Lucas v. City of Long Beach

This is the newest addition to my Law Paintings series. While "citing" a famous painting of the past and its application in today's society, the painting also serves as a personal expression based on my experiences.

This is not to say, however, that the painting should be interpreted. I am not attempting to illustrate a specific point by creating a pictorial metaphor. Although certain words and phrases from this Court opinion are both presented and omitted, the painting (and others in the series) is not a connect-the-dots game intended to lead the viewer to reach a specific answer.

Rather, while certain words, phrases, and images are purposefully presented, certainty is eliminated. Unlike the Court opinion itself, there is no literal, rational narrative. But there is ambiguity and an open range of views.

Stonebreaker, 8" x 6", oil, acrylic, and vintage paper on panel.

Thank you for following the paintings, creations, sculpture, drawings, works in progress, Doodle of the Day, and other art by Los Angeles artist Lucas Aardvark :) To see older blog posts click HERE.

Green Roast Exhibit and Other Updates

Thank you to all who made it out on Saturday to Green Roast in Redondo Beach for the solo exhibition of many of my paintings. Your support is so very much appreciated :) If you were unable to attend, the art will remain up for the rest of November; please stop in if you're in the area.

Also, I hope the raffle and giveaway of the three mini-paintings was enjoyable! (And no, it wasn't rigged, lol.) Congrats to Elise, Mike, and Melissa.


Please keep in mind that in January my work commissioned by the City of Santa Clarita will be exhibited at the Big Stories Gallery at Westfield Valencia Town Center, 24201 West Valencia Blvd., Santa Clarita, California 91350. More details on this to come...

Also, in February, my solo exhibition of nature-inspired abstract paintings will be exhibited at the El Dorado Nature Museum in Long Beach, California. More details on this to come as well...

And if you're planning to be around Torrance on November 20th, join me at 6:30 p.m. at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center for a silent art auction, featuring one of my small 6"x8" paintings, to benefit the 24 Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing access to various forms of art to people in need of healing. The theme at this event is "child like heart" and there will be live music by singer/songwriter, John Torres!

Thank you for following the paintings, creations, sculpture, drawings, works in progress, Doodle of the Day, and other art by Los Angeles artist Lucas Aardvark :) To see older blog posts click HERE.

Oil Pastel Study, And Other Art Updates

Thanks to those of you who made it out to the 59th Annual State Bar Art Competition at the Long Beach Convention Center, where I won First Prize in painting :) Again, your support is most appreciated!

In other updates, the City of Santa Clarita has commissioned me to create a work of art dedicated to its Santa Clara River Rally, and the efforts of the community in cleaning it up. I will keep you posted on how the work develops!

I have also been commissioned to create the cover art for a new book coming out by author John Janda. John is an incredible writer, and I have worked with him in the past, in his novel American Spirit. Stay tuned for updates on this development :)

Currently, I continue to work on several other new pieces, and the above image shows my recent study in oil pastels, a medium mastered by the great Edgar Degas. It is further practice in color and layering. Although this piece is a "still life", it is not the subject matter that most concerns me - it is the process of viewing an object and translating that visual into an illusion of color on a flat plane composition. This process is the same whether the subject matter is a still life, landscape, portrait, abstract, etc.

What interests me is how the work is created, while the subject matter is secondary. This is, for example, why Degas is one of the greatest artists in art history - it is not his choice of subject matter of horses, dancers, or performers that gives his art a place in every art history book. And this is why a still-life, like those famously created by Paul Cezanne, can be just as interesting as an action painting or any other type of art.

59th Annual Bench and Bar Art Exhibit

The 2011 California State Bar Annual Meeting is taking place this week, today through Saturday (Sept. 15-17), at the Long Beach Convention Center (near the Aquarium). If you are in the area and have some time, please stop by, as some of my paintings are being exhibited at the 59th Annual Bench and Bar Art Exhibit, in Exhibit Hall B.

The paintings exhibited, like the one pictured here, are from my "obsolete law book" series.

It is free to attend :)

To see older blog posts and art, click HERE. Thank you for following the paintings, sculpture, drawings, works in progress, Doodle of the Day, and other art by Los Angeles artist Lucas Aardvark :)

Long Beach Wetland

This is the latest commissioned painting. Long Beach Wetland, 30" x 96", oil on canvas. A conference room piece, commissioned by the Law Firm of Clinton & Clinton.