The Storyteller

I created "The Storyteller" last month for my wife's birthday. It was a secret project I worked on and surprised her with it when she came home from a business trip.

She's a writer and reads her stories around town at various live literary events. She also a former actress and improv performer. So, I wanted to capture her creative spirit with this painting.

The Storyteller, acrylic on canvas, 30x40, 2012, not for sale

Experimental Drawing Techniques - Week 1

Last week, I started an experimental drawing techniques class. A lot of the theories and techniques are based on Surrealism. It was a fun first class -- learning some new techniques and playing around with different materials. Below are the results of the first class.

Acrylic ink, watercolor, and conté crayon art sticks on Bristol paper. The last one is on Yupo paper - a smooth, translucent vellum material.

I'll be posting more images from each class for the next few weeks...

Open Studios - Friday Night Nov 16th

It's that time again for another Friday Night Open Studios at the Cornelia Arts Building! 

Kevin Swallow, Studio #201, Cornelia Arts Building

Friday, November 16, 2012 6pm - 10pm   Cornelia Arts Building - where art works 1800 W. Cornelia Chicago, IL 60657 SHOW PREVIEW   Click here for more detailed info about the open studios event.

exploring - random city images

I've been making it a point to go to different neighborhoods every week to walk around and take photos. Recently I've gravitated toward West Town, East Village, and Wicker Park. Before that it was Fulton Market/West Loop that inspired my new city abstracts series.

This neighborhood exploring has inspired some new abstracts and mixed media pieces and all around experimentation for my art. I fought the changes in my art a little but have decided to let these experiments just take me for a ride. I even signed up for an experimental drawing class to continue developing new ideas.

Anyway, here are some of the photos from my jaunts around town...

Invasion of the water tanks

In addition to the recent static abstracts, I'm working out some new ideas about rooftop water tanks and cities' relation to water. Below a very rough start to a mixed media painting that I started this afternoon.

Invasion of the water tanks, acrylic and screen print on canvas, work in progress