The Flyers playoff run of 2010 was two wins short of one of the greatest in all professional hockey. Danny Briere continued to find the net and create incredible chemistry on the ice. This painting is inspired by one of his goal celebrations during a 30-point surge in 23 playoff games.
Process and thoughts…
A quick sketch of his iconic uppercut to gauge the space.
Had the pose, but had no idea how the rest of the canvas would develop. Discovery is a large part of my process.
The only way to find out where you are going is to get there. Reacting to the painting as it develops.
After filling most of the canvas with orange, white, and blue a little black to set the figure.
Some times you have to go backwards to go forwards. Hey Danny, sorry for engulfing your head in fire.
The sound and reaction of something hot hitting water and it instantly turning to steam is similar to that of 20,000 fans on their feet.
A quick rectangle to help me ground the figure in the atomosphere. I was thinking about the reproduced image. We use them to remember things. Collective and individual memory is cultivated from videos and photographs. Rectangular media.
Time to get rid the blue except for the ice and a little bit in the glass.
Get Flyered up! Danny Briere lights the lamp. The red trim and the yellow dasher make an appearance.
Can you see any subliminal messages in the flames? There’s a Flyers symbol, and a “D”…
A Flyers symbol, his initials (D and B), and the number 48. His uppercut fracturing the lens of reality all around him.
Danny I don’t mind if you take it easy during the 2012 season, but unleash the beast come playoffs.
1 of 30 Danny Briere | 18 x 24 inches | graphite, acrylic, and oil on canvas | 2011 | Available
click for larger image
When the game is on the line, especially in the playoffs, Briere is a lethal weapon. He probably has the best tight game in the league, and very sneaky. Boom!
Next up…. Claude Giroux #28.
This painting is available for purchase. I am currently accepting a limited number of new commissions. If you are interested in a sports player/moment commission, or different type of commission contact me directly.
Recent Hockey Paintings
Chris Pronger | oil, acrylic, graphite on canvas | 12 x 12 inches | 2011
Jaromir Jagr | acrylic, oil, pen, collage, and cloth on canvas | 11 x 14 inches | 2011 | Ari Lankin
Immortal Captain | oil on canvas | 30 x 30 inches | 2011 | Ari Lankin
Lord Stanley's Castle | 30 x 30 inches | oil on canvas |2011 | Ari Lankin
Painters Ari Lankin and Borbay are teaming up with talented artists and great organizations to benefit school children of Haiti for one night of festive holiday philanthropy. Each artist will create a four hour painting during the festive toy drive on the night of December 17th, 7-11pm. Proceeds from the paintings will benefit the Hope For Them Foundation.
If you would like to spend your Saturday the 17th, from 7-11 PM watching Lankin and Borbay paint, while rocking out to music by DJ Super Jaimie and a live performance by Kate Nauta, sipping fantastic cocktails courtesy of St. Germain and Evening Land Vineyards, enjoying hors d’oeuvres courtesy of Alison Eighteen — all for a great cause, please RSVP here.
***Act now for 2 for 1 admission with this prepaid special.
Lankin and Charity
Lankin has live-painted for charities including Broadway Cares NY, Broadway Cares Las Vegas. Additionally, he has donated work for auction to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Doug Varone and Dancers, and Jewish National Fund.
Borbay and Charity
Borbay has live-painted for charities including Broadway Cares NY,Broadway Cares Las Vegas and We Love Japan. Additionally, Borbay has donated work for auction to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Children of Armenia Foundation, A.C.E. and The Skin Cancer Foundation.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - HopeForThem, Edeyo, and im.material Global are excited to unite the worlds of art and philanthropy in a festive holiday toy drive.
The toy drive will be on December 17th, 2011 from 7:00pm to 11:00pm at Gallery 151, 132 West 18th Street, hosted by Ines Ferre of CNN, benefiting the school children of Haiti.
Inspired cocktails by St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, and artisan wines from Evening Land Vineyards. Delicious food from Alison Price Becker and Chef Robert Gurvich, soon to open the new restaurant Alison Eighteen.
Music by DJ Super Jaimie.
Live performance by upcoming singer and Hollywood star Kate Nauta; best known for her performance in the movie Transporter 2.
Live painting by Borbay and Ari Lankin. Exclusive paintings by William Quigley and Jean-Baptiste Frantz to be auctioned off live, in addition to a Michael Jackson signed book.
