"Tyrant" and "Choke" Teasers

 First of all, I am very excited to announce that the ONLINE PREVIEW for my April 2013 show is now live! There are still a few more pieces in progress but the bulk of the show is up and available for pre-sale. Just click the link below:

JAW Cooper // La Luz De Jesus Gallery // April 2013

"Tyrant" detail:

"Choke" detail:

"Tyrant" and "Choke" will be part of my April 2013 solo show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

Preview:

http://www.laluzdejesus.com/shows/2013/JAW/Cooper2013.htm

"Snare" Complete

Painting that background was sooo fun, I want to incorporate more landscape painting into the backgrounds of my paintings!

(This piece SOLD)

"Snare" will be part of my April 2013 solo show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

"Snare" Inked

Waterproof India Ink washes to establish tone are done on "Snare." Tomorrow- color! I'm especially excited to paint the little landscape with the overgrown cabin in the background. The hair/net will be all in gold paint (which is opaque) at the end so I painted into it a little to prevent white halos around the lines. Rest assured they will be smooth and flowing, not choppy as they appear now.

"Snare" will be part of my April 2013 solo show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

"Choke" and "Tyrant" WIP

Busy busy busy! Both "Choke" and "Tyrant"will be graphite on frosted acetate over gouache paint for color and tone. Here is what I'm working on:

"Choke"

"Tyrant"

Both are now transferred to acetate as well as to paper mounted to board so tomorrow they will be ready for color!

"Choke" and "Tyrant" will be part of my April 2013 solo show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

"Choke" And "Terror" Sketches

A quick glimpse of what I'm working on today:

This piece will be called "Choke." I'm revising / cleaning it up now and I'll post the final when it's done, but for now here is the rough idea:

These two sketches will be combined when finished- the idea is a fawn running from a wave of terrifying-creatures. I think it will be aptly titled "Terror":

And here is a little addition to the "Malice" piece from yesterday– a bee! Appropriate since the theme of that piece is how malice hurts the initiator as much as the victim... and you know... bees die after they sting someone. You get it.

"Choke" "Terror" and "Malice" will be part of my April 2013 solo show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

"Fledge" and "Malice" Finished

It's been a long day but I finished two paintings today. Well... technically it's 3am but I count it as one day since I haven't slept yet.

"Fledge"

-This one was just so fun to paint, especially the golden branches.

"Malice"

-Goodness, that golden spear was such a pain to cut, paint, and adhere to the frosted acetate but it was absolutely worth it. Also, I am so pleased with the ghostly effect of the skeleton girl- letting the gouache painting below carry her with minimal line-work above. I may add one more element to this if I still think it needs it in the morning, but otherwise it's complete!

"Fledge" and "Malice" will be part of my April 2013 solo show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

"Gilded" Complete

"Gilded" is finished. Obviously the designs on her body are in gold ink- so they catch the light at different angles. It was so hard to get the very thin gold lines- gold ink is more viscous than what I'm used to- but by holding my breath and with my face an inch from the paper I achieved what I was after:

It's hard to see the velvety-texture of the background in these photos- it has a subtle shimmer to it:

And the hair shapes on "Let It Go" were bothering me so I "drew" into them and re-shaped them very carefully with an xacto-knife blade. Much better:

"Gilded" and "Let It Go" will be part of my April 2013 solo show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

WIP and "Monkey King" Mystery

Pieces in progress and ready to be painted!

"Gilded"

"Malice"

"Fledge"

I must have woken up in the middle of the night and scribbled out these bizarre "monkey king" sketches.... because they weren't there last night. What is my subconscious telling me??

"Gilded" "Malice" and "Fledge" will be part of my April 2013 solo show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

"Let It Go" FInished

"Let It Go" FInished!

It's a little hard to photograph at night so here are a couple of angles:

"Let It Go" will be part of my April 2013 solo show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

"Howl" WIP

Progress continues on "Howl." Today I painted The girls' bodies and started on the wolves. Tomorrow/Friday I'll paint the rest of the wolves, the girls' hair and tattoos, and the horses and then it's DONE!

Whoopdiwhoop.

One wolf down, 7 more to go. It's a fun challenge to stay in tight control of the color and tone while rendering individual wolves to give the wolf-group as a whole that gradation from deep coral to lavender.

"Howl" will be part of my April 2013 solo show "Laid Bare" at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

This piece in particular (because of it's large size, complexity and medium) will not be available for sale until nearly complete but if you are interested in it contact the gallery director and they will note your interest and alert you when it is complete and the price determined.

"Let Go" and "Gilded" Transferred

In my down-time between coats of oil paint I transferred these two small pieces. They will be executed with a mixture of painting and drawing, maybe some frosted acetate if I feel it's appropriate.

"Let It Go"- I will either paint all the animal bones gold and have the background be dark, or I will paint only the ermine skull in her hand gold and have the rest be rendered in gouache. Choices!

"Gilded"- She will have gold panels on her body, following the contour lines of her anatomy, and a black-and-gold forested background.

Detail on how the gold designs will look when painted... scrolling trees and plants:

"Let It Go" and "Gilded" will be part of my April 2013 solo show "Laid Bare" at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

"Howl" Background Painted

Oil paints are so fun with and the results are always beautiful but I'm going to have to start charging extra for every pound I lose to the accompanying nausea. Look for my skeletal remains at the opening of my show on April 5th! I'll be by the snack bar trying to look human.

Here is the background completed on "Howl." I aim to have this piece done in two-three very very long days- stay tuned for updates!

"Howl" will be part of my April 2013 solo show "Laid Bare" at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

This piece in particular (because of it's large size, complexity and medium) will not be available for sale until nearly complete but if you are interested in it contact the gallery director and they will note your interest and alert you when it is complete and the price determined.

"Sanctuary" Complete

I just finished this piece and I'm so pleased that I took a chance and went a little experimental with the medium. I painted on stonehenge paper with ink and gouache, going a little more saturated than usual (to compensate) and then overlaid frosted acetate and rendered with graphite on top. Then I went back through and added dashes of white highlights and gold acrylic to the rocks. It was very time consuming but well worth it!

I like the dynamic quality of the different textures and transparency/opacity. From certain angles the graphite gleams as does the gold acrylic and the lighting hitting it alters the transparency of the acetate and thusly how much of the painting below shows through. It looks different at different times of day as well as at different angles!

"Sanctuary" will be part of my April 2013 solo show "Laid Bare" at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

"Howl" Underpainting

The acrylic underpainting for "Howl" is nearly done. Tomorrow: Oil paints!

(Sorry for the low-quality photos.)

"Howl" will be part of my April 2013 solo show "Laid Bare" at La Luz de Jesus Gallery. For more info, to be added to the preview list, or to reserve a piece early, email Matt Kennedy at info@laluzdejesus.com.

This piece in particular (because of it's large size, complexity and medium) will not be available for sale until nearly complete but if you are interested in it contact the gallery director and they will note your interest and alert you when it is complete and the price determined.