My passion for bizarre, Primitivist artwork has been reignited of late, thanks in part to my setting up a hokey artist page on Society6.  I’ve had a great deal of fun uploading some of my paintings and doodles as designs to the site, and the idea that someone could purchase a duvet cover with a doodle of Roger Stone saying, “MAGA, baby!” tickles me to no end.

I’m also toying with the idea of getting a stall at the upcoming Egg Scramble Jamboree here in Lamar—and, later in the year, getting on at the South Carolina Bigfoot Festival in Westminster, South Carolina—to see if I can, y’know, actually sell some of these paintings.  If I try and fail, then I’ll know it’s little more than a self-indulgent hobby that I can keep to myself.

So I thought I’d throwback to a post from last March, one in which I showcase some of my wacky paintings.

With that, here is 1 March 2022’s “More Little Paintings: Hearts and an Octopus“:

I’ve kept plugging away at my little paintings, and have a slate of new paintings.  This post does not feature all of them, but some of the highlights from my recent forays into primitivist doodle-painting.

I really do paint the way that I draw—poorly.  But my distinctly grotesque style seems to hold a certain charm, as I’ve already sold and/or committed to gift two of the three paintings in this little post.

Like last week’s paintings, these are done on small, 5″x7″ canvasses.  They’re very thin canvasses, but of a good quality, and they hold the acrylic paints I’m using well.  All of the materials are very basic, including the cheap brushes and paints (which are leftover from the TJC Spring Jam), but they work perfectly for what I am doing.

Frankentine II

I wanted to do a Frankenstein’s Monster with a heart-shaped head.  The problem I had was the hairline—how do I give Frank his characteristic black hair without obscuring the heart’s shape?

My solution was a 1950s style pompadour:

My mom bought this one for $20.  Thanks, Mom!

I’m thinking of doing another Frankenstein’s Monster with a similar look, and giving him a little Gibson guitar or the like.

Creepy Lion

This painting is the stuff of nightmares.  It’s the kind of painting that would have been in a child’s playroom in the 1970s, and the parents would wonder why their kid was afraid to go asleep at night.

It started out as a series of concentric hearts, as I was playing around with the contrast of oranges and yellows against the teal background.  I realized the coloring looked a bit like a lion, so I decided to give the hearts a glorious mane, and add feline features:

The result is a menacing creature with red eyes and a Cheshire cat’s grin.  Creepy!

Octopus

I love octopuses… octopi?  Whatever the plural is, I love them.  They are such fascinating creatures, and are incredibly intelligent.  They’re almost like an alien lifeform living in our seas.

Not surprisingly, I decided to paint one.  For this painting, I mixed up a bright green and the teal used in “Creepy Lion” to create a more aquatic, sea foam green background.  I used bright red for the octopus’s body and tentacles, and used dark purple for his markings and his suction cups.  His eyes are white with dark purple pupils:

My older brother really liked this one, and with his wedding coming up later this month, I figured I’d give it to him as a wedding gift.

What kinds of paintings would you like to see in the future?  I’m working on quite a few, and have several more octopuses/octopi that are finished and/or in the works, including a ghost one!