Making Art the Otto Lange Way

Robot, Donuts and Other Madness show at The Miller Gallery

2009-06-29T21:01:00.000-07:00

Pop Tart, 2009

45" x 45", oil on canvas

Here's a painting that I finished just in the nick of time for the Robots, Donuts, and other Madness show featuring Eric Joyner, Jessica Hess, and me at the Miller Gallery on June 26. When I got to the opening, a bowl of popcorn was there, but I wasn't sure if it was a sculpture or something to accompany the painting.
I have to say this turned out to be more of a vacation than an opening. First of all, I went with my pal Walter because my pretty little wife had to stay home with our epileptic dog. This turned out to be great in that we were able to spend many, many hours discussing important topics such as:

-Red West: Great American actor or Elvis Presley flunky loser?

-Would Dack Rambo have made a great villain on The Incredible Hulk television show?

-Arguing about driving directions for a path that was essentially staying on the same road (I75 north) in a straight line

-Should I use my Popeye voice or my James Mason voice for the duration of the weekend.

-Should I use the "hybrid" Popeye-Mason voice?

I'll let the pictures do the talking, but I have to say this was a great weekend:

The lovely Gallery Director Rosemary Seidner took this picture

Swingin' hepcat Hugh McMantis offering up a few Eric, Jessica, and Otto t-shirts posed in an incredibly natural way

Owner , Gary Gleason ( looking pretty cool slinking around the corner ) "pre-show"

My new pal, Eric Joyner, next to one of his paintings

Jessica Hess and Walter sharing a laugh undoubtedly brought on by my comedy stylings including an extensive Popeye-Mason routine

The front entrance to the Miller Gallery with Rosemary, Gary and some ladies with a little dog

That's actually William Shatner posing as Eric Joyner

Oil painting by Jessica Hess ( she doesn't really have an "X" on her face)

After show dinner with owners Gary and Laura Miller Gleason and all of the wonderful people I met this weekend. Note the bald guy with the big mouth. He might be saying something really clever and intelligent, or... he might be yelling something that only he thinks is funny. Oh, and what's up with that palsied-hand-gang-sign-thing?

I didn't end up with any pics during the actual opening. This is due to the fact that I was actually enjoying myself meeting all of the cool people that night. I cannot thank Gary, Laura, Rosemary enough for making the show a wonderful experience and for extending their hospitality to me. I also want to thank Rosemary's daughters for making the Margarita's WAAY too strong, for Hugh helping out with the cool t-shirts the gallery had made, and for Becca letting me sleep in her room. I swear I didn't steal anything ... that you'd miss.

I would also like to thank the city of Cincinnati for the $50.00 parking ticket that I received within the first 10 minutes of arriving in town. This penalty has taught me an incredibly valuable lesson about the extreme "dangers" of parallel parking a vehicle the wrong way on a quiet side-street.

Cherry Lifesaver and The Indiana Review

2009-06-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

Cherry Lifesaver, 2009

24" x 24", oil on canvas

Actually, "Cherry Lifesaver" is her name. Kinda like when you name some action beefcake guy "Chuck Steak". I've been a busy bee this week finishing up work for the upcoming show Robot, Donuts and other Madness at the Miller Gallery in Cincinnati on June 26.

Admittedly, the last eleven months has been a real emotional roller-coaster ride with all of the "fun" that canine epilepsy has brought into my world. Needless to say, it has been difficult to get as many paintings completed as I had been before all of the random incidents of uncontrollable shaking. At the moment, my little Peanut has been responding to the medicine a little better, and it has helped me pick up the pace a little ( Thank you, Dr. Dodd). Gee, I'm glad that I didn't take the advice of a certain local college veterinary hospital who repeatedly suggested euthanasia ( a.k.a killing her with poison) as a viable alternative ( F**k you, local university hospital lady).

Had I followed her course of "treatment", I wouldn't have gotten to play "destroy the rubber ducky" in my back yard:

Ah, I'm not bitter.

Another cool thing is my Love Gun painting on the cover of the summer 2009 issue of the Indiana Review.

Doesn't that pink look awesome?

I'm kind of hoping that the people from the Indiana Review don't actually read my blog and ultimately figure out that Otto may... Hmmm, shall we say, fall a little short in the "literary arts" department.

