Raymond Logan's Dailies

Chartreuse Shoe

2012-02-03T14:15:00.000-08:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. • This painting represents the possible downside of hitching your wagon to an artist. Here is a hypothetical scenario (remember, I said hypothetical—I admit to nothing): You're rushing to get ready to go somewhere when you just can't seem to find your $%&@# left shoe. Where the heck is it?!?! Then it dawns on you that your spousal unit (no caps) is a kleptomaniac artist. In defense of the artist, I must say... COME ON! The inside of the shoe is chartreuse! How does anybody expect an artist to resist painting a chartreuse shoe. Clearly, the victim is to blame here for having such cool looking shoes.
Posted February 3, 2012
click here to view the auction for this painting

Pismo Beach Building and Parking Lot

2012-02-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. • The first things that attracted me to this location were triangular shadows that crossed the parking lot and the white round sign on the building that said "Manakin Tattoo." Well, the shadows didn't even make it into the painting and the sign is so small that the type does not even qualify as ant scrawl. This painting does prove one thing: Presenting me with a relatively plain brick building and a plain asphalt parking lost is like giving a one-pound dark chocolate bar to a hyperactive child—plain surfaces are just another opportunity for me to spaz out when I paint. Where is Morandi's ghost when I need him? (And yes, I would love a one-pound dark chocolate bar. Nothing less than 72%. Pleeeeze.)
Posted February 1, 2012
click here to view the auction for this painting

Fouled AC Delco Spark Plug

2012-01-26T17:02:00.000-08:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. • Egad! An artist talks a bit about his mistress and his email box soon becomes flooded. (Thanks to all who commented about the truck painting.) If the revelation of "The Other Woman" bothered some, it will bother them even more when I say that I reached inside her, tinkered a bit, and removed six of these. I couldn't help it, she's a boozer and tends to enjoy a rich mixture, thus often fouling her plugs. She's a lush, but I love her. What's more pitiful is how the artist (that would be me) rolled around six dirty spark plugs trying to make up his mind as to which would be the best subject for this painting.
Posted January 26, 2012

The Other Woman

2012-01-25T16:36:00.000-08:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. • The title says it all. She's 63 this year and I am the third Raymond to grapple with her.
Posted January 25, 2012
sold • private collection batesville, va

Re SLO House on Higuera

2012-01-24T16:34:00.000-08:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. • Just an unassuming little red house in San Luis Obispo. Being on Higuera Street, people probably don't see it at all when they are casually traveling at 200 mph down the lane.
Posted January 24, 2012

Ma Lo as Frida, Again

2012-01-19T15:59:00.000-08:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. • This was going to be tomorrow's painting, but I got fidgety (something that happens quite often) and I'm showing it to you today. Have a great weekend!
Posted January 19, 2012

Another SLO Barn

2012-01-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. • Yet another San Luis Obispo barn to torture you with. That fence and a surly field hand, made it so this was as close as I could get to the noble structure. Oh, and if you were to turn about 90° to the right, you would be looking at the San Luis Obispo Country Club's golf course.
Posted January 18, 2012

'46 Chevy Panel Truck

2012-01-17T16:53:00.000-08:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. • This painting proves two things: I love old Chevy panel trucks and that the crew that painted the "3 HR PARKING" markers was somewhat, if not completely, inebriated when they painted them. This beauty (and yes, I wish it was mine) was parked in the Ventura Harbor parking lot. That is Andria's Seafood Restaurant in the background, one of my favorite haunts. There is nothing quite like painting the sublime insanity that is a chrome grille.
Posted January 17, 2012
sold • private collection balboa island, ca

Edna Barn and Water Tower

2012-01-12T16:08:00.001-08:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. • Okay. If you are standing there in Edna, California looking at the tractor in yesterday's painting and you turn about 70-80° to your right, you would see this barn and water tower. Without a GPS, that's the best I can do for you.
Posted January 11, 2012

John Deere Tractor

2012-01-10T16:31:00.001-08:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. • I was going to call this "Edna John Deere Tractor," because it is located in Edna, California, but it sounded weird. Then, I thought, I will call it "Dear John Tractor," because it was sitting in the field all alone. When I reread that title, I realized it was so bad that reading it hurt my ears. You know that you have written something really awful when it hurts your ears when you read it with your eyes.
Posted January 10, 2012

Grey Iron Milkman walking past Wyandotte Air-Speed Coupe

2011-12-22T16:12:00.001-08:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. • This is my last post for 2011. It has been one heckuva year. I painted a lot and still ache to paint even more. I guess that is a good way to head into the new year. As is my usual practice at this time of year, I will be taking some time off from posting—maybe a week or two, so don't be surprised when you don't get emails from me next week. Just be surprised when you DON'T get an email from the Spousal Unit notifying you that I have landed in a Mexican jail or something like that. That last sentence alone is proof that I need a break. • Happy Holidays! See you in the New Year.
Posted December 22, 2011

Marissa

2011-12-20T12:11:00.000-08:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. • Before I launch into the useless tirade below, let me lay this disclaimer before you: Realism holds no sway in my art. I am sure there is a very deep artistic meaning in that statement, but my waters are running a little shallow today, so no more on that. • If I were to teach portrait painting, I would consider Marissa a perfect model. There are certain elements on our mugs that define us. Yes, there is the overall shape, color of the hair, blah, blah, blah. But what I am talking about are things such as the space between the bottom of the nose and the upper lip; where and how the light hits that part of the nose between the eyes (I think the anatomical term for that part of the nose is "doohickamabobber"); the shape of the nose and lips, etc. On Marissa's face, these elements are wonderfully descriptive. Maybe I'm bringing this up because I have watched many artists paint her and totally ignore these elements—instead, applying some other standard shape. • Here comes disclaimer No. 2: Now, like me, those artists are probably utilizing the model in front of them for their own purposes—I am guilty of it myself (a lot)—but what a wonderful face to waste by completely homogenizing it. That is the "Please don't send me nasty emails" disclaimer. • Sorry for the Monday-like rant on a Tuesday.
Posted December 20, 2011

Argus Argoflex Seventy-Five Camera

2011-12-14T14:17:00.000-08:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. • This camera started my short lived addiction to eBay auctions. It was a great deal, which probably helped start the addiction. • Just when you think I might be calming down a bit, a painting like this comes along, exhibiting my spaz color theory and excitable brushstrokes. No, I do not drink a pot of coffee before I paint such a piece, I just tend to attack when I paint. Don't ask, because I do not know if they teach the "attack" painting method anywhere (whoever "they" are). • I received several comments about yesterday's somewhat sparse commentary. A good friend even exclaimed my wordlessness to be a "miracle" attributable to the fact that the previous day was the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Great. Now people are praying that I shut up.
Posted December 14, 2011
sold • private collection bradbury, ca

Olivia

2011-12-13T16:38:00.000-08:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. You know what? I can't think of anything to type. You should feel lucky.
Posted December 13, 2011

Low Chuck (a little larger)

2011-12-09T12:36:00.000-08:00

8"x12" oil on canvas panel. I painted this shoe before in a smaller painting and just thought I would take it up a bit. Still not large, but larger. • This painting plus two others of mine will be on display at the Silvana Gallery's "Second Annual Holiday Small Works" show. It is a group show running alongside the solo exhibit of Tigran Hovumyan. The opening reception will be tomorrow (Saturday) night from 6pm to 10pm. I have included the particulars below.

Silvana Gallery's "Second Annual Holiday Small Works"
Opening reception: Saturday, December 10th from 6pm-10pm
Running dates: December 10, 2011 to February 1, 2012
Gallery contact info: 1731 West Glenoaks Boulevard, Suite 200, Glendale, CA 91201 / Tel: 818-662-7070 / email: info@silvanagallery.com / site: www.silvanagallery.com

Posted December 9, 2011
available at Silvana Gallery 818-662-7070

Empty Tang Jar

2011-12-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. To give you an idea of this jar's age, the lid has the words "NEW, NEW, NEW..." running all around it and the top is stamped 89¢. It is also a sample of an artist just painting what is around them. I saw this jar, something I have come upon a thousand times, and it finally dawned on me to paint it. It is a longtime member of our household, being the official holder of our stash of TSP. I just could not resist the temptation of seeing what that lid would look like refracting through the jar. • Many people wrote in about yesterday's baseball painting. In particularly, about the pedestal. Why? I don't know. Anyway, here's the skinny: That fancy pedestal is actually an old IKEA lamp base. I was looking for something to put the ball on and the Spousal Unit goes and yanks the electric bits off the top of this lamp and said, "Here. Use this." What a woman... magnanimous to a fault (as long as I return her jar, with all its TSP, to its rightful spot).
Posted December 8, 2011
sold • private collection berkeley, ca

Baseball on Pedestal

2011-12-07T16:11:00.000-08:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. Baseballs are just white, right? Not in my world. Please see the diagram below. (Don't even ask what color of the sun is in my world.)

