by David R. DarrowAbout This Painting
This seated nude was done in 2009. Thick and thin oil on canvas panel. ◙
Sorry for not writing back yesterday. Dad Passed away at 12:50 this afternoon. He died from what we believe was a perforated bowel at Kaiser Woodland Hills. I do not believe there will be any services and his wish was to be cremated.To say that Fred was influential, brilliant and loved would all be saying to little. I have heard him quoted by name form some of the world's finest living artists, mentioned in virtually every Weistling video and interview, and honored by many who were fortunate enough to be under his teaching.
Ends (after) August 31, 2009 - See available works and sale pricing here:
I will be holding my second online portrait painting workshop, May 30 and 31, 2009 (the first one, May 23 and 24th filled up fast) from 8:30am each day, Pacific Time. That's 12-hours total.
The second workshop will be the same as the first, except better most likely, since I will be learning from the first.
The online workshop will be limited to 16 people due to time constraints related to regular reviews of each participant's work. Participants will view the instructors work via the "over his shoulder cam" and work on the same painting, using the same reference (shown at right), with step-by-step instruction from beginning to end, along with helpful assessments along the way to keep each participant on track.
There are still a few spots left.
Click here for detailed information on David R. Darrow's GoFigure Online Workshop
Just finished John and Bunty Warby -- these are 5" x 7" on panel... I will post the other soon. These were painted on my Paintcast™ Dave the Painting Guy, live.
by David R. Darrow
11" x 14" (27.9cm x 35.6cm)About This Painting
This portrait of my client Alan Campbell was started with Alan in the studio watching while I painted during the broadcast of Dave the Painting Guy.
I asked him if I could paint him because I like his face and I like him. He balked at the idea at first, but I talked him into posing for photographic reference for the painting, and then he became interested in obtaining the painting for his office.
So, what started out as a Fine Art piece for me to paint and sell, became a portrait commission. Either way, it was fun to paint.
Alan is a recognized, award-winning architect in San Diego. Visit the website of Alan C. Campbell. ◙
by David R. Darrow
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 27.9cm)About This Painting
I first met Nick at North Coast Calvary Chapel in Carlsbad, CA. He was a 'morning greeter,' welcoming people as they walked in the front door, greeting them with a big smile, friendly eyes... and something you just could not help but notice: the biggest hands you've ever felt giving you a handshake.
My own hands are large; Nick's are massive.
When I moved my studio to Oceanside in 2007, I discovered Nick was my new neighbor, and we chatted from time to time. He'd had to retire due to a heart condition, the treatment of which seemed to be barely tolerable. His weight increased rapidly over a few months, and this once grizzly, hulk of a human was reduced – by increased size – to a man at the mercy of distances, stopping to catch his breath every 15 feet or so when merely walking. He was always kind, generous and jovial, with endless stories of days in Hollywood as a stunt-double, or other bit parts.
A few months before Teresa and I moved to Encinitas, Nick told that me a good friend in Costa Rica had invited him to come down there and help him out with his new Club for mostly American tourists, right on the beach, free grub and free rent and a small paycheck.
I asked him if I could come, too.
One day, in those last weeks, I dropped by with my camera and asked him if I could shoot some pictures of him for a painting.
"Me?" he gasped. "I thought you wanted to be a successful painter," he winked. A moment later he was up scrounging around in some of his packed boxes for his hat collection, and pulled out this delightful captain's hat. I suggested that he'd look official if he had a pipe. "Oh, I have one right over here, he said, turning around to get one out of his china hutch.
I snapped about 10 shots and left him alone, thanking him for the inspiration. A week later his apartment was empty, and Nick was on his way to Costa Rica.
I have not heard from him since.
Nick left me several hats as costume props, and several Hawaiian shirts, most of which I wear on my broadcast, my favorite being the one I was wearing in last night's broadcast – the parrot one. Thanks Nick!
