Process

Release The Kraken!

by ncwinters on July 12, 2011

Cue Liam Neeson voice, or Laurence Olivier if you’re more of a purist!

This is a recently finished new painting for a pretty cool new show at Subtext Gallery, opening Friday, August 12. The show is based around the classic “Release the Kraken!” line uttered by Liam Neeson in the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans. Purists will remember Sir Laurance Olivier delivering the line first, if with much less gusto in the original 1981 version. This is a different kind of art show, in that the artists were asked to paint on someone else’s painting. Several paintings of seascapes were culled from consignment stores and given to a handful of artists to reinterpret the famous line in whatever way they saw fit. It created a new challenge in having to paint over and around someone else’s original work, as much or as little as you wanted. This was challenging and ultimately a pleasure, as I changed the direction I was gonna go several times, before I just finally let go and had fun with it. Enjoy “In and Out at the End of the World.”

Here’s the original:

And after my contribution:

In and Out at the End of the World
Acrylic on found acrylic painting on canvasboard. Framed.
15.5″ x 11.75″ (2011)

And yes, it’s what you think it is. Here’s a detail shot:

Here’s a little before and after animation for perspective.

*NCW*

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Overflow for a New Show.

by ncwinters on July 5, 2011

Here’s a recently finished painting for the upcoming “Anicomically Correct” show at Distinction Gallery, this Saturday, July 9th. The reception for  goes from 6-10PM, and I’ll be there, hanging out and chatting. The show is loosley based around comic-related art in conjunction with the San Diego Comic Con, which I can talk about more later. Full show details below:

It was especially rewarding, as I had originally started a different painting which I ultimately wasn’t feeling. I gave that one up, wanting to really just have fun with the painting, and a few days later, this was born. There’s nothing like the feeling of being okay with giving up on something that isn’t working, refocusing, and creating something else that you really can find joy doing, and ends up more resolved, better and more fun to work on than your previous effort. This was a fun piece to do, and if you were following my tweets on the Twitter, you got to see the painting evolve over time. Here’s a couple of those shots, pardon the terrible iPhone quality. Enough rambling. Enjoy “Overflow.” For purchase inquiries, please visit the Distinction website or contact Melissa Walker.

EDIT: See the painting and purchase online here.

And the final:

Overflow
Ink and acrylic on paper, mounted to wood panel, resined.
18.5″ x 22″ (2011)

By the way, keep an eye out for prints, available soon!

*NCW*

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Unwritten Number Twenty-Six…

by ncwinters on April 9, 2011

…even though I end up writing a lot about it!

This “drawing” ended up being a lot of fun. That was the original goal, and it’s great when it actually happens.

Number 26 of 100 Drawings was another culled from the stack of abandonment, reworked, experimented with and in general, let loose upon. There’s something here that I’m enjoying and that’s really working in my art head. It may not come across, I’ll have to go back and scour the drawings I’ve felt this way about (using the blog in a useful way!) and analyze the common theme, but I think it’s the beginning of a move away from pure renderness.

So much of the work I’ve done has come to establish me as a drawer that renders the ever loving shit out of a painting. I like it, it’s fun, but it gets to a point when it becomes tedious. I like to say the first half of a drawing or painting is fun, the second half is work. Every brushstroke and mark builds up and leads to a series of fewer choices down the road. You make artistic decisions and then are forced to deal with them later. For me, the trick is to make that final work still remain fun. Too many paintings end with me frustrated and defeated.

Perhaps it’s the perfectionist in me. I’ve heard critics say “that’s good enough” and “no one is gonna notice that much detail” and it annoys me. *I* know how much detail is required, because that’s what makes it *my* work and not someone elses. However, there is a kernel of truth where you have to maintain a balance and finish the work in a timely manner. Someday when there’s more time, when the kid is older, when responsibilities and priorities afford more time to just take forever on every painting, I can slave meticulously for years on something.

While that point is not here yet, my original point (is there one even?) is that I’m enjoying finding ways to break up that monotony and experiment with looser, more gestural and abstract painting methods blended in with some of the renderness. Man, have I been rambling away.

All of this could probably be said easier by just saying “I’m having fun with splatterely brushiness.” Enjoy.

Unwritten
Ink, watercolor, marker, and acrylic on paper. 7.75″ x 10.75″ (2011)
Number 26 of 100 Drawings.
Purchase availability here.

*NCW*

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