Birthday Party

"Birthday Party 16 X 20 Oil on Panel 2013"

Just finished up this painting for a group show at the Pony Club gallery later this year, called "Dead Man's Party". I'm also going to make a really small painting to complement this one. I think that would be fun.

Monday

A silly drawing I did at Sizzle Pie pizza... 

...and I'm mega stoked about this water color kit that I just got! It fits in my pocket!! Rad!!! 

Deadman's Party Part 1

Hello! Later this year I will be participating in a group show at the Pony Club Gallery in Portland. The theme is "Deadman's Party". Today I thought I would show a little of what I have been working on. For this show I decided that I would be fun to do one solid painting with a bunch of content, and a small portrait that matches the larger painting. Here are some work in progress shots! Below are some thumbnails. At this point, I am just playing around, trying to work out my concept and playing with ideas and shapes and characters and narratives. I think I did this at a coffee shop.  

Having settled on a main character, I have decided to do a couple larger thumbnails. I thought it would be nice to have the guy sitting, so I chose the lower of the two pictured below. From here I gathered a bunch of reference material, and worked on a master sketch.

 The is below is just for fun. I drew this a couple mornings ago.

And this is a really crappy photo of my sketch for the larger of the two paintings. At this point I am actually halfway finished with the painting. Hopefully I will finish it next week! Cheers!

Shut Up!!

"Shut Up!" 16 X 20 Oil on Panel 2013

Alright! A little behind on blogging....I finished this one up a few weeks ago! In addition to painting, I also tend bar on the weekends, and this was the inspiration for my painting. Don't get me wrong, I love my patrons but sometimes when you are the only sober person in a room and everyone wants to talk to you it get really tiring. SHUT UP!! :) Now that I am finished with the painting I'm not sure if I really like it... well better luck next time, I suppose.

Work in progress

Here is a quick sketch for my next painting. Not quite sure about the title.... it's a work in progress, so more to come. 

Exercising the Demon

"Exercising the Demon" 18 X 24 Oil on Panel 2013

Concept

The concept for this piece is basically about the relationship between people and dogs. I live in a neighborhood setting in Eugene, Oregon, and I go for a lot of walks. I am always seeing people with their dogs. I live next to a dog park, my brother and his wife own a dog, and most of my friends have dogs too. It is such a common thing that I bet most people don't really think much about it. I like that....taking the simple everyday things and turning them into something fantastical. Seeing this mundane daily routine of people exercising their canines, stirred something in my mind, causing me to come up with all sorts of "what if...." scenarios. Maybe I don't trust dogs. More than one of my friends has had their faces actually mangled and mauled by their beloved pet. To me, the dog's dependency on a human owner feels really uncomfortable. .....also, I might add, I am a cat person.  

Narrative     

Lately, more and more I have been building a fantasy world in my mind. This place is called, "The Commonwealth of the Yod-Ninivish". In short, it is a Victorian world with strong ties to the Medieval ages, a world filled with magic, witchcraft, the occult and actual living, breathing, demons. The Commonwealth of the Yod-Ninivish is a fairytale world that I use to create allegorical connections with the actual occurrences and observations that I make on a regular basis. It helps me make meaning. 

The narrative for this painting goes something like this: Occultist "Dr. Herbert Lewiston Milderstone " (feel free to make up your own name :)) is talking the demon out for a walk. He doesn't really feel like doing it today, but having a demon is a responsibility, and being a responsible demon-owner, he is going to man-up and do his duty. I was thinking of a Freemason-like character, who maybe stumbled upon the ancient secret of how to summon up this bizarre floating creature for some clandestine purpose. Maybe he belongs to a secret society, and maybe this demon is part of a some master plan.... we will never know. But, what the Occultist character never realized was the burden and responsibility that would come with owning a demon, the day-to-day chores and duties. Sure maybe the demon is happy to see the Occultist when he gets home from magical ceremonies and long days in the alchemy lab, the demon waving its fuzzy tentacles and all, but fuck, the responsibility can be a real bitch sometimes.  

Portraits of Comedians: Part 2

I finished up my Danny DeVito painting for the Portraits of Comedians group show at Jameson's.