* * * This is the painting I completed January 2nd – my first painting of 2009. I began it on the Dave the Painting Guy broadcast on January 1, 2009, and finished it the next evening. Most of it was recorded as a public clip at the uStream location. ◙
by David R. Darrow
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 27.9cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel
About This Painting
Ashton is a young woman I met when her family was on vacation to Carlsbad, CA.
She had me at the Coke machine.
Really! I was walking by the soda fountain on my way out the door to the back patio with my new, ice cold Palapa Pale Ale at Pizza Port when this striking beauty with large, dark eyes and cascading black curls turned towards me as she finished filling her glass. She smiled and turned to return to her table.
I have to paint her.
I followed her to her table, where she joined her family. Her mother and father, also very attractive people, looked at me with raised eyebrows as I stumbled through my introduction, telling them I am a real artist – "See, here's my card, and it has one of my paintings on it..." – asking them if I could possibly arrange some time to paint their daughter.
They both looked at her.
She gave a look to her dad that was sort of a wide-eyed head-shake that communicated Hey, I don't know any more about this than you do, but it sounds fun! They explained to me that they were just down here on vacation, but if they could squeeze in some time before heading home, they would call me.
They called and dad brought his 17-year-old treasure over to my studio for a quick photoshoot. It is rare that I have gotten so many paintable reference pictures in such a short time. She's as photogenic as she is beautiful, but her face, eyes, head-shape, hair and mouth are as easily paintable as anyone I have ever met.
And she's a truly sweet soul.
* * * This painting was completed on my Dave the Painting Guy live broadcast.It s available as an 11 x 14-matted giclee in my online store. ◙
by David R. Darrow
10" x 8" (25.4cm x 20.3cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel
SOLD
Collection of William Rowett
New London, New Hamshire – USA
About This Painting
This nude was painted as a demonstration on my live broadcast Dave The Painting Guy (My free, live, Internet broadcast). ◙
by David R. Darrow
8" x 10" (20.3cm x 25.4cm)About This Painting
Next Dave The Painting Guy show: Today, Wednesday, 5pm Pacific Time (GMT -8)
This past Monday, I relaunched my Dave the Painting Guy streaming internet show (website link) after over a month off the air, a month off from any painting (other than walls), and a month of packing and relocating to a large enough home to comfortably accommodate my wife and I, our individual home businesses, my art studio, and occasional guests and family-member sleep overs.
Somehow Labor Day seemed like an appropriate day top get back to work. So I announced my intentions to go on the air again to subscribers to my notification list... and then set about trying to figure out what I would paint fro the show.
As always, careful planning and meticulous forethought are not my strongest gifts.
So it seemed Labor Day might have some interesting faces associated with its history, and sure enough, this interesting man, whom I painted as a demo on the show.
Samuel Gompers, according to Wikipedia "...helped found the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in 1881 as a coalition of like-minded unions. In 1886 it was reorganized into the American Federation of Labor, with Gompers as its president. He would remain president of the organization until his death (with the exception of one year, 1895)."
And he had a pretty nice face for a painting demo.
(You can see the recorded clips on my ustream channel). ◙
by David R. Darrow
11" x 14" (27.9cm x 35.6cm)About This Painting
I've just moved into a new-to-us residence/studio with my wife Teresa, and am very excited about my new studio... it's the perfect setting to reintroduce my Internet Video Show Dave the Painting Guy which I will have on the air again this week.
From the new studio in Encinitas, CA!
One of the last paintings I did on the air from my old studio in Oceanside, CA was this one I have titled Black Dress.
I liked this woman's face can curly hair, so I asked her if I might pain her sometime, noting that I would kind of like to direct the lighting... she agreed, asked her daughter to photograph her – following my instructions – and sent me several to choose from. I liked this composition best.
I decided to paint this one live on my show, keeping it heavy and painterly, and also decided to experiment a little with the start: I started the painting with my reference photo upside down as a means of forcing my mind to see abstractly, to get the shapes right. (Watch the first in the video clip series)
The result was very pleasing to me, and the painting sold immediately...
