Archive for the abstract Category

WIP

Posted in abstract, Art, expressionist, figurative, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett, Work in Progress, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2012 by Tom Bennett

This is a bad photo of a work in progress. I’m going south for a couple of days.

Tom Bennett

WIP

WIP, oil into monotype on paper, 18″ x 24″

I Need Photoshop

Posted in Art, Toni Tiller, Collage, abstract with tags , , , , , , on February 22, 2012 by Toni Tiller

On my last computer I had one of the oldest versions of Photoshop that it could possibly run, and that was fine because all I ever need to do is cropping and little color adjusting most of the time, no big deal. Unfortunately when I upgraded to my shiny new laptop it decided it wanted nothing to do with that PS7, something about incompatible bits, I don’t know, all I know is it doesn’t work so I downloaded GIMP and figured how bad could it be?

It’s bad. It sucks.

It’s clunky, unresponsive, and doing the simplest things takes forever. In short, I hate it. Scanning work is the only way to get it correctly colored, but then all the magazine dots show up, something you don’t see in person, photographing pieces is superior, but without color correction the look washed out and odd. Today the colors I am presenting are subtle in their interaction, so I chose pixely scanning.

Does anyone want to take pity on me and rip me a copy?

They Might be Giants

Posted in abstract, Art, art on paper, expressionism, expressionist, figurative, gesture, monotype, narrative art, Painting, printmaking, technique, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , on February 9, 2012 by Tom Bennett

Unless you’ve been having a pedicure under a rock the last few days, you’ll know the football NY Giants beat the NE Patriots to win the superbowl for the 2nd time in 4 years. Without going into an analysis of the season and the game itself and bore most of you, I’ll just say, as a New Yorker, this team is cardiac-arrest-fun with its habit of coming back from the dead and pulling out a win at the last minute.

Mario Manningham came up with, arguably perhaps, the game-changing catch along the sideline. The play was expressionist in its execution.

Tom Bennett

Uploaded with [URL=http://imageshack.us]ImageShack.us[/URL]
Manningham, monotype, 20′ x 16″

.

.

Hidden Defect and Lauren’s Underbelly

Posted in abstract, Art, art on paper, expressionism, expressionist, figurative, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, technique, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on January 26, 2012 by Tom Bennett

Two more explorations in the current series. The one called Lauren’s Underbelly got its title from the happy little fact that the underpainting/monotype was a portrait of a pregnant woman. She apparently gave birth to this painting. It’s a girl!

Hidden Defect
Hidden Defect, oil into monotype on paper, 22′ x 16″

Lauren's Underbelly
Lauren’s Underbelly, oil into monotype on paper, 18″ x 12″

Ectoplasmic Monotype/Painting

Posted in abstract, Art, art on paper, expressionism, expressionist, figurative, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, technique, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 19, 2012 by Tom Bennett

This piece has a photographic feel and Kodak is on its death bed. That’s a sad thought.

Ektachromoplasm

Ektachromoplasm, oil over monotype on paper, 20″ x 16″

Fair Use

Posted in abstract, Art, Toni Tiller with tags , , , on January 18, 2012 by Toni Tiller

It’s been a long time since I have taken any photographs of people, and when I do they are usually people I know very well, but a recent interaction made me wonder what the fair use of pictures of strangers would be. I don’t take pictures for advertisements, or to sell, so it’s not something I ever really think much about but since the question came up I threw it out to my good friends on Twitter and Matthew Best was kind enough to provide me with this very useful article which answered all of my questions and then some. Looks like as long as I am in public and not invading a private space then I am in the clear.

In the mean time you should check out some of his work here. Good stuff.

Basement in Baltimore

Posted in abstract, Art, art on paper, figurative, monotype, Painting, printmaking, technique, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 12, 2012 by Tom Bennett

I’ve been in Baltimore caring for my parents for a week and have been painting in the basement of the house I’m staying in. Here are some of the results.
I had the opportunity to take advantage of my father Harry’s experienced eye for design. He’s 92 years old. I asked him what he thought of the 1st piece below while I was still working through unresolved stages. He looked at it, covered an area with his hand and said, “get rid of this shape. These things don’t mean anything.” A title was born.

Tom Bennett

These Things Don't Mean Anything

These Things Don’t Mean Anything, oil on monotpye, paper, 18″ x9″

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

Below, I’ve posted a photo of an original monotype and the subsequent over-painting.