Posted December 7, 2011
sold • private collection bountiful, ut

Beckoning Cat Bank

2011-11-30T16:27:00.000-08:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. Being mentally distracted—my usual state of being—I do not know what to type here. (By the way, with a lead-in sentence like that one, you should be running for the door.) The way I see it, my commentary options are these:

A) How challenging this figurine was to paint, with its creamy porcelain-like surface and all its little details and how, after staring at it for a while, those unblinking eyes started to creep me out; or

B) How hard it was to find a Japanese beckoning cat bank, while shopping down in Little Tokyo, that was actually made in Japan; or

C) How 15 boxes of Trader Joe's seasonal Dark Chocolate Stars cookies mysteriously appeared in our house (That's right—15 boxes!).

Which one should I pick? Let me see... Of course! Being the mentally distracted guy that I am, I pick option D) Press the Send button and sneak into the house and start eating as many of those cookies as I possibly can. That's the way to go: more action—less typing.

Posted November 30, 2011

Brownie Hawkeye Camera

2011-11-23T11:51:00.000-08:00

5"x7" oil on door skin. This is the other piece that was accepted into the "9th Annual Small Works Show" at Segil Fine Art Gallery over in Old Town Monrovia. • Currently, my mind is wondering off with whirling nebulous thoughts of Thanksgiving (actually, definite thoughts of the food I will be eating on Thanksgiving), so I really cannot think of anything to type about this painting. Let's see... I bought two of these Brownie Hawkeye cameras over the summer with the intention of eating a lot of turkey and keeping Spawn Number One from stealing all my olives. You see? All my mind wants to focus on is food. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted November 23, 2011
sold • private collection la canada, ca

Dragon Lady

2011-11-22T17:24:00.001-08:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. I know, I know,the title is a little trite. But considering its original title: "Go Away! You Bore Me You Insignificant Little Worm of a Painter!" I think this one works fine. For some reason, "Dragon Lady" just kept popping into my addled little brain, so that's the title I'm stickin' with. By the way, the model, she was really sweet. • I also want to thank the legion of you who informed me that the toy truck I painted recently is actually a Marx toy, not a Wyandotte toy. There seems to be an awful lot of people out there who know an awful lot about toy trucks.

Posted November 22, 2011

Chocolate Doughnut

2011-11-17T16:48:00.000-08:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. To illustrate how nasty a spousal unit I am, I forced The Spousal Unit to take the bite out of this doughnut for the painting. Well, actually, the bite turned into several, but it was torture for her nonetheless. I am cruelty personified. Anyway... This may be the only bread or cake-like item I have ever painted. What can I say? It was there. The bites were intentional manipulations to see what the light and shadow would do in and through the irregular shapes. It is always hard to know when a painting is finished, but I knew that this painting was finished, when the doughnut mysteriously disappeared.
Posted November 17, 2011

Darth Cleo

2011-11-16T17:18:00.000-08:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. Color correcting this picture of Ol' Helmet Hair makes one contemplate putting a slug in one's dome. Eventually, the image and I came to a draw, both agreeing to go back to our corners and call it a day and kill the camera. (Did I say, "...and kill the camera?" I meant to say, "...and rest.") The painting deserves better, but there you have it.
Posted November 16, 2011

Automatic Electric Telephone

2011-11-15T16:37:00.000-08:00

5"x7" oil on doorskin. I found this old phone on eBay (much to the Spousal Unit's chagrin). We can talk about my brief addiction to that particular website later—much later. Anyway, this piece has been accepted into the "9th Annual Small Works Show" at Segil Fine Art Gallery over in Old Town Monrovia. It is a great little show and timed perfectly to the holiday season, running from December 3rd to December 31st with an opening night reception on December 3rd. This old phone seems like a good subject for a larger painting. Grays and Blacks are such great places to play.
Posted November 15, 2011
will be available at the "9th Annual Small Works Show"
at Segil Fine Art Gallery

Tate's Marx Toy Truck

2011-11-09T16:36:00.001-08:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. This subject is a loaner from a friend and was recently presented to you in the group painting "Subjects in Waiting." It seemed like a good time to give it a go, so here it is. I believe this to be a pre-war toy, that is stamped metal and hollow with no bottom, hence the odd lights in the shadows below the truck; the light passed right through the thing. Due to these mystic lights, I painted the shadow about 2,000 times—1,000 times with the mystic lights and 1,000 times with the shadow just being solid—before I just gave up and let the light shine on through. I now no longer have an opinion about the lights and just want to take a nap.
Posted November 9, 2011
sold • private collection washington, dc

Coffee Grinder (The Larger)

2011-11-08T16:38:00.001-08:00

20"x16" oil on canvas panel. Did I already post this? I cannot remember. I could just check my past emails or the blog or something smart like that, but that would be too smart for me. So, if I have already posted this photo, the little gray cells apologize. The addition of the patterned background introduced a new front in the battle to paint this piece. It was kinda like painting two paintings—the happy-go-lucky grinder is one painting while the obnoxious tiled background is the other. Controlling the drawing of the diamonds wasn't nearly as big an issue as controlling the colors and values that flow across the surface. This is the infamous grinder that the Mother Unit realized had been stolen by her ne'er-do-well son. I am just happy she did not call the police on me, or worse: file a complaint with the Spousal Unit. It was swiftly returned.
Posted November 8, 2011

Thrift Store Bottles

2011-11-03T16:44:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. These bottles were living in a dingy display in a thrift store in San Luis Obispo. I thought they were a steal, so here they are in oil paint. The brown bottle is a Lysol bottle and the broad clear one is a Nujol bottle—you might be able to detect the name in the glass. Now, I know what Lysol is, but I had to look up Nujol. Nujol is a brand of mineral oil with a charlatanesque origin circa the 1850s involving "Old Bill" Rockefeller. Didn't take the time to corroborate the story and I don't need the Rockefellers breathing down my neck, so I will leave it at that.
Posted November 3, 2011
sold • private collection old lyme, ct

Dad's Drill

2011-11-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

18"x18" oil on canvas. I do not want to go all mushy on you, but this is an extremely personal painting for me. It may not have been obvious, but I think you might have been able to detect that tools are important to me. They are important to me because they were and are important to my clan. They are what fathers and sons shared, talked and joked about, and, as in my case, were some of the first things handed down to me when I launched into my adult life. Yes, I know they are just objects, but for us—people, who when they need things, make them and for whom family is everything—they are much more. I have not been able to paint a portrait of my late father—this is the closest I have ever come. This drill was not handed down to me, I earned and paid for my own and my father would not have handed it down to me anyway, because better was available. It is a funny little drill with a stubby awkward grip and puny chuck, but it is the drill I used in my childhood and it was so cool. For those of you who know about and used these old drills, you know that something is missing from this painting and that something is the chuck key dangling from the cord on a leather strap. My father swapped out the leather one for a better, but uglier orange rubber thingy later on. It messed with my painting and didn't remind me of anything, so I omitted it. This painting did not sell at the last Beverly Hills Show, even though I made a pretty cool frame for it and I am kinda happy it didn't. I want it hanging around in my studio for a while.
Posted November 2, 2011

Tokibot Toy Robot Clock Thingy

2011-10-27T17:46:00.000-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. Where to begin... Ah, I know: This painting was by the Queen's Command. Yep, you guessed it, the Spousal Unit said this painting shall be done and so it was. Yes, I am filing a complaint with the State Board of Labor against my employer (if she lets me). • That has got to be one of my longest titles. I had thought of other titles, such as, "Give Me All Your Money, Human!" or "Hey Buddy, Where's the Head?" I don't know why, but it looks like it's asking for money or it has to go to the bathroom or something. See what happens when you stare at an inanimate object for too long? • The challenge with painting such darlingly detailed little subjects is that all those details sometimes blind you to the overall—while all those cute little chrome details are "neat," I couldn't let them distract me from the structure and values of the piece or the painting would just fall apart. And that would make the Queen most... displeased.
Posted October 27, 2011
sold • private collection irvine, ca

Flask

2011-10-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. Trying to photograph this could drive a guy to drink. (Sorry, that wasn't even remotely witty. Must be the weather.)
Posted October 25, 2011
on hold

Subjects in Waiting

2011-10-20T14:01:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. What we have here is a bunch of objects I have gathered as subjects, but have yet to paint. Let's see, what do we have... an empty Worcestershire sauce bottle, an oddly shaped bottle with a cork stopper, a couple of old Wyandotte toy vehicles, a Kodak DualFlex II camera, and an old portable Philco radio—the same model used in the movie "The Philadelphia Story" when Katharine Hepburn and Jimmy Stewart were dancing by the fountain. Don't ask how I know that little nugget of useless information (I have only watched the movie about 1,940 times). Anyway, they were all so patiently waiting in the mess that is my studio, so I thought I would arrange them together and give them a little interim painting to shine in.
Posted October 20, 2011
sold • private collection middletown, ri

Old Western Electric Telephone

2011-10-18T15:27:00.000-07:00

8"x12" oil on canvas panel. With all those cords behind the phone, I jokingly refer to this as "The Octopus Phone." Now, I could talk to you about how I pilfered this phone from a case in the Mother Unit's home and how she has since noticed and now wants it back, but let's skip my larcenous ways and talk painting. When painting narrow shapes I sometimes, actually often, paint against form. Painting against form is when I drag my brush sideways across the direction of the shape instead of along in the same direction as the shape. You might be able to see some of what I am talking about in the phone's cords; look at the red on the top bend of the cord on the left—the strokes go sideways across cord. Almost all of the cords here are painted against form. Most of the time I do not even know that I am painting against form because I have a practical reason for doing it: It allows me to glob on more paint in a small space. Not a fancy explanation, but there it is for your consumption. • If you crave more boring commentary, check out my Beverly Hills Show report below.