...to her husband. ◙
My wife and I delivered my commissioned portrait of Mariam directly to her place of work yesterday. Rather than having me bring the painting to her office, which she felt would certainly lead to unwanted ribbing from her already tease-prone coworkers, she met us in the lobby, complimented the portrait, asked for a little stack of my business cards and walked directly out to the parking garage to sequester the painting from prying eyes.
She later wrote that she took a few trusted friends to the garage gallery and showed them, which garnered the art work still more compliments.
Note: This painting was painted in its entirety live on the Dave the Painting Guy Show.
by David R. Darrow
8" x 16" (20.3cm x 40.6cm)
Oil on Stretched Canvas
SOLD
Collection of Renée Richardson
Washington, DC – USA
About This Painting
I try to make a habit of painting strangers. In fact, my business card which bears a sample of my oil portraiture makes reference to my interest in strangers with my tag line "Beautiful Strangers: Oil Portraits of Friends I Don't Know."
Now, usually I reserve my canvas manipulations for the likenesses of people I have met and asked to paint. But the other day I painted a total stranger as an alla prima painting demonstration for the viewers of my almost-daily painting show Dave The Painting Guy (Google It).
1 of the 4 video clips of this painting being created can be found at: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/403211
"Jen," as I have since discovered her name to be, left a comment on one of my painting photos on Flickr.com, and so I jumped over to her collection to look at her paintings. Seeing only thumbnails there, I thought that one of the shots was a wonderful painting so I clicked the thumbnail to look at it more closely only to discover that it was actually an out of focus cell-phone picture she had shot.
So, I wrote to her and asked if I could do a painting... an artistic interpretation of that shot. She gave me permission, and the rest is history.
It was a fun painting to do... the angle of the head, the elegant lines of her neck, her curly hair. Beautiful women make for beautiful paintings. ◙
by David R. Darrow
11" x 14" (27.9cm x 35.6cm)About This Painting
Last June, I was very excited about an article that came out about me and my portrait painting, and was celebrating at my favorite custom-brew house, Pizza Port in Carlsbad, CA, handing out copies of the the San Diego Reader which contained the article about me, trying, to no avail, to get someone to think I was a big deal and buy me a beer.
A gorgeous, young woman walked by with lovely eyes and beautiful curls in her long, deep-red hair, and so I whipped out my business card which has my website on it, and asked her if I might paint her.
The next day she called, and she and her boyfriend Mike came over for a quick photo sitting for an eventual painting. Last November, I held a painting workshop for artists in Southern California, and used a large photo of Megan from that shoot to demonstrate my painting methods, concentrating on Values and Shapes, and how to quickly get a good likeness.
I only painted for 45 - 60 minutes, and did not finish the painting at that workshop.
Fast Forward
A few weeks ago, I began broadcasting a painting show on the Internet from my studio. It's a free-to-anyone show called "Dave the Painting Guy" (Google it). As one of my many demonstrations to date, I decided to complete this portrait of Megan. The entire process (except for the first hour) was recorded and saved for viewing, with segment 1 found here: www.ustream.tv/
On that internet show, people can log in and "chat" via a text window, and I can answer questions via video and audio. It's a very casual show, with lots of laughs, and honest, straight-forward answers to viewers' questions. You can also log in there and watch this "episode" and others to watch this painting reach completion. ◙
I've renamed my Internet-streamed show Dave the Painting Guy.
I am working on a portrait commission. I move the camera as I jump to different areas.
Next Broadcast:
Broadcasting on andd off today... and most days. Check in and see if it's on!
If you follow this link to the uStream.tv site, you can log in and/or create a user-name and text-chat with me. I do take questions. By obtaining a User-name there, you can leave comments, rate the broadcast, and chat (text) live while I'm working. (Please be patient, I am still working out the kinks).
