Keep On Trucking: New Robots, New Studio, and sickly Jamming out to Moby

For some reason I have been listening to "Play" all day. It's a nice calm album to spend a sick day to. I'm sick today, which means that I am sitting out the web except for working on my blog and that I am spending the rest of my time napping, drinking water, and drawing. Maybe later I'll even watch another movie.

It's been a good few days. I've had a lot of opportunity to get my artwork together, and really think about what I want my contribution to the art world to be. Like Tony Stark in the recent Iron Man film, I don't want my legacy to pointless. I want it to be productive and positive.

So I've been working on more robot sketches, trying to figure out the next generation of robots in the Lewis Acrylic Oeuvre.

Here is a page of robots that I did at work of all places. I like the spider legs. It makes me think of a Tim Burton character, and that is a good thing.

This robot was granted the name F.R.E.D. by my buddy Patrick.
Factory Retro Educational Droid.

I think it's kind a of a cool new direction to be exploring. I haven't made very many square looking characters, at least in robot form, most of them have been a little more amorphous with toothy mouths, etc.

This character I thought of while starting at the pizza oven at the Village Pizza and Grill. The pieces on the side were a play on the latches to the front piece of the oven, and the large eye is a play on the opening where all of the pizzas go in. The circle in the chest plate is most likely some subconscious linking to Iron Man which I have watched way too much this past month.

Also today I decided to post the next phase of the painting of the robot that I started last week. I don't know if this is something that you folks like, but I thought it might be cool for you to see how some of my paintings progress. I usually start off my paintings in a bunch of midtones, like you could see in the post last week, and then start to build in darks and then I build up my lights last.

The arm to the right is in the stage where I have just started to build in the darks whereas the arm on the left is closer to finish.
The head is pretty much finished, minus highlights on the eye-sockets to make them pop a little more.

I am still playing with the background and usually do this until
I determine exactly which color is most prevalent in the main figure, because I want the background colors to pop the main character out a little bit, to make him, or her for you feminists out there, and make it feel a little bit more round err square.

Please let me know what you think of these in progress scans. If you'd like to see more then I will post more.

I will try to have the completed robot up later this week. It all depends on how quickly I get well.

Lastly , I thought some of you might like to see my new studio space. I had been working in a spot on the three season porch but for those of you who have ever been to New England , you know that that will become rather uncomfortable very soon. So my very awesome girlfriend, wife to be, Beth re-organized half of our kitchen this last week so we both have a studio.

Here are a couple photos so you can check out my half.

This is a pick of my awesome drafting table. Thank you Al Rozzi. You rock! And also you will notice on the wall a new painting by my favorite painter, Beth Page. I have robot envy......