The Naked Silo

20" x 26", watercolour on Yupo, 2009, private collection Even though I finished this painting back in September --just before my exhibition of classic cars at The Pilot tavern in Yorkville-- I've only just now gotten around to taking a good photo of it for my records (and my Etsy shop (link below)...and this here blog). I guess that's in keeping with the spirit of this particular car: I spotted the vehicle on the south side of Queen Street, across from Trinity Bellwoods Park this summer, but only just had enough time to get off my bike, get my camera out, and snap a quick one before its driver got in and pulled away, heading east. Then, the exact year of this model eluded me in my online search (and still does, hence the simplified title). I think it's from the 1940s or 50s, but the design of the damn turn signals over the front wheels doesn't match the other parts chronologically, so I think it's a bit of a hybrid, kitbash, mélange of MG eras...

14" x 17", ink and wash on bristol board, 2006, private collection From last to first. This was the first streetcar painting I did --and where I realized how damn challenging it was going to be to paint window after window, (in painting after painting ) on these things. But they're integral to the design and I like them, so I forged ahead --but only until #14 in inks (I'll meet the challenge again when I eventually get around to making colour paintings of these streetcars). I chose to render most parts of the backgrounds using only light washes (of ink diluted in water) rather than using the dark washes and ink straight from the pot as I did in the trolleys. This helps to create contrast between the background and the streetcars and, interestingly, simulates a sort of nifty depth of field, making the streetcars seem to pop out. I prefer to work from my own photographs, but, not being able to find these old streetcars anymore, I resorted to using the...

17" x 14", ink and wash on bristol board, 2006,  private collection I feel strongly that these older, "streamlined" designs of Toronto's streetcars are much more appealing than the current, boring and boxy ones. Also, though not shown here of course, are the equally more appraling red and yellow colours of the older models (compared to the red, black, and white of today). I plan to eventually paint some full colour pictures featuring these same streetcars but wanted first to get the hang of all the wonderful and complex details in simple black and white. I prefer to work from my own photographs, but, not being able to find these old streetcars anymore, I resorted to using the Internet, so step forward and claim your  image, photographers.

15" x 22", watercolour, 2000 It's been pretty cold here in Toronto these past couple of days and I wanted to think about warmth and something sunny (even though it *is* quite sunny right now...) and a nice field of sunflowers seemed like an image to warm me up today. This represents the letter S and is number 19 in my Sunflowers series. The model, once again, is Aisha (click on the tag below to see more paintings featuring her).

20" x 26", watercolour on Yupo, 2009 I wanted to try something different with this one by employing an ink outline as I would if I were painting an ink painting. The sensation of the brush gliding smoothly across the surface was pretty amazing, considering not only the roughness of my usual watercolour paper, but also that I'd done quite a few paintings on Yupo by this point. Normally on Yupo, if I lay down some colour in watercolours that I don't like, I can wipe it away easily as though I'd never done it at all, but I didn't know if the same would be true for ink, so (rather than experimenting on some scrap) I tried very hard to control the brush and not make any terrible mistakes. I did experiment on some scrap in the initial R&D phase to see if the ink would dry completely and allow me to paint with watercolours over top. I really like how the erasure of the paint helps give definition to the cracks in the skull --and the spatter technique...

20" x 26", watercolour on Yupo, 2009, private collection My show at The Pilot Tavern in Yorkville has been held over for the duration of January. Details are at the bottom of this post. This painting isn't part of the show, but was commissioned as a result of seeing my watercolour cars on Yupo at the SpeakEasy Drawing and Painting show at the Gladstone Hotel back in the summer. When commissioned, I was curious to see if I could pull of a painting of a late model car in the same style as all those classic cars I'd been doing, seeing as this technique on Yupo gives the picture a sort of patina of age. And on top of that, the car is grey(!), so I gave it a little boost of colour from that blotch in upper right. There is one more car in the show that I still don't have a good photo of. It's a red MG that I couldn't figure out the year of. I think the painting came out very well, but it's too dark in The Pilot to get a good archival shot, so...

30" x 40", oil on canvas, 2009, private collection The reference photo for this painting was taken four or five years ago while on a photography trip to Chinatown and Kensington Market in Toronto with my friend, Stephen Fenech . He's an amazing photographer (and superb world traveller) and I thought it'd be great to do a project together. The idea was that we'd shoot subjects in tandem and then have a joint show somewhere (after I'd made paintings of my own photos). And all the subjects had to be things that were in tandem as well. We stumbled upon this display of toy birds in a now-defunct skate shop in Kensington Market. The display was actually five or six shelves of these identical birds about 6" tall, all lined up in neat rows...except the top shelf had a single bird tilted as you see it in the painting. And that's the photo I took and chose for my Tandem item. The sun was setting and the birds were bathed in beautiful golden light. ...