LA RUE #7

Close-up.....
Is this the cold or cheap wine......!!?
A 1930's street hobo ala Bofa. I'm just having fun to end this year......

This is the last painting for 2009 and it's still drying .......

LE CIRQUE

"I've always been inspired by the wordless novels,a genre made famous by early 20th century artists such as Frans Masereel and Otto Nuckel just to name a few. So, I've decided to give that lost art a try. But also decided to give it a twist by first, not imposing a particular "order" to the paintings but rather let the viewer choose and make its own story with the given elements. The other self imposed constraints were:13 paintings ,no freaks or clowns and only 4 colors [the circus colors ] red ,yellow, white and black.

Wordless picture stories have a unique and especially intimate relationship to their readers. In order to follow the narrative these works ask the viewer to guess what's taken place, then connect the dots from one image to the other and get the full story unfold. Nothing is up front but rather suggested and sometimes demands repeated viewing and lots of guessing."

EDWARDIAN TIMES

Gotta love that bowler .......
Jekyll & Hyde style....

Two drawings made for the 2009 edwardian ball in San Francisco....as studies for a diorama box.

SELF PORTRAIT#2

A close-up changes the atmosphere.....
A Christmas self portrait......

As my favorite draughtsmen :Gus Bofa ,Pascin ,Grosz, Beckmann or Bruno Schulz ,if i may dare any comparison here,i've found the use of a black and white palette to be more interesting. Especially when you instantly want to create an atmosphere that focuses on the subject ...Here in the "self portrait serie" a little Christmas painting .It's still fresh.

LA RUE #6

The original idea started here with this rough sketch......
Day......
Night.......

A night and day set of drawings,with an expressionist flair and a Jekyll and Hyde twist to it.It was a project for a diorama.

LA RUE #5

La mondaine......
A La cloche......
La mome cachou....

A small serie in the same expressionist manner .It all about the power of black and white.

LA RUE #4

"Le crochu".......
Les 3 marlous.......
Julo les pieds plats......
Mr Paul.....
Another day ......

Another load of street characters.....

LA RUE #3

On his way .......
Meeting with "the mack"........
An evil place !!??......

Just a follow up to the former post about: "l'etrange Mr Victor"the quintessence of the french brothel going bourgeois of the last century,or at least my fantasy about him....

LA RUE #2

"8 rue Victor Masse" the original sketch...........
Today's painting 2 years after.........
The close-up.......
"L'etrange monsieur Victor ".........

Decided today to rework an old sketch of mine,it happens sometimes. The trick was only black and white paint on cardboard .The result:" l'etrange monsieur Victor"

LA RUE .....the street

It's all about "framing".The story can be totally different,depending on your point of view.here it's obviously a little more dramatic and dark with a "film noire" feel to it........
The full frame accentuates that solitude feeling.......
A close-up........
The new painting on its final stage .......

In the next few days i'll showcase some drawings and paintings inspired by the streets of Paris during the city's golden era. Easy women ,brothels,mauvais garcons ...you name them ,they'll be here.

EXPLORING OPTIONS

The first drawing ........
Same guys,but using ink and brushes,enhancing the subject .....
Wanted to try my hands at block printing.My initial plan for that project,was to do a portfolio about the circus....
But once more i've changed my mind ,switched to painting and got rid of one guy .Here's a black and white attempt .......
The final "product"6/8"part of the circus series .a total of 13 paintings......

Whatever the subject matter i'm working on is ,i'm trying not to limit myself style wise.I'm doing so by pushing my boundaries and experimenting with new technics.I refuse to let myself being trapped in a system and be where i'm expected to be . I mean serve the same "dish" over and over like so many of my contemporaries .I've always thought it kills slowly, but surely, people's interest in what you're doing.

DIORAMA#4

The general idea ........
A close-up reveals the detailed cut and carved recycled cardboard....

The prosthetic crab claw.....
"Frau Blucher " 11/14" diorama

The infamous "Frau Blucher" aka "the crab lady" .I started this one after a trip to the beach.While collecting some shells,for another project,i found a dead crab's claw.The idea came instantly and i didn't go any further than a rough sketch,as i wanted to start with the cardboard right away,anxious to see the result.