Behind women's eyes VIII final... The halloween special!

I hastily went for a 3rd coat this morning, as if wanting to put this exercise behind me as fast as I could...

 I saw this one as a confidence builder in the art of moving paint around as opposed to a quantum leap in my artistic development. Every now and then I feel the need to let go... to sort of ventilate artistically! There is always the prospect of discovery... in this case, it's simply a reaffirmation of my usual techniques and color palette!

Note to self: "I realize that I like the control of building up as opposed to going alla prima right from the start. I prefer the route of transparency in the form of 2-3 rapid layers. Although I still favour monochromatic color schemes, I see potential for more colors in my future works based on any of the three steps leading to this final work."

Behind women's eyes VIII - step II... Discarding the rules for a while!

I leisurely put a 2nd coat of paint, this afternoon, on this painting in progress...

My previous elucubrations seemed to have set the stage a little... scary stuff!

Note to self: "Each time I decide to paint with a roller... I learn something... I think!"

Behind women's eyes VIII - step I... A colorful experiment: searching for the colorist in me... if any!

Not feeling like painting today, I decided to do an experiment in the use of primary colors in the rendering of skin tones, another idea that has been simmering in my mind for a while...

This is not necessarily a style that I want to adopt in the future, but rather something that I want to implement for the sake of curiosity... and to rid myself of the fear of using bold colors and of my over-dependence on analogous color schemes! In the end though, this experiment is bound to have an impact on my future paintings! I zipped through this first pass like a mad man!

Note: One experiment leads to another. In this case, my use of primary color accents with the previous eagle scene led to this experiment...

Note to self: "Color separation is still an unfulfilled objective of mine... time to tackle that beast!"

Bateman como pretexto - American recession I final... Trying to make a mark with marks!

A busy weekend as a helper at a house construction site and as the "constant gardener" getting ready for winter. I gave a last kick at the can at my painting in progress this morning...

 This time around I used self leveling gel to make embossed marks on metallic paint (photographing the painting in the sun would help visualize this). The effect is interesting at different viewing angles . With regard to the messaging behind this painting, I'll leave it open to interpretation!

Note: I'm interested in incorporating multi-layered  meanings in my future works using colors and graphics. This is a timid 1st attempt, so to speak!

Bateman como pretexto - American recession I - step II... Forgot how tedious animal painting can be!

This second pass took me 1.5 hour, although I'm using my usual loose style...

Some more finetuning, and I'm off to the races with calligraphic marks in strategic areas. Needless to say, this is quite experimental!

Bateman como pretexto - American recession I - step I... Trying to get enough rope to hang myself!

This has been simmering in my mind for a while, a series on the American recession featuring the bald eagle...

My plan is to use metallic paint mixed with normal paint... going transparent or opaque depending on the area to cover. I'm basically mingling all the metallic paint techniques that I've used so far. I also want to do some deconstruction work with this one as well.

The premise of this series is that it's hard to soar like an eagle when you're with a bunch of turkeys! I'm looking at 4-5 paintings in this series.  This is a 36 X 36 canvas...

Note: I'm not too hard on the bald eagle... a well known Quebec artist entered Brooklyn with a tarred bald eagle, a take off on the concept of  being " tarred and feathered"... the message behind that piece was obvious!

Flock II - revisited... Trying to work at deconstruction... in a constructive way!

After some thinking about my future moves in art... I decided to push the deconstruction of my previous picture a little further to test ground in this new area for me...

... there's no two ways about it, gotta get deconstruction techniques down path if I'm to depict movement in a most convincing fashion! My previous to last "flock" painting also reminded me of the importance of the void within the picture plane, except that this void must be made interesting in my view (I'm thinking textural effects). It also reminded me of the importance of mark making... if the image is not readable in a close up (this is where I'm going with one stream of my future works), then marks need to be made interesting. With regard to the use of raw canvas... I still need to experiment with free flowing staining techniques (so far, I've done only smudging!). Other than that, I'm still obsessed with the elusiveness of images painted with metallic paint... and want to incorporate in them strong calligraphic marks in bold colors using normal paint.

Needless to say, I've got my work cut out during the next few months!

flock II final... Another experiment in partial deconstruction!

