Murals for St. Christopher's Inn (Part IV)

Murals for St. Christopher's Inn (Part IV). Henry Moore currently has 28 sculptures on display at the Kew Botanical Gardens. So, of course I went. A month ago, in fact... and, of course I was inspired to draw some of the gardens... I transferred my watercolor and pencil sketch to the wall, but enlarged a horizontal length of 30cm to 250 cm. This wall provided blank space for the largest painting I have ever painted. Yet.

Murals for St. Christopher's Inn (Part III)

Murals for St. Christopher's Inn (Part III). I kept this idea... In a hostel, who typically stays in a private double room? Couples. So, I went with something which alluded to the idea of a relationship, without being cliche. The biggest bottles I've ever painted... 130cm tall...

Murals for St. Christopher's Inn (Part II)

Murals for St. Christopher's Inn (Part II). Another in the series of posts documenting my first mural assignment (for a hostel near London Bridge) Actually, these two sketches were never realized... the top sketch features a drawing I had done of a Henry Moore sculpture in the Hirshorn (Washington DC)... appropriate since I'm an American artist living in London.... get it? The bottom sketch is a recursive view of the window. The window featured such beautiful woodwork... ..and an amazing view of a really nice building across the street. Essentially, it's a picture of a picture of a picture of a picture... (Recursion is when the definition of something refers to itself). I'm also a mathematician living in London... get it? Anyway, due to the finite limitation of time, I had to cut out these two walls... (not literally).

Sketch for Kristin's Back

Sketch for Kristin's Back. Before I paint, I always make a sketch of what it is that I intend to paint. In some cases, I'll sketch directly onto the canvas or board. For this painting, I drew a thumbnail sketch onto graph paper, eventually using a grid to transfer some basic proportions to the board. If you compare the sketch with the painting, you'll notice that the dimensions of the board are in a different ratio to the dimensions of the thumbnail sketch.

I don't always use a grid to enlarge a sketch, but at the time I was planning a larger project and was practicing....

Murals for St. Christopher's Inn (Part I)

Murals for St. Christopher's Inn (Part I). I spent all day yesterday (Saturday) getting a feel for the room and the people who come to stay in the London Bridge hostel. These drawings are loosely to scale... My thought is to produce some kind of serial, a story told in a succession of frames, a love story without the sappiness.

It's really important to me not to make the room too sterile. Although, part of me really wants to make huge drawings of a Hypodermic needle on the big wall by the door, a Scalpel on top of the bed, and a bunch of drawings of Gauze and Band-Aids on the big wall by the bed. I think it's the lighting in the now empty room...

Table and Chairs

Table and Chairs. The London winter paints everything black and white; in the hibernation of the sun, colors disappear. In February 2007, I was wandering lost and lonely through dark streets and empty tables. It was a particularly desolate time and the wasteland of existence seemed barren and bleak.

Back of a Woman (Kristin)

Back of a Woman (Kristin). Painted yesterday, Sunday in Peckham (South of the Thames). Nice. A classic pose, the back of a woman is an elegant indication of her true beauty. There's an undeniable geometric foundation to her form that is both subtle and constructive...