7th in my hipster/artist series. Paul Gauguin did a number of self portraits, and in one he resembled Javier Bardem, so that's what I went with to re-imagine him in today's world.  I would love to see Bardem play Gauguin in a film, wouldn't you?

The bottom 2 images are process shots. I started with sketching directly on the canvas with charcoal, then a light wash of thinned paint. Next I add darks and lights. The gray canvas acts as midtones. In the second process shot, you can see exaggerated darks and color. At this stage I elongated his chin to better resemble Gauguin, but I changed my mind, and brought it back in for the final rendering.

This is 10" x 10" oil on linen, available.

6th in this series, where I re-imagine iconic artists as contemporary hipsters. I recently saw several original Pollocks while visiting Chicago, and was blown away by the depth, the action, and by the amount of color in his work. He was very successful in his career, yet he was a tortured soul. Brilliant, insecure, abusive, and alcoholic, he died in a single car accident at age 44. What a shame.

This piece is very small (6"x6") so I turned it on its side to make the most of the background space for splatters. The background is acrylic, and the subject is oil. I added tattoos to update his look, and because he would totally rock them if he were alive today.

Like most people, I was riveted to the Rio Olympics. The last week was pretty rainy in Austin, and reception was sometimes poor. As the TV stream got bitmapped, I got very interested in the altered images. I decided to take a few reference shots. I don't know who this newscaster is, but he looked very retro/Mad Men to me. Perfect for an abstract portrait! This one was very fun to paint alla prima in one sitting.

11" x 14" Oil on canvas | available

In Austin, summer temperatures often hover at 100 degrees, which is most likely why I've been drawn to painting underwater images lately. I like to start with a rough sketch on the canvas instead of a very detailed drawing, which is probably why this one took me three weeks (off & on) to complete. At heart, I'm a loose painter, and figuring out the distorted features and many reflections was like a jigsaw puzzle! I'm including process shots, in case you are interested.

20" x 16" Oil on linen | available at Georgetown Art Center Oct. 1-31

I don't know about you, but I love a sexy man bun. Here is my updated look for the incomparable surrealist master Salvador Dali. He was quite handsome when he wasn't making crazy faces.

6"x6" oil on Ampersand board, on hold.