Seven Deadly Sins

The Carousal of the Vices. Ink and paper on wood panel. Framed. 20” x 15.75”

For the Seven Deadly Sins group show at Rothick Art Haus. Opening 4.14.12

Rothick's website

Directions

Russian Red

During the October Revolution the Winter Palace was raided of its wine cellars and made much of the Petrograd population quite drunk. It got to the point that a decree was issued that any stock of wine found would be blown up with dynamite... To celebrate the wine pogrom issued by the Regimental Committee, Lenin, and Trotsky, I give you Russian Red... almost good enough to be straight from the cellar of the Winter Palace.

The Modern Matryoshka

Solzhenitsyn: front


Solzhenitsyn: side


Solzhenitsyn: back


Tolstoy: front


Tolstoy: side


Tolstoy: back


Dostoevsky: front


Dostoevsky: side


Dostoevsky: back


Inside

Finished!

After many intense hours, these dolls are all finished and ready to be shown this weekend. For Solzhenitsyn, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky I also designed an official 'stamp' for the bottom of each one and included their names in English and Russian. When creating these, I decided to size each one according to his age, with the oldest (Dostoevsky) being the smallest. It was in no way to show partiality to Solzhenitsyn, but rather, as they are stacked inside each other, to show how each inspires the next.

The Modern Matryoshka opening reception is April 9th at 7pm
Click here for more details.

Adding Detail... after detail... after detail

Well I have now definitely spent a lot more time working on these dolls than I originally intended. I just kept dreaming bigger. For starters, I added special touches to the inside of each doll. I pasted in old Russian newspaper, and included images I found from these papers on the inside bottom of each 'cup'. Then to add a bit of much needed color, I painted the insides red.  On the outside, I decided to finish each doll off with a textured looking fabric sketch. You can see me working on Solzhenitsyn's herringbone jacket above. I had to put on two coats of lines in order to achieve the darkness I wanted, but I think it turned great. I will be adding textured 'fabrics' to the other two dolls as well and the next posting should be the finalized product.

In Preparation for the Modern Matryoshka

Ill be part of another group show at the Rothick Arthaus soon. We have over 50 artists painting Matryoshka (Russian nesting) dolls. This is going to be insane! I will be posting up pictures as I work on these dolls. The first is what I have to work with... more coming later this week!

Shows Added!

I have added two new shows to the year. Both are coming up rather quickly with the first, A Whole Lotta Rosas, happening on February 11th. It is a one night show at the Camp in Costa Mesa and will feature a wide variety of artists focusing their talents on this rose themed art show. It is being put on by Tim Shelton, a tattoo artist from Costa Mesa. There will be a lot of fresh, new artwork there, live painting by some of the artists, and the best part!?! Nothing costs over $200!

then....

On April 9th, Rothick Arthaus will be putting on a massive Nesting Doll art show. There will be hundreds of nesting or matryoshka dolls painted and created by over 50 artists. Both events will be a lot of fun, and there will be no shortage of cool things to look at.
Visit my events page for more information (more will be added as soon as I know).
Contact me if you have any questions

Promo Cards

Ok the final part before the big show was to make some promo cards. I only make 100 of these per show and use some part of my artwork for one side - in this case Aleksandr's face. I thought about going as far as numbering these just to add a personal touch, but just didn't have enough time or energy to do it.

In case you missed this show, I will be back at Rothick again next August for my first solo show! It seems like a long time to wait, but I know it will be worth it...

Portrait of Aleksandr

This is the finished portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and I have to say, the photo does not do it justice. This thing is really big, like four feet tall big! If you have a chance, go check it out, as this is the last weekend it will be hanging in the gallery, or if your around during the week you can call and make an appointment (Rothick.com).

I created a page for all the steps in making this portrait of Aleksandr. The steps are in descending order so you can easily scroll through the entire process. Click the link below to see this process and read more about the meaning behind this portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Creating the Portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is ink, oil, and paper (pages from Cancer Ward) on wood panel. 32" x 48". Sold

The March to Tashkent

Here is another piece from my show at the Rothick Arthaus. Entitled The March to Tashkent, it is based on a time when Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, while still serving time in the labor camps (gulags), had to go to a hospital in Tashkent because of a tumor. His tumor was removed, but the cancer was not diagnosed for a few more years, almost killing him (I know what that feels like). This hospital in Tashkent was the inspiration for his novel Cancer Ward, a story where he used tumors as a metaphor for  the problems in Russia. The novel is also the basis for most of my artwork in this show.