I think it was James Tiberius Kirk who once said "fortune favors the foolish" in the epic masterpiece Star Trek IV: The voyage home ( the one where they have to go back to the 20th century to get a humpback whale in order to save humanity).

Freshblood show at Mason Murer

2009-05-31T10:41:00.000-07:00

My Mom and I went to the Freshblood show at the Mason Murer gallery on Friday ( my wife had to stay at home with our favorite epileptic dog). Okay, you know when someone describes a particular thing to you and they say, "it's big!"? Well, this would be the first time that the description actually fits the thing the person is describing. This place was HUGE, and filled with great work.

FUN FACT: My Mom is actually 27 inches tall!

I gave this guy seven dollars to pose for this picture. His only instructions were to "look natural" and to "appear to have a deep interest in my work...in a natural sort of way". He totally nailed it!

Actually, his name is Jeff and I graduated from UGA with him, but I totally could have gotten that response from a complete stranger.

My Mom and I drove back to join my wife and epileptic dog to catch an episode of Mannix.

Judo, jumping out of a dune buggy and shooting at someone, burning your fingers on hot toast, driving ( while shaving), swimming in shark infested waters, and playing it cool with your wool blazer ( in California) over your shoulder. All in a day's work for Joe Mannix.

The episode we watched was called "Deathrun", and involved Joe meeting up with an old marine buddy ( Joe apparently was in every branch of the armed services at some point) who served with him in Korea. The comment was made, "we were just kids" comes up referring to their time in Korea. This would make Joe a 28 year old "kid" in 1953.

Either way, at the end of the episode his buddy dies ( falls off a mountain cliff-this happens often on Mannix) and Joe is standing there attempting to cry. My mom looks at me and says,"you know, he's kind of a shitty actor".

I consider it to be a perfect evening.

more work for Mason Murer Gallery in Atlanta

2009-05-21T18:21:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more paintings for the Freshblood show at the Mason Murer gallery in Atlanta, GA on May 29.

blueberry rambler, 2009

8" x 6", oil on panel

black and blue, 2009

8" x 6" , oil on panel

Armenian superhero Mike Connors ( aka "Touch" Connors) has invaded my studio space with the second season of Mannix. Mannix is so cool that he introduces himself only as..."Mannix". I'd try to be convincing, but there's nothing I could ever write that would be as convincing as this picture:

The proportions of the above picture are accurate

Freshblood at Mason Murer

2009-05-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

strawberry teacup, 2009

12" x 12", oil on birch panel

Here's some new work for the upcoming show Freshblood at Mason Murer Gallery on May 29 in Atlanta, GA.

While I've been logging in a lot of hours painting for the shows in the coming months, I've been reunited with my old friend Mr. Bill Bixby (a.k.a Dr. David Bruce Banner). Hulu has the first three seasons of The Incredible Hulk available and its FANTASTIC!

I have to say that The Incredible Hulk television show is a gold-mine of comedic riches. It's like The Fugitive only where the protagonist actually looks for trouble. Bixby's problem on the show isn't the fact that he turns into a giant retarded green man, but it's his inability to avoid meddling in the affairs of strangers.

Here's my favorite episode from the series titled "The Slam". This one has everything! Robert Davi as an evil prison guard, and my favorite character actor Charles Napier ( as an inmate who has been in the county jail for FIVE YEARS) . Do they give prison sentences that long in county jail? We also have David ( Bixby) "hulking out", escaping, and then... getting re-captured.

Three Artists and a Two-Eyed Cat

2009-03-26T21:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice review of the Fresh Faces 2009 show in Artslant New York called Three Artists and a Two-Eyed Cat by Robyn Farrell Roulo.

Rene Magritte

L'homme au chapeau melon , 1964

25.6" x 19.7", oil

Oh, and I keep wanting to mention this, but Paul McCartney and Wings song With a Little Luck from the 1978 album London Town has the better version ( 5:45 minutes in length). The single or DJ Edit ( 3:13) for the radio cuts out the cool little bass / keyboard solo ( it kind of builds up to sort of a musical arch which unifies the whole song and seems a little disjointed without it). Songs are usually "edited" ( aka butchered ) in order to keep them around three minutes long. Also, I've always thought Paul's bass playing was totally underrated ( for example, the intro on Silly Love Songs).

I just thought I'd mention that.

