In my Studio 12-12-12

I do love my studio, which is a short walk from my house, right next door in fact. It's a funky agricultural building of metal and plastic, with plywood walls to hide storage and display art, and to block the wind which whistles through on occasion bringing rain and general dampness. This is a collection of photos of some of the work I've been doing this month. Some of it is still in progress, but most of it is quick sketches from our two weekly life drawing sessions.

A Lovely Model

We had a beautiful young model today for our drawing group, with a natural sense of grace and very big dreadlocks. These are 20 minute studies:

I'm also indulging in my secret passion and ambition for abstraction; here is the latest attack on an old canvas I keep reworking. A friend pointed out that it looks a lot like Synchronism, a style that was popular in the twenties. He was helped out in this observation by a book on American Synchronism that happened to be on my worktable where I've been studying it.....

These last four are studies in collage, acrylic and pastel on paper. I get very seduced by the prettiness and the sherbert colors, and there is a huge challenge to making them go beyond the look of a wallpaper or fabric design! If you have suggestions email me at arthurjohnsen@hotmail.com please.

Goings-on in the A J Studio

After a half-year of health issues it's a huge pleasure to sink into a creative space again in the studio. I rearranged my furniture a bit, cleared some wall space, and embarked on a set of light and pretty abstracts just for fun and practice. Meanwhile of course we have the Saturday and Tuesday life drawing group which has become my absolute favorite thing, rivaled only by my early morning yoga and dip in the ocean at Kehena Beach.

My collectors Brook and Greg showed up at the studio to pick up my "Blue Surfer" painting. It's a scene of the Red Road, rendered in a very stylized palette of highlights pulled out of an overall royal blue field. I don't know the surfer dude but he happened to walk by one day when I was doing another version of the view, so I snapped his picture.

Surfer Boys: A New Painting

I had surgery on my shoulder in December so haven't been very active for half a year. So I'm happy to finally have this particular commission 99.9% complete. I think it needs some more contrast, maybe some work on the surfer's face (more Hawaiian??). It's kind of a new direction since it is pushing my interest in metallics and iridescent effects on textured grounds into the realm of figurative art. The border was fun too; I carved a bunch of new stamps in soft linoleum and played with them until I found a sequence I liked, and then collaged rice paper onto the canvas. I'm attaching some of many sketches for this project, in case anyone thinks this stuff comes easily or quickly (hint, It's taken months....

Fun with Live Models!

Our little local artists' group has been getting together every Saturday in my studio (from 9 to 11:30 if you can make it!). We sketch from a model, with the longest poses being 20 minutes. This is a great practice and warm up, but can be frustrating, as there is never enough time to do much but block in the figure. We were inspired by a young model named Alison, from Kalani eco-resort, to schedule a long session, which we are now enjoying every Tuesday morning (10 - 12:30). We've had her three times so far, and are going to draw her again next week. She is an exquisite beauty and makes me think of a girl in an anime drawing. I love the long poses because I can finally get some subtleties into my rendering of flesh tones and anatomy.