Category: demons and such

Today’s Progress: The Great Demiurge

I feel I am finally nearing the finish line on a large painting I have been working on. Today’s segment being a demiurge character (part of a long complicated personal narrative that I will go into at some other time). A demiurge being understood as a false god, or as Webster asserts:”in Gnosticism and other theological systems, a heavenly being, subordinate to the Supreme Being, that is considered to be the controller of the material world and antagonistic to all that is purely spiritual.”

With  the false Christians (who one would hardly call ‘heavenly”) in the GOP espousing such ugliness to win their party’s nomination this evening, finishing my own false idol was  particularly satisfying.

With that, I clean my brushes and head home, good night.

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New Print: The Proposition

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The Proposition (red)

2016

relief print on paper, 10 by 14″

series of eight

$300.00

I am rather pleased with this print, once again utilizing the pochoir technique in addition to a cut plate.The alignment is pretty good and I feel it has a satisfying composition of color and line that I admire in German Expressionist prints ( and film).  I am also enjoying taking a painting and making a print of it ( or the other way around).

The Proposition 2015 oil on panel 8 by 10"
The Proposition 2015 oil on panel 8 by 10″
Initially this print was printed in black which I like but I delight in color.

The Proposition 2015 relief print on paper , image size 8 by10"
The Proposition 2015 relief print on paper , image size 8 by10″
I sense I am going to be returning to commedia figures in this upcoming year as they seem to keep popping up in my random sketching . They have long fascinated me since boyhood and I look forward to further exploration.

The Proposition

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The Proposition

2015

oil on panel

8 by 10″

I just finished this painting moments ago; it is a companion to a relief print bearing the same name.

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Now off to tend to the beasties.

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 Post Script: kind words concerning this painting my my new favorite podcasts Pleasure Town.

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Link: http://pleasuretownshow.com/blog/

A Proof for Jim

As I run  proofs of a new plate I have just finished cutting, I am reminded of the man who taught me all I know ( or remember) about printmaking, Jim Machacek, who recently retired from teaching printmaking at San Diego community colleges for thirty years. I find myself fastidiously looking for errant marks, unnecessary details and the quality of the inking. I can hear him griping out loud to the class “TOO much ink!”- too much ink makes a muddy print and was the bane of his teaching career apparently. But as I run my fifth proof, nearing the end of the editing (I think), I’m deeply grateful for the rigor Jim instilled in me.

This proof, for a new print The Proposition is for Jim’s approval.

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 The Proposition

 2015

relief print on paper

10 by 14 inhes

This has been a tricky composition for me, layering the figures, adding shadows in two colors but I am going in the direction I had  hoped for. I initially thought of employing a separate plate for the shadows but after looking at German Expressionist prints I was inspired to more fully utilize the drama of black and white. I may still make separate color plates for contrast color but I’m pleased with this print. I’m glad I have Jim in the back of my mind guiding my cuts.

Thanks Jim.

IMG_7386My teacher and friend Jim Machacek taken at LACMA this week, in front of Noah Purifoy’s The Spaceman. I’m happy Jim drove up from San Diego, battling insufferable traffic, to visit me; I’m hoping to see him soon once again on his turf.