Piet Mondrian Inspired Painting, Day 11 Modern Artists

Mondrian is one of my favorite layouts for Graphic Design projects. I love his frequent color palette of red, yellow, black and white. His style still looks fresh and modern.

I made this version in Illustrator and added canvas texture in Photoshop. It's interesting rotating the image for different looks.

Jackson Pollock Inspired Drip Painting, Day 10 Modern Artists

I must confess that the first time I saw one of Mr Pollock's paintings I was a child and thought it was a drop cloth. His style grows on you and it's a heck of a lot of fun to do.

Getting the paint the correct consistency is a challenge and the vintage brown paint I used first made it even harder.

The paint was so thick I had to use a whisk to get it into a diluted, pourable consistency.

There's an old film clip on YouTube where he discusses his work and an excellent documentary.  Pollock's shoe choice was better than my pink Crocs, the paint goes right through the holes. I had paint everywhere; I understand the eyebrows but I can't figure out how I got some on the back of my legs.
 

Willem de Kooning Inspired Abstract Painting, Day 9 Modern Artists

It seems odd to try to replicate a version of abstract expressionism on a 2.5" x 3.5" canvas. Exuberance meets constraint.

Jim Dine Inspired Paper Batik Heart Painting With Instructions, Day 8 Modern Artists

Jim Dine seems to truly love hearts and his robe.

I did a watercolor version of his heart painting but I discovered filling a pallete with cheap tube paints and allowing them to dry for a few months makes for a nasty, grainy, mess.

Free wasn't cheap enough since I'm still soaking the inexpensive paints out of my travel palette while the expensive watercolors floated away like champion swimmers.

I cleaned up the paint and decided to experiment with crayon batik. I heavily colored a sheet of Bristol board with Crayola crayons.




















I accidentally broke a tip and decided to cut it into small bits and let it melt on later.

I put foil on a cookie sheet and popped the paper in a 350 degree oven until the broken bits melted.

Run tepid water over the cooled paper until the paper is pliable. Gently crumple the paper into a ball. The crumpling makes the cracks so you decide if you want lots of cracks or just a few.

I was going to cover the damp paper with India ink but I couldn't find any. India ink is a staple, like water chestnuts, and I assumed there was some in the cupboards. I didn't have any black gouache or black tempera paint so I painted the crayon surface with diluted black acrylic paint.

Gentle blotting helped remove some of the excess paint but to brighten it up a bit I did end up lightly rinsing it under cool running water. This photo shows the paper blotted, not rinsed.

I hung it outside to dry

The finished heart. I think if I did this again I would have colored it even more and would not have added the extra broken bits. It might be fun to simply place lots of shaved bits on and try to get them all to melt together. Remember, wax burns well, so be cautious.

Ad Reinhardt Inspired Abstract Expressionist Image, Day 7 Modern Artists

This is my version of an untitled Ad Reinhardt that is at the MOMA. I caught myself turning it into a Mondrian layout. I left bits of the neutral grey and had everything lining up in a grid. I made myself abandon the orderly layout and go a little wild.

I used Reinhardt's color palette and made the image in Illustrator. It's fun play with the orientation and I must confess, once again I prefer a version different from the intended one.

Many of his paintings are quite dark and others are very bright, I found myself verifying that the works were done by the same artist.

His more playful patterns remind me of mod textile prints.

Paul Klee Inspired Abstract of Minneapolis Minnesota, Day 6 Modern Artists

Mr Klee's work was definitely fun to study. I enjoyed his humor and childlike whimsy. The scene is an abstract of the Minneapolis skyline. The building on the left is a representation of the IDS Center. The bottom has the Mississippi River and the Stone Arch Bridge.

I sprained my ankle while jogging Monday so I'm a little movement challenged. I made the cityscape in Illustrator and grunged it up a bit in Photoshop.

Mark Rothko Inspired Color Field Painting, Day 5 Modern Artists

Yes, I know this type of painting is supposed to be large to have the desired impact. I currently don't care to have a giant color field painting and always have the option of recreating a painting larger.

It was fun to study Rothko's work today and have enjoyed his work at museums.This one actually looks cute in the bookshelves and the playing card sized canvas works there.

Barnett Newman Inspired Color Field Painting, Day 4 Modern Artists

Barnett Newman inspired me to investigate Modern Painters and started this months topic. I read an article about the Voice of Fire in the National Gallery of Canada and I must admit I was on the side of the "what the heck?" camp.

I realize the size is a major component in Mr Newman's work but I didn't want to absorb a large color field canvas into my home so I used a tiny canvas that I had picked up at Blick when it was on sale.

I did a horizontal block of blue grey with a black edge and was quite surprised to see he had painted almost the exact same thing. I repainted several versions but none appealed to me. I don't know why, but I really struggled with this project and the end result resembles a book. Oh well.

Several years ago I was in a drawing class and mentioned seeing a red lacquered board propped up against the wall at the MIA. I said it looked like a shelf from Ikea waiting to be hung. The instructor piped in and said it was a pure expression of color. I said it was a great sales job. He said it was dynamic. I said it was the emperors new clothes for a group of pretentious intellectuals. The conversation must have have made an impact since when I run into people who were there that night they still talk about it.