The kind folks over at Art & Prose Magazine did an interview with me last month, featuring my painting Carmen on the cover, along with 9 additional reproductions of specifically-requested artwork of mine inside.
It's a fascinating magazine, geared to technical and creative people with disciplines ranging from fantasy writing, to computer model making, to poetry and traditional art methods.
This interview came from out of the blue, and being featured on the cover of Volume One, Issue 8 is something for which I am very grateful to John Johnson and the rest of the crew at A&P.
by David R. Darrow
16" x 20" (40.6cm x 50.8cm)About This Painting
Lora got in touch with me shortly after the San Diego Weekly Reader article, about me and portrait painting, came out mid-last year.
She wanted me to paint her portrait after reading about my thoughts on painting, God and beauty, and after seeing my work.
Ironically, perhaps, it was in this article I was quoted as saying that as of that time I had not received any commissions from women for portraits of themselves. And I speculated as to why.
Lora's approach changed my thinking. She wanted to capture this moment in time for a number of personal reasons, some of which she shared with me, and which made painting this portrait that much more engaging. She also wanted to own original art, for all the best reasons.
I only hope I captured the kind and thoughtful spirit of the woman I came to know while painting her. She tells me she loves it. ◙
by David R. Darrow
8" x 14" (20.3cm x 35.6cm)About This Painting
I'm not as good at math as I should be.
And I am really lame at guessing ages.
In 1991 a little girl came into my life that would change my heart and my mind, and sway my resolutions, the subsequent blessings of which I could never have foreseen.
Bethany.
Because of Bethany, I have a wonderful daughter.
See, in 1991, my daughter did not yet exist, because her mother and I (mostly me) had decided a few years earlier to stop at 2 children. We had two fine boys, and were having plenty of fun, and absorbing the challenges that come with raising two boys on an artist's income.
That year our little family of 4 had season passes to what is now called Six Flags Magic Mountain and decided, for reasons I cannot remember, to take some of our friends' daughters with us. Bethany was 5, and her mother instructed her simply, "Now you hold on to Mr. Darrow's hand the whole time, okay?" Right there in her driveway before we even left for the amusement park, she looked up at me and smiled and grabbed my hand.
Like Superman too close to Kryptonite, I began to melt... little by little throughout the day, this warm, sweet, smiling little girl brought down the giant I thought I was.
At the end of the day, I didn't want to return her to her mother.
But I did. (It's the law).
Later that year we decided to expand our family and "try for a girl." And in 1992 God blessed us with a sweet daughter of our own who has been the subject of many of my paintings, and has her daddy's heart forever.
Well, in 1994 we moved away from that area, and I have never seen anyone in Bethany's family since. Fast-forward to 2007, Tuesday in fact, and I get an e-mail from Bethany assuming, of course, that I remember who she is.
I'm picturing a little smiling cutie looking up at me holding my hand, and I am mentally trying to stretch her image into an older person that has the facility to write e-mails (I told you math escapes me at times).
She attached to the e-mail a picture of her now... posing with a melancholy expression in front of a green wall... and that's when reality smacked me across the face.
She's in her early 20s now, married and just found out she's expecting a child of her own.
How did Bethany turn into a woman in — what's it been —three weeks? All I could write back to her was "Wow! You've grown up!" and then, "This picture looks so much like a work of art with that pose and lighting that I want to know if I can do an oil painting interpretation of it," to which she enthusiastically agreed.
I showed the finished painting to my oldest son when we got together for Thanksgiving and asked him if he remembered Bethany.
"Do I remember her?" he said, as if I asked him if he likes to surf. "If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have a sister!"
The Legend of Bethany, the 5-year-old girl who melted a man's heart, lives on.
And now she is immortalized. ◙
by David R. Darrow
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 27.9cm)About This Painting
My daughter is one of my favorite models.
Every now and again I see her face in a certain light... the highlights glancing off her cheekbones in some way, or the pattern of the shadows bringing out her natural beauty...