Report on the Beverly Hills Show
(warning this may run long, so if you have a pot on the stove‚ go tend it and avoid my babbling)
I was in the Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens Art Show this past weekend and I consider it a success. Why a success? I will tell you... Any show where I get to meet my online friends and fellow artists Marie Fox and Bradford Salamon (great people); a guy walks in and says, "I'll take eight of the portraits." (yes, I am bragging, see the text* below for the reason); somebody I don't know walks up and sticks a BH second place ribbon on me (it was close, but no blood was spilt); a park ranger threatens to tazer me (he was joking... I think/hope); and a friend brings a picnic lunch to nosh (Thanks Viv!), is a great show. And the Spousal Unit was with me the whole time, which pushed the show into the "Perfect Weekend" category for me (and all the men within a two mile radius my space). I want to thank all who visited (but not the men who came over just to talk to the Spousal Unit).

* So there I was, in the wilds of Beverly Hills grappling with a "gallery owner" who was trying to chisel away at me (it doesn't work by the way) when a collector walks in and cooly states, "I'll take eight of the portraits." Now, while I was extremely happy with the sale—especially considering that the gentleman had really taken his time throughout the day to closely study the portraits prior to returning and pulling the trigger—I was even happier to see the look on the "gallery owner's" face when his efforts were so wonderfully torpedoed. So yeah, I am bragging.
Posted October 14, 2011

Four Bottles

2011-10-14T09:39:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas.Honey, beer, barbeque sauce, and jam—that is what these glasses held. Now, they just get dusty in my study waiting for me to paint them. • I totally forgot (like totally dude) to update you on my money raising to help out Carol Marine and her fantastic family unit. I raised and donated $209 to the cause. Thanks to all who helped out (put in bids). I would normally do this kind of thing discreetly, but I threw it out there into public view and people rose up and helped me help someone else and those people deserve to know what good they helped achieve. That was an awkward sentence.

Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens Art Show
Raymond Logan will be in space #137 • Saturday & Sunday, October 15th & 16th • 10am to 5pm both days
Posted October 14, 2011
sold • private collection champaign, il

Baby Brownie Camera

2011-10-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

12"x12" oil on canvas. I do not know if it shows up on your monitor, PDA, iPhone, iPad, whatever-the-heck-you-have, but there is a lot of color in the blacks of this painting. There is also a lot of dragging going on in this painting. "What the heck does he mean by dragging?" you may ask. Well, in my sideways world, when you gob some paint—unmixed—onto your brush, palette knife, ground down stick you found on the side of the road, and deliberately drag that goo down, sideways, or diagonally across a bunch of previously applied goo—just to see what it will do—I call that dragging. There are other names, but my paint addled mind uses dragging. Next week, the term will change after those little gray cells that use the term die off. • Still working on a sentence that uses "imponderables" and I think I dug myself into a whole on that one. There are just too many unforeseen imponderables when you publicly commit to doing something like that. I am also too busy to come up with a good whine about the Beverly Hills Show, so I am letting you down on that score as well. Almost everything is framed and marked, but not packed up. Still have to figure out how to invite people via FaceBook (a.k.a. the Most Counterintuitive Website in the Galaxy), but I will get it done. It may be done in a lame manner, but it will be done.

Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens Art Show
Raymond Logan will be in space #137 • Saturday & Sunday, October 15th & 16th • 10am to 5pm both days
(If you want parking advice—email me)
(My friend Marie Fox will be in the show for the first time, so go check out her work at space #121)
Posted October 12, 2011

SLO Gray House (The Larger)

2011-10-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

16"x24" oil on canvas. Just had a bunch (5) paintings professionally photographed by Artworks over in Highland Park (Los Angeles). I had five done because at five, they cut you a deal and I need all the deals I can get. It is nice having somebody else do the picture taking deed, but I am not sure of the outcome. The details and brushstrokes seem amplified to me. Maybe I am wrong—I don't know. The above painting is the larger version of the little daily painting I did of this lonely old house. I threw everything (pigment) I had at the side of the building and the field in front of it. • Well, I am in the homestretch of preparing for the Beverly Hills Art Show coming up this weekend. That means that not only will you have to put up with my usual inane commentary, but that you will also have to put up with my whining about the dang show—or, as I like to refer to it—my "Public Humiliation Tour 2011!". How do you like the use of the exclamation point? Pretty snazzy. Oh, I am also determined to use the word "imponderables" in a sentence this week, so you will have to suffer with that as well. The "SLO Gray House" painting will be hanging, along with me, at the show. See details below.

Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens Art Show
Raymond Logan will be in space #137 • Saturday & Sunday, October 15th & 16th • 10am to 5pm both days
Posted October 11, 2011

Sleepy Sara

2011-10-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. I don't really have anything to say about this painting or about anything else for that matter. My mind appears to be already living in the weekend and somewhat preoccupied with deciding what danish to pick at the local bakery tomorrow morning. Ooooh, danish...
Posted October 7, 2011

Zenith Owl Face or Owl Eyes Clock Radio

2011-10-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. Comments: I know that I have not been posting a lot lately. Well, I've been busy. Primarily I have been prepping for the Beverly Hills show (October 15th & 16th). The time for painting for the show passed at least a couple of months ago due to the fact that oil paint takes a while to dry before I can frame. Paintings are still being done, but recently I have been focusing on making frames and trying to maintain my digit count at what I consider to be the reasonable amount of ten. • Amongst the confusion, I was able to paint this clock radio. The little details were wonderfully annoying, but I got it done. I think this style of radio was called either "Owl Faced" or "Owl Eyes." Lifted this one out of the Mother Unit's garage. She didn't really care about me pilfering it, but BOY!, she really wanted that dang coffee grinder back.

Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens Art Show
Raymond Logan (that would be me) will be in space #137 • Saturday & Sunday, October 15th & 16th • 10am to 5pm both days (they don't like me to leave my space, something about scaring the locals)

Posted October 6, 2011

Avila Beach Looking South(ish)

2011-09-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. This is the last of the beach paintings I did. That makes it sound as if I painted a lot of them when I really painted just the two—one looking north and one looking south. Don't have much to say about it... Well, here's something: I think the thin strip of ochre off in the distance is Pismo Beach. My guess is probably wrong, but there you go. • If you want to see what an artist hiding from the sun under towels due to lack of sunscreen does when he gets bored, look at the picture below. Yes, I am one of "those people" who stacks rocks (I think they're called cairns). What can I say? It's fun until one falls on somebody's canine that gets too close.
Posted September 30, 2011
sold • private collection woodland hills, ca

Amanda

2011-09-28T16:39:00.001-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. It is not often that a painting makes a grown man scream, but this one did. To clarify, it was the way it was painted that made the man scream. First off, it is probably best not to stand behind me and watch me paint. There might come a time in the process when I scoop up a glob (a glob being anywhere between a quarter to half an inch in mass) of this color and that color and that color there and, yeah, maybe a blotch of that color over there and—unceremoniously and without mixing—scoop up the whole mess and plop it on the painting. I have my own reasons for doing this—none of them sound. The glopping and plopping made the gentleman freak out for a second and the scream came forth almost sending me flying into my painting. I think he actually thought of jumping forward to save me from myself, but after it went down and got all mooshed up, he calmed down and just needed a chair to sit on for a while. It's nice to know that I cause visual pain not only with my paintings, but with my process of painting as well.
Posted September 28, 2011
sold • private collection west hollywood, ca

Avila Beach Looking North(ish)

