Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship 6 x 9 Monotype

For your consideration, today's print comes from the 1944 Best Picture winner Casablanca.
To try and capture the quality of a black & white film, the monotype is printed with dark gray etching ink on gray Rives BFK printmaking paper.

Here's looking at you, kid.

Steve McQueen is... Bullitt

Bullitt 5 x 9 linoleum block print on chine collé

Continuing the theme of Hollywood icons is macho cool Steve McQueen from the pinnacle of his career in the movie "Bullitt". The foreground print image is carved into and printed from a linoleum block. Since the movie is famous for the car chase/driving sequences, it seemed appropriate to have him driving the green Mustang in the background. Below is the print without the chine collé for comparison.

Darth Vader Monotype/Photo Etching

Darth Vader 4x6 Photo Etching printed on Comic Book Panel
The first print in today's post is continuing the experimentation with printing on top of other images. This is printed onto an image from a vintage 30 year old Star Wars comic book (Click on it for a more detailed view of the underlying image). This print is a photo etching done from a monotype printed on a chine collé comic book panel. Below is the original monotype print.

Darth Vader 4x6 Monotype

Bandit 2.0

Greetings, gentle readers! I was burned out after my art show this summer, so I took an art break. Didn't expect it to be such a long break, but - ah well, good intentions, etc.

Anywho, I've started doing some new prints and experimenting with some new ideas. I'm printing on top of other images using a chine collé technique. Loyal readers may remember this Smokey and the Bandit collograph print from a previous post, but this time I've printed old Burt on top of a soft painterly image of the black Bandit TransAm.

The idea is for the background image to be a secondary image that supports and informs the foreground print image. By combining the two images, the finished print also has a slightly abstracted feel.

Sorry for the prolonged absence. I'll try to get back in the swing of posting semi-regularly. More to come...

Bringing It Back Home

Greetings from Birmingham,
The reception for the my art show was this past Saturday and was a rousing success. I saw lots of old friends, sold a number of pieces and the work was very well received. Thanks to everyone in California and Alabama who helped me pull off my first show in years.

Happy Father's Day! - of Dads and Dogs

To celebrate Father's Day today's post features Dad related art. This first print is Birmingham Back Seat 1961 and depicts my father in his early twenties (far left) and his buddies in the back seat of some gigantic 1950's car. This print is a monotype printed with black etching ink.

This print, Front Yard 1976, is a monotype printed with blue etching ink, watercolor and colored pencil. This is my father (right) in our front yard with our neighbor, Joe Bruno, and his dog, Lula Belle, in 1976. My father died unexpectedly back in 2003, and doing these pieces was a cathartic process. Sometimes it's still hard to believe he's gone. Miss you, Dad.

These two prints are commissions I did for my friend Colin to give to his father for Father's Day. This is Colin and his dog, Winnifred, who recently passed away. It was an honor to do these prints for my friend to honor the life of his dog that he misses very much. (Love you, Fred!) The print below is the 'ghost' print. It is pulled after the inital print and is much lighter because very little ink remains on the plate. The ghost print was then colored with watercolor.

New Post?! Believe It

Greetings, gentle readers
Seems I'm doing lots of apologizing for not keeping current. I have some friends whose blogs I frequent, and when there is no new post I'm dissappointed. I'm sorry if my lack of discipline is making any of you feel similarly.

Well, at least I've been working on art. So much art. As many of you know I have an art show up now in Birmingham, Alabama. It's been a long time, and I'd forgotten how much work it is to put up a show. I'm pretty happy with the work though and thought I'd blog a piece or two.

This print is a monotype of the old Lyric and Alabama Theatres in downtown Birmingham. When I was growing up these theatres were run down, largely forgotten relics from a time when people actually went downtown. When I was in college, the Alabama was in the process of being restored and was a venue for concerts and touring productions. Many people were happy to see this former Showplace of the South alive again.

This print depicts the Alabama and Lyric Theatres in all their neon glory, lighting up the night. It is printed with black etching ink and colored with watercolor and colored pencil.