Drawer Man

Here is a person made from drawers; the drawers are open, allowing the personal contents to spill out. The person's hands are tied behind their back, suggesting that they are not responsible for opening the drawers. In the top right of the picture a colourful star enters, possible representing a new idea?

The colour scheme in this work is quite complex- it combines olive tones with burnt-reds and primary hues in the background. The rich browns of the wooden drawers provide a foil for the brighter colours of his clothes. I seldom talk about the nuts-and-bolts of how to paint....so today I'll talk a bit about water. I use two containers of water, both mason jars, one medium (about 500mL) the other large (about 750mL). I use the large jar to take the colours off the brush, and then use the small jar to load clean water on the brush. It is important that the small jar contain clean water, change it once every hour or so if you are painting a lot, or just before you start. Keep both jars clean if you can, making sure the bottom is cleaned becuase the paint always settles to the bottom leaving chunky debris that can get into your brush, and also the paint can get fungusy if left in dirty water too long (weeks). I have a 8 inch (25cm) hogs-hair brish to help clean the bottom of the jars. Don't use your kitchen scrub pad because the paint is often toxic depending on the colour.

14x11" hot press 2002