For admission to the event, guests will be required to bring an unwrapped toy (valued under $25) with an additional $30 donation; or, to donate $50 without a toy.
The HopeForThem Foundation is a non-profit organization that delivers aid to disaster-stricken areas around the world. After the catastrophic earthquake that hit Haiti in January of 2010, founder Mike Jean committed his organization to providing relief to his home country.
Unik Ernest and the Edeyo Team is a non-profit made up of dedicated business, medical and educational professionals. They are currently re-building the Joyous Heart School which was demolished in the January 2010 earthquake. He has devoted his energy and talents to educating and enlightening the world about Haiti, bringing hope to the future of these disadvantaged children.
im.material global is a non-for-profit group that builds strong and sustainable communities in developing nations. Founder Patrick Simeon leads a team currently building a village in Haiti to accommodate the homeless people of the post-earthquake devastation.
The exhibitions and events at Gallery 151 would not be possible without the generous support and sponsorship of Michael Namer and his company Alfa Development , Chelsea Green at 151 West 21st Street, and Alison Eighteen.
Produced by: Mike Jean, Clark De-Marcus, Cole Blumstein and Ben Lang
Press passes: Jenny J. Kim jenny@hopeforthem.org - (860)580-9646
Tickets: www.hopeforthem.org/toys or http://hopeforthemtoydrive2011.charityhappenings.org/
The Details -
Uniting the Worlds of Art and Philanthropy
For the Children of Haiti
Dec. 17, 2011 from 7-11pm
Gallery 151 (132 W. 18th)
Hosted by Ines Ferre from CNN
Music by DJ Super Jaimie
Live Performance by Kate Nauta
Live Painting by Borbay & Ari Lankin
Cocktails by St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
Wine by Evening Lands Vineyards
Hors D?oeuvres by Alison Eighteen Restaurant
Admission:
$30 with a toy
$50 without a toy
(Toys must be unwrapped & valued under $25)
RSVP or Make a Donation at http://www.hopeforthem.org/toys
For Press Pass, contact Jenny
Jenny@hopeforthem.org
860.580.9646
Warm Autumn | 30 x 30 inches | oil on canvas | 2011
Click painting for larger image. If video is not working follow this YouTube link.
Questions? info@arilankin.com
Look up at that Bald Eagle. A symbolic bird with a majestic presence.
The client and I agreed that the soaring Bald Eagle is a feast for the eyes. The bird is still, with wings proudly outstretched, gliding through the air at speeds up to 45mph. Power and grace.
It reminded me of the eagles from my youth in Pennsylvania, to the predator birds on my cross-country trip of Argentina, and of course the Bald Eagles of my annual summer trips to Maine.
Let’s take a look at how this commission developed…
A loose graphite sketch exploring scale and placement. Similar to Gaughin’s methods of drawing outlines in blue pencil.
Building from the process in my CMYK paintings I start with magenta. Positive and negative space.
Coming in with Cyan (blue) to divide the space even more, and start to tease out details of the eagle.
CMYK: Y is for yellow.
And K, is for “key“, better known as black.
Filling the foreground to establish a horizon in the background.
A blend of black on the water to accentuate a feeling of flatness relative to the flying eagle.
Now that the coastline is cohesive the space is really starting to be defined. I’m exaggerating the highlights on the eagle to pop it forward.
Using one of my favorite blues to fill in the atmosphere of the sky.
Building the ocean up with more realistic colors, in the final version you can feel the warmth of the red underneath.
Right before its finished the sea darkens with texture, the mountains crystalize out-of-focus in the background, and the final details are added to the Bald Eagle.
Soaring Bald Eagle (for CZ) | oil, acrylic, and graphite on canvas | 14 x 18 inches | 2011
Click image for larger image.
The final painting is a realistic portrayal with a signature painterly handling of the paint.
If you are interested in a commission contact me directly info@arilankin.com
The above piece is part of the WISH NYC benefit taking place tonight at Lavo to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
I’m very enthusiastic to be part of this worthy cause.
Join in on the fun, and help make dreams come true.
You can make donations here at any time.
EVENT DETAILS
Location: Lavo, 39 East 58th Street, New York, NY 10022
Date: Thursday, November 17th, 2011
Organization: The Make-A-Wish Foundation
Tickets: $150
Event Site: Toast To Wishes
+ - | ink on paper | 18 x 24 | inches | 2008
Click for larger image.