In this case, I happened to catch her looking simply beautiful while she was watching a fascinating show on TV... while I messed with the lights she kept her eyes on the story from which I could not steal her. ◙
by David R. Darrow
7" x 5" (17.8cm x 12.7cm)About This Painting
There's a "farmer's market" in a large Carlsbad, CA parking lot each Wednesday. Vendors — most of them the actual farmers of the produce the sell at the market — set up white-topped tent booths and hawk their wares for one day a week.
I think the tomatoes from local growers beat the taste of store tomatoes 365 days a year. So, when I can, I buy them from local growers.
When setting up for a new display at a local art gallery a while back, it looked to me like there was a little bit of room for another painting, and so I asked the owner if I could bring in a 5 x 7 to add to the upcoming show. Permission granted, I told her I'd "be right back" and headed home.
When I arrived in my studio, I got out a blank 5 x 7 panel and dashed to the kitchen to find something to paint.
I couldn't resist this gorgeous, red tomato I had purchased a couple of days before at the farmer's market. Slicing into it, juice spilled out either side, but the firm tomato fruit held its shape perfectly as I removed this aromatic wedge and posed the parts to compose my painting.
An hour later, I returned to the gallery with this finished painting, framed and wired, ready to hang.
"Careful," I smiled. "It's still wet."
"You just painted it?"
"Yep. I told you I'd be right back."
I probably priced it too high for my little known name at the time, so eventually it came back home.
It's time to let it go. ◙
by David R. Darrow
7-1/2" x 11" (19.1cm x 27.9cm)About This Painting
I just finished my 2007 Portrait Workshop in Carlsbad, CA this past weekend. This painting was the last of the four I did as demonstrations for my painting style. In the short time allowed for demos, everything I teach gets crammed into a very rapid painting — and sometimes, these demos come out pretty rewarding.
I talk while I paint, so the workshop attendees can "hear what's going on in my mind" — to see what I see, and understand the decisions I make with paint.
At one point, I was trying to describe the edges and value differences between the light of the model's flesh and "that blue... uh... that, uh vest thing?"
The model who was sitting as still as a mannequin piped up. "Bodice," and went 'back to frozen.'
I will never forget, now. ◙
I had a great group of people at my workshop this past weekend. Everyone seemed in very good spirits, eager to paint and to learn, and filled with enthusiasm despite the challenges of painting from life in front of other people.
We had a lot of fun together. The models were great. Good character to their faces, and just fun people, too, as we all got to know them.
It is such a pleasure to paint from life from professional models who take their work seriously (I have painted from pros who are nonchalant, and I can tell you the energy is much different!)
I started the first session with a 1.5 hour demo quick study in getting the light and shadow patterns down; thinking abstractly about the vague shapes you see while squinting, and putting this little patchwork of a puzzle together on the canvas. This was a purposely rapid portrait demo, using only 4 colors and white. Raw Umber, Yellow Ocher, Alizarin Crimson and Cerulean Blue) because I was trying to demonstrate the importance of value and shadow patterns over color issues. Color seems to bog most students down, when in fact Value and Drawing are far more critical.
I spent a good deal of time in each session, except the last, helping attendees get a better feel for how I approach a painting. The individual attention one-on one with the students that wanted it seemed to set them in a new direction and get them approaching the task in a new way.
I didn't get much time to paint in Saturday's morning session. But when I did get going, I did a discussion about drawing the features in abstractly, how I measure, what I look for in line and proportion and rapidly banging in the shadows in bulk. This is the result of an hour's work. I also discussed how light and shadow describe form to the viewer's brain... how one shadow describes the forms of both the object that is casting the shadow and the object onto which it is cast. The characteristics of the edges of the shadows are critical in striking recognition within the viewer's mind.
It was a great weekend, and I am already being asked when my next workshop will be.
If you are interested in getting information about my next workshop by e-mail, be sure to add your e-mail address to my private mailing list. All info on my mailing list is confidential.
