PAINTINGS - "The Vark Returns!"

Here's a piece I did over the holidays. I was experimenting again with trying to paint a robot conventionally. The image above is "sweetened" digitally in Photoshop...I couldn't make it look like I wanted without some help on the computer. (So sue me, all you "purists" out there!) Seemed like a good situation to put The Vark into...turns out, he's a pretty good Giant Bot Fighter!

This time I used acrylic paints (instead of oils, like I did for my "Hopscotch" painting). Below is the process. I didn't want to spend any time sketching out the idea beforehand, so I just went with what came to mind spontaneously. I would have to say, it might have turned out better with a bit more thought, but this was mostly just a test in technique. I used a sharpy marker on some canvas board, and just started drawing. Then I blocked in the larger areas, trying to stay loose. I just kept building up glazes on top.

This is where I left things in the final painting stage. I took this image into Photoshop and started working it over. I wasn't that excited about the way the painting looked, but I did like the final digital version enough to want to try this approach again sometime.