"Danny" 11 X 14 Oil on Panel 2013

And also my lovely girlfriend and fellow artist, Sabrina Jackson, blasted out this awesome Janeane Garofalo! Sabrina rocks!!

"Janeane Garofalo" Ink and Colored Pencil on Watercolor Paper by Sabrina Jackson 2013

Well, that was a fun project and I have heard that there will be actual comedians at the opening, so it should be as blast.

 

Now, I am getting ready to start a new painting tonight, and I am stoked to post some pictures of it soon. My next painting will have a monster in it!!

Portraits of Comedians

Hi Everyone,
I'm currently finishing up a painting for a group show in April at Jameson's with the theme, "Portraits of Comedians".

It's pretty funny, (no pun intended) that I am actually participating in this show because the theme couldn't be further away from what I usually paint. Anyway, I thought it would be a good challenge for me, so I chose Danny DeVito. I decided to paint Danny as a giant. I believe he is only 5 feet tall, and to me that is sort of funny. Hopefully I will get it finished in the next few days! :)

"Danny DeVito" work in progress

Moth House

"Moth House" 16 X 20 Oil on Panel 2013

Just finished a few new paintings! This first one is called Moth House! I have always wanted to live in a magical little cottage, that looks like it's about 300 square feet on the outside, but on the inside it's actually and impossibly the size of any normal house. I recently moved into a new house and decided if I couldn't move into a magical little cottage, that I should just paint one.

"Concussion" 10 X 8 Oil on Panel 2013

This next painting is probably the smallest thing I have ever painted!! Yes, I received a concussion and it totally sucked! I was breaking up a bar fight..... and let's just say that things didn't turn out as planned! Ouch!!

The Pop Surrealism of Mark Rogers | eugeneweekly.com

The Pop Surrealism of Mark Rogers | eugeneweekly.com

Rad Show!!

Hey!! I just wanted to thank everyone for coming over to Jameson's the other night!! And Mega-Thanks to those who bought my paintings. I had a great time!!

Here are a couple of fun things:

I was interviewed by Jordan Brandt, who runs the IL CULTO blog. We talked a little bit about my process and the theme of the "New Ending Show".
http://ilculto.wordpress.com/2013/01/23/mark-rogers-the-new-ending-interview/

Also, I will have an artist profile featured in the Febuary 7th Eugene Weekly! Here is the little blurb about that: http://eugeneweekly.com/blog/pop-surrealist-painter-mark-rogers-opens-show-jamesons-feb-1#.UQxloNQJQ40.facebook

Finally I wanted to give a shout out to fellow Eugene Artist, Beth I Robinson, who made it into Juxtapoz Magazine!!! Wahoo!! Beth is an amazing artist and I encourage everyone to check out her website!

Thanks again to everyone who made it to ""The New Ending"!! It was super fun!!

THE NEW ENDING

It's just about show time!!! 

I'm super stoked to announce my upcoming solo show at Jameson's, here in Eugene!! "THE NEW ENDING" Conceptually this show is about change, growing, and moving forward, that experiences that effected me last year. In total, there will be 9 new paintings, all of which I completed in 2012. I believe over the course of the year I completed 12 paintings, but I have either sold or gifted away the remaining ones. This says a lot for me because 2012 was a pretty rough year, but in many ways, also pretty darn cool. On a mega-positive note, I feel as if I have grown a lot as an artist last year in the sense that I have finally dialed in my art making process. Switching from painting canvas to panel has really helped me to blast out under-drawings and all that technical stuff. The conceptual end of painting comes a lot easier that it ever has in the past. I suppose it is just practice and putting in the time. Fuck yeah, there are a lot of things that I could really work on, but these days I am feeling confident that I will just get better naturally with hard work.    

And...2013 is going to be rad. My goal is to slay 18 paintings, participate in a few more group shows up in Portland and maybe start a punk band! 

Jameson's is the bar where I pour drinks on weekends, and showing art there is always fun because it offers me a chance to show my awesome coworkers and regulars what I am up to. I think this is my fourth Jameson's show and it wont be the last

Well, I am really excited and I think this my best work yet! So if any one wants to have beers and check out the opening, it will be on first Friday art walk in February! Cheers!!