2011-09-26T16:49:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. Okay, I am prepared for all of the complaints that are going to come in from the Avila Beacheans. It will run basically like this: "Where the heck is our pier?" Being the snot artist that I am, I will just reply, "Artistic license." Then run for cover. I omitted the ever-so-lovely structure for the sake of my painting—it would have looked like ant scrawl. (Never mind the fact that I also wiped the beach clean of people.) Anyway, I usually don't post on Mondays, but I am currently changing into my "framing-not-painting" frame of mind because the Beverly Hills show is coming up next month. That's right, they judged me back in. Once I start at the woodworking, my mind tends not to stray from it. It would actually be really dangerous if it did stray—it is always good policy to pay close attention to an 80 toothed blade spinning at high RPMs.
Posted September 26, 2011
sold • private collection beverly hills, ca

Vicky

2011-09-22T17:28:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. A painting such as this teaches you things as an artist. What those things are, I have no idea, so I keep the paintings around hoping that I may learn from them in the future. • Here is a little extra for you. Check out Anneke van der Werff's blog. It is entitled "odeblog, weblog van anneke van der werff" and it is one of the coolest little personal collections of art in the blogosphere, and I am not just saying that because she has been gracious enough to include me in the eclectic mix. Hey, any assemblage that includes me with the likes of Egon Schiele and Giorgio Morandi is a wonderful collection in my book. Go take a look: www.odeweblog.blogspot.com
Posted September 22, 2011

Pismo Food Store

2011-09-20T15:51:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. Now, if you were to see this illustrious structure in person, it would only serve to confirm my insanity. "Where the heck does Raymond get those colors from?" Or worse... "Does he actually see all those colors and what color is the sun in his world!?" All valid questions, for which I have no (sane) response.
Posted September 20, 2011
sold • private collection houston, tx

The Mayor's Manse, Edna, CA

2011-09-16T12:58:00.001-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. Both the Spousal Unit and the Mother Unit didn't think I should paint this. Neither said anything, but... uhuhuhuhuh... man, could I feel it. Being the insensitive person that I am, I went ahead and painted the little derelict house with its cool collapsed porch and beautiful, beautiful flowers out front. Yes, the title is a joke. I do not think Edna even has a mayor. It is one of those quaint places where, after seeing the little green population sign, you wonder where the heck that population is. (It's a beautiful place, you should visit it. Just hang a right at Pismo Beach.)
Posted September 16, 2011

Head Study

2011-09-14T16:10:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. Somebody (the "body" shall remain nameless) said this looked like me. Must the the long black hair and earrings.
Posted September 14, 2011

Brownie Starlet Camera

2011-09-13T11:23:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. These little cameras are great subject matter. So great, in fact, that I have started a small, stumbling campaign to acquire some more. When I started to look, I wanted only cameras with fronts dominated by gray/silver. Those gray areas offered a painting playground for me. So, when I started to acquire cameras that had black fronts, the Spousal Unit was a little stumped. "Why," she asked, "did you pronounce that you were only going after gray faced cameras and then go out and get some black faced ones?" My retort was, "Exactly! That is how it is in Raymond's World*. What's the fun in going after what is safe and familiar to me? The challenge is going after the thing that is out of my comfort zone." She just shook her head and walked away. I didn't get cookies that day.

*Raymond's World: A dark, egocentric (male) place where others should not venture.
Posted September 13, 2011
sold • private collection orange, ca

Victorian Stacey

2011-09-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. I have a bunch of paintings lounging about that I need to photograph and torture you with. Amongst the queue are a bunch of these portraits. The real need is to document the pieces before they go off to do war in the Beverly Hills show, but torturing your visual sensibilities seems like a better excuse. Anyway, here is the lovely Stacey for your perusal and, hopefully, enjoyment. I went a little gray on the skin tones here—don't know why—maybe Lucian Freud's ghost was hovering about or I was just in the mood. Well, gray for me anyway. Considering that my skin tones usually make peoples' retinas explode, I would say that the above is a little gray for me.
Posted September 8, 2011
sold • private collection west hollywood, ca

Bill's Place in Arroyo Grande Village

2011-09-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. I present to you Bill's Place, a local watering hole in the wonderfully bustling Arroyo Grande Village (The Village of Arroyo Grande—whatever). Spawn Number One kept looking over my shoulder to see if I would make the words "Bills Place" and the little shamrocks printed on the front of the awning legible. Considering that the letters would be the size of pin heads— actually smaller than pinheads—I did not strive for that level of accuracy.
Posted September 7, 2011

David and Carol Marine

2011-09-06T11:20:00.000-07:00

Size: 6" x 4" oil on raymar panel or door skin
Purchase:
sold • private collections in u.s.a.

Comments: My friends David and Carol Marine just lost their house and studio to the fires down in Texas. (Click on this LINK to read about it.) A fund has been formed to help tide them over during this trying time. I would like to donate about $200 to this fund. Ah, there is the rub for me: I need to earn the $200 to donate the $200. To get my grubby little hands on the money, I have placed four of my small daily paintings up for eBay auction. To insure the procurement of the funds, I have slashed the prices of the paintings to $50 each (plus shipping and our wonderful California Sales Tax). The four paintings are pictured above and their corresponding links to their auctions are listed below. All proceeds from the sales shall go to David and Carol. May sound like an odd way to help, but this is the way I roll. So, please peruse the paintings above and if one or all catch your fancy, please place a bid(s). Remember, my shipping department (Mrs. L) is always happy to group paintings together to save on shipping.
Thanks for your help and your continued support of my art.
Posted September ,6 2011

Study of Mr. K

2011-09-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. This wonderful gentleman is a good friend with a strong association to my family. As a matter of fact, I believe he may be the only non-family member, that I know of, who has known all four of us Raymonds. That's right, there are four of us on the books; two passed and two living. (We punish long and hard in our clan.) Anyway, Mr. K has a great look—I could do a whole show's worth of paintings of just him and I just might. Yes, that was a threat (he would love me using him as a threat and then be upset when I tell you he is one of the nicest people I know). This little portrait was actually painted a while ago and I just got around to showing it to you. It contains a bunch of little experiments (hues and temperatures) and I need it for future reference.
Posted September 2, 2011
currently nfs

Jeff's Clock Radio (GE) small

2011-09-01T17:40:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. You may recognize this radio from a previous larger painting I did of it. (I know, I know, a 16x20 is not that large, but lately it has become large to me. So there.) Well, I thought I would do a small painting of this red radio before returning it to the eagerly awaiting hands of my sibling. Sometimes, when I request to borrow an object to paint it, people think that I am actually going to "paint it," like with pink paint or something. These are the same people that when they ask what I do and I reply that I am a painter, they immediately ask me for a quote to paint their kitchen. Anyway, this is a good time to talk about the evils of radio grilles. When confronted with grilles on a radio, I may sometimes delve or descend into the world of insidiously isolated abstraction. Isolating a section of a piece like that, of course, risks the whole painting going bleck (bleck is an artistic term derived from the Teutonic "blechunziekrapper" which, bizarrely enough, is related to the word "plotz." Such as, "I went to see Jackie Mason's show and I laughed so hard I plotzed.") The best counter to this isolation is to dance about the painting, not focusing too much on any one area, lest it becomes isolated or worse, precious. So, in the end, when I paint these radios with their nefarious grilles, I tend to move about the painting. As an aside, I am also looking for old radios that to do not have grilles so that I will not, in the future, type such a long and obnoxious commentary. • The above commentary was actually typed a few days ago and wasn't posted because I have been happily painting and forgetting to post. Anyway, after reviewing it, I have come to the conclusion that it is totally inane and should be ignored—the commentary, not the painting.
Posted September 1, 2011
sold • private collection sykesville, md

Coffee Grinder

2011-08-25T11:28:00.001-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. Stole is such and ugly word. Hum. What else could I use instead?... Maybe pilfered? Nah, still too condemning. Aha, I will use liberated—good word. (I can't believe that I just typed what I was thinking. Yikes, I did it again and I can't believe I think in terms such as Yikes, Nah, and Aha. Better get out of these parenthesis and type.) This old coffee grinder was liberated from my Mother Unit's abode. Everything was going great until she noticed it was missing. I then had to actually paint the thing and mumble something like an apology. The small painting, shown here, came out pretty well, so I jumped on painting a larger one before the grinder had to be returned to its rightful home. I have attached an easel picture of the two paintings side-by-side for your amusement and mockery. The picture, quite frankly, stinks, but it is what I could do and I felt like sharing with everybody who submits themselves to the torture of my emails. I will re-post a better picture at a later date and I might actually talk about the painting rather than ramble on about my poor vocabulary.
Posted August 25, 2011
sold • private collection orange, ca

Jeff's Clock Radio (GE)

