Michelangelo’s David O’Brien
Michelangelo’s David O’Brien
Illustrations, Watercolors
avid is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created between 1501 and 1504, by the Italian artist Michelangelo. The marble statue of a standing male nude is a favored subject in the art of Florence. Since its unveiling in 1504, David has become an iconic statue, instantly recognized around the world and attracting millions of tourists every year.
I will never forget my visit to the Academia in Florence, Italy, where Michelangelo’s David stands upon his marble base. The image of his physique and the indelible mark that Michelangelo’s skills have left upon me will never fade. What struck me on my visit to Italy, whether it be Rome, Florence, Venice, or any other city, was the incredibly odd nature of the tourist trade. The country’s priceless statues and works of art have been re-imagined in the most ludicrous ways. The Trevi Fountain is sold as pencil sharpener or a beach towel. The Sistine Chapel is printed on a shower curtain or The Laocoon is for sale as an umbrella stand. And not to be outdone, the David statue, in Florence, can be bought as an image on an apron with the Italian colors behind him. I could not resist the absurdity and created my own image with David’s likeness. The Irish tourist, in the flesh, would pose in the exact posture as Michelangelo’s David wearing the apron. He would appear nude, but would not actually expose himself to the viewer by means of the apron. No man could hope to equal the grace and perfection of the actual statue, anyway, in my opinion…
Watercolor on Windsor Newton cold press (signed and numbered prints available)
Dumbo on Parade
Dumbo on Parade
Childrens Books and Stories, Illustrations, Watercolors
ringing up the rear were the elephants and last was the smallest of all them. Clutching his mother’s tail, Dumbo looked around in wonder. This was his first parade and it was all exciting. He dreamed of the day when he would be the head of the procession.
This painting was done entirely with watercolor. Masking fluid was used to create the confetti that falls in the foreground. It is one of two paintings from the Dumbo series available for sale.
Watercolor on Windsor Newton cold press (signed and numbered prints available)
Dumbo’s Mother
Dumbo’s Mother
Childrens Books and Stories, Illustrations, Watercolors
A young large-eared elephant reaches his trunk into the back of circus car to touch his mother’s trunk.
This part of the “Dumbo” story has always seemed the most poignant. Dumbo’s mother is caged for spanking a bully that was pulling little Dumbo’s ears, and is called a mad elephant. She was chained and caged in a circus car for a simple misunderstanding. In the image I chose to portray, she reaches for her son to comfort him. The image of a mother’s love for her son during difficult times is a timeless and universal theme we can all appreciate.
Watercolor on Windsor Newton cold press (signed and numbered prints available)
Fra Angelico Angel
Fra Angelico Angel
Renaissance, Watercolors
– February 18, 1455) was an Early Italian Renaissance painter described by Vasari in his Lives of the Artists as having “a rare and perfect talent”.
Fra Angelico was working at a time when the style of painting was in a state of change. This process of change had begun a hundred years previous with the works of Giotto and several of his contemporaries, notably Giusto de’ Menabuoi, both of whom had created their major works in Padua, although Giotto was trained in Florence by the great Gothic artist, Cimabue, and painted a fresco cycle of St Francis in the Bardi Chapel in the Basilica di Santa Croce. Giotto had many enthusiastic followers, who imitated his style in fresco, some of them, notably the Lorenzetti, achieving great success.
In this piece, I created a watercolor reproduction of one of the angels from the Linaioli Triptych. The figure is one of many musical angel that border the central panel of the altarpiece in the Tabernacle of the Linaioli. The tabernacle is in the National Mueum of San Marco in Florence Italy. The angel is painted with watercolor, but gesso was used for small areas of raised embellishments and gold leaf was applied to the background and sanded to reveal a red undertone. I built the frame specifically for the piece, painted and adorned the panels and gold leafed the frame as well. This was a commissioned piece and is owned by a private buyer.
Watercolor on Windsor Newton cold press with gesso and gold leaf. Privately owned.
Sky Sash So Blue
Sky Sash So Blue
Childrens Books and Stories, Illustrations, Watercolors
ords and artwork play off of one another like musical riffs in this story of one family who transforms fabric scraps into art and whose bonds of love are stronger than the chains of slavery. Readers may well suspect that Hathorn (Grandma’s Shoes) conceived her eloquent, rhyming narrative poem in tandem with Andrews, who crafts dramatic tableaulike paintings with accents made of canvas and cut paper. Susannah, a young slave girl, treasures a “sash of pale blue, made of pieces of sky” stitched and given to her by her mother.
This painting was done entirely with watercolor. The paint was applied very heavily in the sky to create an almost opaque blue background that sets the little girl in the space. This piece is privately owned.
