Author: jpantuck

The LA Cat Art show started in 2014.  This is the third time they have had the show and it benefits two different charities:   The Ian Somerhalder Foundation and Kitten Rescue LA.

The art ranges in prices from about $250 to $200,000.  I hope to submit my work for the next one.

Here are a few of my favorite pieces.  I was lucky enough to buy one from Venessa Stockard called “The Situation”. 

One piece by Cate White titled “Safe Space” pokes fun at the selfies some men take on dating apps.

The most famous piece at the show was by Mark Ryden which depicts Schrodinger’s cat.

 

 

 

Today my daughter and I met an octopus (Octopus Californicus) at the aquarium in Long Beach, CA.  She was very friendly and used her suction cups to grab onto us.  The suction cups are very strong and can leave an impression of rows of circles on your arm.  This octopus is an artist!  Her trainer puts (non toxic) paint onto paper and the octopus grabs on with her suction cups.  See below for her art work.

I recently went to see the David Hockney exhibit at LACMA  “82 portraits and 1 still life” and was inspired by the bright colors and intrigued by his use of acrylics.  Acrylics are much harder to blend and I much prefer oils when painting figures.   For Hockney’s paintings he painted from life a total of 22 hours per portrait.  I painted from a photo and completed in 6.

This is a picture of my Dad on his 80th birthday.  You can tell it’s him because of the pen in his pocket.

 

Most abstract paintings start with a concrete photo or idea.  This one started as the Sky Bar of the Mondrian Hotel in Beverly Hills.  After blocking in some shapes and colors it  looked boring.

I added spray paint stencils in gold and then went over it in thicker paint paying attention to hard and soft edges and bright and neutral colors.  Loving the end result.

 

My husband and I went for a walk in Venice and stumbled upon this house. They do tours on Saturdays for $15.  The home belongs to a married couple who are artists. They met in an art supply store!

This was painted from a live model using a very limited palette. The old masters only used four colors (black, white, cad red, and ochre) commonly referred to as the Zorn palette.   I did add a little bit of alizarin and ultra marine blue for my final glazing.

Painting from life gives the artist much more information than painting from a photo. Skin tones are much easier to see. Ears are very red and so are the shadows on the hands! Some portrait artists use binoculars to get even more detail.

What’s the worst insult that you can receive as an artist? Is it that someone doesn’t like your work? I don’t think so. Art is subjective. We don’t all agree on what makes good art. I am never insulted if someone doesn’t get what I’m doing.

What if you worked on a piece choosing your palate, choosing your subject, putting your energy and your fingerprint and brushwork into it only to have some one decide to “fix” it? It is a horrifying thought for any artist. This is what I recently experienced.

The original painting is done in acrylic, cement and spray paint. Notice the limited palate and the angles on face. Notice the body position of the legs tucked under the body and you can see the feet.

 

Then we have the vandalization.   In the “fixed” version the vandal airbrushed the figure, punched in the face and then put makeup on it.

In the end, I couldn’t sleep knowing that it existed in the world.  I took back my painting from the wall it was on and threw it in the trash.

I painted this from a photo that had me holding a cigar.  I really loved the composition but in the end decided to take out the hand with the  cigar because  the hand  seemed too small and the perspective didn’t work.

My teacher helps me keep my progress as an artist going. His  positive and constructive notes are always helpful.  On the positive side  were 1.  that it is femininely painted – the subject is a woman’s face and not her behind. 2.  the viewer is looking down at me which gives a sense of my small size (which is true as I’m not even 5 ft. tall.)  3.   I look a bit mischievous or that I’m thinking and 4.  It’s fun and modern and he liked the over all composition.  (best compliment!)

On a constructive note- It could use a bit of softening-especially around the eyes.  You can see that I did try to change the way the eyes were painted but in the end- still missed the goal.  I also have a feeling a portrait drawing class would help me a lot.

I decided I fussed enough with it enough and didn’t want to lose some spontaneity that I had started with so- self portrait 2018 is finished!  See below for 5 days of painting- about 2.5  hours per session. 

 

 

The LA Art show has been around for 23 years but keeps changing.  This year it focused on modern art.  It is part museum, part gallery and part experience.  There were over 100 galleries from around the world represented and included paintings, sculpture, installation, photography and video.

There are themes in art that I’m just tired of seeing- mainly American greed and consumerism.  The crystal buddhas were actually beautiful but they were covered in commercial logos.  The American flag going thru a funnel and turning into a pile of money? I think artists can do better to either show us a different angle of American greed or perhaps offer a solution.  Either way we’ve seen images of the  American flag turn into money or used for greed and we’ve seen corporate logos on art.  A quick google image search and you can see plenty of examples.

I did love the “I am not a trophy” exhibit. “Founded by Artist and Photographer Arno Elias, “I’m Not a Trophy” is an organization that is dedicated to creating greater awareness for the rapid extinction of endangered species around the world. Brand Ambassador, super model and actress Cara Delevinge, is featured in his stunning work. …”

The “infinity box” was fun and interesting and the punching bags with political leaders faces on it was a great stress reliever.

I went to see the Frank Romero show at MOLAA (Museum of Latin American Art ) in Los Angles. He is a famous Chicano artist who paints mostly of Southern California and in really bright colors. One of his paintings I fell in love with is called Cheech’s Downtown. Cheech Marin is the largest collector of Frank Romero’s work.

To better understand his technique and use of colors and composition, I decided to try and copy Cheech’s Downtown. He uses acrylic paint and paints very quickly. I learned a lot from the process. I used heavy cement and glass beads mixed into the acrylic to give it texture and reflective properties. I do not think the original used these but I know Frank Romero experimented with gels and molding paste textures which he added into the paint in other pieces.

See below for photos of Frank Romero’s original and my  final attempt hanging on my wall.  My cat also helped.