7″x5″ watercolor on Arches 140lb paper

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“Humanity is the rich effluvium, it is the waste and the manure and the soil, and from it grows the tree of the arts.”  -Ezra Pound, 1885-1972

I am often asked how I choose the faces I want to caricature.  What is my criteria in choosing the faces I want to draw, paint, distort, some say mangle.  I love interesting faces and interesting history.  Basically that is my criteria.  I read periodicals, search the web for artists, politicians, pop culture figures, etc.  I have vast hard copy files from my years as a newspaper illustrator/cartoonist where I clipped magazines and newspapers regularly.  In those days my choices were usually made for me by people of interest making headlines, or by the dictates of my editor.  The first drawing I did for a newspaper was Judge John Sirica who presided over the trial of the Watergate burglars.  I was 18 years old.  It was a straight portrait, not a caricature.  I still have it. Someday maybe I’ll post it.  Maybe not, it’s pretty crude.  I had yet to begin my study of the art of caricature.  Now, as a freelance illustrator and fine artist, I tend to choose people that interest me, people of history or modern people making history.  Sometimes I simply choose a face because I can’t resist it.  Ezra Pound is one such face.

Ezra Pound was an American expatriate poet, controversial in his political views, once hailed as the “Mad poet”, was eventually arrested for treason in Europe by American forces during World War II.  He was confined for months in detention at an American camp in Pisa.  During his incarceration he began work on one of his more famous works, The Cantos.  On the one hand, Time Magazine called him; “A cat that walks by himself, tenaciously unhousebroken and very unsafe for children”.  On the other hand, Ernest Hemingway said of him; “The best of Pound’s writing and it is in The Cantos- will last as long as there is any literature.”  How could I resist that!?  -Enjoy

7″x5″ Oil on gesso-coated board

This painting is AVAILABLE. Email me at CokerArt@yahoo.com for details.

“The thicker you paint, the more it flows.”  -John Singer Sargent 1856-1925

Yeah baby!  I love to paint thick and loose!  Problem is, I love to paint thin and detailed too!  These are the two factions of art that tug at my heart the most.  I awaken every day with the full knowledge that my purpose in this life is to paint and create from my heart, the most meaningful work that I can.  Then I go into my studio and the edges of my resolve become somewhat frayed and gray.  What will I paint today? Better yet, how will I paint it?  If it is a train motif, probably tight and detailed.  But then, not necessarily.  One of my best attempts, in my opinion,  was “10th Street Blues” (see below).  I painted that night sky like butter, full of color and brush work.  It was great!  I got so wrapped up in its creation that I lost all track of time and didn’t want it to end.  That is when art is doing what it was intended to do, at least for me.  The point of creation, that fire, that original intent suddenly realized in a flay of brush strokes, thoughtful design and color that when you back away become something special.  Geez, I’m exhausted!

I painted this caricature of Sargent back in December. I think it may have been my last piece of 2011.  I worked in front of my computer screen from a grainy black and white photo of the artist from the web.  I clipped the piece of illustration board to my trusty piece of gray foam board and braced it on my lap with my left hand.  I painted it just as Sargent might have.  I didn’t say as good!  I sketched it with a number one bristle round and burnt umber, just as Sargent often did.  He was probably the best ever at sketching this way.  I tried to keep my brush strokes loose while building up the thick strokes of color.  The likeness is not quite where I would have wanted it, but as Sargent once said;  “A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth”.  I couldn’t have said it better myself!  -Enjoy!

5″x7″ Watercolor on 140lb Arches paper

This painting is AVAILABLE. Please email me at CokerArt@yahoo.com for details.

“When I am in my painting, I’m not aware of what I’m doing.”  -Jackson Pollock 1912-1956

This watercolor is a caricature of the famed abstract expressionist painter, Jackson Pollock.  He was certainly the most famous of the New York expressionists and it could be argued that he was the most famous American artist of his time.  He’s known for his “drip paintings”.  He is the artist that is most often ridiculed as being “that guy who just throws paint on a canvas”.  He is the artist that most elicits the old adage “why, my kid can paint better’n at!”.  Pollock really brought the separation between the abstract and realistic schools of thought to a head, galvanizing the nation with his drips and spatters.