Watercolor on Windsor Newton cold press (Not for sale)
The Conference of the Birds
The Conference of the Birds
Childrens Books and Stories, Illustrations, Watercolors
The Conference of the Birds, or The Speech of the Birds (Persian: منطق الطیر, Manṭiq-uṭ-Ṭayr, also known as مقامات الطیور Maqāmāt-uṭ-Ṭuyūr; 1177), is an epic of approximately 4500 lines written in Persian by the poet Farid ud-Din Attar, who is commonly known as Attar of Nishapur.
In the poem, the birds of the world gather to decide who is to be their king, as they have none. The hoopoe, the wisest of them all, suggests that they should find the legendary Simorgh, a mythical Persian bird roughly equivalent to the western phoenix. The hoopoe leads the birds, each of whom represent a human fault which prevents man from attaining enlightenment. When the group of thirty birds finally reach the dwelling place of the Simorgh, all they find is a lake in which they see their own reflection.
This painting was created as an advertisement for a play in Philadelphia. All of the bird charcters from the play are represented with the hoopoe, the wisest of them all at the center. The strings represent their being guided by outside forces and opinions other than their own on their route to self discovery.
Water color on Windsor Newton coldpress paper. (prints available)
The Paper Castle
The Paper Castle
Childrens Books and Stories, Illustrations, Watercolors
“he Steadfast Tin Soldier” (Danish: Den standhaftige tinsoldat) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a tin soldier’s love for a paper ballerina. After several adventures, the tin soldier perishes in a fire with the ballerina. The tale was first published in Copenhagen by C.A. Reitzel on 2 October 1838 in the first booklet of Fairy Tales Told for Children. New Collection. The booklet consists of Andersen’s “The Daisy” and “The Wild Swans”. The tale was Andersen’s first not based upon a folk tale or a literary model. “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” has been adapted to various media including ballet and animated film.
In Hans Christen Andersen’s story, a tin solider, the last made in his set, was made with only one leg because there was not enough tin to complete him. The soldier fell in love with a paper ballerina that stood in the doorway of a paper castle. He thought that because she stood on one leg, that she could love him, too.
Watercolor on Windsor Newton cold press (signed and numbered prints available)
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
The Steadfast Tin Soldier
Childrens Books and Stories, Illustrations, Watercolors
“he Steadfast Tin Soldier” (Danish: Den standhaftige tinsoldat) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a tin soldier’s love for a paper ballerina. After several adventures, the tin soldier perishes in a fire with the ballerina. The tale was first published in Copenhagen by C.A. Reitzel on 2 October 1838 in the first booklet of Fairy Tales Told for Children. New Collection. The booklet consists of Andersen’s “The Daisy” and “The Wild Swans”. The tale was Andersen’s first not based upon a folk tale or a literary model. “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” has been adapted to various media including ballet and animated film.
This double page spread illustration is of the other dolls and toys that surround the soldier. The goblin, represented by the jack in the box, at the lower left is the antagonist of the tale. This is one of three illustrations for this book available on this site.
Watercolor on Windsor Newton cold press (signed and numbered prints available)
Jack
Jack
Childrens Books and Stories, Illustrations, Watercolors
“he Steadfast Tin Soldier” (Danish: Den standhaftige tinsoldat) is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a tin soldier‘s love for a paper ballerina. After several adventures, the tin soldier perishes in a fire with the ballerina. The tale was first published in Copenhagen by C.A. Reitzel on 2 October 1838 in the first booklet of Fairy Tales Told for Children. New Collection. The booklet consists of Andersen’s “The Daisy” and “The Wild Swans“. The tale was Andersen’s first not based upon a folk tale or a literary model. “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” has been adapted to various media including ballet and animated film.
This illustration shows the confrontation between the Goblin (or Jack-in-the-box) and the Tin Soldier. The antagonist is also in love with the paper ballerina and will not allow the tin soldier to approach her. It is the Jack-in-the-box that creates the wind that blows him out the window and into the gutter, thus sending the tin soldier on his many adventures. The original painting belongs to a private owner.
Watercolor on Windsor Newton cold press (signed and numbered prints available)
The Lilliputians
The Lilliputians
Childrens Books and Stories, Illustrations, Watercolors
During his first voyage, Gulliver is washed ashore after a shipwreck and finds himself a prisoner of a race of tiny people, less than 6 inches tall, who are inhabitants of the island country of Lilliput. After giving assurances of his good behavior, he is given a residence in Lilliput and becomes a favorite of the court.
watercolor on Windsor Newton cold press