This is a bad photo of a work in progress. I’m going south for a couple of days.
Tom Bennett
WIP, oil into monotype on paper, 18″ x 24″
Archive for oil painting
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 abstract, Art, expressionist nude, figure, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, paper, printmaking, Tom Bennett, wip, Work in Progress on February 23, 2012 by Tom BennettThe 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 abstract, Art, expressionist nude, figure, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, paper, printmaking, Tom Bennett on February 2, 2012 by Tom BennettMore 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, oil over monotype on paper, 28″ x 20″
The Fat and the Thin, 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 abstract, Art, expressionist figure painting, expressionist nude, figure, monotype, nude, oil over monotype, oil painting, Painting, paper, printmaking, Tom Bennett on January 12, 2012 by Tom BennettI’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, 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
figure 1993, monotype,
Final stage:
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 Art, Drawing, expressionist figure, mixed media, monotype, oil on monotype, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, reworked print, Tom Bennett on January 5, 2012 by Tom BennettPhotos 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.
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 abstract, Art, expressionist nude, figure, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil over monotype, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett on December 22, 2011 by Tom BennettWhen 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
Nice and Easy, oil on monotype, rives bfk 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 abstract, Art, expressionist nude, figure, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil over monotype, oil painting, Painting, paper, Tom Bennett on November 17, 2011 by Tom BennettLeafing 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.
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 abstract, Art, figure, mixed media, monotype, nude, NYC, oil paint on monotype, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett on November 3, 2011 by Tom BennettI’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, 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 Art, figure, nude, oil on paper, oil over monotype, oil painting, Painting, paper, printmaking, Tom Bennett on October 27, 2011 by Tom Bennett
oil into monotype on paper
30″ x 20″
Available for sale
Cole in Yer Stocking
Posted in Art, awesome, oil painting, Painting, Tom Bennett with tags Art, destructuction, empire, figure, oil painting, Painting, thomas cole, Tom Bennett on October 13, 2011 by Tom BennettI’ve been away without art materials so I have nothing but this image of a painting by the 19th century painter Thomas Cole to post. It’s part of a series called The Course of an Empire, this being “Destruction”. As far as I’m concerned, its as good a symbol of the fate of contemporary western culture as any. Later, it’s my bed-time.
The Course of an Empire: Destruction
Tommy Cole
Nice futurist hair-do.
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 exhibit, figurative painting, figure, fundraising event, mixed media, monotype, nude, nude woman, oil on paper, oil painting, Painting, paper, printmaking, Silvermine Arts Center, small paint, Tom Bennett on October 6, 2011 by Tom BennettSilvermine 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
SSD 1, oil on monotype on paper, 6″ x 4″
SSD 2, oil on monotype on paper, 6″ x 4″
SSD 3, oil on monotype on paper, 4″ x 6″
Dark Trade: New Coat of Paint for Old Print
Posted in Art, art on paper, figurative, gesture, male nude, mixed media, monotype, nude, oil painting, Painting, printmaking, Tom Bennett, work on paper with tags abstract, Art, art on paper, boxing, figure, male nude, monotype, oil on paper, oil painting, Painting, paper, printmaking, Tom Bennett on September 1, 2011 by Tom BennettI’m continuing to take old and not particularly successful monotypes and reworking them with oil paint. It’s not quite working here perhaps because I haven’t resolved the relationship of the figure and its treatment with the breaking up of the picture plane. The shapes are not jiving, but I do like the figure.
Extended right, oil paint on monotype on paper, 1992-2011
Work in Progress Painting
Posted in Art, figurative, nude, oil painting, Painting, Tom Bennett with tags dante divine comedy, figure, harry bennett, heavy nude, nude, oil on panel, oil painting, Painting, Tom Bennett, Work in Progress on May 12, 2011 by Tom BennettWork in progress, another in the series “Old Ruling Class”.