The March to Tashkent is ink, acrylic, and newspaper on wood panel. 24" x 32"

Beneath the Broken Bottles Recap

Awesome night on Saturday for the opening of Beneath the Broken Bottles and Cigarette Butts. I included a few pictures, but didnt have a whole lot of time to take much more than that. I met quite a few artists, chatted with tons of interesting people, and sold quite a few pieces - including the portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn!

I will be profiling these new pieces a little closer the next few weeks and explain a little more about them. Make sure you check back for that! This show will be on display through Sept. 4th so get down there as this will be the last time they are all up together. Plus the artwork of Ryan Clemens and Cody Lusby (aka Mustachio) are amazing mixed media works and must be seen up close to really capture all their details. Thanks for everyone that came out and to those who now own a piece of my work!

Show this Saturday!

The Agony of Drying Paint

Well this is it! Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's portrait is finished...well mostly. I still have to let the oil paint dry, which can take up to a week! I put it and the flowers under a heat lamp to hopefully speed up the process; hoping that it will be dry enough to take to the gallery tomorrow. After they all dry, the flowers have to be pasted to boards and everything needs to get a nice protective clear coat put over them so they will last.

Unfortunately, I wont be putting up a picture of the finished portrait until after the show. It just looks so much better in real life, and I dont want to take away that element by showing you now. It would be like telling you how an intense movie ends... So instead Ill give you a little spy shot and a few other steps of things I worked on yesterday.

Only eight more days until the show!

This is what I CAN show you of the portrait



Here is the first step in redoing the flower in the portrait. I had to wipe off the oil paint first so I didnt smear it when I pasted the page over it.



Covered up the old flower



Now I start inking in the new, bigger flower



Add a little paint



And let them all dry

Off for Framing... and Flowers!

I got the portrait of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn to a good stopping point and gave it to my neighbor to build a frame for it. We have been trading work back and forth, I design print and website stuff for his carpentry business, and he builds me beautiful frames. It has been working out great. So while the portrait is across the street, I have been keeping myself busy with these flowers. I am making ten of these, plus the one in the portrait makes eleven. Eleven flowers for eleven years Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn spent in the labor camps.

The process for making these is quite simple. I tried to use mainly photos I took of the roses in my backyard. Once I ran out of those I turned to the internet. I didnt spend a lot of time on the actual details and getting everything perfect. I wanted to keep them a little sloppy. I painted each flower on the beginning of each chapter, 1-10, from Solzhenitsyn's book Cancer Ward (the same book I used for his portrait). I will be selling these flowers at the art show for pretty cheap. Like $20 a piece, cheap. So make sure you come get one before they are all gone!

Inking in the Outline

My next step, once I got everything in its proper place, is to ink in the outline. I am doing the whole portrait in ink because 1. its not thick like black paint 2. it blends really smoothly 3. it dries flat and doesnt show brush strokes. So basically Im going over all the lines I already drew, but with a bottle of ink and a very fine tipped brush. This actually took me most of the day to finish because this picture is huge and there is a lot of detail to it. Eleven days until opening night at the Rothick Arthaus!

On this day in 2008, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn passed away. I hope this portrait will both honor his accomplishments and inform more people about who he was and the relentless stand he took against the Soviet Union.

Tools of the trade.



You can see there is an area I still have to do on his chest. Im adding a flower in there and I just haven't figured out how I want to do it...



Detail shot of the sleeve after inking in the outlines. Can you find a penguin, a polar bear, a whale, and a map?

In Preparation

  

These three sketches are for an upcoming piece Im working on. Its gonna be pretty big and hopefully awesome. Actually I know its going to be awesome, and it will be revealed at the upcoming art show "Beneath the Broken Bottles and Cigarette Butts" at the Rothick Gallery in Anaheim, CA. I urge you all to come, its gonna be crazy! I will have my own room there and will be showing new stuff. I will also have a limited number of small sketches that will be sold for cheap! Make sure you get there on time so you can get one before they are all gone... Go to my events page for more information.

Skate Deck Art Show Recap

Thanks to everyone that could come out to the Room n Board Show at the Rothick Gallery last Saturday. There was a huge turn out, great food, amazing art, and a crazy crowd. I posted a few pictures from the event below...

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