Russian Famine 1921 Painting

After that drawing all inspired from the Russian Famine of 1921 and that final drawing came out, I decided to paint it. And not to brag, but I'm kind of stoked about it. Its on a piece of crappy wood, that I spilled oil on, and its all warped and this isn't not a very good picture of it, but I'm happy with it. Plus was suppose to be a sketch painting, but I got more caught up in it than I had planned on.

Materials: Oil paint on wood

Russian Famine of 1921

I was recently reading about the Russian Famine of 1921 and this idea came about. In the simplest explanation the Russian famine was caused by a drought in the 1920's and roughly 5 million people died.

The top image is a map of Russia, clearly not a perfect map but it was drawn from a map of Russia. Then I took a a sheet of tracing paper and drew the image of below on the left. It was this idea of the weighted atmosphere swarming the land (a.k.a. the famine). Within those lines I then found my figures, drawn on another piece of tracing paper. People who were forced to adjust to the circumstances and were affected by it. The next row down and first image on the left is another sheet of tracing paper. On that sheet, I found text within those lines. The words I found were 5 million, famine, Russia, and drought. And lastly, I took another sheet of tracing paper and over laid it on again and designed one final image, influenced by all the other layers.

Materials: paper, tracing paper, pen

Wood Burning Trial

So I decided to try wood burning and I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It was an experience though. I didn't think this idea through all the way. One of those impulses, where I thought It would be fun and then I realized I should have tested it some.

The top image is the beginning. The middle two are in-progress images. And the very bottom is what I ended with... thus far anyways.

Materials: Left over wood from the garage and a wood burning pen.

Sketch Work

Most recent sketch work. Just another one of those figure forms, nothing too special...

Materials: pencil, and a little pen work.

Lines and Forms

Another working idea in my drawing class. Same concept with finding the forms within the environment. However, this time I'm finding those forms on tracing paper. That way I am able to obviously show where the form is, but at the same time I can remove the tracing paper and the form disappears. Meaning, they are there, just not seen.

Materials: Paper, ink, marker, tracing paper. tape

Lines and Forms Painting

 This is still a work in progress. The bottom image is of the background I created. Those lines across the canvas are string which I gessoed on to the canvas. Then, in the top right image, I went in and threw in those lines as the environment. At this point I removed the string. And then from there, using the lines/ environment I created, I found my forms within those lines. Still all one big working idea and I wish I had used more string....

Materials: Oil paint, canvas, string

Making 3D Forms Painting Sketch

So I took that 3D form I made awhile ago and painted it. Gives the forms something different. A lot of the other forms I've been making come across some what smooth, they all seem to have the same lines. Using the 3D model it helped me find another way to create the forms without them seeming all the same.

Anyway, this is just a rendering of the form I created. Nothing special. Not sure what I'll do with it, just something to keep in mind.

Materials: Oil paint on wood.

Sketch Work: Lines and Forms Study (continued)

Not sure how I feel about this thus far, but I do like the idea behind it. I'll probably play with it some more and try and get more of a feel of it.

I've been thinking a lot about toned paper and patterned paper. I think that would be cool to bring in. Maybe I can do some research on cultures in relation to areas of starvation or poverty and then tied that pattern back to my overall idea.

Still the same materials.

Making 3D forms

So today I took this stuff called Great Stuff. It's an insulating foam sealant. I purposely bought the big gap filler that way I could get a lot out of it. The filled a nylon stoking with it.

The bottom left image was what it looked like after I filled it with Great Stuff and had molded it some to the shape I'm looking for. It took a few minutes to harden, but as it got firm, I went bak in and reworked the form so it would look more like what I was going for. Hopefully it looks somewhat like a figure. I

I want them to be similar to the images I've been drawing however in a physical form. The form is only 10 inches in length, if that. It is firm and hard now, however, it could not hold itself up unless I added some kind of stand to it.

Anyway, I'm rather happy with it thus far, considering I had no idea what I was doing.

Materials: Great Stuff, nylon stockings, and rubber gloves

Lines and Forms Study

So playing with the same ideas of line work as the foreground and then inputing the figures. This is just a rough sketch of an idea. Sorry its pretty blurry.

Not exactly sure how I feel about this at all. It was just a working idea in drawing I tried to pull into painting.

Materials: Oil paint on wood.

Sketch Work: Lines and Forms Study

Today in my drawing class, I was discussing with my teach my ideas. She suggested pulling the lines in the back ground up front and then pulling images out of the lines I've made. If that makes sense.

It is clearly not a finished work, but this is it thus far.

Its all still a working progress, but I'm actually rather stoked about where this is going. I really like the idea of chance in work, which is kind of what's going on in this work. Something about it kind of reminds me of Jackson Pollock's work.

Once again, I took a pen cap to smear the ink all over. However, in the bottom righthand corner, I just poured it on there. Then I took white acrylic paint and dipped my mechanical pencil.

