As as new content of this blog I will be posting commentary on new paintings.

Why? Because it is a way for me to give back to new artists and others interested in the art process. There is also a saying that you learn more by teaching, which I believe is true.

Most of my art education did not come from school. It came from watching working artists, reading books on art (especially art business), and lots of practice. My goal here is to show the art creatiion process as I do it.

Now there are some artists who guard their art process. They are afraid of competition or someone stealing their ideas. In my opinion those types of artists are insecure. I can show how something is done, however if someone is going to copy me they still have to do the work. Also, Picasso one said “Good artists copy, great artists steal!”

Please feel free to ask questions about the process. Of course I can only teach what I know so keep that in mind (i.e. no questions about sculpture. I have no clue about how that is done).

Most of all please enjoy. That is why I paint, so you can enjoy my work and the subject matter.

Acrylic on Canvas, 28″ x 72″ x 1.5″, Sold

Route 66 flows through Albuquerque, New Mexico. The main artery called Central Avenue is home to many old motels. One is the Hiway House Motel. This is an absolutely fun sign. The cartoon with the two old people in a stylized model T is hilarious. Having a cartoon in a sign is one of those elements that today’s city governments are trying to abolish (see related post). How boring is our country getting by abandoning creativity and trying to legislate conformity? I am trying, through this series, to remind the viewer that there was a time in our country when we broke out of the box of sameness and expressed ourselves through our roadside imagery.

Yes, the purpose of these was to get attention were to gain dramatic visual effect. But they also differentiated the variety of establishments. To see the results of the harmonization of America, where it is hard see the difference between one establishment and another, just drive around Disneyland. Of course not many people realize this but Walt himself wanted the neon gone.

To purchase prints of “Hiway House” please click on this link.

Big Boy, Acrylic on Canvas, 48″ x 60″

Location: Burbank, CA

Big Boy is one of the icons of Americana. Next to Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald, practically everyone knows the Big Boy (those of a certain age, of course). There was a Bob’s Big Boy restaurant near my home where I grew up. As we walked up to the restaurant there was a huge statue of Big Boy holding up the famous double decker burger on a plate. I remember as a child wanting to be like one of the chefs, with those tall stovepipe hats they wore. And those chocolate shakes, so thick you had to used a spoon to “drink” it. And talk about brain freeze!

The big boy chain has dwindled over the years yet if you know where to find them you can still see a few of the restaurants with the statues in front. One of these is the Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank, California, the oldest surviving original Big Boy restaurant. This is where I found the “model” for my painting of “Big Boy”. I wanted to do something different than show the whole image of the statue. I decided to focus on the face of the statue.

The painting is probably the most airbrushing I have done on a painting. I first created the solid base colors of each part of the painting, which is how I begin most of my works. While this looks very stark in the beginning it forms the basis for the transition to come later using the airbrush. Airbrushing is not straightforward; there is much going back and forth to get just the right colors, shading, and transitions. Masking off areas and painting order are important in order to complete the work without having to redo parts. Unfortunately I do not have photos of the work in progress (which I will later this year as I complete my Route 66 series. Each painting will be shown in progress with notes).

When the painting was completed I was astonished how Big Boy almost was scary looking. The original is quite large (48″ x 60″) so it gave an extra dimension to the feel of the work. The painted image reminded people of “Chucky” from the “Child’s Play” horror movies. There was almost a universal comment made by viewers at the exhibits this painting was displayed that went something like “could you imagine waking up in the middle of the night with him looking at you?”

But Big Boy is always going to be the gentle, pudgy statue that adorned one of my favorite childhood restaurants.

To purchase a poster of Big Boy from Anthony Ross Studio please visit the studio web site.

Breaking News: New Big Boy Restaurants are being franchised!! Here is the Link to the company Web site. We are on a business trip in Las Vegas this week and on the way there was a HUGE Big Boy statue on top of one of the new restaurants. I will photograph it on the way back to the studio.

My choices in painting this image were numerous. One, It has “66″ in it and therefore was an obvious part of the old mother road. Second, it has an interesting combination of neon and bulbs. Third, it was weather worn and had character. Although my style is usually flat, sans much of the water marks and dings usually seen on a fifty year old sign, I left some of the character of age in the work. Since the sign is actually quite small, the cropping makes it look larger than it is, I added more detail than I usually include.

“Roy’s Motel” Acrylic on Canvas, 24″ x 36″ x 1.5″, 2003

This probably has to be the most out of the way I’ve gone to get my source for painting. Amboy, located in the Mohave Desert northwest of Los Angeles, was one of the towns that got bypassed by Interstate 40. This town was the basis for the movie “Cars” , in fact “Cars” was originally titled “Route 66″ but later was changed.

As I drove into Amboy it seemed like driving into a Twilight Zone episode. It was basically deserted. The sign for the old motel was in relatively good shape. It was an eerie feeling photographing the sign and not see a soul in sight, no cars, nothing. I expected Rod Sterling to pop out and start his monologue…”Witness, if you will, a stranger in a strange town….”

The sign itself is an icon of Route 66, probably one of the greatest testaments to what was once a great road. The Design of it, a huge but quietly suggestive indication of where no doubt the motel is located, is one of the great old signs remaining on the Mother Road.

Prints of this painting can be purchased here.

Size: 30″ x 40″ Acrylic on Canvas.

This painting is the about the “Road” in “Road/Signs”. The road images are about driving, seeing, landscape, and the common experience we all have behind the wheel. This particular subject is a view that I had daily as I drove home from my studio. It is located in Orange, California. The tile is ironic in the fact that I went this way to avoid rush hour on the LA Freeways (actually the Orange County freeways, but who can tell the difference?)

“Beach Motel” noted previously was my first “Sign” and since this was my first “Road” it was an experiment in progress. My previous series called “Nightscapes” involved much airbrushing and I brought that into this work. The sky is all airbrush in the style of my previous work however the landscape and cars are done in a flatter style which I kept throughout the series. The eyes form the transitions in my work rather than using blending. I did this more to save time than as an artistic judgement. I loved the sky so much in this work I painted several other canvases with the same sky.

I wanted the work to be soft, and quiet. It is how I felt after a day of painting. Driving home I reflected on the day and the progress I was making at the time. I didn’t realize at the time how much change would come because of this series.