AND THE SIREN (THE MUSE OF SEPT. 15th, 2005)"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
24"x48"



"CHILD ENDANGERMENT"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
22"x28"



"BATH TIME"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
18"x36"
(SOLD)



"DISASTER AT SEA"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
18"x36"



"THE ADMIRAL WITHOUT HIS SHIP"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
36"x60"



"WATERWINGS"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
10"x20"
(SOLD)

VIRTUAL ART GALLERY IV: HARLEQUINS AND HIGHWIRES

*Please forgive the redundancy of some of theses images. This is my attempt at culling some of my better-photographed and archived work into a few, more complete posts.



"ENGAGEMENT PAINTING"
OIL ON CANVAS
20"x24"
(SOLD)



"THE HARLEQUIN AND MAGICIAN"
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
30"x40"



"PROBABLE CONCUSSION I"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
14"x18"



"WAITING FOR SUMMER"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
24"x36"



"HARLEQUIN AND CHILD WITH PULL TOY"
ACRYLIC AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
(SOLD)



"PROBABLE CONCUSSION II"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
14"x18"
(SOLD)



"PROBABLE CONCUSSION III"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
14"x18"
(SOLD)



"NEAR MISS"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
24"x48"
(SOLD)



"GREATEST SHOW"
ACRYLIC AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
(SOLD)


I am currently attempting to hunt down and reshoot some of these pieces below...

"DANCING HARLEQUIN I"
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
(SOLD)



"DANCING HARLEQUIN II"
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
(SOLD)



"HARLEQUIN AND CHICKEN"
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
(SOLD)



"SHIP OF FOOLS"
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
(SOLD)



"LOVE"
ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
(SOLD)

VITUAL ART GALLERY III: "BIG EYES and LOWBROWS"

"THIRTY YEARS"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
18"x36"



"HUNGRY, HUNGRY"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
24"x30"



"LITTLE GUNTUR AND HIS CHOCOLATE HOMUNCULUS"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
20"x16"



"NORRIN RADD, EVERYMAN"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
18"x36"

NORRIN RADD: STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND

This was a rejected piece for the GALLERY 1988 Stan Lee show. Jensen opted for my marker piece of Stan "The Tailor Man" Lee. To each his own, I suppose--but I really like the way this turned out. I'm not sure how well it works outside of the theme of the show, but I'm sure I could justify it somehow. My inspiration once again being how Marvel Comics in the 1960's put their characters, even ones as omnipotent as The Silver Surfer or Doctor Doom cloaked in a SEARS MEN'S TRENCHCOAT and viola! Instant anonymity! In this case, Norrin Radd, otherwise known as The Silver Surfer infiltrates the general populace of New York City. In an attempt to "blend in", SS seeks out a tailor in The Village who measures and creates an ingenious disguise of trenchcoat, scarf and fedora--to which SS dons regularly throughout the next ten or so issues at least.

One such example...


Then my post it. I wanted something stark, bold...


*(It should be noted I've once again attempted to post more of my collage process; however, blogger is not letting me upload the jpegs for some reason!?)

The completed piece...

"NORRIN RADD, EVERYMAN"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
18"x36"

"BEWARE THE WHALE THAT READS CROSSWORDS"

A bit of a change up, post-wise. Thought it might be neat to see my process in a different medium.

Continuing my fascination with maritime imagery, I knew I wanted to paint a beast of a whale and a boat made of crossword puzzles. Thus I began this little doodle on a yellow post-it probably while working on another project that was on my table.


By the second post-it, I realized I wanted to make my starving castaway a sailor and felt the image worked better weighted on the opposite side.


By this third one, which was only an overlay--I thought: "Why not have my mariner actually DOING the crossword?!"


I NEVER go this far with sketches or pre-painting. Usually opting to work things out on the canvas instead. However, there's something raw and bold about this little piece that's different than the final image, so I'm glad I did.


Then here it is in its completed state, albeit I skipped showing a few steps in terms of canvas prepping, collage application and underpainting. Perhaps another post. If you look closely, you can make out various words misspelled and crammed into the tiny crossword boxes.
"BEWARE THE WHALE THAT DOES CROSSWORDS"
OIL AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
18"x36"