Sketchbook gouache studies for The Card Players
A page of pencil and gouache studies and sketches for The Card Players, after Bruegel’s The Peasants’ Brawl.
About Michael
Posts by :
Ballpoint pen portrait of artist Warren Rosser
A quick sketch in ballpoint pen during Warren Rosser’s talk at Kansas City’s Central Library, on Feb. 7, 2017. Warren is a prominent KC artist, and my former professor in Painting, at KCAI.
Protection and Detection Chemical Warfare talk at the National WWI Museum
A sobering overview of the historical usage of chemical weapons usage during WWI, the Iraq wars, and the recent chemical atrocities by Syria and Russia. With former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and retired General Richard Myers, Dr. Tom Sack, President and CEO of MRIGlobal, and Dr. Ron Trewyn, the National Bio and Agro-defense […]
Study of Head of Buddha, Nelson Atkins Museum
Pencil study of the sandstone Head of Buddha (584 AD) from the collection of the Nelson Atkins Museum:This sandstone Buddha head originally resided in Cave Eight of the Tianlongshan Buddhist caves in Shanxi province. It is dateable to 584 A.D. by the stele outside the Cave Eight entrance. Cave Eight is approximately 14 feet on a […]
Drawing of Elephant Hunter sculpture, by Malvina Hoffman
Pencil study of The Elephant Hunter sculpture (1927), by Malvina Hoffman. This was one of the most striking pieces from the current retrospective of Hoffman’s work at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. If you are in Iowa, I recommend taking time to visit this exhibition.Like her mentors Borglum and Rodin, Hoffman gravitated toward interpreting the […]
Sketchbook page with St. Anthony and The Black Magus
A sketchbook page showing gouache drawings after Teniers (Temption of St. Anthony) and Pieter Aertsen (Adoration of the Magi – Presentation in the Temple). Here I am trying to figure out color and composition for my current paintings.
Modello for The Cards Players, after Bruegel
This is a gouache modello painted on laser-cut foam board, after Pieter Bruegel’s Card Players. A grotesque, brutal, ridiculous fight scene.
Adoration of the Magi modello
A small laser-cut cardboard modello for a larger oil painting after Adoration of the Magi, Francesco Bassano, 1568.
Temptation Of St. Anthony after Teniers, WIP
A wall-mounted amalgam of Tenier’s many (hundred) paintings of the Temptation of St. Anthony, in the style of a nativity creche. I’m trying to figure out the rear-most figure with the broom, and to consider how the piece might be lit from inside.
Ghost Of Christmas Present and a woman
A watercolor and red pencil portrait of some Hallmarker, and a brown pencil and gold marker sketch after John Leech (1843) of the Ghost Of Christmas Present from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.
Temptation of St. Anthony, after Teniers
A gouache study after David Teniers’ painting at the Minneapolis Institute Of Art. Teniers (and his workshop) painted this charming moralistic set-piece from the medieval Golden Legend several times during the later half of the 17th century.
Watercolor painting of Sundown Lake in Iowa
A watercolor landscape using my diamond framework. This was made on the shore, as a rainstorm came in from the west end of the lake.
Paul in the wilderness no. 1
This is a large gouache and pencil landscape, from smaller watercolor studies I made from a friend’s front yard.
St. Paul no. 10, after Cano screen print
Visiting the Golden Age of Spanish Art exhibition at the Kunsthalle Munich with my daughter in March, I was struck by Counter Reformation master Alonso Cano’s powerful, lifelike polychrome bust of Paul, from 1660. Based on many preparatory drawings, sketches and photos made at the exhibit, I created this three-color silkscreen. The handmade screens themselves are hand-painted separations. […]
Pencil portraits of boy, young woman, mother
Old pencil sketch from 1995, City Union Mission. An african-american mother, her daughter and son. #sketchbook #lifedrawing #flesh #portrait #portraits #pencil #imagodei #fromlife #africanamerican
Pencil drawing of a young man, 1994
Old pencil sketch from 1995, City Union Mission. An african-american young man. Having rediscovered this from my sketchbooks many times over the last 20 years, I consider this one of the finest drawings I’ve ever made. #sketchbook #lifedrawing #flesh #portrait #portraits #pencil #imagodei #fromlife #africanamerican
Woman fixing daughter’s hair
#Pencil #drawing from 1992 of a mother #braiding her daughter’s hair, from City Union Mission.
St. Joseph State Park, Florida beach watercolor
#morning #watercolor and #pencil of the superlative #gulf #beach at St. Joseph State Park in #florida
Watercolor sketch of crabapple, western red cedar trees
2016 #Watercolor #sketch looking north at Evangel Presbyterian during #Presbytery break. #crabapple, #westernredcedar
Self portrait, 1992
Going through an old #sketchbook I found this #selfportrait #drawing from 1992 at #KCAI.
Sketch menu from Jarochos in Armourdale
#watercolor #sketch of Chef Falcon’s seafood choices at @Jarochos in Armourdale, Kansas.
Peter Kuper sketch from KCAI talk
#sketch #portrait made in the dark of the #PeterKuper talk last night at #KCAI. He was an engaging speaker; clearly a real pro working on his own terms. I enjoyed his talk very much.
White Sands National Monument, New Mexico
Another odd but wonderful moonscape gem of the National Park System. Don’t miss Eddie’s Burritos in nearby Alamagordo, along with the hidden treasure of Oliver Reed State Park.
Balmorhea State Park
A watercolor sketch, done with feet-in-pool. My family absolutely loved this place, everything about it: the fish, the snakes, the facilities, the nearby town, the surrounding mountains, the oasis-like nature of the park. Loved it.
Pencil sketch of Kollwitz self portrait etching
An inadequate sketch after Kollwitz’ disturbingly penetrating self portrait etching, shown during the Nelson Atkins show World War I and the Rise of Modernism.
Gedyamin Grubba pipe organ Bach concert
A sketch of Polish organist, composer, and conductor Gedyamin Grubba playing Bach on Southminster’s Casavant pipe organ.
Chef carries the Devil on his head
A sketch study for Bruta The Witch, showing the protagonist metaphorically carrying the Devil on his head.
Atalanta’s foot, hand of Yoga Narashima
Two studies of sculpture at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. The left is of the foot of Atalanta from Mosca’s Atalanta and Meleager with the Calydonian Boar, ca. 1564-1565. The right is from the 12c. Indian Yoga-Narashimha.
Christ and the Demoniac
Here is a ballpoint pen and ink wash illustration from Mark 5, the account of Christ healing the Gerasene demoniac.
Morning figure in wash and ink
A man looking at morning light through a partially open window. Watercolor and pencil on watercolor paper.
Abstracted figure observing light 1
A small watercolor study of an idealized man looking at early light through a partially open window.
Ellen Junger
A 40 minute watercolor and pencil sketch of retiring Hallmark officer Ellen Junger. 9×12″.
Four Figures, 3rd State
Whether I destroy this or save it, I don’t care. I’m finishing this tonight. Tired of it taking up space in my studio/head.