CMYK NYC is the culmination of an energy that was building inside of me for a few weeks. When I started this painting I was incredibly inspired to paint at this scale and ready to bridge together several ideas i’ve been working on.
CMYK NYC is in my painting exhibition at RL Fine Arts that is open until November 12th, 2011, in New York City.
For the process video I was lucky enough to work with multi-faceted grammy award winning artist Tony Black of Tony Black Productions & Orange Key. He wrote, performed, and produced “if i told you” – (The Ari Mix), while referencing the process video for inspiration. I feel this song intensifies the richness of the viewing experience by literally expressing a musical quality of the abstract painting. Because he did such an amazing job I am going to let the music and the video do most of the talking.
Lets take a look…
It starts with a white acrylic ground on cotton
I was working a lot with pink and black leading up to this painting, so I started with them.
Turning the organic more geometric.
Back to organic, perhaps utilitarian.
The entire space has been commented on and all of the colors are now present, CMYK.
Opening the space on the left, and closing it on the right.
It’s getting lighter in color and atmosphere.
Archetecture changes the way we live by altering our spatial awareness.
I was considering this state the final piece. It has the feeling of NYC, but it was too literal.
By altering landscape references, I change the feeling of gravity. The relationship of one form to another becomes more informative.
CMYK NYC | 48 x 60 inches | acrylic on canvas | 2011.
Click image for larger version.
You can see this painting right now at RL Fine Arts in Chelsea, see below for directions and images of the other works in the show.
Click here to preview the other paintings from my solo exhibition, “Windows of Self,” at RL Fine Arts Gallery until November 12th
Located in the heart of Flatiron/Chelsea:
RL Fine Arts
39 West 19 Street, Suite 612 (between 5 and 6 avenues)
New York NY 10011
tel: 212 645 6401
email:info@rlfinearts.com
gallery hours:
Tuesday to Saturday 11.00 to 6.30pm, Sunday 12.00 to 4.00pm
Exploring the unknown is one of the most exciting things about the creative process. Starting a work of art without a preconceived final image leaves room for discovery in any direction. With a piece like MagiKid it’s hard to tell when the creative process began. Perhaps it was a few years ago when my friend gave me a Scrabble board game that was missing some pieces. I saved it because I knew one day I could use it in a work of art. Or perhaps it was over six years ago when I acquired the Yoda miniature action figure.
The story continues when I was in Las Vegas with artist Borbay doing location and live painting in April. We decided to walk to our meeting at Vegas Seven magazine. The walk was a little further and off the beaten path then we thought. While walking in a half occupied industrial park I came across what looked like a discarded childs drawing in a parched leafless bush. It was a great drawing, so i folded it up and put it in my back pocket. The last ingredient was a magazine tribute to Michael Jackson that I saved since his death.
Las Vegas, April 2011.
Me celebrating the golden discovery. Shirt off because the desert is hot. Unlike a handful of other things, the drawing survived the Vegas trip, and a few months later ended up in this painting. MagiKid is another addition to the assemblage painting series I started in 2004.
MagiKid | assemblage and acrylic on canvas | 8 x 10 inches | 2011
Click image for larger version.
MagiKid has several obvious references which I will touch upon, and other ambiguous layers of interpretation I will leave for your discovery.
Words are spelled out: liv(e), jedi, magi, kid, magik.
The standard seven letters of a Scrabble game on the top row add up to the number 18. A special number in Judaism meaning life. It’s essential to keep a child’s spirit as one grows old.
What’s in a name? My middle name means Life.
What’s in the middle? The great wise man Yoda.
The Yoda toy is a third generation hand me down that i’ve had for at least six years. The rock around his neck is from a necklace that a friend broke in my company.
The childs drawing alludes to Luke Skywalker, and holds a double saber of red and green, or perhaps good and evil.
A young Michael Jackson photo is cropped to look like Darth Vader’s helmet.
Yoda, Luke Skywalker, and Vader, a magi of knowledge, and knowledge is power.
It’s amazing how this piece came together. For now i’ll leave the rest up to you and send it off with a quote by a great painter.