My feeling is art evokes a response and makes you look at things in new ways. I guess most Modern Art does that but I'm still not convinced by some things that I find in museums. I can't dispute that people are still passionately discussing his pieces so I would consider the work successful.

Edward Ruscha Inspired Gamer Quote Poster, Day 3 Modern Artists

It's not theft, it's filling your inventory. Life lessons from video games.

Edward Ruscha took hazy photographs and placed odd quotes on top.

I used a photograph of cabbage that I took at the Minneapolis Farmers Market since cabbage is slang for money.

I desaturated the image in photoshop to make it black and white, then colored it green. A liberal Gaussian blur was applied to give it the softness I noticed in his poster images.

The font is Tapeworm, a free font that was inspired by the type Mr Ruscha used.

Georgia O'Keeffe Inspired Painting Of A Carnation, Day 2 Modern Artists

Georgia O'Keeffe is famous for her flower paintings so I took a photo of a pink carnation and cropped it to fit the ratio of a large piece of Masonite that I had stored in the garage.

I was going to do the painting with blended tones and did a black and white version in Photoshop so I could more easily see values.

I started the painting with beautiful color blends but the graphic lines kept calling to me. I totally changed the style and palette and a blue carnation was born.

Here is the painting upside down and I love the fierce face that appears. It's probably good that I don't sign paintings on the front since the painting might stay upside down.

Sideways is nice as well. Decisions...

Josef Albers Style Color Interactions, Day 1 Modern Artists

This month I'm going to explore the style of different modern artists. I studied Josef Albers color interactions in color theory class and did my version of his Homage To The Square.

I used Illustrator, pixels versus paint, and some of my favorite Pantone colors. Some of the arrangements are more pleasing than others and it's interesting how some seem to rise and others go backwards.

The Creepy Watcher, Day 31 Creatures

The last creature for March is peeking out from behind window blinds. I like that you can't tell if it's looking out or looking in.

I made her in Illustrator

Paper Mache Creature Interrupted, Day 30 Creatures

I came home to paper mache strewn throughout the house. Buffy tore apart my creature which was made with shredded paper, flour and water.

Her paws and face were covered with flour paste, she had a good time























We cleaned up the dog, gathered the bits and I formed a hulking troll with the salvageable mix. The armature was destroyed and I didn't care to rebuild it.

The sculpture was solid and wasn't going to dry easily so I placed it on a cookie cooling racking over a floor heat vent. After it dried, I sealed the it with Gesso and painted it with acrylic paints.

Semi Blind Contour Continuous Line Drawing of Monsters, Day 29 Creatures

I say semi blind contour continuous line drawing since I did occasionally look but I didn't lift my pen off the paper. It was fun, quick and liberating to not be concerned over line placement.

The drawings were done in my artist journal with a TUL blue gel pen.

I'll Be Watching You Monstrous Eye, Day 28 Creatures

The green eyed monster, jealousy. OK, he's blued eyed, but his gaze is relentless.

Mouse Waitress Drawing, Day 27 Creatures

I'd like to think the mouse I saw in the diner was a waitress taking care of her guests or a visitor that wandered in to get change for  the bus.

Just in case, it's probably time to go.

The drawing was done on a guest check with a pen. I think the mouse would have given us faster service.

Now I Know Why I Can Eat Second Breakfast, Day 26 Creatures

You never know what's really in you until you've had your stomach x-rayed.

The stomach dwelling creature is holding a cup of coffee and a spork while waiting for the next shipment of food.

When I was a child I heard someone on TV ask "Are you feeding a tapeworm?" and became certain that all the little gurgles were caused by internal critters.

I was a fanciful child that believed everything I saw on TV. There were white tornadoes in detergent and an arm shot out of the washing machine. It's not surprising I hated the basement.

This drawing was done in my art journal with a Pigma Micron pen.

The Ellusive Yeti In Birch Trees, Day 25 Creatures

I don't know who took this photo of Bigfoot but I based my abominable snowman on him.

The yeti is out for a stroll on a snowy day in a Birch forest. He appears to be a bit easier to see in the summer.

Germs In A Bottle, Day 24 Creatures

I saw a group of teenagers passing around a bottle of Mountain Dew and drinking from it. Ewww... OK, I share food with my dogs but backwash is nasty.

The backwash bacteria was drawn with a Micron pen on Bristol board, then watercolored. The remainder of the image was done in Illustrator.

Appendix in A Bottle, Day 23 Creatures

When I was 16 I had my appendix removed. My doctor asked if I wanted it in a bottle, I don't think he expected me to say, "Sure."

He was a bit of an odd duck and would be sued nowadays but being told by him that I had nice knockers only generated an eye roll from his nurse. He probably found bottled body bits humorous.

Thanks to Google I found an image of an appendix and did this version of it. I'm fairly certain mine didn't have a tail, talons, or wings but that might have explained why I was so sick.

I drew it with a Micron Pigma Pen, painted it with watercolors and put it an a bottle courtesy the Graphics Fairy.