The long version is better.

Holy smoke (stack), Batman!

2009-03-20T22:27:00.000-07:00

The restaurant, Club Lago, where we finished up the night following the Fresh Faces show at Judy Salsow on March 13 had a tsunami of brick showered on it 5 days later. The odd thing is that I was talking to a collector friend of mine a couple of days before who told me that he had just eaten at Club Lago the night before. Another weird thing is that I saved a draft of a "thank you" email that I was going to send to the owner because he had made accommodations for 20 people ( I was going to edit some pictures of the evening's merriment with the email). And weirdest of all, The day I got news of "hey, you know that restaurant where we ate on Friday...", I was actually editing those pictures.

"Fresh Faces 2009" and Inspiration Cafe's "One Inspired Evening"

2009-03-18T23:23:00.000-07:00

I have to start by saying that my participation in the "Fresh Faces 2009" show at the Judy Saslow Gallery and the Inspiration Cafe's "One Inspired Evening" event in Chicago on March 13th wouldn't have been possible without the help of a long list of people. First, I would like to say thank you to Jeff Goldstein, his wife Lisa and his daughter Jess' for opening up their home to me while I was in Chicago. Jeff shared his family and wonderful friends, and basically "handled" the entire weekend. The kindness he and his family has given me is not anything I've ever experienced, and I am deeply grateful. Jeff also introduced me to some of the nicest and most interesting people I've ever met ( we'll get to that in a minute).

I would like to thank Judy Saslow, Will, and Madison for having me in their wonderful gallery and allowing me to participate in their show. The gallery is absolutely gorgeous and in one of the best spots in Chicago. Everyone was super nice even though I know I was a pain in the ass about getting images to them in a timely manner, and getting my actual work up to them before the last possible second.

Here's "Mr. Comedy" with Judy and... Dr. Jean Beau ( blocking my stupid little Marcel Marceau routine ) who I also have to thank for both taking time out to come to my show, AND... spending hours on the phone with me helping me with my little epileptic dog Peanut. I've had a hard time finding a good doctor down here that deals with canine neurology ( imagine that...), and she totally helped me when I was in a seriously low place.

That guy is totally workin' that beret. Seriously, I'm slightly jealous about the fact that I could never pull that "look" off.

I think I overheard one of those guys say, "Did you see that idiot over there with the shaved head and the sweater vest re-enacting one of the paintings?". "Shhh , I think he might be special".

Okay, later on that night, this is at the One Inspired Evening benefit for the Inspiration Cafe. Here's a cool video that was shown during the Academy Awards that explains about the organization. I entered a piece in the 16th annual juried exhibition and won first place in the emerging artists category. This piece was then auctioned off that night with the proceeds going to the Inspiration Cafe.

This was held at the River East Arts Center which is an absolutely stunning place.

We finished up the night with a fantastic meal at Club Lago with a group of Jeff's friends who came out for the show. I met Victor ( in the back near the kids) who told me technically how to construct a tattooing machine if I ever got "sent up" ( a valued skill if you ever get thrown in the joint for an extended period). The guy talking next to me is Jeff's buddy Jim ( a Chicago firefighter, i.e a real superhero). The following day, Jim gave me the "B tour" through the city ( all the pretty stuff), and told me next time I'd get the "A tour" ( this would include the less "tourist friendly" areas). Not only do I want to thank Jim and his family for giving me the tour, but for getting me to the airport on time.

I would have to say the whole experience was, in a word, perfect. The show was great and it had a big turnout ( even in, and I hate to use this current phrase, "this economy"). Every single person that I met in Chicago was genuinely warm and friendly, and I feel lucky to have made some pretty nice friends.

Oh, and the food was killer!

new website

2009-03-17T00:05:00.000-07:00

I finally finished my new site. This took WAY longer than anticipated, and I owe a lot of thanks to my web designer pal Walter ( even though he could have been a little less... "Walter" about it). When you come over this week, I promise to feed you my favorite meal.

I also finished the book Facing Up: A Remarkable Journey to the Summit of Everest by Bear Grylls on the plane last Sunday. I spent 4 hours on the runway at O'Hare on the way back to Atlanta so... I had a little time. Apparently, the flight was delayed due to "inclement weather". I learned a couple of things this weekend:

-Bear Grylls is a total badass in like 50 different ways!

