Sound Wave 2 cover

Recently, I've been doing some illustration work. Here's a cover I did for the second issue of Sound Waves. It's a music zine published by Main Enterprises that features art and stories about music of all genres. This piece is a composite of pen and ink drawings and then color via photoshop.

Alektorophobia
oil on canvas
30 x 48 inches
copyright Dan W. Taylor 2009

This painting was created specifically for a show that took place on Friday November 13, 2009 at The Vex in Dayton, Ohio. The theme of the show was 'phobias'. Participants needed to pre register in order to prevent duplication. I chose Alektorophobia, partly because when I ran across this in my research of phobias, I didn't realize that it even had a name! My original intent was to do this piece from the standpoint of a hen that suffered from the malady. I did, however, want to amp up the amount of horror that the victim was feeling and decided that by adding the human element, this would be better served. I think that it would be more difficult for the viewer to discern the depth of fear if it was being shown on the face and beak of a chicken.

An Expounded Conciousness Oil on Canvas 54 x 54 inches

This is a deconstructed self portrait involving multiple canvases that are permanently attached to each other in such a way as to show depth of layers as well as blocks of color and image. From the brain or psyche in the background, through the sensory organs and all the way to the raw blocks of color used to form the works of art. This piece was the center of my installation at Sideshow IIII and will be my entry in the Preble County Art Association's upcoming self portrait show titled "The Me, Myself, and I Portrait Challenge" A prospectus can be found here.

Tallahassee 25

Standing Midstream by Dan W. Taylor
5 x7 inch acrylic on canvas

Standing midstream by Dan W. Taylor
Preliminary sketch

This painting was created as a donation for a benefit organized by Tallahassee 25, which is a fully volunteer driven non-profit organization that works with at-risk youth in the Tallahassee, Florida area. The donated works are used to create a Mystery Masterpiece Wall of 5 x 7 inch creations that will be exhibited at the Mary Brogan Museum of Art & Science on March 14. The pieces will be sold for a flat fee with all proceeds going towards their kid's events.

With this small painting, I wanted to reference classic landscape composition but in a non classic way. Through simplification of form and color I want to bring a more child-like quality to the work. That is not to say that it is not a serious work, as great care has been taken to adhere to rules of composition and scale but I wanted this piece to be fun, also. One of the ways that this is achieved is through the base color. I used a bright purple metallic base coat which was allowed to peak through as outlines of the various landscape elements. This creates a changing effect as the light reflects off of the metallic when viewed from differing angles.

This was a fun project to work on and I'll be sure to post the call for entry for future shows for anyone that may want to participate.

Waiting for Spring

Waiting for Spring - Germantown Ohio

I continue to add new works to my sale site, http://taylorstudio.ecrater.com such as this piece.

This is part of a series of photographs of local benches in the winter snow. One happened to catch my eye as I was taking a winter walk and I was taken by the loneliness that it conveyed. This series brings not only that sense of desolation but also a bit of comfort supplied by their permanence and knowing that they will be there waiting at the first warm day of spring.

Shop for art!

Ok, so folks have been asking, "How can I buy some of the wonderful artwork displayed here when I live a long ways off or can't make it to the local shows?". Well here's how! I recently opened an internet gallery and shop to do just that! You can browse the various categories, make your choices and even pay online using Paypal or all major credit cards. You can find the link to this magical store on the top of the column just to the left of this post! How exciting! Be sure to tell all of your friends as original art makes an excellent gift to give AND receive. Plus, historically, artwork has performed better than the stock market as an investment! So in this time of economic uncertainty, can you afford to NOT by artwork? I didn't think so.