VW Van and Camping Themed Paintings

Hi All,

It's been a while.  I hope you all have survived the winter and are doing well with this Covid-19 virus going around.  It's definitely a strange time.  Some difficult things happening, some strange and some good things as well though too, right?  (not trying to be glib about all the people who have died due to complications of the virus - please don't misunderstand).

Things are going well here in Arizona.  It's been an amazing spring, but it's starting to warm up.  Almost time for swimming.  However - even with everything that's going on, I've been working on some art as well.  Today I'd like to highlight a couple of paintings I've completed this past winter.

In this day of electronic media it's been pretty rare that I actually paint a canvas with traditional media and tools.  So this project was a challenge and a treat.  My wife asked me to paint a couple of paintings with a camping theme.  One would be themed around a VW microbus/van and the other a Charlie Brown/Snoopy camping theme.

VW Van - acrylic paint on canvas. 36"x24"

 I wanted to create the paintings with a theme - being outdoors with your VW van.  For the van painting, I found some reference material and decided to zero in on a just a section of it, with a setting in a grass field.  I thought it would give the painting an outdoor feel of freedom and getting away from the rat race.  However - people can interpret it differently as well.


 I painted the works with acrylic paints and bristle brush.  As an illustrator, I used to use the airbrush in just about all of my work.  For this project I made a decision not to use any airbrush and challenge myself to stick to traditional brushes only.  I used thicker applications and wetter washes throughout these paintings.  Acrylics are water based and can have a very tranparent effect when watered down, and conversely may need to be "built up," a bit to be opaque.  These qualities make it fun and a challenge sometimes too.  In the end there's elements of the paintings that I really like and elements that I wish I had done differently.  But that's art, right?  They're complete and I'm putting them out there.

Camping with Best Friend - acrylic paint on canvas. 48"x24"

 The second painting is a Peanuts camping theme, featuring Charlie Brown and Snoopy.  I grew up with the comic strip and animated specials, and love the Peanuts, so this one was a lot of fun.  I also gave myself permission to combine some painterly style with a comic/cartoon style.  I like the way it turned out - it's whimsical and fun...roasting marshmallows by a fire, camping with a best friend: good times.  Again - there's  a VW camper van in the painting. 


I hope you enjoy them. I enjoyed making them and enjoy them in our house.   I went out and bought 2 more canvases after they were finished...what to do next?  We'll see.

On a serious note.  I hope you're all healthy right now.  This pandemic is affecting everyone.  Be safe and be careful.  Also - keep your body, mind and spirit healthy right now.  We need to do the things we can to stay strong - get plenty of rest, eat good food, exercise, and don't watch too much news.  We'll get thru this.  It'll take some time, but just focus on what you can do right now - today.  Stay present.  Enjoy this day...it's what we have.  Take care and check in on those who are vulnerable or maybe housebound. 

Peace,

Tom

Tom Kreienbrink
443-850-4126 (voice or text)
tom.kbrink@gmail.com
www.behance.net/tk-art (on-line portfolio)