This one ended up being more conservative because of the point of view but it blends fairly well with the previous one...

 ... still, I managed to leave some birds unresolved... a challenge for the purist but a new evolutionary step for me!
 Taking a break from raw canvas, my next move will be to address the American recession but using metallic paint and calligraphic marks as I did with the painting before... for more of a contemporary look...

Note: I'm planning to present the 2 paintings (each one 36 X 36) to my 92 year old father tomorrow... to see his reaction. Although they are just experiments, they could lead the path to more serious works in the area of image deconstruction....

Flock II - step I... Back to the blur!

This is a 2nd attempt on raw canvas... trying to discard the subject in favour of general impressions expressed in colors...

This flock series is allowing me to paint in total abandon... and I'm surprised at the degree of "subject retention" that I have achieved despite my being sloppy! The palette knife should help me "abstract" the birds a little more on the 2nd pass.

Note: I'm interested in using raw canvas in the future and this one is my 4th painting. My interest stems from the fact that raw canvas behaves a little like watercolor rag paper and is perfectly suited for acrylics. This has the effect of improving my creative "cockiness"! My next experiments will be on Belgium linen... but with my usual subject matters!

Behind women's eyes VII final... Destroying one's own work... getting the knack of it!

Another interesting experience to improve my intestinal fortitude in the use of gutsy moves...

... as usual, my first approach is always timid, but it's a start!

Note to self: "We live in a society bombarded with myriads images... so I see an opportunity in introducing an image component in an otherwise totally expressive painterly mess! Dosing these 2 approaches remains the challenge."

Behind women's eyes VII - step I .... a post-mortem spasm for this series!

I seem to be in the mode for experimentation again... or is it a constant state of affairs with me! I'd like to go for a mixture of styles with this one... sort of a potpourri of techniques including metallic paint and some image destruction work in the end...

... let's hope the result will not be too "pourri" (French word meaning "in a state of decomposition")! With metallic paint, I like the fading of the image depending on the viewing angle... and this goes in line with the elusive rendering that I want to introduce in my future art. The other method I want to use for elusiveness goes in line with that used in my recent bird painting : totally abstracted in a close-up (can't make heads or tails!) but quite figurative from a distance. I hope that these methods will eventually converge! In a way, I'd like to clash the monochromatic and cinematographic with the colorful abstract figurative...

Note to self: "With experimentation, I'm always concerned about the prospect of experimenting to oblivion"!

Flock I final... An interesting experiment!

With this one, I tried to create a subtle movement swinging back to the left while the birds are flying in unison towards the right...

... in essence, trying to recreate the feeling I had when I experienced this for the first time while accompanying my father during a hunting trip. I must have been not much older that 10 years old... so the experience had quite an impact on me! This short series is to honor my father who celebrated his ninety second birthday last September.

I'll be using these animal paintings as a preamble to paint the human form in an elusive way... I'm getting bored with static renditions!

Flock I - step II... Painting the blur!

This has been an objective of mine for a while, i.e., the depiction of form in movement...

... moreover, the rather undefined traces of an image left in the brain long after it's been viewed. The challenge will be to replicate this with the human form...

Note: For the 3rd pass, I'll be looking at subtle improvements in color nuances and depth...

Flock I - step I... Abstraction that I will hopefully not have to rename "flop I"!

In-between chores around the house, I decided to give a go at my first abstract work on raw canvas...

... or semi abstract work should I say. I like the ADWYSYWD* principle... but it has its limits! Nonetheless, I'm enjoying the "no mind" state of mind I've achieve starting this one!

*Note: "Always do what you said you would do"

My art goes on TV... my claim to fame!

Last year, I sold one of my Tuareg paintings to a co-worker of the Muse (my wife)...

... needless to say, I did not expect it to resurface in the context of a popular Montreal dating game program! I guess this is as close as I'm gonna get to fame this year!

Transiting - Varnishing the last batch before proceeding with the task at hand!

In-between series, I decided on the spur of the moment to varnish a backlog of paintings...

 ... while still trying to get fixed on my next move in art, the usual confusion at the end of any series.

This is "Hibiscus last call"...

... before it goes inside for the winter.Gee, I didn't see the summer pass!