The support is a cradled masonite board treated with a white clay ground, which produces a nice balanced surface that is both a resist and absorbing platform which allows me to do reductive mark-making with tools such as a razor blade, which is a technique my father, Harry, used to great effect in a number of projects such as his Divine Comedy series.
Harry celebrates his 92nd birthday this weekend. Happy Birthday, Dad!
Old ruling Class 5, wip
oil on board, 24″ x18″
Sexual Assault Can Lead to Liver Damage
Posted in Art, homage, male nude, nude, oil painting, Painting, Tom Bennett with tags abstract, allegory, Art, baroque, expression, figure, homage, male nude, nude, oil painting, Painting, punishment, retribution, symbolist painting, titian, Tityus, Tom Bennett on May 5, 2011 by Tom BennettTityus was the Greek mythological character who was put to death for assaulting a daughter of Zeus and sentenced to be eternally chained in the great pit of Tartarus, a greek version of hell, while his liver (thought to hold passionate emotion, ie, anger) was gnawed at by vultures and snakes. This story of eternal struggle and retribution is similar to the Prometheus myth and in ways to the narrative of Sisyphus. Titian apparently loved this line of metaphor; he made paintings of all of these subjects. Last year I made a monotype based on his Sisyphus.
I see existential analogies between ancient myth and the contemporary human condition and have always been intrigued by the dark gothic drama of baroque allegorical art. Here I’ve taken multiple images from allegorical paintings and overlapped them, searching for some kind of combination of grace, jaggedness and abstracted puzzlement.
As with any just completed piece I post, I’m still pondering adjustments.
Considering the connection to sclerosis and retribution, I’ve invented a new drink, The Bin Laden: 2 shots and a splash of water. (apologies to the ultra sensitive)
Thanks, I’ll be here all week. Enjoy the veal.
Tom Bennett
Weekend at Tartarus, oil on panel, 28″ x 48″
detail
detail
Abduction and Marriage
Posted in abstract, Art, figurative, homage, narrative art, nude, oil painting, Painting, rape, technique, Tom Bennett, Work in Progress with tags abstract, Art, figurative painting, homage, nude, oil on panel, oil painting, Painting, rape, rubens, Tom Bennett on March 24, 2011 by Tom BennettRubens’s Rape of the Daughters of Leucippus confronts the viewer with an interpretative dilemna. The composition illustrates the story recounted by Theocritus and Ovid of how the twin brothers Castor and Pollux (called the Dioscuri) forcibly abducted and later married the daughters of King Leucippus. Rubens’s depiction of the abduction is marked by some striking ambiguities: an equivocation between violence and solicitude in the demeanor of the brothers, and an equivocation between resistance and gratification in the response of the sisters. The energized ebullience and sensual appeal of the group work to override our darker thoughts about the coercive nature of the abduction.
I’ve decided to take this painting and place it in another ambiguous and disconnected space, distorting much of the narrative and for lack of a better cliché, recontextualizing. At this late stage it still needs some tweeking and resolution of various passages.
Tom Bennett
Sisters, oil on panel, 24″ x 30″
Aesthetic Limbo
Posted in abstract, Art, figurative, homage, oil painting, Painting, Tom Bennett with tags abstract, allegory, Art, homage, oil on panel, oil painting, Painting, tiepolo, Tom Bennett on March 17, 2011 by Tom BennettI’m continuing with the deconstruction and reconstruction of antique allegorical paintings. This was initially influenced by Tiepolo’s The Martyrdom of St Bartholomew. I’m concerned here with the relationship of process and the subconscious; finding the ambiguous spaces between the concrete and the obscure. At this stage it simply looks like a semi cubist painting, so I’m unsure of my feelings about it.
The support for this painting is a ready-made cradled hardboard with a texture I’m not entirely happy with. The acrylic gessoed, evenly patterned surface seems to absorb the medium too fast and too much, and the texture isn’t quite responding to the tools I’m using for mark-making. I think I’ll be returning to a little more resistant surface.
