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At 23 feet high and 56 feet long, my new Mural at the Odessa Brown Children's Clinic in Seattle WA is my largest mural to date. The mural is installed in a stairwell with the intention of getting more kids to take the stairs. Read all about this mural here. 
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The Lil' Reaper Generative Art project combines coding with hand-drawn art to create a system capable of generating quadrillions of unique, one-of-a-kind images. What is 'Generative Art'? Generative Art is when an artist creates art by automating, with algorithms, some of the decisions the artist would normally make during the creation process. This project started as a thought experiment on how I might create some unique versions of my characteristic Lil' Reaper art in some automated way, without losing the integrity of my own style & vision. This thought experiment led me to hand-draw a modular set of art elements and write software code to combine these elements in unpredictable ways. I had so much fun developing the system, which can combine some combination of over a 100 different hand-drawn elements to produce QUADRILLIONS of images. Some are being made available as physical prints through KickStarter. Others will be available as NFTs through OpenSea.  Each generated image varies in background patterns as well as a selection of supporting elements surrounding the Lil' Reaper. For example there may be pets (cat / dog / rabbit / 1-3 snakes), birds, bats, ghosts, spiders, skulls, and more. Both the above images are composed from the same building blocks. The variations, however, are introduced by my computer code on the fly - I cannot predict how any particular image will turn out! In addition my algorithms introduce subtle (or not-so-subtle) color variations on the fly. For example, look closely at the phones in this image: Note that some of the color changes in each image are very subtle. For example, look closely at the 'message' colors in the phones these 3 Lil' Reapers are holding:  Or the colors in these coffee cups and skulls and snakes:   All prints and NFTs will be hand curated - i.e. I will run the system thousands of times, and carefully hand-select the images that will be used for prints or NFTs. For Prints, original files are deleted after printing ensuring there is no physical or digital duplicate of the file. NFTs will be made available in collections themed by what the Lil' Reaper is holding - e.g. the Teddy Collection, the Phone Collection, the Balloon Collection, etc. For NFTs, look for ArtByVikram on OpenSea.     I am delighted to showcase my art publicly in my home city of Bellevue WA, this time on a utility box located in front of Highland Middle School. This particular installation features 10 images from my series AN UTTERANCE INEFFABLE. Locals, check it out when you are driving by on Bel-Red Road, Bellevue WA. A recently unveiled Utility Box Mural in Kent, WA featuring art from my Perplexed Penguins Oil Paintings. Located at the intersection of SE 272nd St (Kent-Kangley Road) and 152nd Ave SE in Kent WA. I spent 7 months in 2019 working on the a 'Spirit Animals' mural for Stevenson Elementary in Bellevue WA. Each of the 80 animals on this mural was designed by a kid. Click here to read more about this project, see a making-of video, and look closer at all the creature art.  When life gives you TOILET PAPER PANIC .... make ... TOILET PAPER PANIC Art! To commemorate the Great Toilet Paper Panic of 2020, I am making commemorative original art ON TOILET PAPER.  And let me assure you, drawing on TP is NOT EASY - the paper is soft, tears easily, moves under the pen, and absorbs the ink in unpredictable ways. I had to experiment to find the right pen and hand pressure to make this art happen. Here's a little video: The original TP art is available in two, uhm, flavots - regular (1-PLY) and deluxe (2-PLY). Comes mounted on an acid-free board with text. Clck here to order from my etsy store.
Available only while supplies last (i.e. until I run out of TP). Not waterproof or archival. In case of emergency, you can still 'use' this artwork. For my humorous poetry book releasing in March 2020, 'A Hatful of Dragons: And More Than 13.8 Billion Other Funny Poems', I have been working on various iterations of the covers for the last year. Here is the current finalist for the front:  And here are some variations for the back. I made several different ones so we could accommodate varying amounts of back-cover text (such as blurbs and reviews). We won't actually know how much space we need for the text till very late in the game, so making lots of variations gives the book designer flexibility: As you can see there is a ton of work that goes into the making of a book that is invisible to the reader.
Many thanks to the City of Burien for installing a Utility Box Mural based on one of my paintings 'Contemplation, in Yellow' featuring a meditative self-reflective coffee-drinking elephant. I mean, why not? :) This public art is located at the corner of 122nd and Ambaum in Burien WA. I host a monthly exhibition of original art in my studio-gallery in Pioneer Square. The theme for October is Halloween and features my popular Lil' Reaper character (and friends). Come see lots of new paintings, including a giant 5'x5' Lil' Reaper painting that you can bid on: Sometimes, just to exercise different muscles, I do a different genre of painting. Here are some Abstract Landscapes i recently completed, available from the Miner in Art Gallery in Roslyn, WA. These Sunset paintings are 'impressionist-expressionist' art. They are not renditions of actual sunsets, but more about how the sunsets feel, and about exploring color. Each painting is 12"x12" acrylic on wood and framed in a antique-gold frame. 
 Click through the slideshow below to see the full life-cycle of this 'Haunted Still-Life' painting: Here is a behind-the-scenes peek on how my painting "Cube of Hearts" came to be. Usually when I paint, I have a fairly good idea of what I want to create. With "Cube of Hearts", I decided to try a different approach, one where the painting would organically emerge from the marks. At least one artist I admire follows this process and I thought it would be worth emulating, just to see what happens. Here is what happened: 1. In the beginning, a lot of random abstract marks on a canvas. Doesn't look like much at this stage, and could turn into anything. I strengthen certain lines looking for patterns.
