Warren Criswell's Studio

WORKS IN PROGRESS

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

2/4/12	2/4/12	2/6/12
2/4/12	2/4/12
Angry Birds (2), terracotta sculpture in progress, 17" high

1/26/12

2/4/12

1/26/12

Untitled terracotta sculpture in progress, 6½ inches high

1/28/12, morning		1/30/12
1/28/12, afternoon	1/29/12
Angry Birds, sculpture in progress, clay, 7 inches high

12/14/12
West on 70, animation in progress, acrylic, charcoal & pastel on canvas,10 x 12 inches

DRAWINGS FROM THE LOWER BACK

In Bed with Back Pain, Drugged, 12/17/11

NEW MONOTYPES

Black Stockings XXI, 12/1/11, monotype on buff paper, image 7 x 5 inches, sheet 12 x 10 inches	Up Close & Personal, 12/2/11, monotype on buff paper, image 5 x 7 inches, sheet 11 x 8½ inches
	Black Stockings XXIa, 12/1/11, monotype ghost on white rice paper, image 7 x 5 inches, sheet 11 x 8½ inches

LOST AND FOUND

Concerto, 2001 - 2011, oil on linen, 9 x 12 inches
I found this canvas in my closet the other day, begun from a sketch I did at an ASO concert back in 2001
but never finished. So I finished it--or as finished as it's going to get--I like the sketchiness of the underpainting
so I left most of it, over-painting only the center. I know it was David Itkin conducting but I can't remember who
the piano player was or what concerto they were playing. So it took 10 years to paint this picture.

RELIEF ETHCHING

I'm reading Joseph Viscomi's book, Blake and The Idea of the Book, in which the author tries to reconstruct the obscure printmaking methods Blake used to produce his Illuminated Books. Relief etching looked pretty easy--a sort of reverse process like my linocuts--so I decided to give it a try. Oh, easy for William!

11/12/11, painting on copper plate

11/12/11, varnished plate with fine lines drawn with needle

11/15/11, 5th proof with watercolor

This was only a test-- just to see if it would work. Not as easy to draw and paint on copper with asphaltum as it looked in the book. The varnish wanted to spread out on the plate, refused to hold a line. Aj Smith told me the varnish wasn't thick enough, and it turned out he was right. But then I had trouble ethching the plate because my nitric bath was old and produced no bubbles, so I tried some old ferric chloride (it's been, like, 10 years since I've done any etching) and that worked pretty well--too well, in fact, since I got some foul biting in the dark areas--but it bit the fine lines pretty well. Until I get some more acid I don't have a strong enough mordant to bite the large open areas, like the back of the woman picking up a rock. I had to wipe that out with a rag before printing. But I think I might like this technique.

11/14/11, 1st proof, with watercolor

11/14/11, 2nd proof, with watercolor

11/15/11, 3rd proof

11/15/11, 3rd proof with watercolor

Woman Picking Up a Rock, relief etching with watercolor, 6 x 4¼ inches

NEW TERRACOTTA RELIEFS

11/5/11	11/6/11	11/9/11 (I'll be firing this in a few weeks.)
11/6/11	11/8/11
Black Stockings XX, clay relief, 10 x 8 x 1½ inches

11/3/11, a	11/3/11, b	11/911
11/5/11	11/7/11
Woman Picking Up a Rock, clay relief, 10 x 8 x 1½ inches, in progress

NEW PAINTINGS

Woman Picking up a Rock (2), 10/28/11, oil on wood, 9 x 7 inches SOLD

Black Stockings XVIII, 2011, oil on canvas, 8 x 10 inches

Black Stockings XIX, 2011, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 inches

NEW SCULPTURE

8/7//11

7/21/11

7/22/11

The original in oil clay & wood

7/26/11, applying the polyurethane rubber mold, 5 coats 7/27/11, the mother mold 8/4/11, the wax pattern

9/26/11
9/26/11
3rd wax of Simone, 10/13/11

This is the 2nd wax, the 1st failed. All kinds of trouble with this damn thing, which is why nothing has been happening on this page for a few weeks. But I push on, boldly into the unknown...

Simone Jumps, 19 inches high, in progress

New cast of Simone Leaps from the Window, bronze, 7 x 5 x 2 inches, 3 of 6

3nd impression monotype with pastel on brown paper

2nd impression monotype with pastel on brown paper

The Shadow, 10/16/10, monotype, 11 x 15 inches

Roadkill: Keyblock for linocut, 11 x 15 inches, 10/5/10

Roadkill, drypoint-linocut, 11 x 15 inches, 10/7/10

Norman Boehm at UALR, 3/29/10, ballpoint on recital program, 8½ x 11 inches

Satin Doll: Michael Carenbauer at Boswell-Mourot Gallery, 4/3/10, ballpoint on back of invitation, 4 x 6 inches

Pouring aluminum		Demolding
Low-Flying Crow, 2009, cast aluminum relief, 7 x 22 x 2¼ inches

Bob Among the Buddhas, 2009, oil on hardwood, 7 x 9 inches	Jason at Wolfman Studios, 2009, oil on canvas, 7 x 10 inches

Sketch for Sammy Painting (Blue Gloves), ballpoint & pastel on yellow paper, 5 x 7 inches	2/21/07
2/19/07
Sammy Painting (Blue Gloves), sepia chalk and pastel on gray paper, 18 x 20½ inches (Sammy Peter's web site)

FOR PRICES OR OTHER INFO SEND ME AN

See also Lenny & the Black Riders sketchbook

Warren Criswell Home Page

Counter by Rapid Axcess