Tom Bennett
Bartholemew 3-11, 2011, oil on panel, 24″ x 18″
Stage 2 of a Figurative to Abstract Painting
Posted in abstract, Art, figurative, homage, male nude, oil painting, Painting, technique, Tom Bennett, Work in Progress with tags abstract, Art, caravaggio, homage, oil on panel, oil painting, Painting, St Peter, Tom Bennett on February 24, 2011 by Tom BennettThis week I’m posting a current stage in an ongoing metamorphosis of a painting influenced by Caravaggio’s Crucifixion of St Peter. I’m trying to find the place where the abstract marks camoflage any overt figurative narrative. I’ve been working here with oil, oil stick; a 3 part medium made of damar, turps and stand oil; and black oil medium, made with litharge. The black oil creates a really beautiful, deep and strong paint film and glaze.
I’ll be the first to admit this is a mediocre photo.
Pete’s Going Away, oil on panel, 40″ x 30″
Detail
Here’s the original Caravaggio, so he doesn’t sue me:
Painting in Tongues
Posted in Art, figurative, oil painting, Painting, portrait, Tom Bennett, Toni Tiller with tags abstract, Art, figure, oil painting, Painting, portrait, representation, Tom Bennett, Toni Tiller on November 25, 2010 by Tom BennettI’m interested in how the viewer digests, distills, deconstructs and then reconstructs a piece of art. The visual language an artist uses must rely on the understanding of that language by the viewer in order for the work to to be interpreted as art.
The first is a representational portrait of fellow blogger Toni Tiller, the second is an unfinished version, a work in progress with the intent of abstraction. The first uses marks that signify and symbolize very specific ideas, whereas the second uses a language that speaks more about material first and objective form second. What perception and perspective the audience carries in response to each piece is significant.
Tom Bennett
Toni Tiller A, 11/10, oil on board, 24′ x 24″
Toni Tiller B, 11/10, oil on board, 24″ x 24″
Our Father Who Art in Towson
Posted in abstract, Art, Harry Bennett, oil painting, Painting, plein air, portrait, Tom Bennett with tags Art, figure, harry bennett, landscape, maryland, oil painting, Painting, plein air, portraiture, Tom Bennett, Towson on October 7, 2010 by Tom BennettAs I had mentioned last week, I hung out with my parents these past 10 days in Maryland. I brought down a paint box and small easel, brushes, prepared boards, etc and my dad, Harry Bennett Sr., went to work. We painted for 3 days out side, and then it turned cold and wet. But in those 3 days he did some great stuff. He is the master. Watch the videos that illustrate his quiet confident command and focus.
We painted each other simultaneously, and the next day he did a lovely expressionist landscape from life.
Here are some images and videos.
Harry Bennett, Painting of Tom, oil on board, 14 x 23
Tom Bennett, Painting of Harry, oil on board, 23 x 14
Harry Bennett, Untitled, oil on board, 20 x 16
Harry painting me:
Harry starting a painting:
Truro Beach
Posted in Art, figurative, oil painting, Painting, plein air, Tom Bennett with tags Art, beach, cape cod, expressionist, figure, oil painting, Painting, plein air, Tom Bennett on September 23, 2010 by Tom BennettWas up on Cape Cod last week. One of my favorite places on earth. This was painted en plein air.
Oil on board, 14″ x 28″
Work In Progress
Posted in Art, Jason Gray with tags Jason Gray, oil painting, portrait on May 27, 2010 by Jason Gray
Oil on Canvas, 30″ x 40″.
It has been a long, looong time since I’ve really sat down and painted with oils. Today, I had quite a few hours to myself, so I decided to do just that. I have a few old pieces, that I was never happy with and that I have been contemplating painting over. In this case, I went about merely reworking the original (and I do have plans to come back and finish it before another year slips off into the abyss). Original after the jump–>
darteboard
jdhastings
ssstephg
Tom Bennett
Toni Tiller
Jason Gray
probrucer
laelia e. mitchell
