Books, painted from life from my book collection. This was one that literally consumed my life for a few months. I could get to doing about 4-5 books a day, getting up at 5am so that I could paint only using natural light coming in through my window. I painted each by holding the book …
Category: Painting
Painting is for me an identity. No matter what medium I’m working in, whether it’s illustration, photography, video, performance art– painting is always my origin. There’s nothing that gets me more excited or gets my heart pounding harder than when I’m in the throes of “flow” and working on a painting (shout out to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi). I realize that probably seems really cheesy but that’s how it is. With paint you don’t have to articulate using stupid words. Painting is a conversation that you’re having directly with the canvas, and with the colors, and with your brush or fingers or whatever. You get to say whatever is on your mind, uncensored. And the miraculous thing is when others can look at your painting and instantly understand the message. When the image resonates with them on a level that transcends sense.
I’ve become allergic to oil paints but I’m currently exploring new mediums and techniques to continue working.
Hands Painting
A collection of hands gathered at Washington Square Park one fine Saturday. Details of the hands painting. I made it a point to avoid using any black in this painting, and instead layer on transparent pigments: quinacridone violet, alyzarin crimson, pthalo blue, and sap green. The goal was a complex grey, so I was …
Men
Men, oil on canvas, 16ft x 9.5 ft Painted from life, I would trace the body with a long handled brush, then have them stand to the side as I painted their full body portraits Sargent-style, backing up 15-20 feet, then running up to the canvas to make one or two marks. Each portrait took …
Collection of Architects
I painted portraits from life of every member of one architecture class at the Cooper Union. Each portrait took an average of 1.5 hours, all oil on canvas. The portraits were given to the architects after the show. BIG thanks go to Mark Ressl for coordinating and scheduling EVERYONE in his class during finals to …
Ink Experiments
Painting Studies