I became more aware of Pollock’s work back in the mid 1980s when I read the book “Jackson Pollock”, by Ellen G. Landau, published by Abrams.  I was doing a lot of experimenting with my own styles and techniques in my newspaper illustration at that time, much to the chagrin of my managing editor.  “Don, you need to ease up on all that Picasso sh**.”  When I saw Pollock’s early work, his pen & ink and mixed media pieces,  it really opened my heart and mind to different ways of seeing, much the way Picasso and Klee had done in the early 80s for me.  The work really hit me on an emotional level that is hard to explain.  They were so primal and to-the-bone, filled with so much power.  Later, in 1994, I spent four days in NYC with my longtime friend, Mark Strong.  He and I “did” the museums.  When I walked into this gallery at MOMA and saw a room full of huge Pollock “drip paintings”, I was absolutely mesmerized by the beauty of these things.  Yes, all he did was “drip paint on canvas”, but if you get close and see how he weaved the colors and textures, the layering of paint, the depth achieved with house paint in many cases, they’re astounding!  So, if your kid can indeed do better than that, this old world can certainly use more beauty.  Go for it!  -Enjoy!

7″x5″ Watercolor on 140lb Arches paper

This painting is AVAILABLE. Please email me at CokerArt@yahoo.com for details.

“Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.” -Charles Dickens, 1812-1870

It is spring, at least here in Georgia! What happened to winter?!  It lasted about 10 minutes, it seems.  It feels more like summer with today’s high at 88 degrees! I was hoping for a gradual ease into summer with a long, mild spring; birds singing, flowers blooming, the sweet scent of wisteria wafting about our back stoop with warm breezes gently mussing our hair while  sitting outside in the evenings with a glass of our favorite beverage.  But, alas, this IS Georgia in the deep South.  We do have that breeze and the wonderful scent of wisteria, along with so much pollen that you can hardly breathe.  Between the pollen wafting on said gentle breeze and the humidity that makes that 88 degrees feel like 92, I am inside with the air conditioning on, sitting in my studio painting and posting to my blog with said beverage of my choice.  Ah… springtime in Georgia!

I’ve been painting a lot since my last post, which seems like forever ago.  I’m working on a couple of commissions, doing some landscapes, portraits and “curmudgeon’s”, as well as continuing my work in the industrial landscape. Yes, that translates to the railroad scene.  I can’t escape it!  I can’t explain why I have such an interest in railroading and it as viable subject matter for painting.  But it works for me, so I continue.

Today’s post is not a train, but a watercolor of famed British author, Charles Dickens.  I had started this piece back in December in hopes of publishing it in time for Christmas, but didn’t get it done.  He, of course, is the writer of  “A Christmas Carol”, “Oliver Twist” and “Great Expectations”, to name a few, and is widely known as Britain’s most famous and beloved author from the Victorian period.  I’ve always wanted to do a caricature of him because he exudes character and seems to have a certain mystery in his gaze that appeals to me.  I clipped a 7″x5″ piece of Arches 140lb watercolor paper to a piece of foam board on my lap, sat at my computer, penciled in a sketch and began painting. It’s fun and challenging to get away from your drawing board or easel, “your comfort zone”, to sketch and paint.  It kind of forces you to stay a little loose with your technique, not so stiff and contrived.  Try it some time, I think you’ll like it!  -Enjoy!

7″x5″ Watercolor on 140lb Arches paper

This painting is available for purchase. Please email me at CokerArt@yahoo.com.

“Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.”  -D.H. Lawrence, 1885-1930

I can’t believe it’s November and Thanksgiving is two days away!  I’ve been very busy since my last post,  painting,  working a part-time job,  becoming a grandfather for the first time,  exhibiting in shows and winning a couple of awards.  Our first grandchild, Jacob Brian Anderson, was born in July to my daughter Lindsay and her hubby, Brian Anderson!  What a joy he has been!  I’m so in love with that little guy. Okay, so he’s not THAT little, actually.  He was 9lbs, 6 ounces at birth!  My daughter is tiny!  Jacob has added a whole new dimension to our lives and brought so much joy to us all.

I had the pleasure of exhibiting in a group show, The d’Vine Palette, with several artist friends from my area that I have known my whole career, including Bucky Bowles, Joe Belt, Len Jagoda, Cheryl Mann Hardin, Charles Willis and Booth Malone, to name a few.  It was an enjoyable day, visiting and catching up with them, plus, it was a benefit for a local chapter of the Humaine Society.  I had five pieces excepted into the Georgia National Fair in October.  I won a second place in miniatures with my oil on canvas “Confederate Colonel”, below, and a third place in fine art with my watercolor, “Heritage” also below.  I also exhibited two pieces in The Columbus Steeplechase at Callaway Gardens recently.  Currently, I have some work in another group show at Two Sisters Gallery benefiting Trees Columbus, an organization protecting the trees and the natural environment here in my hometown.  Like I said, it’s been busy!

