August Production

Black Stars, Black Sand Beach

















Tropical Fruit


























Sailor Take Warning

























Jouvert 1985























Mercedes 4




















Unnamed Red























Mantas 2



















Mantas 4

















Mantas 7


















St. Lucia

Where to Go with This

Yeah, the painting is a blast. So what?

I've put together a short, not-well-researched or polished business plan for Picasso Lowbrow. It strikes me that adding something about teaching in here is important. So, we slowly walk that way. And head out to scout the community college campus today, armed finally with business cards. No, silly, not for students, but for teachers. Well, age-appropriate students, maybe... Wait, that's another blog.

It would be fun to incorporate art, physics, and some basic chemistry into a one-hour or so presentation I could give to teenagers at school, though. Show them how WDP works, have a hands-on situation so they create as well as listen, and at the same time sneak some science into it.

Peek at Work-In-Progress

This is a bit of detail from another 48x48. I got all the lumber I need now to be able to set up smaller bulk canvas pieces.























Using WDP means sometimes the water gets away from me after I go to sleep. I woke up and found the "shirt" had run up through the sky and down almost to his knees (not shown). Workaround? Wipe off the paint in the sky, come up with the idea for a tie-belt around the shirt at his waist (also not shown).



















Here it is midway through completion: Jouvert 1985.

Monthly Production Release Schedule

That's how I used to write as a tech manager. But, sometime in the first week of a new month I'll publish pix of the cream of the previous month's production. I really gotta get/find/figure out how to get professional photos of the stuff. Even if it's just a half-dozen or so to start. AND get a professional web site, not just this blog. Oh well, one step at a time, I've heard said.

This sneak peek is an unnamed piece in the "Red" collection. Be sure and enlarge the photo enough to check the detail, if you would please.

The Studio

Here you have it. There's a half-bath and kitchen downstairs with the studio, I live upstairs in the loft and office with the full bath.

Problems with WDP

1. It goes quick.

Once the paint hits the water, you're committed. That's why it's so important to have all the prep work finished and tools handy before you start. Even if you're doing only a section of surface at a time, you can't turn your back on it until the water stops flowing.

2. It eats canvas.

Complex pieces take days, but a free-form WDP session can consume any size surface in a matter of seconds. I've only tested it on 48x48 as the largest surface, but I'm not foolin' -- seconds. And then I spend minutes trying to control the water flow.

3. It's too much fun.

I just counted and I've produced 31 pieces since June 16, not including the 8x10s, sketches, and working/test surfaces like the walls and tables, all covered with paper drops cloths. It's habit-forming. Must be the thinner and oil paint fumes.

4. It's messy.

Thus a major part of the creative appeal! Tool clean-up is vital, and I covered the floors and walls so spillage won't damage the apartment. Splatterwork of any sort can throw paint a dozen feet or more, so be warned. However much coverage you think you need, triple it. Or work outside or in a barn or warehouse.

PS: You can't roll canvas with WDP on it. It wrinkles the paint.

Just a Tease from the "Mantas" Series

Creating a 48x48 WDP Scenic

Just waiting for it to dry thoroughly so I can roll it up until time to mount it.

Playing the Odds

For every five of these paintings (arf!):
























I get one of these:























And in that 1 out of 5, about one in 10 of them are like this (in progress, BTW):
























Bora Bora keeps cropping up as a subject:


















I only need to sell two or three per year of the 1 in 10 of the 20 percent and I can start sailing again. But until that happens I'm gonna focus on the lowbrow part of the plan and try to sell a couple each month from the 20 percent. Cheap art sold cheaply.

So far, so fun.

Coronal Mass Ejection

D really likes the gloss black and red, and is into big bold designs. Shame I only let him have small canvases. I was arranging the workspace the other day and came across this smaller canvas partially painted only black. Brush strokes apparent and inconsistent thickness of shade and color.

I wanted to test something and why burn a new canvas when I had this one to play with, I reasoned. So, here's the result. I added the "D" to the signature tag. It was his background, after all. Oh, his bold designs work but not as he wants with WDP and not so well with liquid oils.