Aaron Nagel

First off, thank you to everybody that made it out to the “MARKS” opening. The Shooting Gallery was packed for almost 4 hours and it was great to talk to everybody. Special thank you to my family for making the trip from the East Coast and Chicago, and for those that caught flights or drove long distances to be there for the opening. It means more than you could know.

All the pieces from the show are now online on my site here. I’ve been having a really hard time getting perfect images of a few of the new pieces. I’ve had them shot twice now, and am still running into problems with glare or uniform color accuracy. I’m likely being a little over-critical so they’ll have to do until I can get some updated images up. most of them are spot on though. here’s a few of the new ones, larger files (and non-flash) so you can save them if you wish. I’ll post pictures from the opening as soon as I have some.

"marks" - 30" x 46"

"the Fates" - 24x40", 30x40", 24x40" (Triptych)

"keeper" - 24" x 36"

this one (above) from the last “step by step” posts here.

“Marks” opens tonight. I spent all day at the gallery yesterday, hanging the show and painting a bit on the walls. Things look amazing and I’m really excited for the opening tonight. It’s a huge relief having all the pieces up on gallery walls, with nice lighting and plenty of room. I’m heading down early today for a little more prep, but here are a few shots of the setup yesterday.

Justin hangs "the Call"

Hope to see you tonight! for those that can’t make it, I’ll have all the new work up on my site next week.

Last Sunday, I found myself with nothing to paint. I was (and am) still working on one last painting for the show in March, but was held up waiting for a background to dry. I’ve been on such a painting bender the last few weeks that having nothing pressing to work on, and thus, nothing to distract me from the inevitable depression of Singles Awareness Day (read: vday), was distressing to say the least. so, instead of handling the myriad other things I should be doing, I decided to paint my dumb face again.

This will be my third self-portrait. I painted the first a few years ago, when I spent some weeks doing portrait studies in an attempt to teach myself how to paint accurate flesh tones. I decided that I should do a self-portrait once a year, both to see my progression in execution and in age.  I already dropped the ball on that one and skipped last year….but I’m back on track.

self portrait at almost 30 (unfinished), 16" x 20", oil on panel

this is after 4 or 5 hours, and is most definitely unfinished. I may get around to finishing it…and I may not. it’s the first time I’ve painted on one of those art panels, which you’re probably supposed to gesso. I was impatient and didn’t want to wait 24 hrs for a coat of polyurethane to dry, so I just sprayed the whole thing with Crystal Clear and went to town. (part of me was expecting to come into the studio the next day and find all the paint sucked into the panel, but so far so good). anyway, painting on a smooth surface after years of canvas was awesome. i’m going to do the next few big pieces on panels I think, provided I can find someone to build me some. (let me know if you know of anybody)

When (and if) I finish this one, I’ll post final pictures and maybe get into what a headtrip it is to paint one’s self…it’s real weird.

more soon!

I probably don’t need to state that some paintings go more smoothly than others. many times, an idea about composition or additional elements in a painting totally work out, and there’s a clear “and it’s done” point. I love it when this happens… it feels like things are working properly, my brain and my hands are working in tandem and the final product is just that, a final product. I don’t think about whether its done or not, what could maybe be added to make it better, etc…it’s just done. that said, this is pretty rare for me. I did have a few consecutive paintings a few months back that finished easily, meaning that I didn’t second guess them and knit pick them into completion (don’t get me wrong, the second guessing works for me too, generally I’m happy with the outcome eventually…but it’s certainly a lot less stressful the other way). these days however, as I work on the last 3 for the “Marks” show, not so much. One is going smoothly and is 95% done, the other two however, are a lot more challenging. they both are a lot more stark in composition, with more of a plain dark background to draw the viewer into the figure…or so I hope. the thing is, because I spend so much time with these things, I can never tell if the lack of activity around a figure does what I want it do, or just looks empty. I stick to stark backgrounds for a reason and for the most part, it works for me. I do however have a long history of the following: 1) plan painting with plain-ish background, 2) almost finish painting, then decide the background is too plain, 3) spend hours debating on what to add to complete the piece, 4) add said element, 5) spend additional hours debating on whether said element works, 6) decide said element wasn’t necessary in the first place and paint over it. This can get a little frustrating, but I’m never as horrified as I expect to be when I realize how long I sometimes spend painting things that will eventually be covered. (for a good example of this, check out the “swan among ducks” progress shots from back in April here…those birds took me almost a week to paint).

So tonight, I spent at least 2 hours, probably more, just staring at these two new pieces. one is even signed in a half-ass attempt to convince myself that it’s done…and it really might be, in fact right now, as I write this, it is. but I thought that yesterday too, and the day before. (I have some good ideas for it, but I’m really getting the feeling that I’ll probably erase whatever I add in the end). the other one is coming along, but much further from completion…it’s giving me a hard time but I think I’m happy with it so far.*

*I realize it’s not super fun to read about paintings and not see full on images of them…but I’m trying to keep the second half of the paintings for this show under wraps until the opening…more exiting for me (and hopefully you) that way. I’ll continue with sneak peeks in the coming weeks though, and I’ll certainly be posting a lot about the setup as we get closer to the show.

I hit up a bunch of art shows last weekend in an attempt to both get more involved in the art scene, and to venture out of my apartment for the night. I saw some good stuff and I’ll try and write a bit about that this week…so check back, if you please.

I Spent 4 hours last night painting text…and my wrist is killing me right now. I recently ordered a bunch of dual-language books so I don’t have to scour the internet for content so much anymore. I’m really enjoying using the text behind the figure, it gives the pieces a balance that I haven’t been able to give them any other way, and adds depth too boot. Now I have Dante’s Inferno in the original Italian, a bunch of classic Latin stories from forever ago, and even a book in Russian. The fact that I can’t read any of these languages adds just the right amount of distraction from the main figure in my paintings…probably something that wouldn’t quite work with english.