Thursday, November 28, 2013

Gravity #11: It's a Step Up From the Normal Gravity Painting

After a long lull in this blog, I present to you, GRAVITY #11!!

This piece was a commission that I did for the highest bidder of the Make-a-Wish gala and charity auction!  I may offer another commission piece in their auction next year.  If they have room, they'll also have at least one of my paintings if you want to bid on a finished piece and take it home that evening.  This event usually takes place in March, so mark your calendar & keep checking their website.

Below is the same painting, same camera angle, but different lighting.  As always, click on each picture to enlarge!



SIDE VIEWS


DETAIL SHOTS
In addition to the uneven support, this is the first painting I've made that has a sculpted signature, integrated into the painting. Here it is from one angle:

And, here it is from another.


More detail shots:






MAKING OF...

After making Gravity #9, I wanted to experiment more with different support thicknesses. This was the initial pattern.  Before painting it, I decided to turn this 180 degrees, so the thick corner would be on the lower left, giving the base more weight & a lighter upper right area.  (You'll see the change in the lego model that I built to help me keep track of each piece below)



I created a frame to house all of the supports.  The manilla file folders were put in there so the thinnest supports would not slip under the 2x4, which had a beveled edge.

Then I put them in one at a time, upside down.

After covering with plastic, I thought it would pretty easy to fill in the crevasses with foam insualtion.

After 4+ cans of the stuff, This is what I ended up with.  I then covered it with the board in the background & weighted all of it down.

After a few more days than was recommended for it to to cure, I then flipped it over, and took what was the bottom (now on top) off.  It was still squishy, like a water bed!  And, the pieces weren't level.  This technique was an expensive failure.  But this is probably a good thing, because this is not the most eco-friendly way to make a painting, and I don't want to repeat this process.

On the plus side, I had a pretty cool reverse sculpture.

So, back to the drawing board.  I ended up using CD cases, effectively locking up my CD collection for the next few months as I worked on this. As you can see, I used a Lego model to help make sure I assembled it correctly.

Then, I added the texture.

And, started on the underpainting.

Once it was done, I reused file folders to protect the garage from over-spray.

The view from this side, now colored.

Then, I applied the gravity lines.
 The piece was now carefully removed & laid upside down.

The pieces were cut apart.  I love this image: It shows how well they stick together by using this technique.  Hmm... going to have to explore this further for paintings meant to stand on their own on shelves.

All that is left is to paint the edges & mount to a single backing.

The original backing support was 1 1/2" thick.  The total thickness would have been 3" if I used the original wooden support that I had in mind.  So, I bought the most sturdy, non-warping, weather resistant plywood I could find.  To obscure the edge of the plywood, I trimmed it in about an inch on each side & also painted it black.  I then used the highest quality waterproof wood glue available and mounted each piece.  I weighed each piece down with 36 pounds of my wife's exercise weights.


Here's the final piece again:


Sunday, June 2, 2013

It's Munny, Baby! (for Charity, that is)

This piece is not exactly a gravity painting, but I thought I'd share it on this site, as
1) It is for charity
-and-
2) Some of my gravity painting techniques are used in this piece.

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email at work from one of my coworkers.  He was casting a wide net in the artist pool, to see if anyone wanted to paint something that would be sold for charity.  It turned out that our good friends at PopCap Games wants to highlight their upcoming game sequel to Plants vs Zombies, and is going to be having a booth at San Diego Comicon

At their booth, they are going to showcase Mega Munnys that have been painted in the style of
Plants vs Zombies Characters.  I decided to make mine based off of the Hypno-Shroom:

For those not in the know, when a zombie eats this, they turn around, and start eating other zombies!  As it was one of the more colorful characters, I thought it would work best with my style.

After being displayed at their booth, they are going to auction them off, with the proceeds going to Child's Play charity.  It's a great cause & I encourage you to donate to it as well!

Here's what I came up with:
One pill makes you bigger...
Here's some detail shots:
This texture makes the color change depending on which angle you view it


I see this & think of the voices of the green aliens in Toy Story:  "Oooooh!"

My wife's idea:  change the tail to a ladybug.

Dude has an arm tat.  My hidden signature.


Oh Hai! You can email me now!

Soooo...  On the 24th, my work was kind enough to link to my site, and I didn't have any way for anyone to contact me.  I'm very sorry, my bad! 

I've since set up a contact form on the lower right hand side of the blog ---->

If you are interested in a custom piece and donating to a charity, you can contact me via this form!

Cheers,
T



Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Gravity Painting and Charity Causes

I've decided that for the next five years, all proceeds of the sale of my Gravity Paintings will go to charity.  I'm very fortunate to have a wonderful full time job that is not only satisfying, but also pays the bills.  And, that is saying a LOT in this economy!  This is a small way for me to give back to my community.

Because I have a full time job, it means I'm not able to make as many paintings as a full time artist.  So, these are quite rare.  My first priority is to fulfill commission painting agreements that have sold at charity auction.  I donate all material and labor costs for these pieces.

If I have extra time, I take on non-auctioned commissions in a way that maximizes the amount of money that goes to charity, while covering my material costs. My time is still donated.  Gravity #5 came to $300 in material costs alone.  I used some very, very high quality paint and support material for it.  After consulting with my accountant, here's what we came up with:

The buyer and I determine what type of piece I'll be creating.  Usually, we talk about size, support, colors, and intention for the piece.  Then, we determine the final cost of the painting, and the charity we'll be supporting.  When the buyer takes delivery of the piece, I receive two payments.  One is for material costs, and the other is made out to the charity.

I also encourage all donors who have a piece from this exploration to consider this personal request:  If you ever resell any of the paintings from this exploration, it is my wish that 10% of the sale price be donated to charity.  I've written that on the back of some of them.  This isn't legally binding, but wouldn't it be great if every time it passed from one collector to another, a little was given to charity?

Speaking of which, I wanted to point out which pieces have already sold for charity:

GRAVITY #TBA
I sold a commission painting agreement last weekend at Make a Wish's Annual Gala silent auction!  As I was hovering around my paintings in the final minutes, I was able to meet and speak briefly to the couple who bought it.  And, I couldn't be happier to know for who my next piece will be made!  Thank you again for donating to this cause!  I'm looking forward to hearing from you in the near future! 

GRAVITY #9
I also sold #9 at the Gala.  Thank you VERY much to the donor at that event!  It was really great meeting you there too!  I hope you enjoy it for many years to come.  Below is a picture of it as a work in progress. 


GRAVITY #10
This piece sold at last year's Daylight Lodge 232's "Aces for Charity Casino Night" silent charity auction.  Work in progress links are here and here.

GRAVITY #5
This piece is the largest I've done to date.  This was before I started molding the support to enable the painting to change depending on the angle you look at it.  I'm so glad I found someone who values it as much as I do!


Thanks again to the donors/collectors who believe in my work and believe in good causes!  You are wonderful people!