The Color of Caffeine, 48" x 60", mixed media on canvas

The Color of Caffeine, 2013, 48" x 60", mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood copyright 2013

Available at : https://andrewportwoodstudio.com/home.html

A spring day of printmaking.

Spent an exhilarating day pulling some monotype prints from an intaglio press, I love this process because it lends itself to spontaneity and expression. You have to work fast and this creates a certain anxiety..which forces you to let go of the control, keep moving and playfully experiment!



Day and Night, 2013, 15.5" x 19.5" monotype on Rives paper, Andrew Portwood copyright 2013




Exaltation, 2013, 15.5" x 19.5" monotype on Canson paper, Andrew Portwood copyright 2013



Lauren's Garden, 2013, 15.5" x 19.5"monotype on Canson paper, Andrew Portwood copyright 2013

"Cathedral", 36" x 48", acrylic & mixed media on canvas

Cathedral , 36" x 48", acrylic & mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood Copyright 2013

Available at : https://andrewportwoodstudio.com/home.html

"Vertigo", 2013, 30" x 40", acrylic mixed media on canvas

Vertigo, 2013, 30" x 40", acrylic mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood copyright 2013

Available at : https://andrewportwoodstudio.com/home.html

"Orchard", 36" x 48", acrylic & mixed media on canvas

Orchard, 36" x 48", acrylic & mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood copyright 2013

Available at : https://andrewportwoodstudio.com/home.html

New mixed media on birchwood panel

Here is a new painting on birch panel..I have done a series of paintings on this 24" x 24" format and really enjoy working at this size...this framed piece, titled "Ancient Rider", is available at Bennett Galleries Nashville. 

"Ancient Rider", acrylic & mixed media on Birchwood panel, Andrew Portwood Artist

"Yellow Horses", 2011, acrylic, mixed media on canvas

"Yellow Horses", 36" x 48", acrylic & mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood copyright 2011

This one is available at my space on 14th Street....530 14th Street NW Atlanta, GA 30318

Live model sketch

SOLD

Just posting some of my figure sketches drawn from life...I meet with a group of artists that keep up their skills by drawing and painting from live models....always a challenge!

Available

Available

Just posting some figure sketches today...

"female figure, quick sketch July 2012", 18" x 21", charcoal on paper, Andrew Portwood copyright 2012

"sitting female figure portrait July 12", 18" x 24"charcoal on paper, Andrew Portwood copyright 2012
 Available at : https://andrewportwoodstudio.com/home.html

"Winter Park", 30" x 30", acrylic on canvas, Andrew Portwood 2012

"Winter Park", 30" x 30", acrylic and mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood copyright 2012
Available at  http://www.bennettgalleriesnashville.com/AndrewPortwood.htm



This is one of the new paintings that I took up to Nashville...as well as some monotypes(oil on paper), They are now on consignment at The Bennett Gallery in Nashville.

"Yellow Metal", 36" x 48",acrylic on canvas, Andrew Portwood Artist

  Well, I'm consciously reaching for something different; trying to think more about color and shape, and less about line and rules of form...but still about light. Although, there is the familiar equine subject again moving within a circle, like a stage setting...I'm trying to fragment it into blocks of color and light. It's not painting from life, but it is an impression of life (my surroundings) after a good walk. I like to walk a few miles down Peachtree Street. The rush of cars and figures against the buildings and trees (Atlanta has beautiful trees in the city) are, to me, rich and visually stimulating. Walks alone allow one to really focus and engage with the details; The bare winter trees and the yellow light contrasted with blue shadows striking against them, the concrete train trestles and arches, the curvature of the street ahead of you, and the character of faces that meet you head on. This all provides, to me anyway, a starting point and inspiration for work in the studio. 

"Yellow Metal", 36" x 48", acrylic and mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood copyright 2012
Available at : https://andrewportwoodstudio.com/home.html

    

 "Yellow Metal", detail, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood copyright 2012

Available at : https://andrewportwoodstudio.com/home.html

"Metro-meter", 48" x 60",acrylic and mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood Artist

"Metro Meter",48" x 60", acrylic and mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood copyright 2012
Available at : https://andrewportwoodstudio.com/home.html

"Lemon zest", 36" x 48", acrylic and mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood

Lemon Zest, 36" x 48", mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood copyright 2012
SOLD

"Summer Fire", 36" x 60", acrylic, graphite on canvas, Andrew Portwood

Summer Fire, 36" x 60", acrylic & grphite on canvas, Andrew Portwood copyright 2012

"Garden Nocturne", 18" x 24", Oil monotype on Arches paper.

