John Litz Fine Art

Tiny Franks!
If you happen to be in Virginia Beach tonight, take a chance and come on out to and witness a special holiday performance of . .
This is our second year in a row celebrating the music and birthday of the Maestro Frank Zappa. We'll be playing two hours of classic FZ spanning his entire career.
We'll also have tshirts for sale and these special original paintings by yours truly-- each one a 4"x4" acrylic painting on canvas, complete with a miniature display easel--priced easy at $30 just in time for the winter holiday of your choice!
We hope to see you there!

"Tiny Thingfish"
Acrylic on canvas, 4"x4"
Instead of painting FZ in my latest " Tiny Frank", I decided to go with one of his beloved characters.
The "Tiny Franks" will be displayed and for sale December 20 at Doc Taylor's in Virginia Beach. I'm looking forward to performing wit de Brown Napkins again!

Brown Napkins at Doc Taylor's Seaside Market Lounge 12/20/18

"Tiny Yerbouti"
Acrylic on canvas, 4"x4"
The third in my series of the "Brown Napkins Tiny Franks" series, based on the back cover of the classic "Sheik Yerbouti" album.
I decided to go for a "pseudo-sepia" effect using a limited palette of burnt umber, titanium white, and a tiny bit of Prussian blue to darken up certain parts. I'm fairly pleased with the way this turned out.
Along with the others, this will be up for sale at the upcoming show at on December 20th. I'll be selling these for $35, just in time for Xmas!

"Tiny Pigtail Frank"
Acrylic on canvas, 4"x4"
Number 2 in the "Brown Napkins Tiny Franks" series, for sale December 20 at the triumphant return of Brown Napkins at Doc Taylor's in Virginia Beach.

Work in progress!
Brown Napkins is playing on December 20th. Artwork will be sold again! I'm working on a new series of "Tiny Franks".

"Post Nasal Drip no 2"
Acrylic on canvas, 16x20
An acrylic realization of my favorite digital abstract.

"Post Nasal Drip"
Interactive white board and software. 2016.

"Pink Frank"
Watercolor on Stillman & Birn multimedia paper.
A quick sketch in two colors, magenta and viridian.

"Doug Simpson Shortly after Taking up M**h"
Ink and watercolor wash on Stillman & Birn multimedia paper

"Arnold Pandiski Realizing the 'Happy Friday' He's Been Looking Forward to all Week is One More Friday Closer to the End"
Ink and watercolor wash on Stillman & Birn multimedia paper.

Secret Devil Thing (original sketch)
I know, Halloween is over, but last night I added some color to my sketchbook drawing.
Ink and watercolor wash on Stillman & Birn multimedia paper.

He's back!
"Self Portrait Reimagined as a Man Who Gives a Schit"
Ink and watercolor wash on Stillman & Birn multimedia paper (beta).
I figure things may be slowing down just enough to get back into my daily drawing routine. If I did this drawing again I would fix a few things.

A bit handicapped with the power outage, but still preparing for OV. Here's a piece I finished just in time for the show.

"Secret Devil Thing"

Acrylic on canvas, 8" x 10"

$60

No sleep til OV!

The ol' varnishing table.

The paintings aren't truly "finished" until this important step.

I do a two step process that works very for me. The first coat is Liquitex gloss, followed the next day by a coat of Liquitex satin.

Notice the varnish runoff around the paintings.

Three "Watercolor Creepies", framed up and ready for display and sale at the OV Art Show next weekend. 7" x 5" paintings matted in 10" x 8" frames--a handsome addition to any office or den!
"Regan Possessed", "Leatherface", and "Freddy"
$50 each at the show.

Scene from my humble studio. Touching up, edging, wiring, varnishing, scanning, framing and generally preparing for next weekend's OV Art Show in Norfolk VA. I'm still trying to finish up at least four more small canvases for the show. I'm glad I'm stocked up on wine!

Sausage Matrimony
Acrylic on canvas, 8" x 8"
A small quick piece elaborating on the anthropomorphic sausage theme, or "neo-sausagism" to borrow a phrase coined by Michael Sullivan.
$50

Food of the Gods

Acrylic on canvas, 24" x 30"

$300

Is it Lowbrow? Pop Surrealism? Something else entirely, maybe "Tubism"? Whatever it is, it's pure Litz.
You can see this piece in all it's glory at the OV Art Show on October 13/14th.
"Popular Theatrical Disco Group Reimagined As Anthropomorphic Sausages"

Acrylic on canvas, 16" x 20"

$180

Johnlitzfineart.com

"Mingus"
Acrylic on canvas
16 x 12 in.
Another revisit from the archives while I continue working on my current big canvas. This was the first of the monochromatic legends series--black canvas and phthalo blue/titanium white. Lots of negative space in this one.
$140

"Poe"
Acrylic on canvas
16 x 12 in.
I've been revisiting these since I've been busy finishing up a big canvas and haven't had anything new to share. I think this one came out pretty good, what do you think?
Comments and critiques are welcome.
$140.

Detail, Work in Progress #2
Another little sneak peek of my latest work that I hope to finish before the week is through, although it's a slow process. I can't wait to show the finished product!

Detail, Work in Progress
A little sneak peek of my latest work that I hope to finish before the week is through. I'm excited about this one!

74
Deaner
An early single line drawing I made of Dean Ween.

73
Improvised 3 minute self portrait at 6:20 am before coffee in one continuous line with ink on paper.
On the road so I'm revisiting some older drawings. This was the first single line I ever did. At the time I was in a block and couldn't think of anything to draw, so I figured I'd try this.

72.
The Sic-mens
Ink and watercolor on paper
Our show last night at the was a rip-snorter! and were amazing! Now we're on our way to New Hope for tonight's show at . In the meantime here's a drawing I made of me and the boys in cartoon form doing that thing that we do.

71
Bernie in One Single Line.
Single Line ink and watercolor on paper.
A while back I was really into single line drawings. I made this one of the late great Bernie Worrell.

70
What I'll Be Doing this Weekend
Crappy watercolor and ink on paper
Preparing for a series of out of town gigs this weekend. My band SICMAN of Virginia will be playing Bethlehem and New Hope Saturday and Sunday nights.
I tried using a hake brush for the first time. It really holds an amazing amount of water. I didn't get the result I wanted on multimedia paper, but I think it will be fun to play with it on proper watercolor paper.

Number 69 in the Sketchbook Diaries series.
Self Portrait Reimagined as a Man Living the Life He Was Meant to Live.
Ink and watercolor on paper
A bit looser than I usually do, but I was in a hurry. This illustrates the dream of not punching a clock or wearing a uniform or trying to help people who will roll over on you at the drop of a hat, but instead making my own hours painting and playing bass for my living. Well, maybe after I "retire".

"You Will Obey Me While I Lead You"
Acrylic on canvas, 16x20 in.
Just finished this over the weekend.
$180

The limited palette for a piece I'm currently working on. Titanium white, phthalo blue, black gesso.

66
Beaute de Minuit
Another older drawing because I haven't had time to work in the sketchbook. This one illustrates my ironic sense of humor and my appreciation for the late great Basil Wolverton.
I plan on painting this on a canvas.

65
Freddy
Watercolor on paper with gouache highlights.
I painted this in a hotel room in Staunton VA.

Hotel rig.

Nothing like hotel room watercolor painting. In lieu of my daily drawing routine I give you another work in progress. I plan on finishing this up tonight.