New Sloppy Art Day

I've done a few bad art/ sloppy art posts before, so here's another one.  Every now and then I get some time and decide to paint a few paintings.  But before I get into that let me explain my painting style.  Honestly, I can't paint life-like/realistically to save my life.  I learned that I am too impatient, and way too sloppy.  But then, I was introduced to impressionist art.  And it was perfect for me.  I found that the sloppier I was, the better I was.

So here's what I have been up to lately.

This one is called "Picasso's Blue Reef."  Of all the paintings I have painted, I think I like this one the best.  I wanted to do something like Picasso, where he had a "blue" period.  I thought, what if I took Picasso's blue thoughts, and used them to paint a coral reef.  So I used all sorts of blues on this painting.  It came out great.  Again, I am really happy with it.

This one is called "Around the Old Oak Tree."  I wanted to so something a bit different.  This was supposed to be part of a five part series.  I'm still working on the series, but this one was supposed to be "Earth."  The picture itself is a little brighter than it is in real life due to the flash.  I think it's a nice, happy painting that doesn't try to over think anything.  It's just nice.

This one is called, "The Little Red Admiral From Argentina."  The butterfly itself is called a Red Admiral, and the species that I painted makes its home in Argentina.  Again, this was something outside my comfort zone.  I actually started painting a butterfly, but it didn't turn out right.  So I painted over that painting, and came up with this.  I'm pretty happy with it.  It has a lot more detail than you can see in the photo.

This is part one of a two part series.  I made this painting and the following one as a "fire and ice" theme.  This of course, would be the ice.  I call it, "Busy Day on the Blue Reef."  Here's a funny note.  I had an idea for a brush I needed, but they didn't make that kind of brush.  So I went to Home Depot, bought a brush, and cut it to the needed shape.  If you see the "seaweed" on the bottom, that's what I used the brush to paint. 

This one is called, "Maroon 5 Clownfish."  Yes, I am a bit of a smart aleck.  But if you look there are 5 Maroon Clownfish in the picture.  I also used my special brush in the middle bottom of this painting.  It's come in really handy.  At first, I wasn't sure how this painting would come out.  But once the finishing touches were put on it, it really started to pop out. 

So that's what I have been up to lately.  Stay tuned.  I'm sure I will spit out a couple more works pretty soon. 

Adrian: Amatuer Craftsman, The Bathroom Cabinet, Part 3

Since the last blog here's what's happened to the cabinet.  I slapped a lot more white paint all over it.  It really needed the paint to be a little thicker.  I also had Lili come over, and start painting the decorative vines and flowers on it. 

She is halfway through on it, and it's starting to look really good.  So here's the pictures of the cabinet so far.  You can see that some of the flowers are finished, and others still need some work.  And of course, once it's finished I'll take some more detailed pictures. 

But here's the progress so far.

Adrian: Amatuer Craftsman, The Bathroom Cabinet, Part 2

So, here it is another day, and another coat of paint.  Or two actually.  I'm not sure.  This thing has needed so much paint on it.  Anyway, here's the rundown.

1.  More paint.

2.  Turned it the correct way for the camera.

3.  Took pictures. 

Let's look at those pictures!

There may be a place that looks like I didn't get it with paint.  That's not the case.  That is where the light is hitting it funny.

So after it dries a bit I may have one place I might have to knock down with sandpaper.  I will also see if the bottom needs painted again.  I figure it might.  But other than that it looks okay. 

Hopefully the next post will be about adding all the designs on it.  I couldn't stand it if it was just sanitarium white.  It really does need a little color on it. 

Adrian: Amatuer Craftsman, The Bathroom Cabinet, Part 1

I have a big empty space in my bathroom.  It's true.  Here's a picture.

Really big and empty huh?  For years I have thought of putting a cabinet there, but have never gotten around to it.  So I checked out Home Depot's cabinets and saw exactly what I wanted.  But then I read the reviews.  It seems the cabinet I wanted was made out of particle board with a lot of paint over it.  And they wanted $80 for it to boot.  The reviews were completely scathing, saying they should be ashamed to charge that much for such a piece of crap, and you still had to assemble it!

So I decided, "Hey, I'm a woodworker.  I can build my own cabinet."  And why not?  I have all this hardwood lying around, I might as make it for free!  I decided to make it in a folk art style.  Kind of an open cabinet meets folk art style.

I won't bore you with all the details, and how I completely overheated myself for the first time in 17 years.  No, it's picture time.  I didn't get a shot of it with naked wood.  So here it is after the primer coat, and one coat of paint.

You know what I just realized?  That is the back of the cabinet.  It sure is.  But that's okay.  Because I will most likely have two more blogs about this cabinet.  The second one will show the cabinet once it is painted white for the final time.  The third blog will show it on the wall, and with all the folk art designs on it.

Oh, did I not mention that?  Yes, my girlfriend Lili (not her real name) and myself will paint some designs on it to match my bathroom.  I'm sure this will look great once it's all complete. 

Stay tuned for more.

Letting Go A Piece Of Myself

I feel a little roughed up today.  I got to thinking about something that happened last week.  With my birthday coming up that meant it was time to renew my driver's license.  After a lot of thought I gave up my Class A (trucking) license.  After Carroll Fulmer essentially blackballed me from the trucking industry, I knew I would never drive a semi again.  So it didn't make much sense to carry the endorsement on my license.  Here's why.

If I were to get a ticket of any sort, I can't take the classes to get the points off my license.  And due to the way insurance companies will jack up your rates for any points, I thought it was best to give up my Class A.  Especially if I'm not going to use it. 

If you go to some of the first of my blogs on this site you will see they are about trucking school and trucking in general.  It has been a part of me since 2008.  It like, "how do I not be a truck driver?"  Some of my best songs for my band are about truck driving.  In fact, I think my best song is, in part, about truck driving.  It's such a part of me, and I feel like I've just killed it off.

Despite all the crap that I went through with Covenant, I liked the job.  I had a few great runs, and a great co-driver in Eric.  It was all the paperwork, and things that got screwed up at the front office that I didn't like with them.

Going to Carroll Fulmer was the worst mistake I could have made.  It was one lie after another, and they sent me to some of the shittyist places I've ever been.  There's no way they should have sent me to some of those places.  And all the crap they put on my DAC report just killed any chance I could get on with another company.  In the end it just wasn't worth what any trucking company was paying.  There's a reason they always need truckers. 

So like a lot of things in life, the world isn't split into perfect and awful things (or jobs in this case.)  There was a lot I liked about it.  And there was a lot I didn't like about it.  But regardless it was a piece of me.  And that I will miss.

And for memory's sake, here's a picture of my last truck with Covenant:

And here is a picture of my favorite truck, Trouble.  She was the first one I got after training.