First stage: Original monotype on paper
Stage 1: figure 1993

figure 1993, monotype,

Final stage:
stage 2: figure 1.11.12

Figure 1-11-12, oil on paper, 2012,

First Two Stages

Posted in abstract, Art, art on paper, Drawing, expressionism, expressionist, figurative, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, technique, Tom Bennett, Work in Progress, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , on January 5, 2012 by Tom Bennett

Photos of the first stages of the process I’m exploring with these current reworked monotypes-to-paintings.
The monotype is an ancient relic from the early 90′s. Drawing over the image and reintegrating the underlying forms with the new marks, I then bring in paint of varying viscosities with brush and knife. The recontextualization of form may be overtly reconsidered or more likely metamorphosizes ‘organically’ (for lack of better pompous phrasing). Here much of the original is obliterated yet structurally the new image is recognizably built on form that is now rendered abstract. I’m away from my studio this week and won’t be reworking this until I get back, so this current unresolved stage will have to ferment like a soft wheel of gouda, also known as my head.

 

stage1male-female-1.jpg

 

 

 

stage2male-female.jpg stage 2

Injected Meaning

Posted in abstract, Art, art on paper, expressionism, expressionist, figurative, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 29, 2011 by Tom Bennett

My apologies for the mediocre photo, I left my equipment in Baltimore over the Christmas holiday and was forced to use my iPhone.

Happy New Year. If you get wasted, hope its a good time.

Tom Bennett

Injected Meaning

Injected Meaning, monotype reintroduced with oil paint, on Rives BFK paper, 24″ x 18″

So I Was Hanging Out

Posted in abstract, Art, Collage, Toni Tiller with tags , , , on December 14, 2011 by Toni Tiller

Working on collages, scalpel in hand and one of my friends was telling me a story about how he used to work on his grandfathers pig farm as a kid. He said his job was to sit around and hand castrate the little boy piglets with one swift, well placed cut and sometimes he’d have to do about 600 a day assembly line style.

While he was telling me I ended up making this.

I swear I didn’t do it on purpose.

Oil Paint Over Older Monotype: Age Before Beauty

Posted in abstract, Art, art on paper, expressionist, figurative, Miscellaneous, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , on November 24, 2011 by Tom Bennett

Happy Thanksgiving.

age before beauty

Age Before Beauty, 1993-2011, oil study into monotype on paper. 20″ x 16″

Anachronism

Posted in abstract, Art, art on paper, figurative, monotype, nude, oil painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on November 3, 2011 by Tom Bennett

I’m writing this on the 2 V’s, vicodin and vodka, as I try to recover from a kick-arse flu.

This is an oil painting on paper.

 Anachronism

Anachronism, oil paint over printmaking ink on paper, 20″ x 16″

Mountains of the Bedroom

Posted in abstract, Art, art on paper, figurative, monotype, oil painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , on October 27, 2011 by Tom Bennett

 Mountains of the Bedroom

oil into monotype on paper
30″ x 20″

Available for sale

In the Auerbach of my Mind

Posted in abstract, Art, art on paper, figurative, male nude, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , on September 8, 2011 by Tom Bennett

Another reworked monotype. I was thinking about Frank Auerbach, the great british figurative expressionist. He’s one of the painters floating in the back of my head; his aggressive paint-slathering is of such a unique character it has hammered itself there into my sub-brain. My application isn’t mimicking his nor is it close, it’s the attitude he has with working and reworking this viscous medium until it practically destroys the surface and has to be scrapped down and rebuilt all over again. I’m having a great deal of fun exploring and tripping along with these old prints I made back at Robert Blackburn’s Printmaking workshop in Manhattan.

A Nod to Frank

A Nod to Frank, 1993-2011, oil paint on monotype on paper, 24″ x18″

Paving the Road To Nowhere

Posted in abstract, Collage, Painting with tags , , on August 16, 2011 by jdhastings

Accomplishing things always feels good.

At the end of a project like last week’s I feel good and productive. That feeling may lead me to want to finish something else quickly to keep that feeling going.

The rush to have something finished is unproductive in its own way, though. I see some artists who get so focused on having something new to show that they never slow down to produce something that might maximize their talents.

Purple183

The way I work, this is a particular issue. My raw materials are pre-made things. Without them I can’t finish anything. In addition to that I’ve found that trying to predict the materials I’ll need for a final piece (and therefore working from step 1 to the finish in linear fashion) never works out. I need options. Messes like this happen because I can’t imagine the perfect piece to solve a puzzle before I see it and have to try out 50 before making up my mind (if then).

Source149

The result is that sometimes I have to commit myself to going nowhere. I have to decide to make things for which the end goal is hazy, if it exists at all, just to have something to file in the back of a cabinet somewhere to be found 2 years later.