Garden Nocturne, 2012, detail, 18" x 24", monotype on Arches Paper, Andrew Portwood copyright 2015

"Red Rover", 36" x 48", acrylic and mixed media on canvas, Sold

Red Rover, 36" x 48", acrylic and mixed media on canvas, Andrew Portwood copyright 2011, Sold

"Morning Light", 2012, mixed media on canvas, 48" x 60", Andrew Portwood

Available at : https://andrewportwoodstudio.com/home.html

Here is a new painting...working at a much larger size ( Feels Good! ) and about to start another. You know , when I first decided a few years ago that I wanted to "paint", one of the things that got me so excited was the idea of  working LARGE...after working so long at sketch size, 5" x 7".  Anything small can be blown up to a larger proportion of course, but it's not the same as attacking a huge, blank, gesso'ed white plane of stretched canvas. It Feel Good! 

Click on the image for a better view.

Music & Tea, detail, Pastel on paper, Andrew Portwood

Just a little detail from a larger pastel drawing. I really like the color in this one, and more abstract elements with a broader and open pastel stroke. Today that rule applies "Less is More", I am going to be consciously aware of this when I paint on larger canvas sizes. After working at such a smaller scale with the monotypes, one has to "proportion up" with a larger brush, more paint and "use those Arms" as opposed to the wrist!

"The Ironyard", 9" x 16", monotype on Rives, Andrew Portwood

The Ironyard, 9" x 16", monotype on Rives paper, Andrew Portwood copyright 2011

Available at  http://www.bennettgalleriesnashville.com/AndrewPortwood.htm

Ah, today, I'm going back to painting on canvas for a while...I'm feeling the need to work larger! I'll get back to the monotypes later. I'm still feeling the effects of surgery, and have to take it easy, but I have to work...And,....  I'm spending too much time on the Internet and marketing. I need to concentrate on a whole new body of work to put on the gallery walls..that is my focus now.

'Patio Pony", 8" x 8", monotype on Canson Edition 280, Andrew Portwood 2012

Patio Pony, 2012, 8" x 8", monotype on Canson Edition 280, Andrew Portwood copyright 2012

sold

"Pilgrimage Light", Detail, 9" x 24". monotype on arches paper, Andrew Portwood, 2012

Here is another monotype that I wanted to post, it's a detail shot of a larger painting on paper, "Pilgrimage Light" which measures 9" x 24"..a really horizontal format, which works for landscapes. The thing about these monotypes is all of the subtle detail that is missed unless you see the real thing...and up close. Anyway, this is an attempt to show some of the detail..click on the image.

More Monotypes & the power of descriptive linework. These images are copyrighted, please do not reproduce without permission from me the artist.

Garden Nocturne, Detail 1, 2011, monotype on paper, Andrew Portwood copyright 2014

Garden Nocturne, Detail 2, 2011, monotype on paper, Andrew Portwood copyright 2014

I want to say first that I am "influenced" by great work...past and present. I admire the great works that have survived the test of time. While researching the monotype process in order to learn the process for my own work...I came across examples of monotypes authored by other artists throughout art history...I did not know Degas made so many monotypes! I have researched and looked for good examples to learn from...monotypes from the great artist master's of the past, like Degas, Goya, Rembrandt etchings, etc. And I have to say that I have been Directly influenced; The line quality and draughtsmanship of these artists is at the core of their work. One can speak volumes with a descriptive and bravado line. 

I admire linework because I have spent years (thousands of hours) drawing. I was an advertising story artist for ten plus years. This job involved drawing with pencil daily...creating detailed, narrative illustrations of  proposed television and film story and idea. Everything that I drew came out of my head and my experience. I visualized everything...and most of that story involved figures and movement in different settings and from different and sometimes unusual angles. I found a loose and descriptive line style on my own from putting in thousands of hours of drawing practice. I do occasionally use photo reference for proportions sake...for instance the horses, in some of my work, need to be more accurate for my own preference. I have "the license" to change it up. 

This latest and largest monotype attempt: "Garden Nocturne", 2011, Andrew Portwood

(measures 18" x 24"), came out with a kind of "Baroque" feel to it, sub-consciously and by accident.

When I loaded my brush, I did not use large globs of paint, but more thinned out swaths of paint trying to cover a 18" x 24" plate, and as it turned out that the thin paint really amped up the line quality ( I am always learning by doing). I like it!

Detail, Harlequin Horse 12" x 16", monotype, Andrew Portwood

"Harlequin Horse", detail, 12" x 16", monotype, Andrew Portwood copyright 2012

"Angel", detail, 2011, 12" x 16", monotype, Andrew Portwood

 OK, here are three more monotypes I'm pretty pleased with...working with the same three or four colors in a series. They will look nice matted and framed, maybe in a simple, un-adorned pewter or silver. This goes out to all of the angel's, Muse's, and other holiday spirits out there...you know who you are! I guess that I am destined to paint angel's and fairies and banshees the rest of my life... the real one's and the one's in my own head, ha ha. But that's the way it is when you are creating, you have to dig into your own psyche. sold

"Angel", 2011, image area: 12" x 16", monotype, Andrew Portwood