All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. – Pablo Picasso
As most of you know by now I love the outdoors, and I love painting. This summer I was introduced to the amazing natural landscape of Montauk, the best beaches I’ve ever been to in New York. I didn’t get a chance to paint there during the summer, so I made sure to capture some early fall light on a beautiful warm sunny day in late October. I chose this composition because I liked the way the empty chair was lit just inside this entry way to a garden. The dominant tree in the landscape stands tall like a figure and peers over the fence at the chair. A narrative beckons.
Let me take you through the process…
Starting out with cyan, magenta, and yellow. This was inspired by my last major studio work called CMYK NYC, that is featured at my solo exhibition that is open in NYC at RL Fine Arts until November 12th.
Keeping the brush strokes very loose feeling out the composition and space.
Yellow and green give form to the ground as the blue fills the sky with volume.
The tree actually bends over the fence and stretches over the garden. I like to think it is peering into the garden.
Now I can really feel the depth in the foreground. In the open doorway a chair begins to appear. The two birdhouses on the fence posts are carved in negative space.
After adding the potted plants I have all of the elements in the landscape represented.
Now im adding dark colors to turn up the contrast in the painting. The air was crisp and the sun was warm.
The moss on the tree is an electric green. As the painting develops so does the growth of the tree.
Enjoying the man made elements playing off of the plant life. The juxtaposition of geometric forms to organic permutations.
I decided it was necessary to eliminate some trees in the background.
The Illuminated Chair, Montauk, NY | acrylic on canvas | 24 x 18 inches | 2011
Click the image for larger version.
The lit up chair is inviting the viewer to a wonderful place, the rest of the landscape frames the moment. Nature, man, and mystery.
See more landscape paintings here. If you would like to commission a location painting contact me info@arilankin.com.
While walking home from a summer BBQ at a friends house in the middle of the night I stopped with a friend in Madison Square Park to see this years public sculpture. I was taken aback when Jaume Plensa’s Echo appeared perfectly lit in the thick night sky. We walked around Echo while enjoying the quiet NYC summer night. The sculpture appeared to follow us as we walked around the park. It feels alive in this location. I am particularly drawn to the scale of the sculpture. It is equal to the height of the trees and stretches towards the sky. It is definitely worth seeing in person. It’s up until August 14th.
A few days later I returned to the park to paint a literal landscape with a realistic surreal twist. People who have seen the painting without knowing about the sculpture think it is one of my surreal paintings.
Here we go…
I got there early and was the first to enter the newly opened gated area. After some pacing back and forth I decided on this vantage point.
A rough acrylic sketch in some primary shades to feel out the composition.
Jumping into the painting with oils now. Some dark greens to fracture the space. It’s only oil from this point on.
Now that I am certain I’m sticking with this composition I start adding the trees.
Testing how putting blue in the sky activates the green. Although I’m painting from observation, it’s all about what is on the canvas.
Removing the pink from the sky by adding blue. Every mark of creation is a mark of destruction.
The light is starting to set in the west, so I remove some shadow from the left side of the face. At this point I took a quick bathroom break. On my way to the bathroom I had a strange feeling I recognized every other person on the street. On my way back I thought I recognized a high school classmate while crossing the street. I turned around and said her name. Sure enough it was her. I’ll say it a million times, New York is the smallest-biggest city you’ve ever seen.
Starting to lock in on how I want to place the shadows. While painting outdoors the light is continually changing.
After spending a lot of time on the trees I turn my focus to the buildings in the background. I love studying buildings when I paint. There are so many things to notice, especially as you stand in the same place and watch the light change.
An action shot by the talented Larry Closs. It was nice chatting with you Larry, and thanks for the great photo. Notice I have one headphone in. I listened to Outkast’s Aquemini most of the day on repeat.
Time to change the pace as I add lots of details. Literally carving out the building on the right side by scraping the paint off the canvas with my knife. I also gave the sculpture a facelift.
Adding the lines denoting the sectional construction of Echo. It was very sunny, so notice the reflection of the grass on the chin of the matte stone surface. Keep in mind that color is traveling all around us.
Madison Square Park and Plensa's Echo | 14 x 11 inches | oil and acrylic on canvas | 2011.
Fine details and some whispy clouds finish the painting off. Go see this sculpture for yourself and grab a bite to eat at Shake Shack. It was tough smelling those burgers all day.
This is the perfect time of the year for painting on location. I am currently available for commissions, so if you would like to commission a location painting or anything else contact me directly.
What an amazing public work of art, great work Jaume! Plensa exhibits internationally, and is represented by Galerie Lelong in New York and Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago.