2. I keep painting randomly on it, trying to see where it goes. Busier and Messier. Which way is up? I turn the painting upside down and wonder: Is that a face on the top right quadrant and a cat in the bottom right quadrant. Maybe a monster of two?  3. I like some of the edges that show up at the top and decide to darken those areas to create a sense of sky, background, horizon and space:  4. I decided there is a hunched figure squatting in the foreground, and the cat in the bottom right is really more of a fox, given the bushy tail. I paint over the face to create a faceless blob. Maybe that'll be a creature of some kind.  5. I try to refine the figure, but realize it isn't working.  At this point I get stuck. I feel this painting isn't working and it's looking pretty un-aesthetic - not sure I can resuscitate it, Maybe the experiment is doomed for failure. I put it away. For 6 months. 6. Six months later I put it back on the easel. I like the figure, I like the fox, I like the sky. Maybe I can do something with it after all. First thing I decide is that the figure is not going to be sitting, but floating. And if the figure is floating, better it floats, not over ground, but over clouds. Pink clouds. I'm so partial to pink clouds. The figure needs to be blue, to contrast the pink. and if the figure is blue, then the background needs to be orange to 'pop' the figure. And since the sky is blue, that'll tie the figure to the background, making the painting cohesive. And since the clouds are 'cool' that'll bring them to the front of the 'hot' orange background. Maybe this will work after all!  7. One week later, the fox is fleshed out and the figure has a dress ending in a mass of floating tendrils, one arm bent upwards - is it holding something? or holding onto something? I don't know yet. No happy with the face at this point though:  8. The tail on the fox is too fat. What exactly is that white blob in the back? Not liking the yellow hair - the color is too close to the background. I decide making the hair pink would give it more contrast (warm/cool) while also tying into the clouds and pulling the figure forward so it floats more:  9. The figure's eyes need to be open. The creature in the back needs to be friendly and furry:
10. I still have to figure out what the figure is doing with it's arms. Is it hanging from something: Balloons? A Rope? And what is it holding out near the fox: A crystal ball? A giant pearl? A heart? As I mull this over, inspiration comes from an unlikely source:
11. Meanwhile, I decide the other hand is holding onto... a parasol. Was that inspired by Mary Poppins? No idea, but it seems right. I decide the parasol needs to have a detailed Victorian look:
12. Now the painting is finally coming together. Lots of finishing touches - color progressions on the face, refinement on the fox. I decide the fox shouldn't have it's eyes open - it's more mysterious if the fox is smiling with eyes closed, which also matches the blobby monster in the background. I also need to fix the fox's muzzle - it seems a little off:  13: Final touches - the cube needs more refinement, and the white monster is standing out too much and needs to be 'knocked back' and the blue on the dress is contrasting too much with the orange. I need to harmonize the painting by glazing over both the dress and the white monster with a dilute orange glaze. Finally we are done:  "Cube of Hearts" - Oil on Canvas, 24" x 24", 2018 In conclusion, this was an interesting experiment. I would never have come up with this image if I was trying to pre-conceive it so there is something to be said for 'emergent painting'. That said, this painting also took a loooong time from start to finish so I'm not too keen to devoting that much time to a single painting. Hard to make a living as an artist that way :) Hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes peek! This year, 2017, I managed to paint 'only' 90-plus paintings. Must.Do.Better.Next.Year! :P  Note: All the images above are 'To Scale', relative to each other.
I accept commissions for paintings that are aligned to my whimsical vision and style. Here are examples of some commissioned paintings I have completed, which should give you some idea of the possibilities and process.
Price ranges for commissions are as follows (current as of Jan 2018 and subject to change): * SMALLER paintings 8"x8", 8"x10", 9"x12", 12"x12", 11"x14": $300-$750 * MEDIUM-sized paintings 12"x16". 16"x20", 18"x24": $500-$1500 * LARGER paintings 24"x24", 20"x30", 24"x30", 24"x36", 36"x48"+: $1750-$4500+ Exact quote will depend on the complexity of the project, whether the painting will be in oils or acrylics, how much research & preparation time the project requires, how urgently you want it completed, and how much the commission will disrupt all my other ongoing projects :). Exact quote could be more or less than the above guideline ranges. Frames are not included in the commission price, unless I tell you otherwise. State sales tax will apply for WA state residents. Oil paintings typically cost more than acrylic paintings. Commission terms are as follows: * Half-payment up front to initiate project. * Upon completion of project, you can choose whether to accept the finished piece or not. * If you choose to accept the finished piece, remaining half-payment is due on delivery. * If you choose not to accept the finished piece (because you changed your mind or you didn't like how it turned out), no payment is due and you can walk away from the piece, but the first half payment will not be refunded (it compensates artist for time and materials consumed) and artist will retain the finished piece. * Any studies or intermediate works generated in the process of creating the piece are property of the artist and not part of the transaction. For commissions to recreate one of my previously-sold paintings or other designs, please note that painting is an organic process full of 'happy accidents' and while I will try my best, it is more than likely that the finished piece will differ from it's predecessor. Some variation is inevitable, and should be welcomed as it ensures the commissioned piece will be truly unique. To initiate a conversation about a commission, start by sending me an email. Please note that I reserve the right to decline your commission proposal if I conclude it does not align with my artistic direction and vision. I will let you know up front before you commit yourself. Thanks! |
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