-climbing Mt. Everest is not for me.

- the definition of "inclement weather" is, in fact, a very light rain.

The trip to Chicago was fantastic, and I'll write about it later this week.

this one's for fun ( love gun 2)

2009-03-06T20:39:00.000-08:00

this one's for fun ( love gun 2),2009

15" x 30" , oil on canvas

This painting is available at the Judy Saslow gallery

This is the final stage with the Studio Products medium. The #3 glazing medium is super glossy ( and it will take a little longer to dry than the previous ones). One thing I like is that this doesn't contain any solvent so it won't screw up the layers beneath it when you apply it.

I realized when I finished this one that using the American flag changed my original idea. I forget that "Y'all wont to take mah guhn away" is a real thing for some people. I think the argument is that if "they" take our guns away, then only the criminals will have guns. I think a better way to look at it is that if "they" take our guns away, then "they" will take away all of those redneck hunting "accidents".

And now, a word on deer hunting:

The whole argument for the necessity for deer hunting as a remedy for overpopulation is total crap. The deer population is regulated by the deer, not Ted Nugent. The deer instinctively regulate their pregnancy rates relative to the forest food supply. Okay, that's not really the big thing for me. The part I don't like is that it's called a "sport". The word "sport" in this case is used a little loosely due to the fact that the hunters use high powered rifles, night vision, and special scents ( a.k.a. deer piss). When I think of hunting, I think of Ron Ely running around the jungle in a loin cloth with a spear he made with a sharp rock. I just think the playing field should be leveled a little. Oh, and seriously, should an intelligent civilized man really be participating in any "sport" that involves the handling of deer piss?

I also forgot that there's a little political tension right now between "Mr. Lefty" and "Mr. Righty". I would also like to add at this point that I would probably be considered the very Swiss "Mr. Ambidextry" ( because I am, and... I am).

Initially I was thinking more along the lines of Harold Gould saying:

"Shall we say pistols at dawn?"

with the Woody response of:

"Sure, we can say it, but..."

portrait ( with dynamite)

2009-03-05T09:30:00.000-08:00

portrait ( with dynamite), 2009

30" x 30", oil on canvas

This painting is available at the Judy Saslow gallery

This is my t-shirt from 2nd or 3rd grade, but I can't find my magazines ( I have most of "my stuff" from DNA to now). The cool thing about Dynamite magazine was the neat little cards and iron-on transfers that came inside. The first glimpse of Christopher Reeve in the Superman suit came to me by way of the good folks at Dynamite. The tagline for Superman-The Movie was "you will believe a man can fly", and I remember seeing those pictures and thinking you bet your ass I do.

I also remember thinking that The Hardy Boys was a "girl's show" until I saw this cover:

Hey, if Shaun Cassidy "hangs out" with Chewbacca, how bad could he be?

Studio products medium demo 2

2009-03-01T22:24:00.000-08:00

This is the second pass with the Studio Products Gel Maroger's Painting Medium ( No.2 in the 3 part kit ). For my Grisaille, I generally let a little more of the underpainting show through, but even with a heavier coat the initial tone will be evident. I'll work this up a little more ( add another two or three layers in some areas) to get all of the values and details correct, but this is pretty much the form that I'll work around when I start to glaze in color. This dried pretty quickly and has kind of a satin finish.

Don't get scared when you're making you're Grisaille and try to correct the colors. There's a temptation to do this due to the fact that you'll end up with "dead man's hand" where you've got a creepy corpse-like thing happening. This all changes in the glazing. All of the painting up to the color glazing is "foreplay" ( and in an odd parallel, the most fun and time consuming part of it... to me, anyway). When you lay in the the final glazes ( strange again, the shortest but also a very gratifying part...), you'll see why this technique gives you a result that you cannot get with other methods. The chemistry married with manipulating color theory is, to me, the very reason that painting with oil is truly wonderful. Over and above your image, manipulating the materials in a scientific way adds kind of a transcendent dimension of depth. You don't want to be the guy who buys a Ferrari, but never gets it over 35 mph. You can make "pictures" with oil paint, but the chemistry is the cool part.

Hey, what's with this? I took this picture of my backyard actually to prove that we had real snow.