So, this post is a small watercolor of D. H. Lawrence, the British novelist and poet, among other things.  He was also a painter.  A most interesting man, but in his day, misunderstood and criticized, to the point that he spent most of the second half of his life in voluntary exile which he called “savage pilgrimage”.  Today, his work is more respected and accepted.  Strange how that happens to so many creative souls.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  -Enjoy!

16″x20″ oil on canvas

This piece is available. Email me at CokerArt@yahoo.com for details

“My father, being extremely fond of machinery, was the one who first acquainted me with trains. He would often take me to the small wooden depot in Boligee when a Southern local was switching in town or a passenger train was making a brief stop.”  - J. Parker Lamb, Railroad photographer, educator and author

That seems to be the way with guys like myself that love trains.  Like Mr. Lamb, my dad sparked my interest in trains by doing one simple thing, stopping to watch them.  If we were riding along in our ’57 Oldsmobile and he saw a Central of Georgia train switching cars full of cotton bales at Bibb Mill or the Man ‘O War passenger train crossing 2nd Avenue on her afternoon return to my hometown from Atlanta, he would stop, or pause and point out the activity to me as if this were something worth noting.  My dad was not a railfan, (that’s what they call people who love trains these days) but I suppose he thought they were pretty cool,  just as many father’s think so today.  What’s not to like!?  They are huge, loud, powerful behemoths that scream testosterone!  I know there are “girl” railfans, plenty of them, but this seems to be a “guy” activity for the most part, not unlike baseball, football or auto racing.

This oil painting, “10th Street Blues”, is more impressionistic than I normally work, but as the painting progressed, so did the brush strokes!  I am drawn to the night, the nocturne.  There’s something particularly satisfying to me about railroading at night.  I have several nocturnes in progress in my studio as we speak.  There’s a certain mystery, a depth of feeling I get that simply isn’t there by day.  Maybe it taps into my need to ramble, which I have had all of my adult life.  I blame it on my years as an “Army brat”. We would pick up and move about every three years or so.  It took me a long time (and three children) to settle down.  But I digress.

This piece was most satisfying.  I really enjoyed working the sky and the diesel smoke.  The man-made lights of the locomotives and the city created a wonderful array of colors.  The colors of the night; muted earth tones, deep blues and greens and the pinkish color of lights in the modern city all combined to cry out for the impressionist in me.  The fact that this lash up was a former Chicago & Northwestern locomotive teamed with  a Union Pacific unit, both yellow, didn’t hurt any!  Plus, the summer heat of Georgia contributed to the atmosphere with a classic dose of night time “pea soup”, atmosphere that could almost be cut with a knife.  London, England has nothing on the deep South on a hot summer’s night, folks!

J. Parker Lamb’s railroad photographs and books are among my favorites and I highly recommend them to anyone who loves good photography, and especially those with a soft spot for trains.  I look at his books of photographs at night and somehow they satisfy that deep need to ramble, or at least hold it at bay for another day.  I’m happy Mr. Parker’s dad took the time to acquaint him with trains.  The  world is a better place because of  it.  Thank you, Pop, for stopping that two-toned Oldsmobile for me when you heard a train horn.  My work is forever indebted.  -Enjoy!

6″x5″ oil on board

This painting is AVAILABLE. Contact me at CokerArt@yahoo.com for price

“The work of art must seize upon you, wrap you up in itself and carry you away. It is the means by which the artist conveys his passion. It is the current which he puts forth, which sweeps you along in his passion”.  -Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1841-1919

This little oil was fun to paint.  Like most people, Renoir looked completely different as a younger man.  His intense gaze reflects the passion in his words about his work.  As an older gentleman he wore large, over-sized French berets, his eyes  sunken deeply into sockets sitting atop high protruding cheek bones.  I plan to paint him as an older man as well, which I will post here in the future.  As with many artists and creative celebrities, I am more fascinated with the way they look than their actual creative process.  Not sure what that says about me.  So many faces, so little time.