Busyland. It's right near the edge of the earth, so if you think I fell off it, you're close. Actually, to fill in the income holes between painting sales, I do websites and have been constructing one for a long-time client... I am trying to set it all up with good CSS structure which makes it easier to change in the future should they want a new look. Unfortunately, some of the structure I have been attempting is mind-boggling when switching between browsers. It's astounding that since 1998 when CSS2 standards were established, all the major browsers do not agree on how to display pages using these standards. But I have also been working on three commissions I have obtained since the San Diego Reader cover article about me hit the stands. I simply have not had much time to do anything but "real work" -- which is a delight for a full-time artist. Along the way, I have been feeding my artistic mind with how-to videos rented from SmartFlix.com. One of my favorites to watch (or just listen to) is the 10-hour set of Morgan Weistling's Advanced Fundamentals for the Beginning Expert, which you can now rent from them. Even though I practically know this video by heart, it's like the Bible in some ways -- I always get something new out of it, or at least a good reminder or two, minimum. I have also watched and enjoyed DVDs such as In the Studio with Scott Burdick, Richard Schmid's The Captain's Portrait, and John Howard Sanden. (These are found in the SmartFlix Painting: Oil category.) Sometimes watching or listening to masters talk about their work beats the heck out of listening to music. And I love music! Also, I have been switching gears a little to try acrylic painting again. For the majority of my career as an illustrator I avoided oils due to longer drying times, and my general unfamiliarity with the medium -- preferring acrylic for just about everything. When I started painting in oils full-time in 2000, I left acrylics behing (actually, in a drawer), and didn't look back. But the work of Roger Bansemer has sparked interest once again in acrylics... Especially his Tropical Paintings. He is also the influence behind my trying a limited palette for my recent paintings, starting back on July 4th with San Elijo Lagoon. His tropicals are largely done with Red, Blue and Yellow, White and Black. Above is an 18" x 6" of the Pacheco Pass in northern California (SR-152) that I played with for an hour or so recently, painting from a photo I took on a recent trip. I'll finish it when I get the time.
by David R. Darrow
11" x 14" (27.9cm x 35.6cm)About This PaintingMaybe you like your job a lot, but do you like it so much that you'd even watch a video of someone else doing it?
Well,that's what I do.
I rent or buy DVDs of other artists painting. I own or have watched videos of Morgan Weistling (portraits and figurative), Scott Burdick (figurative), Richard Schmid (figures, landscapes, portrait) and Roger Bansemer (landscape, plein air), and watch them many times because I always — and I mean always — pick up something new and inspiring, each time. I am constantly inspired and awed by the work of many other artists.
This painting came about as a direct result of 1) having just watched Weistling's 10-hour painting video set Advanced Fundamentals for the Beginning Expert, and 2) seeing my daughter sitting in a certain light with a certain look that is "very her" when deep in thought.
It was one of those moments where I just had to start smooshing paint on a canvas. I purposely chose a limited palette of Alizarin, Yellow Ochre, Black and White. ◙
by David R. Darrow
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 27.9cm)About This Painting
"Hey, can I paint your portrait?" I asked, rather out of nowhere, handing her my card. You've got such a great face."
"Yeah?" she asked with a big smile. "You're an artist?"
"No, but I'm thinking of starting..." I joked. My daughter's eyes darted at me suddenly waiting for the resolution. "Yes, I'm an artist. I paint portraits and still lifes, and really whatever I feel like painting... two or three paintings a week. It's how I make my living... and I'd like to paint you."
"That would be so cool!" she beamed. I gave her a few details of how I handle this kind of thing, told her to bring a friend for her own comfort, and told her that I wanted her to look at my paintings on my website, and she would like to be painted by me, e-mail or call me.
I never ask for a potential model's phone number, because I don't want to appear to be 'hitting on them.' I leave it totally up to them. As a result, I do not have a lot of luck getting models from the general public. I might hand out 40 or 50 cards only to people I really want to paint — I am very picky — before one will follow through. It's just an unfortunate byproduct of the world we live in, sadly. That, and perhaps because I eat too many doughnut holes... but that's another story.