The bad part about snow in Georgia is that every "Bo" and "Luke" thinks that this is his big chance to use his gigantic truck to "command the elements". Unfortunately, the converse is true, and you get to see the roads littered with abandoned vehicles ( and guys name "cooter" stumbling away from them with those little animated birds spinning around their heads). Georgia doesn't have much in the way of snow equipment, but it isn't really that big of a deal to hang out at home for one day. It's not like every car on the road is a mission to "get Mama's Insulin".

FUN FACT:

For the 12-20 hour period of "real" snow in the south, the grocery stores are descended upon like the crowds in Soylent Green fighting over bread and milk. Yeah, milk ! You know, the thing that spoils within a week.

Apparently, the fear of osteoporosis is a bigger problem than I could have ever imagined down here in "dixie".

studio products medium demo

2009-02-25T21:43:00.000-08:00

This is the first part of the demonstration using the Studio Products 3 part medium kit.

This is basically a very loose sketch where I just want to have a little infomation to "build" my painting on. I used the #1 underpainting medium with a mixture of earth tones for my underpainting. This dries very matte ( and REALLY quickly ) and will be receptive to my second / third / fourth... layers where I block in some shape and color. The underpainting should be "lean" (as in it should have as little oil as possible) in order to have it dry quickly and so that you have a strong paint layer to build upon. Each layer should have slightly more medium ( containing oil- the "fat" part ) than the last. The point of this being that you don't want to paint over layers of paint that dry slower than ones on top of them ( this will eventually lead to cracking).

Now a word on safety:

This medium does contain lead. Now, I know you're supposed to flail your arms and say "Danger, Will Robinson" whenever we hear the "L" word, but seriously there are some things to consider here. First, I have kids, a little dog ( who doesn't need ANY more problems), and a family around me a lot. Do you know how I keep them from getting any of the negative toxic effects of using some of these materials?

I DON'T PAINT AROUND THEM.

If you take some relatively minor precautions, you can work with all of these materials safely. Wash your hands. Don't eat or smoke around your painting, and work in a well ventilated area. Turpentine can be absorbed through clean skin, but its the only solvent that will dissolve Damar ( OMS won't and really shouldn't be included in your medium either ). So...

DON'T GET TURPENTINE ON YOUR SKIN.

Flake White causes testicular cancer ( they actually print these very words on the label), but is a totally invaluable white to have in your palette. So...

DON'T RUB FLAKE WHITE OIL PAINT ON YOUR ... Oh, wait... you can get the cancer through other methods of absorption. Just be careful with it.

Anyhow, that's my thinking on painting safely. I think the lengths that Robert Gamblin and M. Graham have gone to in order to make oil painting safer are wonderful ( alkyd mediums are still petroleum based, so... ). I think that their paints and mediums are fantastic regardless of the added safety, and I use them. I do also think that an oil painter should have as many products at his disposal as possible in order to make the best work , and the "old master" materials and methods are too important to discard in an effort to make things totally "safe" ( which is not the case with ANY oil painting supplies... AT ALL). If an individual is too stupid to follow some pretty simple precautions, I think they might feel more comfortable using the family of products from the Crayola family.

the mysterious cube

2009-02-22T20:14:00.000-08:00

the mysterious cube , 2009

24" x 24" , oil on canvas

This painting is available at the Judy Saslow gallery

I saw a commercial for the Inspiration Cafe in Chicago tonight during the "Oscars". This was cool because I received the first place award in their 16th annual juried exhibition on March 13 . Even more weird is the fact that my show at Judy Saslow gallery titled "Fresh Faces 2009" is also on March 13. The piece that I won the juried exhibition will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to the Inspiration Cafe on the night of the show. The Inspiration Cafe corporation is a wonderful organization that fights homelessness in a multi-tiered fashion through education and the provision of food and housing. I am very lucky to be able to contribute a little in their good work.

My favorite episode of "The Adventures of Superman" is The Mysterious Cube. In this episode, there's a criminal-killer guy who seals himself inside a cube of metal that "even Superman cannot penetrate" for seven years. The really stupid part is that everyone goes along with the idea that the guy ( who everyone knows is Mr. Robber-Killer ) will be declared dead after seven years, and thus be ineligible for prosecution. I remember even as a little kid that this didn't sound like the way it worked. So, you can go off and rob and kill a bunch of people and then hide for seven years? No, Chief Inspector Henderson.