I can’t honestly say that Renoir is not one of my favorite painters, but I sure feel his passion for his work through his words.  He was a lover, a lover of women, nature, children and all things beautiful.  I respect that.  But for me his work was too… well, round.  His women were round, very round!  Their bottoms, as he called them, were extremely round and out of proportion.  No, I have no problem with women with round “bottoms”.  I know and love many.  Maybe the women of France were all round in the 19th century.  Maybe not.  I think he just liked painting the figure with overtly round, exaggerated  curves, not unlike the modern master of rotund, Lucien Freud, who passed away last week.  Renoir once said, “When I’ve painted a woman’s bottom so that I want to touch it, then [the painting] is finished.” Everything in his paintings seems to flow in a circle, revolving around an invisible lazy Susan.  Frankly, some of his pieces make me a little drunk.  His heightened impressionistic palette exacerbates the sense of flowing in a circle.  But really, I don’t dislike his work.  No, really, I don’t!  He was a master.  A master of the round…  A master IN the round!  Just sayin’.  -Enjoy!

5″x3 3/4″ oil on canvas

This painting is AVAILABLE. Contact me at CokerArt@yahoo.com for price

“All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind, from inner stillness.”  -James McNeill Whistler, 1834-1903

This is my first post for quite some time.  I’ve been consumed by larger pieces for shows and gallery use.  Sorry to be away so long.  I really want to get back to posting regularly, or as often as I can in hopes of keeping it a lively blog.  I promise to try harder.  I am going to post several larger pieces soon to give you an idea of what I’ve been up to.  Thanks for your patience.

I painted this small oil a few days ago, based on an old, grainy photo of a Confederate Colonel by the name of D. H. Hill of North Carolina that I found in a book.  I’m not a Civil War historian by any stretch, but have an interest in it.  It’s difficult to hail from the deep South and not have some sort of interest in that tragic part of American history.  I love old, grainy pictures from all world history, but that era simply produced a lot of characters that appeal to me.  I love to sit down with a small, blank, toned canvas or board and see what I can pull out of that abyss that is my mind or my “no-mind” as it were.  When I find a cool, old photo that appeals to me it sometimes makes the job that much more fun.  Colonel Hill had an interesting face, intense, dedicated, even defiant, not unlike my own feelings about my work.  -Enjoy!

11″x14″ watercolor on Arches 300lb paper

SOLD!

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What one can be, one must be.”  -Abraham Maslow, 1908-1970

Here is my latest watercolor.  Truth be known, it was another of the paintings I started a year or so ago and just now completed.  I am one of those painters that works on several pieces at one time.  I’m not sure what that says about me,  but there it is.  It has been speculated that I get bored easily.  There is no truth to that.  I don’t get bored.  Never have.  I have the patience of Job, as my Mother would say.  Like so many other realizations or revelations with age, I have come to understand after so many years of painting that for me it is the excitement of the beginnings of a new piece, a new idea, something fresh to contribute to my creative continuum.  I begin a piece and work on it for awhile and often put it aside.  At some point, whether it be that day or a year later, I have to sit down and put in the hours, days, weeks, whatever it takes to bring a piece to fruition.  I do.  But each piece has its time and I allow that to be.  Don’t get me wrong, if there’s a deadline as in a commission or an illustration, I sit down and knock it out.  But with my “speculative” work, I work the time frame according to what I feel.

For those who love trains and are interested in the narrative behind this piece, it is the Clinchfield Railroad in the autumn of 1966 at Erwin, TN at the old diesel shops.  That is now CSX territory.  The painting is based on a photo by my friend, Ron Flanery.  -Enjoy!

17″x12″ watercolor on Arches 140lb paper

This painting is AVAILABLE. Contact me at CokerArt@yahoo.com for price.

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”  -Mohandas Gandhi, 1869-1948

I began this piece a few years ago for the newspaper I was working for.  For whatever reason it was never finished or published. I was going through some stuff yesterday and found it and decided to take the time to finish it.  At the time I started this piece I was still experimenting with a lot of color, pushing the boundaries, particularly with its use in watercolor.  I still love to lay a purple next to a yellow or lime green just to watch it vibrate!  As an artist it can be such a joy to experience this kind of “vibration”.  But when it came to this particular subject I was drawn to this collision of color in an attempt at illustrating the evil that vibrates from this man.  It is a caricature, but caricature is not always meant to be funny.  In this case it goes back to the original use by the Brits. They called it a “loaded portrait”.  I think that is more appropriate here.  The painting is still a very timely piece, I’m sad to say.  -Enjoy?