Lyle Lovett Portrait Illustration

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

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

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

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

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.

Read more about Art 365 here.

See more of Normal, OK here.