Simpleton Crusty

Here is part of a painting I've been painting. It is a simpleton lion.





What I've sort of realised is that my paintings might serve a completely different purpose to my drawings. In fact I suspect that the same people who are predisposed to dig my drawings might not really dig the paintings, and that's alright.

I'll elaborate on this issue in another time and place.





Having said that, following on from slow crusty layered paintings like this one, I might also do some faster fresher paintings which have more in common with my fast swishy cocky drawings.

There's a continuum going on here or light to heavy, or fun to serious. I'm trying to be aware of where my respective things sit on that continuum, or slide up and down it.

Are these paintings finished?

Are these finished? Bear in mind, unfinished things look better on blogs than they do in real life.

I think this one is going to have to be finished, because it's so small and I don't want to drown its little mousey light.





This one would not be finished if it was left to me. But I painted it sort of with a commission in mind, and a different sensibility. You can see the brush strokes and that. The colour is chaotic.

The forms at the bottom are not clear or readable, which makes me uncomfortable. But my patron might like a bit of that.





This one is manic... I'm not sure quite where to go with him. The colours are dangerous on these. Less neutral than the last lot. He's a bit Vince McMahon, a bit pagan papier mache mask.





It's from when WWE were doing the 'Vince is crazy' bit just before the 'Vince explodes' bit, which they had to drop because of the real life Benoit tragedy. But Vince does have wonderful , wonderful facial expressions.





This next one is the left half of a painting that's been lying unfinished for a while. it's set in that graveyard I spoke of a few months ago. It has this big squish faced sleeping leopard thing swooping down draped in a tree.





Part of the thing is deciding whether the painting will be a fast fresh painting or a slow rembrandty crusty painting... not every way of painting is always compatible. And I'm not always good at decisions.





There there's this old thing, with Kurt who's now a bit bonkers himself. I always planned to do more to this, but now it doesn't seem necessary.





Which ones are finished? it's very hard to know all by myself.