2011-08-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

16"x20" oil on canvas. It has been somewhat of a meager Summer for me posting my paintings to you. It is not that I haven't been painting, it is just that I am trying to focus on larger works and they, quite frankly, are a pain in the hoohah to photograph. I thought I would leave you with a picture of one of the those larger pieces I constantly whine about. Let me introduce you to "Jeff's Clock Radio (GE)," thus named because my brother loaned it to me to paint. An earlier posting called "Jeff's Old Philco" was one of his radios as well. Yes, I unabashedly scrounge/trawl through my family for subject matter. Heck, if one cannot abuse family, whom may one abuse? You will notice the stripes in the background—it would appear that no amount of intervention or therapy can wean me from them—sorry.
Posted August 10, 2011

Amber Bottle

2011-08-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. Found this little amber bottle at a going out of business sale. Let's hope it brings me better luck than the store's. Anyway, while posting this little painting, I am also painting a larger piece and finding out that James Brown has the same duality of effect on painting that Sam & Dave has. While listening to The Godfather of Soul is beneficial in bringing up my spirits and rallying me back to attack mode on a painting I might be wrestling with, it also has the detrimental effect of making me want to move. And for a rhythmically challenged guy like me, that can be dangerous—I might injure myself or worse—I might injure the painting.
Posted August 9, 2011
sold • private collection los angeles, ca

A Couple of Head Studies

2011-08-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

10"x8" (each) oil on canvas panel. Just a couple of head studies to annoy you with on the way into the weekend. If it wasn't for the composition, the one on the right (George) would be a keeper. With so much going on in his glorious face, it was a fun one to do. Beautifully aged faces are the best. Oh well.
Posted August 5, 2011

Toy Roadsters / White & Red

2011-08-02T13:32:00.000-07:00

sold • private collection los angeles, ca
sold • private collection mclean, va

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. Yep, it's a twofer; two toy roadsters. I found these at a local store and had to paint them. From the beginning, I had the idea in my paint addled mind to paint one of them larger, maybe a 20"x30." The red roadster seemed the obvious choice for a larger painting, but after I painted these small guys, I changed my mind and went with the black and white roadster for the larger piece—something about the grays attracted me. Painting two similar paintings, one right after the other is a great exercise—it really helps you see more. And I don't mean it helps me see the 'boogerman' better, my above mentioned paint addled mind already sees him quite clearly. What I mean is that it helps me see the colors/temperatures, how the light dances around, where I might want to lead with the light (composition), reflective light, what is living in those wonderful shadows, etc. • If you receive my emails, you will see an attached photo of the larger painting sitting on my easel with the little one resting on top of it. If you don't subscribe, sorry, I guess I'm in one of those nasty disassociated artist moods (don't worry, I will eventually take a better pix and post it).
Posted August 2, 2011

Contemplating

2011-07-29T16:25:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. Another painting graced with an abbreviated title. Full Title: "A Lovely Model Contemplating Just How Nuts the Artist Is Who Is Painting Her With All Those Colors." Now, don't you think the abbreviated title is better? And why is 'abbreviated' such a long word?
Posted July 29, 2011
sold • private collection west hollywood, ca

Jeff's Old Philco

2011-07-27T14:57:00.000-07:00

11"x14" oil on canvas. Lately, I have been trying to paint larger pieces. Now, you must understand that since I started the whole daily painting thingy, my work's standard size has become a whopping 4" x 6." Consequently, anything larger than six inches is, to me, larger. This piece, while not being all that big to most people, to me is simply colossal in scale. Well, maybe not "colossal"—let's just say somewhat bigger. Recently, I have painted pieces in a range between 11x14 and 20x30. You have not seen them because they are a pain in the derrière to photograph. But photographed they must be, so don't worry, you will get a chance to laugh at them later.
Posted July 27, 2011

Scrape Me!

2011-07-20T14:51:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas. This piece is entitled "Scrape Me!" because that is what I tried to do to it: scrape it. Artists reuse canvases all the time, and I thought this painting a good candidate for a scrape and reuse. But, for some reason, I waited a bit too long before trying. By the time I got to it, the paint had set up too much for a successful scrape. So, it now goes from the "SCRAPE ME" pile to the "GESSO THE BEJESUS OUT OF ME, THEN SAND ME" pile. At least it is better than the "NAPALM ME" pile, that pile scares me. Anyway, part of this daily painting thingy is to share with the other kids—even if I do not think the piece a success—so here you go.
Posted July 20, 2011

Yellow Nipomo Barn

2011-07-18T13:41:00.001-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. This yellow barn rests, and I mean rests, right next to Los Berros Road in Nipomo, just down the street from the Central Coast's favorite steakhouse, Jocko's. Parts of this venerable structure are sagging so much that I wouldn't want to go inside, but it is still a grand ol' barn.
Posted July 18, 2011
sold • private collection gladstone, mo

Overburdened Muse on Oso Flaco

2011-07-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. I did just two beach paintings this round, and this is the last one. The beach can be an odd place. On the Central Coast of California, some of the best times to go to the beach are in Winter, while in the Summer it can be dang cold. To answer your question: Yes, that is my ever lovely Muse carrying two backpacks and three pairs of shoes, looking in bewilderment at her spawn running in the cold surf and wondering were the insanity genes came from.
Posted July 14, 2011
sold • private collection calgary, canada

Green Earring

2011-07-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas panel. Once again, a melange of disparate colors somehow come together and mysteriously form a portrait. Okay, I'm done. I just wanted to use the word "melange."
Posted July 13, 2011
sold • private collection west hollywood, ca

SLO Gray House

2011-07-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. This is another of those old farm buildings hiding on the hill behind the San Luis Obispo Home Depot. It is also a candidate for a larger painting. The composition is not all that intriguing, but the grays on the side of the house are where I live as an artist. That sentence makes it sound like I live in this old farmhouse, which I don't. What I meant was that grays are a playground for an artist; pushing them here and there just to see what is going to happen is sheer bliss and agony. Gray is great. And I am not just saying that because my own cranial thatch has gone somewhat gray. Okay, okay—really gray, which is surprising for an 18 year old underwear model like myself. Oh yeah, I'm going to perdition for that one. Anyway, don't be surprised if in the future you see this larger and even more scary than this little one.

And now for some internet cross pollination...
Go check out my Daily Painter Review of landscape artist Laurel Daniel. Here is the link: www.dailypainterreview.com

Posted July 12, 2011
sold • private collection culver city, ca

Kite Over Oso Flaco Dunes

2011-07-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. This was a great day with the Pacific Ocean at our backs and a good, kite flying wind. A great day, right up until that cute little kite took a nose dive into those dunes off in the distance. You see, I enlarged (really, really enlarged) the kite for the sake of this painting, so it was very far up and away. So far up that it was actually a tiny, tiny speck in the sky. And, of course, it goes down deep into the roped off, environmentally protected dunes. This left me with two choices: litter and have to look at the frowns of my offspring or cross the lines and trespass, possibly ticking off some snowy plovers. Well, I take the Fifth and will not admit to anything except that I cannot abide littering.
Posted July 7, 2011
sold • private collection washington, dc

SLO Farm Building

2011-07-06T16:03:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. I haven't been painting many landscape-type paintings lately. Don't know why—I just haven't. Anyway, this painting would not have come into being unless The Muse hinted that I should paint some more landscapes. As usual, the hint was—how shall I say it?—somewhat strong. One should always listen to their muse, especially if one wants anymore of her red velvet cake. In an attempt at preservation, these buildings were transplanted to the hillside behind the San Luis Obispo Home Depot. Let's ignore the annoying reality that I was most likely trespassing and rather focus on the how the light, shadows, temperature shifts, and grays intrigued me enough to make me want to take a crack at painting this and, most likely, break the law. There is a joke buried in that last sentence, but it's little rude, so I'll skip it.
Posted July 6, 2011

Weyni

2011-07-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas. There is so much going on in this painting that I do not know where to start. As a matter of fact, there's some red velvet cake in the house, so I am officially too distracted to type anything even remotely coherent. What else is new?

P.S. And for all of those wondering—No, this is not Cher's long lost sister.

