Pink Night Owl in an AppleTree

Pink Night Owl in an AppleTree
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's my latest night owl painting. It's very similiar to my other night owl. This time the night owl is in an apple tree. The bird in the tree is blue. There are a couple of sunflowers on the trail. Deery-Lou is absent, but the Sanrio smiling mushroom character made it in. Acrylic on Canvas.
12 x12"
completed 8/25/2007
This painting is going to be donated to PAWS/LA for Pet Art 9, an art auction which raises money for PAWS/LA. http://www.pawsla.org
The auction takes place in November sometime, but the artwork for the auction is due by the end of August, which is very soon.
I'm hoping to do more night owl paintings. Also, friend of night owl paintings would be very fun too. We'll see.

Mobil Station Skeleton Mural by Anonymous

Mobil Station Skeleton Mural by Anonymous
Originally uploaded by V G.

I've just been corrected on the identity of the gas company which used the pegasus logo. I was saying Shell, but it is Mobil. Duh, I should have known this one. The yellow and red coloring of the cigarette price sign threw me off. Anyway, this painting is on an out of service Mobil Station.
I love it. It says so much. I took this photo of it last September in 2006. The painting is still there. The building is still unoccupied.
I drive by it at least 4-6 times a month.
So much can be read into this that I don't want to mess it up with words. One last note on this, the sign for cigarettes says $2.35, which gives an indication of how long this service station has been out of service.
The red pegasus logo was found here on the internet...www.cartype.com

Pink Night Owl

Pink Night Owl
Originally uploaded by V G.

"Pink Night Owl" is a recent creation I painted about 4 weekends ago. I've been dying to post this. I had to wait because it was a surprise gift to my friend at work from one her friends.
It's a 12 x12" acrylic on canvas painting.
My friend at work loves owls, the color pink and forest friends. We both love Deery-Lou and the little mushroom character in the forest by Sanrio. Since we are not "morning" people, I think it is safe to say we both fall into the catagory of "night owl". We "try" to get bed at decent hours, but with the little ones it's hard to get things done (like go on-line) and we stay up later than we should. When her friend told me she wanted to buy a painting from me for my friend at work I decided that I would do a special piece for her. At first she asked to see what paintings I had available, then after some thought, I
knew what I wanted to paint. It had to be a "Pink Night Owl".
Then it became a commissioned piece. She wanted to buy it just from the description. This is what I came up with. My friend at work is very happy with it, plus her baby daughter loves it too.

Mural Update: Complete for now.

Mural Update: Complete for now.
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's the mural as it is. I'm happy enough with it
to leave it alone for now. I may come back at some point to do something else to it. We'll see.
**** **** ****
It's nice to just be able to paint anything. Such a freedom.

The boats and flag are the last details that I painted.

For these details, I used some of my acrylic stash for the yellow and broke out some of my regular oil painting bristol brushes instead of the chip brushes.

The top photo of the overall mural was taken in the afternoon warm light last week...

This detail shot was taken today while it was cool and foggy. That's why there is a difference in temperature.

Mural In-Progress

Mural In-Progress
Originally uploaded by V G.

Here's the latest on the mural.
I was thinking of David Hockney's "pool series" when I painted the mow marks in the grass. Can you tell?
This mural still has a long way to go, but I'll get there.
It's basically blocked in now.
As you may notice, the sandtrap color is actually the original color of the wall coming through.
There is still so much to do to it. I usually don't like to post works in-progress, but it might help me to keep tinkering with it and one day say, "I'm finished."
It's also getting me to look at other parts of the house which need fresh paint for real. Hmmm? Always lots of projects...

My Inner Diego

Here's progress on the Pebble Beach Golf Links, 17th hole mural... I'm still blocking it out and laying in the basic shapes. I've made more progress since this photo today, but I have not gotten a good photo of it yet.

My son is already testing out his golf club in front of it.

Painting this mural is bringing out my inner Diego.

Besides many other things, one thing that separates me from Diego Rivera is today's Home Depot. I was able

to buy "Ooops" house paint for $1/quart and $5/gallon. What a deal. Part of using "Ooops" paint is luck. There has to be a color that someone made an ooops on while mixing for it to be an "Ooops" paint. It's random, but so far I have had luck. I found 3 shades of green and a gallon of blue.

Diego's painting is far from house paint. He painted frescoes. The "true fresco" technique consists of painting on a wet plaster surface (usually a wall or ceiling), using pigments mixed with limewater. The only connection to Diego would be that I am painting a mural. Other than that, it is a very loose concept.

I think I just like the feeling it evokes. For me to say I am bringing out my inner Diego feels like I am bringing out some thing I am kind of familiar with, but still has lots of room to explore. I have no idea if this makes any sense. Plus, with using house paint, I am also feeling a little like Pollock, although I am not dripping it intentionally. I am not using enamel, but instead it is waterbased latex. I'll still call it a "stretch of the imagination" Diego-Pollock combo with a touch of David Hockney. I just mentioned Hockney because I was thinking of his pool paintings. I love the squiggles in his water. So graphic. What I painted today reminded me of Hockney. You'll see when I get around to posting it.

So it is a Diego-Pollock-Hockney...and doesn't look like any of them. It's just what I am thinking about when I am painting.

One quart of Oops paint. Dark Green.