Materials: Printmaking paper, ink, and acrylic paint

Hunger

Just finished this one today. Sorry its kind of blurry, I only have my phone. I kind of messed up some in a couple spots, but for the most part I'm rather pleased with it. I've never done a piece with text as the background.

The background is made up of terms and their definitions. They all revolve around the issues of hunger. And then ends with a fact about hunger.

Terms:
Hunger, Starvation, Famine, Poverty, Malnutrition, Anemia, Kwashiorkor, Catabolism, Beriberi, Pellagra, Scurvy, Atrophy, Dehydration, Fatigue, Food and Agriculture Organization, World Food Programme, International Fund for Agricultural Development.

Fact: Roughly, 25,000 people die every day of hunger.

The Skinny (3): Continued

So I added ink and paint... not sure how I feel yet about it. I'm not ready to remove the tape around the edges yet because, I'm just not a hundred percent sure I'm ready to say I'm do with it. I think I may want to add more to it. Make the darks darker and the white just a little whiter.

Anyway, same as before, I took a pen came for the black lines in the background and dipped it in the ink. The black in the figures were achieved by taking a mechanical pencil and dipping the tip into the ink and essentially using it as a pen. And the paint was just brushed on.

Material: Printmaking paper, pencil, ink, acrylic paint

Gestural Forms (1)

Just did this one... I like it a lot better than the first one I did with two figures from before. This time I did do a sketch with pencil before bringing in the charcoal.

Materials: Some type of paper (I think once again from my printmaking class), pencil, and charcoal.

The Skinny (3): Work In Progress

Currently working on this. I'm pretty stoked about it actually. No idea what I should do as far as a background go. Debating about inking it and putting paint on it like the others... Could be cool? Its not like I can't draw it again so I might as well just explore with it.

I think for the time being I'll put it down and come back to it in a little bit.

Materials: Its on some kind of printing paper I had left over from a intaglio printmaking class with pencil.

Size: 15"x8" (approx.)

Sketch Work: Gestural Forms Continued

Additional gestural drawings. They are pretty sketchy but I'm pretty pleased with what is coming out thus far. The bottom one with the two figures is my favorite. I don't know why I didn't think about putting two figures in the images. It pulls more of a story to the surface. It wasn't until I went back and looked at Jedd Garet's work that I even considered putting more than on figure into the an image. In his works, the figures almost look as though they are dancing or embraced in one another. When I read it, it comes across as a love story almost. I want to be able to do that with my images. Right now they kind of just look like they are leaning on one another... not that that is a bad thing. I want them to look frail and weak, so that dependency on one another for support and strength would be a good thing. I guess I just need to keep working and see where it goes...

Material: Newsprint and charcoal

 

Sketch Work: Gestural Forms

Trying to see different positions of the forms I can come up with... This is not very many, so I'll want to continue playing with them and seeing what I can do. I've been advised to try and physically build the forms and see what I get from that. Hopefully soon I can make a run out to Home Depot and pick up some materials and try and build a few of these. But as of right now, this is what I've been working on. These were the first few sketches. I was not particularly concerned with how the images turned out, just getting the form and position.

Materials: Newsprint and charcoal
 

The Skinny (2)

Another drawing, same idea. I think it looks blurry, I scanned it in though, so I'm not sure why it looks to weird. Anyway, same as before, made with pencil, charcoal, ink, and paint (8 1/2"x11"). 

Dilapidated Spaces Studies

These are some more recent studies. Today I was told to try and create the environment these figures will exists, rather than purely focusing on the figures.

The image to the left was just to see what kind of texture I could pull from the paper. The background is oil paint mixed with a large amount of paint thinner. I then dripped water around the edges and then dripped ink into the water puddles. The paper was kind of soggy from all the paint thinner and water, so it was easy to tear.

With the images I've been creating, I want to put them in dilapidated environments. I want that rotting wallpaper, musty smell, dirty walls, ripped up floors, etc. feel to the space. So basically I'm just seeing what I can do on my own.

The bottom image is my first go at a figure within a space. Not a hundred percent what I'm going for, but definitely on the right path.

Paint Sketches

These are small paint sketches with the same ideas continued.

The images to the right were made with oil paint, on paper, with hot glue. all the texture in the green image is created using hot glue. The blue image is only involves glue in the "head" of the figure.

The lines in the background of both images were made by laying a very thin amount of hot glue, then painting over it. The glue would just lift off easily.

Whereas, the bottom image has no texture added to it. A lot of the images I've been drawing seem to stand up like monuments, which isn't exactly what I want. I figure I should try mixing up the layout.

The Skinny

Most recent finished drawing. I hope to make more like these. Maybe get a little series going and see what happens with it.

The image was originally drawn in pencil. But I wasn't getting my darks like I wanted. I tried charcoal and it was not working in my favor. It was then I grabbed a bottle of ink I had just sitting around. I don't one of those fancy ink dipping pens, so I just used a pen cap. I think it works rather well in the images. And lastly, I used oil paint for the white highlights.

Basic Info:
Pencil, charcoal, ink, and paint.
8 1/2"x11