Posted July 5, 2011
sold • private collection west hollywood, ca

Eyelashes

2011-06-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas. I believe the official title of this piece logged in at the Library of Congress is actually "Are Those Eyelashes or the Brooklyn Bridge Coming Out of Your Face," or something like that. I normally have to tone down the colors in these pictures because my nefarious camera often indiscriminately boosts them, but here I actually had to boost the colors a bit to give you a better idea of what is happening: I threw everything and the kitchen sink at her face. Sometimes the color genie just escapes its bottle and ends up on my paintings. The genie may appear to have been inebriated, but it was fun just the same. Now, I just need to find the cork.
Posted June 30, 2011

Old Philco Radio

2011-06-29T15:28:00.000-07:00

11"x14" oil on canvas. Well, I am back from a week off and I would like to start off by saying my camera still hates me. So, no progress on that front, but I did smoosh the pigment around a bit producing this kinda larger painting of this wonderfully aged radio. This old thing is somewhat falling apart, but aren't we all? And yes, "smoosh" is an official painting term.
Posted June 29, 2011

Oil Can, Bottle and Block

2011-06-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. I haven't done one of these little set ups in a while, so I decided to take a crack at this one. At first I was just going to paint the bottle, then I was only going to paint the little oil can. Somehow they got combined and that sneaky block made its way in there. Never trust a block.
Posted June 16, 2011

The Green Band

2011-06-15T15:32:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas. Professional models never cease to amaze me. They hold a pose, they inspire and, when they walk around the easel and see my painting, they don't throttle me. Tolerance of whacked out artists is obviously a prerequisite. I am chasing a lot of things in these portraits and a realistic and complimentary image are not high on the list. The challenge in this painting was to keep the evil titanium white out of the skin tones. White would just wash out the skin and that would be a crime against this wonderfully tolerant model (Thank you for not hitting me!). It is so tempting when bringing up the tones to just add white, but the only white in her skin is in the blues and purples you see dancing around, the bottom lip, and that little dash below her right eye. That dash just kinda happened and I left it there.
Posted June 15, 2011
sold • private collection west hollywood, ca

Creamer

2011-06-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. We found this cool creamer made by the Hall China Company at the wild west, no law to be found, shop at your own risk thrift store. I say creamer, but in my household this is known as a "syruper" or as "The Exalted Dispenser of That Most Wonderful Stuff (Maple Syrup)."
Posted June 14, 2011
sold • private collection shady side, md

Solution Citrate Magnesia

2011-06-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. A collector/friend gave this bottle to me. He did not say that I had to paint it, which is nice, because when you tell an artist to paint something, a switch gets thrown in their small heads and they cannot paint it. It was just so cool of him to give such a nice bottle, with its little glass stopper thingy. I have no idea what the heck this stuff is (was). The bottle just says, "Dose-Adults one half to one bottle as desired, Children in proportion to age." What the heck does, "...in proportion to age," mean? Whatever. I am sure this cured whatever ailed people, like getting rid of the pixies partying on the end of your bed the morning after. • Before I get a critical note from the fine gentleman, I will admit that I pushed the blue color in the bottle. Just could not help myself—it's a genetic flaw: pushing colors.

P.S. The Sycamore Gallery in Old Town Monrovia is now hanging even more of my work. Eight more pieces to be precise, so if you want to see my work up close and personal in a really nice environment, go check it out. I will have to come up with some form of formal advertisement to bug you with, but for now, this P.S. is all I got.
Posted June 10, 2011
sold • private collection culver city, ca

The Imp's Tabasco

2011-06-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. Okay. I will explain the title, but only once, so pay attention. Ever since Spawn Number One heard that the man he was named after (my late beloved father, Raymond, Jr., who, if you called him Junior, he would rise from the grave just to box your ears) liked Tabasco sauce, he has wanted to try it. And ever since I saw a painting Shawn Kenney did of this, I have wanted to paint it. Voila! A match made in heaven: I get a challenging subject to paint and Spawn Number One gets to loose the feeling in his tongue.
Posted June 8, 2011
sold • private collection bountiful, ut

Icelandic Poppies

2011-06-03T13:58:00.001-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. Somebody went into our garden, massacred some icelandic poppies and some yellow orchid-like flowers (sorry, don't know what they are called), slammed them in a vase and demanded I paint them. Again, the demand was implied in the nicest possible way (but it WAS a demand). I did not know that icelandic poppies wilted so fast, it was like painting melting ice cream (don't ask me to do that)—they started to wilt as soon as they were cut. This made me attack the painting, wait... I usually attack my paintings. Well, it at least caught me off guard. The color scheme of this painting is a little different for me. Not that I paint in "schemes," it's just not typical of me to use a blue in the background like this with red and yellow flowers. I just went for it and stuck to it and so the blue stayed.
Posted June 3, 2011

Cold-Eeze Lozenge

2011-06-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. What the heck are these things? I don't really care, I just found it laying around and wanted to paint it. Hah, I know what you're thinking—'He's just dumb enough to pop it in his mouth." Well, hah, back at you—I didn't. My problem wouldn't be me resisting the temptation of popping the unknown substance into my gob, but rather my inability to resist the temptation of painting anything cellophane and me just liking the sound of the word lozenge. Come on, admit it. It's a pretty cool sounding word.
Posted June 1, 2011

Back to the Statice Quo

2011-05-31T14:34:00.001-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. Here I am, back in the saddle again (cue either Gene Autry or Aerosmith, it's your choice) and I am painting a flower whose botanical name surely translates to "Drives Artists Insane/DO NOT PAINT." Some people call it statice, some call it sea lavender, I call it the freaky flowers we used one year to cover giant Smurfs on a Rose Parade float. Whatever you call it, I have found the best way to deal with it is to paint it as vaguely as possible, kind of like clouds. I am just here to give you the idea of the stuff. There are approximately a gazillion little blue/purple flowers in this painting alone, so to maintain what little sanity I have left, there's no way I'm painting all of them. Sorry for the painfully bad title. It seemed clever at the time (3AM).
Posted May 31, 2011
sold • private collection shady side, md

Brown Bottle

2011-05-26T12:34:00.000-07:00

11"x14" oil on canvas. This piece made its debut last weekend and was much talked of. This is not surprising considering my ability to sit around and talk about the color of air all day. Explaining this painting was tough and all I could forward was that it is, at its heart, an abstract painting. Every little section of the glass is an abstract painting, somehow uniting with the others to form this piece. The challenge with all these abstract spaces is making the painting work as a whole—everything in a painting is relative, even the edge of the canvas. If I risked painting a section in total isolation and it did not work with the whole, I was forced to destroy it. (Note: Destruction, in healthy doses, can be both fun and mutually beneficial.) Better to use a combination of dealing with spaces individually and dancing around the painting—just like the light does—uniting the piece. For being comprised of mainly clear glass, there is a ton of color in this piece. You know me, I couldn't help myself. Maybe it is a genetic flaw.

Report on the Beverly Hills Show
This report may meander on and on, so if you have a pot on the stove, you might want to tend to it rather than read this. • It was a great show! So many friends, family, and collectors. Busy, busy, busy. A lot of artists. I seem to always get a lot of artists in my booth. Many look at my art with their heads cocked sideways like puppies—I guess I confuse them. I actually really appreciate this because it means that I have thrown them a curve ball that they can't seem to hit. How they put up with my preaching I will never know, but they keep coming back for more visual punishment. • Something different this time: I was compared to the Fauvists more often than to Van Gogh. That, along with the millions of questions shot at me, was solid evidence of the presence of art students. • Here is a wonderfully reoccurring statement I heard, "I get your emails..." Any conversation that started off with that was enjoyable. Another reoccurring question/demand: "Where are the flowers? I want flowers." • What made the show a true success was the strategic application of the Spousal Unit. It was wonderful having her there AND she actually sold some paintings. Don't worry, I have come to terms with the fact that 9 out of 10 reasonable human beings would rather talk to her than me. Heck, I can't even stand talking to myself. Don't know if she appreciated having people point at her yelling, "You're the Spousal Unit!" but it was all in good fun. • I want to thank all who visited and the wonderful people who put on the show. Who knows, maybe they will let me into the next one.
Posted May 26, 2011
sold • private collection bradbury, ca

Blue High Top

2011-05-19T15:15:00.000-07:00

16"x20" oil on canvas. You go into a painting like this not knowing, and not knowing is a great place to be. Not knowing what will happen on the journey and not knowing what the outcome will be. If you knew, what would be the point? These paintings have a life of their own. In process, they are in flux the entire time—moving back and forth, building, destroying, changing, destroying (oh yeah, destruction is fun!), recreating, eat lunch then repeat, replacing the lunch part with dinner, midnight snack, etc. • Changing the subject... Over the course of the last couple of weeks I have made somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 frames for my paintings. Some for the show this weekend, some for I do not know what. I think this qualifies me for my official "Wood Butcher" merit badge. Sorry about the rambling, must be all the sawdust I inhaled. Anyway, this is my last post for the week. If you happen to find yourself in Beverly Hills this weekend, drop by and say hello (see info below).

Beverly Hills Affaire
in the Gardens Art Show
Raymond Logan working on his tan in space #137 • This Saturday & Sunday, May 21st & 22nd • 10am to 6pm both days

Posted May 19, 2011
sold • private collection century city, ca

Amy

2011-05-18T15:46:00.001-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas. The reason I have been pummeling you with portraits lately is because this weekend I will be presenting the most I have ever exhibited in one show. My portraits do not get me into this particular show, I rely on my charm and good looks for that. Stop laughing. Really, stop laughing. Anyway... The human face is something that I must paint and it is the subject, along with the human form in general, that brought me back to my art, so it will always remain a strong lure. • On another note, I have a correction and an apology to make. Yesterday, I spelled the model's name incorrectly and another model, the beautiful Heather, caught it and called it to my attention, which is kind of hard to do considering that I seem to have the attention span of a very small rock. Thank you Heather. The correct spelling is Karole, not Carol. Karole, I apologize for my mistake.

