Rock and Ice Paintings

A little while back my friend Tomas Donoso and I started working on a project/photo essay about Connecticut climbing, in which we wanted to try and pitch to a climbing related publication. At first we were not so sure in what direction we wanted it to go in, except for the fact that we wanted to try and do something fresh and unique. For a while we toyed with different ideas in which we talked over while we were out shooting photos of various boulder problems. Tomas eventually decided that it would be great if we could somehow link Connecticut Folklore with Climbing. This seemed to work especially because many of the blocs that we climb upon are situated in the woods in which much of Connecticuts Folklore originated.

Tomas shot some amazing photos of many boulder problems within Connecticut as well as some portraits of a few of the different climbers in the area that helped contribute to the piece. I created five watercolors to accompany these photos in which are seen within this post. The project was submitted to Rock and Ice Magazine and was accepted and printed. The staff at Rock and Ice did a great job with the layout in the magazine as well as the handling of the artwork and photography. Big thanks to everyone at Rock and Ice for accepting this piece and making it happen.

The issue of Rock and Ice Magazine with this feature is available now and can be found at most any major bookstore , climbing gym/retailer, and news stand. I urge everyone to go out and pick up a copy!

Chief Sassacus

Watercolor, 8.5"x11"

The Black Dog of the Hanging Hills

Watercolor,8.5"x11"

Jemima Wilkinson

Mixed, 11"x17"

The Leatherman

Waterclolr, 8.5"x11"

Dudley Town Curse

Watercolor, 8.5"x11"

Final Round

Time was running thin for bouldering here in Ct. as temps are rising , and even more importantly due to the fact that I am moving to the bay area tomorrow. Luckily before leaving I was able to get my act together and send a problem I have been trying on and off since last spring, The Buzzer Beater.

The Buzzer Beater from dan yagmin on Vimeo.

Random Drawings/Sketches

Haven't had all that much time to get to involved with any big projects at the moment as I am moving to the bay area on weds.. So time has been spent packing things up and getting somewhat organized. While digging through my art work in order to figure out what I am taking with me I came across many drawings and sketches that I have created for various reasons. As you can tell they are pretty random as I think a lot of my work is. In order to keep things fresh, I tend to bounce around between different mediums and subject matter. In addition I like to switch things up as far as the way in which I create my work, as you can see by looking at these drawings. Some are done directly from photographic reference, some are completely created out of my imagination, some from direct observation, and some are a combination of all.

Georgie Porgie

Brush and Ink, 6"x7"

Five Brave Nights Rough

Graohite, 5"x7"

Five Brave Knights Rough 2

Graphite, 5"x7"

Pasadena Prelim,

Graphite, 6"x"9"

Sketch Book Page,Koh San Rd., Thailand, 2010

Graphite, 5"x5"

Kinaree,

Graphite, 8"x11"

Rough Drawing for DPM article

Graphite and Digital, 7"x11"

Cuckoo's Nest Drawings

Nurse Rached

Graphite, 9"x13"

Shock Shop

Graphite,8.5"x11"

The Ward

Graphite, 8.5"x11"

Mac

Graphite, 8.5"x11"

The Escape

Graphite, 8.5"x11"

Arrival of Mac

Graphite, 8.5"x11"

Chief Bromden

Graphite, 8.5"x11"

When I began the MFA program at the University of Hartford back in 2007 the first class I was enrolled in was known as the "Dream Assignment Class". This class was supposed to guide us along in the direction that we were going to head in for the thesis project, or at least get the wheels turning. This class was completely open ended and as the name suggests was to encourage complete creative freedom.

At first I thought I really wanted to do some Illustrations pertaining to Ken Kesey's , One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. We were supposed to show up on the first day of class with six potential compositions. So in this post I am including the six drawings in which I showed up with that day as well as the final drawing(Nurse Rached) I did during that week at Hartford. Similar to most of my classmates, my thesis project took a completely different turn from where things started in this class. I am thinking about going back and finishing all of these pieces in a digital format.. We'll see.

Back in the Day

It's always fun to dig through the boxes of old photos from my many cross country j0urnies, in which date back long before I owned a digital camera. I decided to post some as I am getting ready to head out west again very soon, and will hopefully be spending time with some of my best friends depicted in these photos. These photos are from various trips throughout the U.S and the watercolor titled "Cross Country" was one of the first travel related pieces that I had painted. The painting depicts my good friends Josh Adams, Phil Schaal, my dog Ira, and myself all crammed into the cab of my Chevy truck that we traveled in that year. On the back of the truck was a pop up camper,"the Skamper". "The Skamper" hung way out from the bed of the truck on either side blocking mirrors, and sagging the suspension to an all but street legal low.With three climbers and a dog in the cab of the truck, I am sure we smelled like hot garbage , and there were certainly multiple times that we were all at each others throats. Not sure how we never got pulled over???...Good times!!! In many ways this piece was the beginning of my more recent body of work of travel related paintings..

Cross Country
Watercolor, 6"x14",2004

Me in the Redwoods, 1996, on my first trip west
shortly after graduating high school.

The interior of my pop up camper "the Skamper".
I was given the Skamper by Ct. climber J.D Mackie.
Mackie established one of Ct's hardest routes , the Wall of Horrors 5.13
at Ragged Mtn. in 1993.

Steve King on our epic hike after climbing Magnolia Thunderpussy,
Granite Mtn., Arizona,1998

Me climbing at the Gallery,
Red Rocks, Nevada, 1998

Jared Roth on Boone Speed's I Scream in Hell 14c

shortly before he made he second ascent.

Dave Watson on Social Outcast 12a
Rumney, New Hampshire, Ca.1998

A young Phil Schaal at the Happy Boulders,
Bishop, California, ca.2000

Josh's dog Ibex on 9th and Marine
"Get the squirrels"

Josh Adams , aka Swayzee, Swaygina, Swayzleduece
on Get Carter, before his retirement from climbing.
Bishop, Ca., 1999

My Dog Ira
Red Rocks, Nevada, 1998

Climbing in the Druid Stones
Bishop, Ca.
photo: Carolyn Taylor

Wagon Wheel Wrap Up

A while back I posted the line work for a project that I was working on for my friends at the Wagon Wheel Co Opt.. Recently I had some time to finally get close to finishing the painting. Because of the fact that I am heading out west soon and I will not be able to lug all of my paints and materials I have been making the effort to work digitally. So this one was created using a combination of Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter. I am trying to mimic the style that I used to create my thesis paintings , which are acrylic paintings on panel, but with digital tools. Thinking I have a way to go but it's a start!

So here is the image. I am still planning to tighten some things up and tweak a few things here and there..