Source144

Sometimes I have to make things to go into the things I make to go into things I make to go into the final piece. I don’t know how many times these things will be processed, which will get accidentally destroyed, which will surprisingly “make” a piece, and which will be thrown out because they just didn’t work in the context I tried to use them in.

Purple186

This weekend, I consciously put aside the idea of continuing to work on stuff I might finish quickly because the last project depleted my stocks and I needed more fodder. Some of the designs I started using in the last month worked and I could see them being useful for quilts I won’t even start until next year or beyond. That’s what these are (not all of them are from this weekend, but all are pieces I made in the hopes they’d help something else).

Source142

I do NOT mean this as some sort of “the journey is a reward unto itself” cliche. Taking these breaks where nothing final gets produced annoys the living hell out of me. Not knowing where I’m headed with these makes me feel adrift. The point is that conceiving and pursuing a single, unified goal assumes a level of control I don’t think it’s natural to have. Some people can accomplish great feats by that method, but more often my experience is that those who pursue such things limit their own conception. Entropy is the guiding force of the universe, and working against it only creates heat.

Purple192

My alternative is to embrace chance. Instead of trying to limit it, I try to work within it’s confines. I don’t know what I’ll need when I need it. I may not even recognize what’s going to work right up until after a project is done. Taking weeks or months to produce a wide range of “useless” crap increases the odds that what I need is where I need it when I stumble upon it on the route to a more certain end point. Taking risks and being willing to fail allows for probability, entropy, may ultimately work in my favor.

Source133

Ultimately, seeing those chances bear fruit is the most rewarding part of this practice to me. It’s what makes the finished product so rewarding and it’s why I put up with these half-finished, unpolished pains in the asses.

Source143

Source138

City-Wide Open Studios

Posted in 35mm, abstract, Art, art fair, awareness, Drawing, Jason Gray, Painting with tags on July 15, 2011 by Jason Gray

Every year, the Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis sponsors an event that brings the art viewing public directly to local artists. The premise behind City-Wide Open Studios is for St. Louis’ artists to open their studio doors in an organized fashion, choreographed by CAMSTL, so that art viewers, art buyers and art interlopers have the chance to peruse the local talent at hand.

This is the first year that I will be participating, so come out and show me some support. I will have dozens of paintings, drawings, and photographs on display. I will be showing on Saturday, July 30th, and my studio is located at 3434 Magnolia Avenue in Tower Grove East.

The event kicks off with a reception for the artists at “the Contemporary” (information from CAMSTL’s site below).

JULY 26TH. 6:00-9:00 PM.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, NO RSVP REQUIRED. CASH BAR. 3750 WASHINGTON BLVD.

To kick-off the week-long celebration of local art, CAM will be hosting an Open Studios Preview Party where visitors can visit CAM’s Main Galleries to see one piece of artwork by each participating artist. For that night, and the entire following week, each piece of art will be displayed with a label of the artists name and number that corresponds with the printed map – allowing the public to see the artwork beforehand and map out their weekend studio visits. Join CAM and over one hundred local artists for a night of celebrating the local art scene and all that it has to offer. Pi on the Spot – Pi’s mobile pizza truck – will be selling mini pizzas all night!

July

Posted in abstract, Art, Jason Gray, Photography with tags , , , on July 8, 2011 by Jason Gray

Here in the midwest, July brings with it scorching temperatures combined with stifling humidity. Here are a few of my offerings to this special time of year.

Read more »

Atmosphere Part Two

Posted in 35mm, abstract, Art, Jason Gray with tags , on June 23, 2011 by Jason Gray

Part two of my recent series extension.

More after the jump–> Read more »

Atmosphere Part One

Posted in 35mm, abstract, Art, Jason Gray, landscape, Photo-Impressionism, Photography with tags , , on June 17, 2011 by Jason Gray

Some of you might recall a series that I started several years ago, and that was somewhat erroneously referred to as “Photo-Impressionism”. In any case, here is a slight expansion on that old, abandoned project; picked back up in the city where it began. Enjoy.

All Nikon D50 with Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G lens.

More after the jump–> Read more »

Sea Creature

Posted in abstract, Art, art on paper, figurative, gesture, landscape, monotype, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , on June 9, 2011 by Tom Bennett

It’s the beginning of what many climatologists say is a long period of climate change and hot summers in this hemisphere. Its hot here in New York and I wearily prepare for the heavy clammy dampness and the heat and the high electrical bills. So this image is a mild  counteractive to that. I am thinking of Cape Cod Bay and its temperate tone , yet the warm yellow may mitigate even this attempt at the cool.

Tom

Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage, 2011, monotype, 16″ x 20″

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 1,505 other followers