Superman "solves" this one by consulting a local scientist who convinces him to "concentrate really hard" in order to manipulate his molecules enough to pass through the cube. See? You can do anything if you put your mind to it. Its also funny that as a kid I was willing to suspend my disbelief enough to go along with the molecule-manipulation thing by a super-human being from another world, but wouldn't bite on the "seven years-get-out-of-prosecution" thing.

h bomb

2009-02-15T19:29:00.000-08:00

h bomb, 2009

24" x 24", oil on canvas

This painting is available at the Judy Saslow gallery

Here's something pretty cool. Studio Products , a company that makes some of the finest ( and hardest to find) artist supplies has moved their factory roughly a mile away from my house. The same guy that makes the absolute best gessoed panels, Realgesso, also makes some of the best paint available to the fine artist.

I don't paint with the exact method every time, but I generally use the "old master" working method involving an underpainting, something of a Grisaille ( grayscale ) layer, and then a glazing of color. This company has a three-part medium kit that accompanies each step of the painting. I'm going to try it out this week, and I'll post some progress pictures. I will say that I am really enchanted by the chemistry oil painting with regard to using mediums. I usually use Gamblin's assortment of oil painting mediums ( all of Robert Gamblin's paints and mediums are alkyd based), but I do like using the "old master" recipes ( there's like a million cool little ways to tweak oil mediums with balsams, waxes and oils in order to customize your painting style ). Generally, in order to make a Caravaggio style painting, you use a certain working order, but you need the right medium to make it work effectively.

Also, I got some paint that they actually made right there. Yes, I totally dig the whole we-make-it right-here-thing. I got a sample of the colors I use in my regular palette, and I have to say that this paint has some of the highest pigment of any I've used ( similar to a Williamsburg or Old Holland ) with an exacting measure of paint to pigment ratio.

Here's the thing; if I've learned anything it's that you need to use good paint. Good supports and mediums are important, but the paint is the critical element. If you use some crap student brand paint, you are working harder at fighting your supplies than concentrating on the aesthetics of your piece. Hey, you'll use more paint ( there's generally less pigment and more oil in cheap oil paints ), but at least it will take you longer to finish.

KISS ( Love Gun)

2009-02-13T19:11:00.000-08:00

KISS ( LOVE GUN), 2009

15" x 30", oil on canvas

This painting is available at the Judy Saslow gallery

When I was in third grade there was this kid named Amzi who was this huge Kiss fan . His really "cool" parents had taken him to a KISS concert, and he was member of the KISS ARMY ( according to his notebook ).

I remember he brought all of his KISS albums to class for show-and-tell, and nobody was really into KISS at the time ( the average Georgia third grader, I mean). I also remember that he got into this weirdo-crying-"I HATE ALL of YOU"-fight with the entire class when his albums were not adequately revered by his peers . Now I vividly remember thinking that it was really bizarre that a kid would have this sort of reaction to other kids in the class not liking his KISS albums. I mean, yeah, boys usually are the ones who do all of the crying in grade-school, but this was a stand-out performance.

Okay, cut to 1987 in my P.E. class, and two guys get into an actual physical fight over...Motley Crue. Okay, at the end of the fight ( remember, we're like 16 years old, but this is the emotionally stunted rural south) the "Coach" breaks up the fight.

FUN FACT:

All male teachers in southern high schools are referred to as "Coach", whether they coach anything, or not.

Okay, Coach Billy Joe Bob Frank breaks up this slapping-scratching-rolling-around-fighty thing, and the one kid breaks down and cries. Yes, he cries, and with all the sadness and angst of a little girl whose pony has died,this kid says,''He said Vince Neil is a queer!".

I must also note that the word queer in this case is spoken in multiple syllables. Its pronounced "kU-wEEEr".

Did you know that I was the only one who actually got sent to the office for this fight. Yeah, I was "sent up" for laughing.

... and maybe for pointing out to the "coach" and the two boys the whole irony of the fact that this kid was fighting for the supposed honor of his boy/man love object ( in this case, Vince Neil of Motley Crue).