Coming up this weekend: Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens Art Show Come see me and my work in person. • Raymond Logan in space #137 • This Saturday & Sunday, May 21st & 22nd • 10am to 6pm both days
Posted May 18, 2011
sold • private collection west hollywood, ca

Karole

2011-05-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas. The beautiful and oh so affable Carol.
Posted May 17, 2011

Motorola Aero Vane Radio

2011-05-16T15:04:00.000-07:00

16"x20" oil on canvas. And the pain continues... Still more paintings I need to photograph before they get framed, so there will be a little gauntlet of these larger paintings this week for your perusal and visual enjoyment. Stop laughing. This painting represents yet another foray into the insanity of painting stripes in the background. It's fun in a sorta "bash your head in with bricks" kinda way and I can't wait to do it again.

Coming up this weekend: Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens Art Show Come see my paintings in person. It is a different experience seeing them up close and personal. I think they should rename the show, "Raymond in Beverly Hills," but for some reason I get resistance every time I bring up the idea. Oh well, come visit anyway. • Raymond Logan in space #137 • This Saturday & Sunday, May 21st & 22nd • 10am to 6pm both days

Posted May 16, 2011

Russia

2011-05-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas. Yep, you read the title correctly. This model's name is really Russia. I guess I could have called it "From Russia with Love," but that would nominate me for the Dork Club. Wait, I might already be an honorary member. Nevermind.

Coming up: Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens Art Show • Space #137 • Saturday & Sunday, May 21st & 22nd • 10am – 6pm • Be there!

Posted May 13, 2011
sold • private collection west hollywood, ca

Dexter No. 3 (larger)

2011-05-13T10:55:00.001-07:00

12"x12" oil on canvas. My camera is finally cooperating. Isn't this a beautiful picture of a blender. Anyway... I wasn't even going to show this to you, but I had to take the picture to document the piece, so I thought that I would torture you with it as well. An artist should do their best to document their work. Why? I don't know why, I just do it. Not until after a painting I did of a piece of candy sold, did I realize that I had not taken a photo of it. This kinda bummed me out, so I try to take pictures of my work. That's the excuse today and I'm sticking to it. • You may recognize this piece. That's because I painted this pencil sharpener as a smaller 6" x 6" piece. I just wanted to take a shot at a slightly larger canvas to see what would happen and this is the result. It is to be framed and inflicted on the fair people wandering the park in Beverly Hills (not-so-subtle segue). Speaking of Beverly Hills, I have once again been judged into the Beverly Hills Affaire in the Gardens Art Show. And yet again, I cannot figure out why they keep judging me back into the show, but they did it again. Nice people. I am working on a formal email notification that, based on my recent efficiency, should come out no later than two days after the show.
Posted May 12, 2011

Karen Without A Hat

2011-05-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas. This is the direct result of slamming warms and cools together. You get the lovely Karen. The colors are a little sweet here, but so is Karen, so I guess it is okay.
Posted May 11, 2011

Joe & Sherlock Holmes

2011-05-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

14"x11" oil on canvas. I have been informed that I apparently died and fell off the face of the earth last week. At least that is what many people wrote to ask. I appreciate all the emails and concern — Thank you. The gist of the emails went something like this, "Hey, Raymond! Where's my(?) daily painting that usually pops up on my _______ (fill in the blank with any of these: monitor, iPhone, laptop, computer, iPad, phone, doohickey, etc.). Oh, and are you okay?" I apologize for not informing you that the Beverly Hills show is coming up and I have painted some larger paintings and all this furnished me with an excuse to leave my beloved easel and attend to my other mistress: my table saw. Or, in other words, I just plain ol' needed to make some frames, so no painty and no posty. Sorry for the lack of communication. • Now that's out of the way, let's talk about the painting above, besides the fact that it needs a frame. If it appears somewhat dark, that is because it is. Not emotionally, I am not that deep, I mean the values are somewhat dark. Don't know why I painted it that way, just felt like it I guess. Heck, when I walked into the studio that day, I didn't even know I was going to paint this, it just sorta happened. Can't think of anything else to say about it other than the fact that I like Sherlock Holmes and I really like coffee and sometimes I like to paint. So there you have it. • Thanks again for all the concern.
Posted May 10, 2011
sold • private collection agoura, ca

Red Cap

2011-04-28T15:33:00.001-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. I painted a larger painting of glass earlier in the week and I was itching for a little more, so I present you with these little bottles. The red cap from the soy sauce bottle looked better up on its side, so there it is; sliced right down the middle. I pasted a cruddy picture of the larger painting below. Why cruddy? Well, my camera and I have never really been on the best of terms and it's giving me even more grief lately because I put a polarizing filter on it. It's now acting all violated and touchy, so I haven't been photographing some of my larger work lately. I believe that through intense couples therapy, we can work it out and I will be able to document and show you the larger stuff before it all goes off to the Beverly Hills Show next month (that is if the prima donna camera can come to terms with its "issues"). Wish me, I mean us, luck.
Posted April 28, 2011

Quarter Wrench

2011-04-27T12:36:00.000-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. A little while ago I painted a marble that was supposed to be a wrench. Well, this is that wrench and to make up for its omission, I gave it a quarter. What's nice about George's inclusion is that he gives a sense of scale; this is a small wrench. Even though it feels like it weighs 200 lbs., it is around seven inches long. I have a several of these wrenches that appear, due to their lack of teeth, to be engineer's wrenches(?). Several of them have mushrooms on the back of their heads like this one, which means somebody also used them as hammers.
Posted April 27, 2011

Scotch Tape

2011-04-26T11:46:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. Oh yeah, I'm going to get sued. Even Spawn Number One thinks so, "Oh Dad. Those people are going to sue you. You should change the name on there." I love how my son refers to the happy and hopefully not litigious people at 3M as "Those people," just like Robert E. Lee referred to the Union Army. How did I survive painting a complex little object such as this? Well, I ignored the complexity and focused on the lighting and staging of the object and my sanity (what little I have left) was spared. It also doesn't hurt when your main goal in painting is just to make it to lunch.
Posted April 26, 2011
sold • private collection bountiful, ut

Sears Silvertone Radio

2011-04-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. Isn't this just a beautiful piece of industrial design? This art deco beauty, at roughly 8-1/2 inches long, would have been considered utterly microscopic during its day. Its constructed like a Sherman tank and yet, it looks like it could speed off like a high speed train. Somebody pilfered this from my Mother Unit's garage (I'm not saying who) and it somehow, mysteriously, landed in my possession for me to paint. I'm glad I took... I mean, I am glad somebody took it and graciously handed it to me.
Posted April 21, 2011
sold • private collection hollywood, fl

Old Gray Hat

2011-04-20T17:21:00.001-07:00

10"x8" oil on canvas. This painting represents my condition after taking time off to "relax" with The Family. • On a cheerier note: I won an award at the Randy Higbee Gallery's Spring 6x6 Show! My "Dexter No.6," "Ansco Cadet Camera," and "Chinese Horse" were sent off to do battle among hundreds of other paintings and I (they) won. The award does not seem to be technically called anything, but I call it "Cool." This, of course, is blatant bragging, but how often do I get to do it? (Please DO NOT ask the Spousal Unit that last question.) I missed the opening night, but we are going down there tomorrow to check it out. With over 500 paintings hanging on the walls, I hear it is a spectacular sight. Thanks Randy!
Posted April 20, 2011

Cat Bank Hex

2011-04-19T16:58:00.000-07:00

5"x5" oil on door skin panel. Several people took umbrage at my describing the last cat bank trio as nefarious evildoers (yes, I know that is redundant, but I just like the way it sounds). So, I went out and found this little guy (totally got ripped off, but he is so cool looking) and thought I would take another shot at it and go on to describe the little kitty as a nice, well meaning ceramic thingy that is just calling you to save your coin. But, come on! Look at this guy—he's casting a hex. One arm up with paw down is beckoning, two arms up with evil paws down is just plain ol' witchcraft. Still, I couldn't resist buying (did I tell you that he was overpriced?) and painting him with his cool little cat pillow. In real life, he is just over two inches tall, so I figure his hexing powers can't be too strong. I am still avoiding painting the larger cat bank I procured down in Little Tokyo. Maybe I need to find more midgets like this one in order to work my way through the block. Hey, it could develop into an addiction, but they are fun and challenging to paint. Challenge is good.
Posted April 19, 2011
sold • private collection pasadena, ca

