DRIVE TIME IN ORBIT CITY
2025 Leftovers & Palette Gremlins 5
This began as a paint blot on the board covering my drafting table. The marks suggested an odd spaceship, so I doodled that in with leftover colors. There the sketch remained for months while I was working on other projects.
When the time came to replace the mat board, I cut this piece off and kept it for later embellishment.
The rest of the scene fell into place more recently as I filled in the background. Inspired by the surrounding colors and shapes, a futuristic cityscape emerged with the ship now directing traffic, allowing the "pedestrian" to float across.
Additional images from DRIVE TIME IN ORBIT CITY
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DRIVE TIME IN ORBIT CITY
Acrylic - 7 ½” x 10 ¾”
There’s magic to be found in the chaos of random paint marks. A wash of orange becomes vibrant sky. A blotted brush gives rise to buildings in a futuristic cityscape.
In an exercise that can be traced back to Leonardo Da Vinci, Michael Whelan allows himself a moment of playful exploration and a world is born out of leftover paint.
$2,000
About Leftovers & Palette Gremlins
Leftovers are spur-of-the-moment doodles or sketches created with paint left over from a work in progress. (Ever since my poor art student days, I’ve been loathe to discard any usable paint or other art materials!) Many of these quickies end up in the trash, but some give rise to an idea that merits development into a full sized painting.
Palette Gremlins are small creations inspired by random or accidental shapes in my immediate environment. Usually these gremlins are found on a used palette, but nearly as often they spring from an unintentional mark of paint on a piece of paper or a suggestive shadow in my studio.
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