First new painting of 2013:

Bubba Blackwell
18″ x 36″
Acrylic on canvas
Details

Felt like doing some small canvases over the past couple of weeks, so I knocked these little fellas out. And gosh, I’ve been in such a bad mood lately…

Collapsible Bunny #1
Collapsible Bunny #2
12″ x 12″
Acrylic on canvas

And just for the sake of reference, here’s the model I was working from:

Here is my second Evel Knievel painting. I am hoping to paint more, because I am utterly fascinated with him right now. I not only find the whole notion of the motorcycle daredevil fascinating, but he was truly one of those larger-than-life characters in modern history that you really don’t see much these days.

I love this image. If you are, shall we say, of a certain age, you likely had this poster hanging in your childhood bedroom at some point (or on a lunchbox, perhaps?). I’ll admit that this is such grade-a prime Gen-X nostalgia that it’s almost cliche, but I don’t care, I just love it. I love how Evel Knievel is just so balls-to-the-wall confident in this picture. He knows that everyone worships him, and he is giving the people what they want.

Evel Knievel #2
2012
24″ x 30″
Acrylic on canvas
(details)

See the first painting, Evel Knievel #1

…though I should call this Anything But Black and White Portraits of Men With Beards. It was such a relief to paint something other than The American Civil War series that I decided to paint this one bright red. You can see a detail here.

Funny, I planned on painting this one back in April, and bought the 24″ x 12″ canvas to start it– but then I got distracted by the Civil War paintings for the next five months. It was good to finally get back to it. Next up: Evel Knievel!

I started this series back in April, and now it is complete. FINALLY! I never want to see another beard again…

I’ve got two more paintings in The American Civil War finished, Walt Whitman #2, and William Tecumseh Sherman #2.

I felt as though Whitman was an integral image in this series, so after I sold the first portrait, I resolved to definitely paint him again. I find him similar to Mathew Brady in that he not only chronicled the experience, but was an artist who captured the more personal and spiritual aspects of this terrible time in history. The series just wouldn’t feel complete without him.

And as far as Sherman goes, I simply could not resist painting this Mathew Brady photograph of him. This painting–probably more than any other in this series–really illustrates what I find so compelling about these portraits of the people from this era. There is just so much raw emotion in his expression.

Walt Whitman #2
William Tecumseh Sherman #2
24″ x 12″
Acrylic on Canvas
2012
Part of The American Civil War Series

You can read more about this series in this previous entry.