THUNDERHEAD
2025 Leftovers & Palette Gremlins #1
There's a small winter themed painting on my work table that I wanted to finish for the holidays but ran out of time. I got frustrated and smeared some of the colors on mat board I was using as a palette.
I came into the studio one morning recently and saw clouds in that abstract mess of paint. Chaos as a creative cue, that's what a palette gremlin is. It doesn't have any deep meaning or consequence.
The rest came out of struggles I’ve been having conceptualizing an attack aircraft for a SF painting. From avionics to armor, it has to look plausible—if not real—and that can be a mindworm.
The whacky-ass spacecraft in this PG is a rebellion against calculations of how form will follow function in the future. I enjoyed painting the detailed, abstract shape with scant regard for what would look real to the modern eye.
New Original Art in Our Shop
This small original painting is available in our shop for as long as it lasts!
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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Oh, I love the idea of Pallet Gremlins!