New Show of Screen Prints - Scot's Bar

I started working with an art rep recently to have my work placed in different venues. The first show is now up at Scot's Bar in Ravenswood, just off of the Montrose Brown Line stop.

I'm showing a mix of my screen prints featuring rooftop water tanks. There are several pieces from each series included in the show:

Kingsbury St. Water Tanks

Stencil Tanks

Water Tanks and Birds

Rooftop water tanks are a unique architectural feature in cities - especially Chicago and New York. They are a link to our industrial past and a disappearing element of the cityscape. Due to the decline of these structures, I've been making it a point to photograph them when I see them. These photos are then used for reference in my cityscape paintings or as the main focal point of my screen prints. 



My screen prints are created using multiple layers of ink and paint. I like to work quickly, so screen printing lets me create many images at once. They are created as part of a series, but each piece is unique and one-of-a-kind. I enjoy the multifaceted process of screen printing and the experimental nature of the medium that sometimes leads to happy accidents, contributing to the unique quality of the print.

Video view of West Loop commission painting

I'm about 75% done with the West Loop Cityscape commission painting. I shot this video to give a closer view of the details, colors and texture. Today and added many more layers and introduced some purples and blues that didn't exist previously. For some of the details, I used conté crayons which give some of the marks a sketch-like quality.

West Loop Cityscape, acrylic on canvas, 2012

Studio Peek

Here's a peek inside my studio this afternoon. Lots of random paint, supplies, brushes. Finished art on the walls and the commission painting in progress sitting on the easel.

Cityscapes - new youtube video posted

I started a new youtube channel today: KevinSwallowArt. This is the first video - really just a slideshow of some paintings set to music by the band Tortoise. In the future, I'll be adding more slideshows but also videos from the studio.

Snow day!

Lots of snow coming down this afternoon, and after 7 days straight in the studio, today I'm taking a day off. Gotta refresh -- plus, I need to work on some office and business projects.

I'm now about halfway done with my West Loop commission painting. More layers, some colors changes and details to be added. I'm looking forward to having the collectors come for a studio visit next week so they can see where it's at in person.

West Loop Skyline - painting in progress