Skull Drawing

Posted on October 3, 2018

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Logo and Brand Design Company

Posted on March 26, 2018

Utilizing my skill as a painter, I started a company this last year, called Green Pine Tree Studio. I hope to grow with this, as I have as a painter – and create interesting hand-drawn old school logos.

 

 

New Painting

Posted on April 7, 2016

18″/24″, Oil on Masonite Board.

This is on my easel. I am also working on a graphic novel as well as teaching Life Drawing ( figure Study) at Parsons, so I am pretty busy!

gavinspielmanwinter

Landscape and a portrait

Posted on September 2, 2015

   
 

Self Portrait – 2015, June

Posted on June 29, 2015

I’m not sure what happened to my love of drawing people, but I primarily use this skill to help conceive my landscape paintings. Some of my students tell me they like the portraits better – but I am not as social as I should be to render people – and so I call on the mountains. If I had more artist friends, perhaps I would paint them?

I like when someone tells me the work I am doing is ‘done’. I enjoy giving myself over to criticism and understanding I am not the artist if I listen to people who cannot paint – I am the worker working for their pleasure, stopping when their vision is congealed. 

Another thing I love is when someone gets on the train, while I’m typing – and talks lousy and annoyingly about nonsense – and smiles when distracted passengers look her way, out of a selfish narcissistic urge to repel the others space and thought pattern.

The person is talking about the police academy and becoming a cop. Her daughter is glaring at me sad.

I’m not interested in others patterns of self interest – I have my own to contend with. 

 

Painting Catskill Rapids behind my studio…

Posted on June 11, 2015

I have been working at this painting for about four 4 hour sessions. The build up was deliberate and slow, giving me time to enjoy the process and examine the gray and umber undertones in this otherwise fleeting moment in a rivers life. 

  

Painting all the time

Posted on May 6, 2015

I’ve been working hard – got a nice gallery upstate, found my voice as a painter – daily. I am getting somewhere – and my single minded approach to getting back to painting landscapes, have kept me out of trouble.

I am of an avant-garde ideal  — though I paint very placid paintings of places (somewhat) untouched by man. I have no need to paint like Chuck Close or De Kooning, though I feel they are my brothers. I can’t explain why I keep on with painting these landscapes, but will try.

I paint the scenes I come into contact with. I do not make up my environs, nor do I try to place myself within the context of the painting. I am using the paint, to create an alternate version of this reality, based on vision, and love. I love the places I paint. I find them worthy of pushing my intellect, subtracting judgment and creating through action.


 

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Catskill Stream – in progress

Posted on March 2, 2015

I started  this 18″/24″ oil on Masonite (triple gessoed, sanded). I began with a mix of umber and blue – in this case cobalt and a red raw umber. I block it in – not caring as much about color as line and direction, composition.

After this initial rough blocked in sketch / I start to add color and some sort of theory to the palette I’m using – which key is warmer and which is cooler.. I don’t care much about detail at this point..

I want this to have very subtle light within the snow so -I form my relationships based on this high key.’ My darkest  darks are under the ice and the trees – lighted mass is the sky and the water is dark all. It some reflections of the snow and sky which are ver light – but tinted with an umber or mars Orange.

Refining and blocking in color, redrawing and analyzing the gamut of color and value..

Progress….

Posted on February 27, 2015

Hard to know when to stop – I don’t want to! I enjoy painting when I get into the flow – or find some joy in it when I push on. Sometimes I’ll overwork it, beat myself up as If I don’t know how to paint. I am clear on what I do but still have moments of doubt – I attribute it to not drinking enough to water, not eating, I try to keep up with my needs throughout the day – but day three on a painting can go terribly wrong if you get angry, or think the painting looked better in an earlier stage.
I saved this one but it was close to destruction. I still need to do some work around the mouth and temple area / but I think it’s coming along.

I don’t consider portraiture something to get right- or create a formula to impress. Sure I want good images, I want to put integrity into the work – but don’t find much reason to fret over a self portrait. I live to paint and find painting my portrait beneficial to crating decent landscapes.

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Self portrait detail – in progress. I like to paint my own portrait, rather than ask others – as it appeals to the idea of change and letting go.

Posted on February 26, 2015

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