Oh, and one other thing ; on the day of this fight ( and this is the best part ), we were learning square dancing in class with 23 boys and 4 girls. Awesome.

the big tomato

2009-02-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

the big tomato, 2009

24" x 24", oil on canvas

This painting is available at the Judy Saslow gallery

"The Big Tomato" is a Dragnet radio show from 1951 ( Sorry, but I've been listening to these a lot lately while I paint...). In this episode, "the big tomato" is the main supplier for "tea" in the Los Angeles area, and Joe and Ben ( Romero, his partner who, incidentally, nobody can ever pronounce his name). The main guy is smuggling the weed in tomato cans into the country, and it's up to Joe to shut it down.

I've recently been "tooling up" my new website, and revising my "artist's statement" and biography ( I guess that doesn't really change much, but...), and I realized something; some of the information that I had read through various artist's websites is written in the third person. As if some authority had come in and written it on their behalf ( when, in fact, we know that the guy/ gal wrote this thing themselves).

If I write a bunch of slick sounding "art speak" on my behalf ( in the third person) will I elevate my work? Is the artist ever really the qualified person to speak about his/ her work? I realize that it's sort of a "launching point" for people to see where the artist is coming from, but seriously, some of these "statements" come off maybe a little...hmmm... pretentious.

This is my new artist statement ( for today ):

Nature aesthetic feelings words oppression government bad people mean words global warming words economy little puppies babies racism mutually assured self destruction more words visa mastercard check or cash.

Good, huh?

Ah, forget that one. This one's better.

My new artist statement ( for tomorrow, but not the day after):

My artwork can cure cancer, so... buy some and you won't "catch" it.

Love,

Otto

songbirds

2009-02-09T18:13:00.000-08:00

songbirds, 2009

30" x 40" , oil on canvas

available at the Judy Saslow gallery

Over the last couple of months I've finished A LOT of paintings. I have to say this period was made more difficult due to the onset of epilepsy by my little dog named "Peanut" ( which has been spelled wonderfully by my niece as "Peenut"). Just when I would really get into something ( because its ALWAYS when you least expect it), my little pal would turn into a canine tsunami. All of my redneck acquaintances told me they would "put her down". This, incidentally, is why I continually make fun of them ( seriously, if anyone is sucking up too much of my oxygen its...). I just look at it as another facet of her personality. The shaking-all-over-and-knocking-over-expensive-lamps-side of her personality.

Okay, I have to share ( which in most cases I'm the last one to hear about these things ) something cool that has totally enhanced my painting environment. This would be the inclusion of Joe Friday's lectures on the evils of "tea". Check it out:

The moral of this story is that if you smoke pot, your children will die. Thanks, Joe.

Either way, these episodes of Dragnet '68, '69, and '70 will probably not be available on DVD, and you can watch them ALL on HULU.

Free ( previously unavailable ) Dragnet episodes. My doggy has epilepsy.

The "Lawd" giveth, and the "Lawd" taketh away.

some new work for '09

2009-02-01T18:02:00.000-08:00

apple cock , 2009

20" x 20", oil on canvas

When I was in fifth grade, I got in trouble by Mrs. Brown ( now dead ) for "conspiring to corrupt fellow students" by looking up dirty words in the giant dictionary in the school library ( and then circling them). Mrs. Brown was an old "suthun" troll who fell asleep during class and had daily readings from the bible ( only in Georgia can you get away with that sort of thing).

town crier , 2009

12" x 12" , oil on canvas

Yeah, I suppose there is an element of danger when you walk out the front door. I guess how you deal with this sort of "doom" defines what sort of person you are. I think what I'm really saying is that unless you work in a hospital or the local dump, do you really need to carry around a little container of Purell hand sanitizer?

Here's a couple of paintings that will be in the Miller Gallery's "Rosemary's Babies" show on February 13. Over the last couple of years, I've made over 200 little paintings and its been nice getting back to larger sizes. Also, working on canvas has been different too ( the boards tend to "suck" the paint into it while the canvas has more of a tooth to work with).

Please contact the Miller Gallery in Cincinnati, OH for more information about purchasing either of these paintings.

January Challenge

2009-01-31T18:32:00.001-08:00

This is the challenge for January. Jelaine sent us this cool little bottle. I actually was the cause of the delay in this month's posting ... again. I'll get it together. Over the next few days, I'll be posting some of my new paintings going out to the galleries.

Looking at this month's group of paintings, I come off like "mr. downer", but I think I subconsciously went against the flavor of my new work ( which could be the converse of my little bottle painting).

