Normal, OK Characters Appear In Nimrod
October 3, 2008
Two characters from my series Normal, OK appear in the Fall 2008 issue of the Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry. To purchase a copy, follow this link.
Normal, OK: Peoria Jenks. Mixed media, 2007.
Peoria Jenks, 72, carries on the family tradition of bootlegging. (Opteemah County is dry.) She does not sell to “drunkards.” One day, while having her hair set, she overheard a call on the salon’s police scanner noting suspicious activity at the Slim Pickens Mo-tel. On a hunch, she went over. Onlookers say she got a shotgun from the trunk of her Dart and walked purposefully past Sherrif Ardmore into room 112. No shots were fired. Ms. Jenks reportedly walked out shaking her head and saying, “Not in my town. Not in my town.” The headline in that week’s Porcupine read “Meth Lab Seized With Help From Locals.”
You can learn more about the people of Normal by reading the book.
My series of works titled Normal, OK was part of the Art 365 exhibition sponsored by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. Art 365 travels to Legion Arts in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to open on October 15.
Lyle Lovett Portrait Illustration
August 6, 2008
This is my entry for the BookMooch Journal “A Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Love.”
Lyle Lovett, ink on paper, 2008. Click image to see full-size.
I’m really enjoying this marker sketch process. They’re either cheap markers or old markers, so in either case they dry out quickly. That gives me an opportunity to layer colors like I would with glazes in painting.
Join BookMooch! It’s a great way to match old books with new readers.
The BookMooch Journals are an offshoot of BookMooch. Read more about the journals here.
Related: I’ve been updating my Flickr page. Pop in for a visit, yeah? The Mooch Journals have a Flickr pool, too.
Illustration Friday: Foggy
July 12, 2008
Let Things Be Foggy, ink on paper, July 2008.
I began this sketch during my stay in Canadian, Texas over the Fourth of July holiday. I don’t have any major shows planned or new projects in progress at this point, so I feel a mite bit purposeless. (It’s been a long time since my schedule was this open.) Plus, I’m exploring some less graphic, more painterly stylistic ground. This foggy place is the perfect environment in which to let some new ideas germinate.
See more of Illustration Friday here.
Here is a snapshot of my desk upon completing the drawing, where you can see my collage sketch:
Not What I Meant
May 16, 2008
Not What I Meant, acrylic on wood panel, 2008. Click image to enlarge.
A few years back I came into a whole pile of these 8 x 22 inch wood panels. I think they were raw cabinet doors that hadn’t been shaped and finished. Usually I paint on them vertically, so this is the first time I’ve used one in its wide format. Just in time for Illustration Friday: Wide.
Not What I Meant, detail view.
This panel was actually a so-so painting several years back. (In fact, it was one of a series of paintings I did that turned out so poorly that I realized I needed to go back to school and learn to paint. Hence: graduate school.) To start the painting you see here, I sanded the previous painting’s surface, then added the red and blue. I scratched the fish shapes away with an exacto knife (and many many blades). It’s so satisfying to transform a failure into a success.
Hey, Pal: Custom Vans for Canvas 2008
May 13, 2008
Hey, Pal. Custom painted Vans, 2008.
These custom painted Vans will be in the Canvas 2008 show, which opens 06.06.2008 in downtown Oklahoma City. Visit the Canvas site for more details.
Hey Pal, detail view, acrylic on canvas shoes, 2008.
In Soviet Russia, Vans customize you!
Here is my Canvas entry from last year:
Vans on Vans, ink and mixed media on canvas shoes, 2007.
Left shoe view.
Left shoe detail.
Vans on Vans was done by collaging Kleenex Viva towels on the blank shoes using Golden extra heavy matte gel, then drawing with Sakura Pigma Micron pens (I prefer sizes 01 and 02). The hands are tinted with acrylic wash. This piece is an homage to my old Vans Sk8 Hi-Tops. (Vans on Vans sold last year and won’t be in the upcoming show.)
Normal, OK: Stroud Drumright
May 8, 2008
Normal, OK: Stroud Drumright, graphite on wood, 2008
Stroud Drumright leads the local Boy Scout troop and plays a mean game of water polo. Occasionally he works as a rafting guide for Outward Bound. In recent years he has taken up the hobby of buying and reselling cars on eBay.
The Art 365 show, which includes my project Normal, OK, will be on display at Liggett Studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma, from May 29 to June 14 2008.
Illustration Friday: Wrinkles
April 28, 2008
Crotchety Old Man, ink and graphite on paper, 2005.
From Wiktionary:
crotchety (comparative crotchetier or more crotchety, superlative crotchetiest or most crotchety)
See more at Illustration Friday.
Normal, OK: Carmen McWillie
February 10, 2008
Normal, OK: Carmen McWillie. Mixed media on canvas, 2008.
Carmen McWillie, 86, constructs elaborate tapestries depicting scenes from the Book of Revelation.
Carmen was created using the acrylic gel transfer method detailed here and here. The background is reused canvas (formerly a dropcloth), plus a collaged piece of painted paper (which provides the pink and grey colors you see behind Carmen). I may add another image to the background, I’m not sure.
Normal, OK: Carmen McWillie, ink on paper, 2007
Normal, OK: Pernell Foster
February 9, 2008
Normal, OK: Pernell Foster. Mixed media, 2008
Pernell Foster is fixin’ to say somethin’.
Pernell Foster lives next door to Katie Hennepin, on his grandfather’s homestead. He finds Katie’s geodesic dome offensive, but harbors a crush on her. His repressed feelings gradually steer him into organic farming.
The background of this piece is acrylic on Rives BFK paper stretched over a particle board panel. (The swirly colors represent his feelings.)
Pernell was created using the acrylic gel transfer method detailed here and here.
Normal, OK: Pernell Foster. Ink on paper, 2008
Normal, OK: Pernell Foster. Conceptual sketch, collage on paper, 2007.
This is the kind of quick collage-sketch I often use to begin a character. I bring together many visual sources and compile them into a new conglomeration. It’s quick and dirty, a great visual tool.
Normal, OK: Caffey Strong
February 8, 2008
Normal, OK: Caffey Strong. Mixed media on MDF, 2008
Caffey Strong, 35, is the piano accompanist at the Blue Belle’s Academy. She is also an accomplished avant-garde composer, largely unknown at home but gaining notoriety among college radio audiences. Her latest work is titled “Con/text: Handless Compote for Altered Piano.” Caffey inherited her dextrous fingers from her father, Arnett Strong, a locksmith.
Caffey was created using the acrylic gel transfer method detailed here and here.
Normal, OK: Caffey Strong. Original drawing, ink on paper, 2008
(Sometimes I flip ‘em, sometimes I don’t. I started noticing that too many of my Normal characters were looking to the left. Not good.)