7308 Melrose Ave. Los Angeles CA 90046
Exhibit open May 13-28, 2016
I chose to cover ALF - the beloved alien/puppet of 80's television - who was stranded on Earth and had a healthy appetite for cats!
"Dinner Is Served"
8"x24"
Acrylic on canvas
As an artist and lover of puppets, this seemed like a fun one - first ever ALF piece. These long canvases seem to inspire me quite a bit, and this image of cats falling out of the sky right into ALF's mouth hit me pretty quickly.
Original iPad sketch of the concept. I had seen the palate as browns, whites and oranges )with speckles of teal), but as I painted it up, the greens seemed to feel better to me.
Here is ALF cheering me on as the Golden acrylics get set out.
Sketching up some pencil reference on the canvas.
Laying in the background color - this is where it took a turn towards greens and the browns and teal colors took on a life of their own. I really started to dig what I was getting here and I chose to roll with it.
More of the character colors blocked in - I was thinking of this one pretty flat, but once i started getting into ALF's fur, a bit more highlight and dimension felt appropriate.
Closer up on the comedic genius. Mouth open for whatever fur-ball happens to land in it!
I crack myself up with these dumb cat faces.
Signature as the last detail. I usually do first and last name with the year, but this one was an exception.
And coincidently, "The Goldbergs" featured the ALF puppet and show on a recent episode! Here is Adam showing off his furry friend to his Dad, Murray, who had the creepiest ventriloquist dummy as a youngster. This show is one of my absolute favorites, and if you are a true 80's geek - you should surely check it out. 'Til next time! -Dave