Poppies in Jar

2011-04-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

5"x5" oil on door skin panel. Well, she is at it again. First, she murders a plant then she makes me paint the remaining carnage. That dreadful sounding sentence just means that the Spousal Unit did some gardening and put some of our yellow tipped poppies in a little jelly jar for me to paint. Never mind the fact that the coercion was implied and not stated by my muse. If I paint flowers, it is probably because of her. • Let me bore you with some art talk – yellow is a wimp! It is so wimpy that it alters the way I paint. My underpainting/drawings could best be described as ultramarine smears. You would probably not even recognize anything in them resembling my set up, but I can and I usually alter/destroy my drawings as I paint anyway. If I lay down the ultramarine then apply yellow on top of it—no matter how globular—the blue comes through in some annoying manner. This forces me to not draw anywhere the wimpy yellow may go down. It bothers me for about 30 seconds, after which time my small brain usually moves on to more important issues, such as, "What's for lunch?" or the more pressing, "Does all that blue food coloring in Oreos alter my complexion? If so, does it improve it?"
Posted April 14, 2011
sold • private collection bradbury, ca

Cat Figurine

2011-04-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. We have a few of these feline figurines around the house. This one sits on a shelf overlooking the kitchen sink making sure nobody steals it. We bought these cats many years ago from an establishment with a devious marketing strategy that goes something like this: lure people in with free coffee (supposedly from exotic lands) and while they are walking around drinking the too small cups of coffee with nothing better to do, they buy tchotchkes like these. It's shear genius and I'm just the sucker to fall for it; I'll go just about anywhere for a good cup o' joe. These cats were carved in some far off land from a substance that is so close to the weight of air that it's amazing that they don't float off the shelf.
Posted April 1, 2011
sold • private collection los angeles, ca

Pipe on Nails

2011-03-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. People ask about how I write for these posts all the time. Quite frankly, there are times, like right now, when I just stare at the screen and come up with nothing—nada—zip—zilch. I mean, it is just a pipe, what's there to say? Oh sorry, let me rephrase that for all you Magritte fans out there: I mean, it is just not a pipe, what's there to say? I could write about how I find the Facebook interface to be about as intuitive as climbing up a ladder backwards or about the monetary pain of maintaining offspring, but that's just whining and, strangely enough, I'm not in the mood. You see? Sometimes there's just nothing to write about.
Posted March 30, 2011

Cat Bank Trio

2011-03-29T13:57:00.001-07:00

4"x6" oil on raymar panel. These three have grinned and stared at me for years and I had sworn never to paint them. And yet, here the cute (read smarmy) little kitties are. I have a larger, single cat bank that I want to paint, but I wanted to experiment a little first, so I took a shot at this one with its three nasties. I know that sounds backwards, but that's just the way it worked out. What I want to know is why are they so happy and why is the one on the right coming out of some sort of bag and why does the one on the left have a fish in his armpit—that cannot be comfortable and brings up issues pertaining to his personal hygiene—and why is the big guy in the middle carrying that ginormous yellow hammer? The message I'm receiving is this: "If you don't save your money in our little happy smiley bank we are going to stick you in a bag with a dead fish in your armpit and then hit you with a hammer." Yikes! Here, take all my change and leave me alone!
Posted March 29, 2011
sold • private collection los angeles, ca

Flared Shot

2011-03-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel.
Ah yes, the psychosis of painting glass.
Posted March 24, 2011
sold • private collection bern, switzerland

Marble Yellow White

2011-03-23T17:12:00.001-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. This was supposed to be a wrench. Seriously, I was going to paint an old wrench. While I was putting away the aqua marble from the last painting, this one rolled out, so here it is. I hope you don't mind. The wrench didn't seem to care either way. • I would like to give a response to all of those people kind enough to inquire yesterday: No, I have not lost all my marbles. The Spousal Unit just whispered in my ear, "Just a few."
Posted March 23, 2011
sold • private collection washington, dc

Marble Aqua

2011-03-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. If I had those fellows on my shoulders—you know the dudes; the one in the flowing white robes he swears aren't a dress, halo, wings, and lyre and that other fellow with the bifurcated tail, scalp protrusions and nasty red skin condition—their endless debate would probably sound something like this: "Raymond, paint tighter!" — "Don't listen to him Raymond, paint looser!" Thank goodness for my mono-focused ways; when I paint, I paint, that's it, no room for listening to those guys. It is like the Germans say, "Beverage holders?!?! Who needs those things? When I drive, I drive baby!*" When I paint, I paint—looser or tighter doesn't really matter—I just have to paint.
*I threw the "baby" on there, they don't actually say that.
Posted March 22, 2011

Royal Bank

2011-03-16T17:10:00.000-07:00

4"x6" oil on masonite panel. I could write about this painting OR I could write about the blue jay that just flew into my studio and gave me the stink eye. I'm going with the blue jay. Actually, he (she?) is a scrub jay, but if you call him a scrub jay he pecks at your head while you're gardening. I have another name for him, but your "Strong Language" filter would probably block it. This blue jay occasionally comes into my studio and stares at me until I give him a peanut—it's really quite annoying. There is also a squirrel and a cat that sometimes visit (not together) with the sole intention of annoying me. I call the squirrel D.S. for short, and the cat "Get the Heck Out of My Studio!" plus a few other choice names. I think the squirrel is on dope, but that's a story for another commentary.

"The Help Japan Challenge"
Daily Paintworks is holding a special Challenge dedicated to raising money to help the people of Japan. The weekly Challenges have been a big hit and it is nice that we can use this success to help people who need it. So go check it out at http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Challenges/HelpJapan. You may submit a piece or you may buy a piece or you may do both.
Posted March 16, 2011
sold • private collection houston, tx

The Red Hat

2011-03-10T16:15:00.000-08:00

10"x8" oil on canvas. That hat was planetary! It was so big, that it had three moons orbiting it. It was so big, that I had to make it smaller to fit in my painting. Seriously, I do not know how Marissa kept her head up. She did a wonderful job with her apparently very strong neck. Here's to Marissa!
Posted March 10, 2011
sold • private collection atlanta, ga

Flute Player

2011-03-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

12"x9" oil on canvas panel. This is George. George played his flute while posing. He also does music therapy classes for rehabilitating individuals at a local hospital. I think all this makes George pretty gosh darn cool. • Music can be an aid when painting or it can be an obstacle that sticks in your brain like a dirty rock. I do not know how to describe George's flute playing other than it seemed to flow throw me, neither an implement or amphetamine—it just was. Of course, this could also be evidence of my drastic loss of the little gray cells (a.k.a. nothing in the noggin for the music to stick to). • You will notice that this painting is not for sale. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, due to the topography of this piece, this is not the best picture possible. To counter the texture, I was forced to shoot it relatively straight on, in a cave somewhere deep in a jungle, thus taking away one of my primary photo tricks of shooting my work at an angle. The other reason is that I am not done with this painting. I don't mean the painting of it. My style and inclination of working does not allow for such reworking and, quite frankly, when I finish a painting, I'm done—exhausted—already moving on. What I mean to say is that I am not done with it mentally. There is a lot going on here and I am not reconciled to it all. So, I will put it away and revisit it later. Where to put it safely is the challenge; there is knife applied spackle on there that I have high hopes of drying by the turn of the next century.
Posted March 9, 2011
nfs

Abraham Lincoln (twice)

2011-03-07T11:17:00.000-08:00

6"x4" oil on raymar panel. I have always wanted to paint a portrait of this exemplary man, whom I so admire, and since I was slated to do the next Daily Paintworks Challenge, I used it as an excuse to get it done. Many people receiving this email are artists, so I pasted in the bulk of the challenge below for your perusal. If it sounds tempting, I encourage you to go the site and take up the Challenge! Daily Paintworks Challenge address: http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Challenges. While you are there, check out the other challenges.

"This Challenge is a multi-optioned one, so pay attention–there might be a test at the end.

Here are your options:

A. THE BLACK AND WHITE CHALLENGE: Paint the portrait in black and white; try to maintain neutral grays with a limited palette of these three pigments: Ultramarine Blue / Burnt Umber / Titanium White.

B. THE FULL COLOR CHALLENGE: Paint the portrait in color; translate the B&W image into a full color portrait using whatever colors on your palette you choose. This is actually a very revealing challenge.

C. THE ULTIMATE CHALLENGE: Do A and B at the SAME time. This is what I did and is further proof of my insanity. I painted both pieces side by side on my easel at the same time AND I didn't get paint on my pants.

D. THE "LET'S IGNORE RAYMOND" CHALLENGE, or if you prefer, OTHER: You do have the option of ignoring me; produce a portrait of Mr. Lincoln in any 2D manner you wish. Don't worry about hurting my feelings, it'll be nothing a good brownie won't cure. (Psst! I am very partial to woodcuts.)"

Posted March 7, 2011