"Best Laid Plans" - 2014

This piece was created for the "Small Indignities" show at Red Truck Gallery. The show opened September 13th, 2014 and closed October 5th, and was curated by Alix Sloan of Sloan Fine Art and Noah Antieau of Red Truck. It included works by Jessicka Addams, Dan Barry, Ian Berry, Jana Brike, Bryan Cunningham, Jason D’Aquino, Camille Rose Garcia, Bosko Hrnjak, Marion Peck, Ransom & Mitchell, Chris Roberts-Antieau, Mark Ryden, Mike Stilkey, Ben Venom, Casey Weldon and John Whipple. And the opening was really fun.

Here's the final shot. The piece measures 25" x 24" x 6.5" and can sit on a table or hang on your wall. The figure yanks on the string, trying to free his kite from its entanglement. The tree branch bends slightly as he pulls the line. This piece is sold.

A side view. The background is painted on top of a layer of decoupaged handwritten notes from the 1920's. The tree is a branch I found while cleaning up around our neighborhood in Downtown Atlanta.

For this piece I chose a limited color palette - and I love the way it all came together.

Our hero. Love the way he came out too...... and I want that jacket!

A closer shot.

The handmade kite, (which may or may not be interpreted to be a political statement - you decide).

How it all started...............

I always start with a simple drawing and first make the torso and the legs. Here I have the two legs finished; one will have a line through it which will move the arms.

The hands are finished; now to figure out the other arm.
These 4 pivot points were more challenging than I expected. All the axles have to be parallel, (or at least that's my assumption.)

I often have to stand up and take the position of my figure. I look at my arm positions and how the elbows and the shoulders move. And then I make an educated guess when I go back to designing and building.

I think this might work - fingers crossed.

His body is finished, and now I'm ready to make his clothes, and paint him.

Checking out the size of the tree...

His body complete.

All painted and aged - ready to be dressed/assembled.

This shows the super-simple mechanism inside his chest. I used a small brass hinge for the pivot at his shoulder.

This shows one of the covers - this protects the mechanism.

Working on the background and it's frame. I did the decoupage layer, then painted in top of it. Then I added the frame, painted the frame, and aged and distressed everything.

The base in progress....

The kite - in progress........

The back of the finished kite.

The mechanism in the base. You can see one of the two keyholes, used for hanging the piece on the wall. This is an option - it can also sit on a table or shelf.

My signature............

The movie..... (watch full screen).

Thanks for looking!!!

tom