M Collier

Nectar Detector's, 2009

6" x 6", oil on panel

Jelaine Faunce's

Female Pills, 2009

6" x 6" , oil on panel

Otto's

"Son, we found this in your room, and...", 2009

6" x 6" , oil on panel

Rosemary's Babies 2

2009-01-08T22:25:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to be a part of the Miller Gallery's upcoming show "Rosemary's Babies 2" on February 13, 2009 in Cincinnati. The work offered by the Miller Gallery is stunning and I'm proud to participate in their show. Also, the gallery site is pretty cool too with lots of info and pictures of the work.

Speaking of "cool sites", I'm giving ottolange.com a little make-over magic with the help of my good pal and the second funniest guy I know, Walter Stephens. I'd also like to thank Mark Shufflebottom for figuring out the math to make my site come to life ( and why I feel just a little bit dumber when I think of my attitude in high school ... "Ha! Calculus? Like I'm ever gonna need this!!" ).

Live and learn...and get Luvs ( which ,incidentally, is kind of a crappy sentiment for your children ). "Yeah, we used to use those expensive diapers for our first kid, but now that we're on number four we just pick up a few copies of the Sunday paper!".

finished portrait painting

2008-12-02T17:30:00.000-08:00

portrait ( with lolli'), 2008

30" x 30", oil on canvas

I finally finished my portrait. Sometimes my method of painting is difficult in that I want to continually work on something that requires a "drying period". The other part is that I have to visualize the end result though a series of seemingly unrelated glazes. Its like working on a puzzle where I know there's a picture there, but I have to put pieces in a certain order before I start to see the end.

I feel now its okay to start pulling out my Christmas albums. They were pushing the Christmas thing the day after Halloween ( Andy Williams floating in the air next to the 1/2 price Jack O Lanterns?).

One thing I do look forward to in the holiday season is the Rankin / Bass stop-motion Christmas movies. Paul Frees is one of my favorite voices ( he also did voice work with William "Cannon" Conrad on The Whistler radio show ).

portrait painting part 5

2008-11-24T22:04:00.000-08:00

This is my portrait with the shirt "sketched in" and the hair with more detail. I'm using a Maroger medium for this painting and its taking a little more time to dry. I think the humidity is screwing around with it.

I was watching ( well, listening to it) to The Road to Utopia while I was painting. There's a line that Bob has that makes me laugh every time. In this "Road" movie, the movie starts with Bob finally getting Lamour in the future ( they have bad grey wigs and make-up). As they're getting ready to go to bed, Dot hears a familiar singing outside ( from Bing... presumed dead), and she say's, " do you hear that, Chester ( Bob )? ". Bob's line: " Hmmm ... yeah, who'd be sellin' fish at this hour?".

portrait painting part 3 ...and 4

2008-11-21T23:39:00.000-08:00

This is a little more on my portrait. The hair is kind of "sketched in" at this point ( the underpainting is showing through more than it will be in the finished work).

This is a little more done with the background painted in. I let a little underpainting come through to warm up the tones. When everything dries a little, I'll get a little more aggressive with my glazes.

Okay, part of my painting process involves listening to music or... old time radio shows. One of the absolute best is one called SUSPENSE. Now some of these stories are pretty crappy in a Shakespearean sense, but listening to some of my favorite stars belt this stuff out is fantastic. Cary Grant, James Mason ( Captain Nemo and Barlow's "keeper" from 'Salem's Lot ), DeForest Kelly ( Yes, "Bones" does one too), and the king...William Conrad ( Cannon). You can click here and listen to all of these shows for free.

November Challenge

2008-11-10T17:03:00.000-08:00

Jelaine Faunce

"Global Warming", 2008

6" x 6", oil on hardboard panel

M Collier

"ICY" , 2008

6" x 6" ,oil on hardboard panel

Me

"Penguin and a Joker", 2008

6" x 6" , oil on hardboard panel

This little wind-up penguin guy was the pick this month by M Collier. My first inclination was The Penguin ( the Burgess Merideth one ) and his pals...Caesar Romero as the Joker. This one was a little minimal for me. I am drawn to more of a thicker brushy style lately, but I think my execution is always different form what I visualized. The Joker card is from my set when I was a little kid ( '66 Topps).