Carmen waited on my daughter and I with great patience and a servant's attitude when I took my daughter shopping for her 15th birthday present[s] a few weeks ago. I told my daughter that I would take her to the mall and wait patiently in all the shops she wanted to go in while she tried stuff on, and told her there was no time limit — just a dollar limit.
We spent an entire hour and a half in just one store that caught my daughter's fancy, and Carmen was just delightful the entire time. She offered cheerful conversation, ran about the store grabbing articles she thought might look good on my daughter, reserved items behind the counter for us, and was just genuinely confident and friendly.
As we were finally checking out, I caught a glimpse of Carmen's face in some unique lighting which enhanced the God-given, beautiful structure of her face, and I decided at that moment, that I had to paint her.
I'm so glad she agreed! She is a beautiful person internally, too. ◙
by David R. Darrow
10" x 7" (25.4cm x 17.8cm)About This Painting
The Doughnut Hole If you haven't figured it out by now, every painting I do reveals a little something about me. Even with my theme of Everyday Paintings, which is a tongue-in-cheek twist on the painting excellence for which I always strive, I don't just grab an object or any ol' person to pose and just make a painting. In essence, I am painting a history of myself in shuffled chapters, pictures of a memory, a trait, revealing a fondness, or just letting the viewer know what really 'grabbed me' at one moment.
The subjects I choose are all related to what I love about life, whether a beautiful scene, some tasty food or wine, the delicate, innocence of a child, the beauty and grace of a woman, or the rugged stories told in the weathered face of a man. So much to see; too little time.
Powdered Doughnuts
by Justin ClaytonRecently I was inspired by a masterful painting done by a friend and fellow Daily Painter, Justin Clayton. Justin is one of a very small handful of artists on the entire planet who actually comes very close to painting one complete oil painting every day, and they are always exceptional. I admire his talent, determination and discipline.He chose, as his subject matter for the painting that caught my eye, white powdered doughnuts on a white background. (I think he could have sold a blank canvas with that title in a Beverly Hills art gallery for $150,000, but he has integrity, too).
His painting also made me hungry. See, doughnuts have always been a weakness of mine. One of my fondest memories as a child was when my dad would get me into the car to run some Saturday morning errands with him, and we'd stop off first for doughnuts at the local Winchell's. Just me and my dad. A little box of milk and a powdered doughnut.
As an adult I still like doughnuts. I used to order coffee with them, and in some sort of canceling-out-calories math or culinary division by zero would sweeten my coffee and cream with Equal. You can't be too careful when you're "watching your weight."
Truth is, though, I've never bought doughnut holes. I've always thought they were the big lie, the conspiracy common to doughnut shops. They sell the doughnut to one guy, and the part they took out of it gets sold to someone else. That's like... well, selling place mats made from the neck hole they cut out of a poncho, or making black basketballs out of the centers of tires. Okay, maybe that's stretching it.
But who really buys doughnut holes, and why? They are the un-doughnut. Everyone knows the legal limit is 2 doughnuts in the company kitchen on Friday mornings. But what's the limit on doughnut holes? Five? Seven? Eighteen?
And how do you eat them politely? I feel silly taking a bite out of something that is bite-sized. And popping the whole thing in my mouth just looks bad. And if you do, you're all done, and all you got was one bite.
There is just a lot wrong with doughnut holes. There ought to be a law... ◙
by David R. Darrow
11" x 14" (27.9cm x 35.6cm)To subscribe to my free "Art In Your InBox" Newsletter, just click here.About This PaintingCompleted late last year.
I love the way the color of the objects work with and against each other, each vying for attention, poking in and out of the light. The organic in harmony with the inorganic; symbolic of our lives. The bitter of the lemon with the peace-offering olive branches.
Give and take.
Dark and Light.
