Archive for the figurative 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″

Nod to Basch

Posted in Art, expressionism, expressionist, figurative, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , on February 16, 2012 by Tom Bennett

Here I’m publishing the 1st stage – an original monotype – and the finished overlaid painting. Looking at the two images now I can see what choices I would make differently. The energy of the 1st state has been redirected distinctly.

I’m working on some monotypes dedicated to Jeremy Lin, the phenom of the NY Knicks. I hope to post the results later.

Tom Bennett

Nod to Basch, 1st stage, monotype, 18″ x 28″

Nod to Basch stage 2

Nod to Basch, oil over monotype on paper, 18″ x 28″

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″

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The Fat and the Thin in the Corner

Posted in Art, art on paper, expressionism, expressionist, figurative, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, technique, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on February 2, 2012 by Tom Bennett

More paintings made from monotypes. These two pieces I finished a couple of days ago and I’m of two minds about them. The first, In the Corner, may be a tad too defined in the figure. I’m not sure I’m pushing the abstraction enough. The second painting I’m on the fence about as well. How’s that for mixed metaphor cliches?

Tom Bennett

In the Corner

In the Corner, oil over monotype on paper, 28″ x 20″

The Fat and the Thin

The Fat and the Thin, oil over monotype on paper, 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″

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″

Nice and Easy

Posted in Art, art on paper, expressionism, figurative, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, technique, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on December 22, 2011 by Tom Bennett

When taking monotypes and working back into them with other media, I intend to allow the under-print to be an integral part of the process and have a dialogue with the fresh mark making. With this piece I fear I have pushed to far with the paint and the literal form. The most overt area revealing the print is the space on the right with amorphous cell-like blobs. That said, I like the spotty abstracted relationships and may accept this as sort of a red-headed step child, even though she’s a brunette.

Tom Bennett

Wrong Turn

Nice and Easy, oil on monotype, rives bfk paper, 20″ x 16″

Work in Progress: Konja

Posted in Art, art on paper, expressionist, figurative, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , on December 15, 2011 by Tom Bennett

A monotype currently being revisited. Something about this makes me think of, remember fondly, my experiences in Turkey. I can’t tell you why.

WIP-Konja

WIP: Konja, 2003-2011, oil paint over oil based monotype on paper, 24″ x 18″

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″

Hedy

Posted in Art, art on paper, figurative, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on November 17, 2011 by Tom Bennett

Leafing through the archives of not-quite successful prints, I came across a good candidate. I didn’t document it in its original stage, as I haven’t really done for most of the pieces in this series, but suppose I should. I will, however, search for a slide of it, which I am almost positive I have catalogued somewhere in the cave I call my studio.

I’m not isolating the printmaking paper with hide glue or gesso or anything. It should last at least until a meteor hits the earth, destroying civilization as we know it.

Hedwig's Spread Spectrum

Hedwigs’s Spread Spectrum, oil over 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

Submissive

Posted in Art, figurative, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, technique, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , on October 20, 2011 by Tom Bennett

This is pending sale, pending on spending.

Submissive

Submissive, Oil over monotype on printmaking paper, 20″ x 16″

Signed, Sealed and Delivered

Posted in Art, art on paper, art school, current events, events, exhibits, figurative, Miscellaneous, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, openings, Painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 6, 2011 by Tom Bennett

Silvermine Art Center in New Canaan, CT is organizing a fundraising event it has hosted for 10 years now, Signed, Sealed and Delivered. It’s an art sale and auction designed for collectors and art lovers featuring over 500 small, 4″ x 6″ original works in all media for sale at $50 each, to benefit the Center’s programs and outreach.

I’m contributing these 3 tiny paintings, all oil over monotype on Rives BFK printmaking paper. I rarely, if ever, paint this small with oil and I find it to be a disciplined exercise in control and direct manipulation of materials and form. Hellzalotta of fun.

Tom

ssd1

SSD 1, oil on monotype on paper, 6″ x 4″

ssd2

SSD 2, oil on monotype on paper, 6″ x 4″

ssd3

SSD 3, oil on monotype on paper, 4″ x 6″

Paint, Print, Paper, Pigeon

Posted in Art, art on paper, figurative, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , , , on September 22, 2011 by Tom Bennett

I’m continuing the exercise of painting over monotypes and I’m just exploring the application and reaction of the oil on printmaking paper. The paper is a medium to heavy weight Stonehenge brand and absorbs the oil paint and turps relatively quickly; the opposite of the method used in making the monotypes, since with the monos its about oil based paint and ink applied to plexiglass: no tooth nor absorption but simply a resistant glassy surface that the paint glides over. With painting directly on the paper, its about discovering the various lengths of time different paint films and colors tack up and how they interact with paint layers placed over them. I’m allowing and developing loose abstracted form with these early stages. Technically these could be called either paintings or monotypes, but you can call them anything you want. If it’s a four-letter word, I don’t really need to know about it.
Pigeon is old slang for a young woman, back when men were men and misogynist was a 10-letter word.
T.B.

Old Ruling Class 4 Revise

Old Ruling Class Revise, oil on monotype on paper, 20″ x 16″

The original monotype:

Old Ruling Class 4

there are many formal aspects of the print that I really like and have been changed and obliterated. Ah well. You must destroy to create to destroy again.

Tastes like Chicken

Posted in Art, art on paper, figurative, monotype, nude, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags , , , , , , , , on September 15, 2011 by Tom Bennett

I’m in Cape Cod this week and kind of stuck without proper art-making materials as I work fixing up a beach shack. I’m lying here while a chicken is cooking in the kitchen and the smells waft into my flared nostrils. I’m hungry and you’ll just have to deal with this older monotype from the pompously named “archives”.

tatses like chicken

Tastes Like Chicken (formally titled Untitled Figure #2), monotype, 14″ x 9″

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″

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