Untitled Picture Error &^ ... a digital self portrait

"The Queen's Vision" - a new painting by Daniel Grant Newton (DGN)

The Queen's Vision by Daniel Grant Newton (DGN) - painting

Progress

Sketched out

Underpainting

Mark out details

Fill in details

Finishing touches

A Mad New Painting for You from your friend Daniel Grant Newton, channeling (or inspired by, rather) the brilliance of Marc Chagall

Hey friend,

Hope 2014 is going as well for you as it is for me.

Recently I have been immersing myself in art, as well as my writing and an exciting comic I am creating (which you'll need to subscribe to ensure you get it when it comes out!).

Anyway, at the moment I have become obsessed with the work of Marc Chagall, and especially his paintings of green fiddlers (which inspired the musical Fiddler on the Roof, and I suspect may have inspired The Mighty Boosh too).  

It feels somehow as if these characters have been living in the depths of my mind forever, and now that I have seen them they are free to run around my mind.  Marc Chagall's paintings are below:

The Fiddler by Marc Chagall

Green Violinist by Marc Chagall

Interestingly, the fiddler represents the big moments of life, as they were used to play at births, weddings and deaths ... which is fitting, because right now I feel we have seen the death of 2013 and all that came with it, and the birth of 2014, the best year of our lives so far.  And as for a wedding, I am wedded to bringing you the most creative out-there stuff this year!  And hopefully you are wedded to joining me on the journey 

:-)

I do so often digress...

As I was saying, as I was thinking about these paintings, I felt compelled by my muse to grab one of my canvases and attack it with paint.  It was as if this character had hold of me, or perhaps the ghost of Chagall was poking me with his ghosty stick.  And in a matter of four hours, with no real prep or plan and no sketching out on the canvas, I came up with the below.  One of my favourite paintings to date, and one that has been well received by fellow artists and art lovers.

"The Green Fiddler runs through my mind..." by Daniel Grant Newton (painting)

For those who enjoy to see my process, I was in such a mad rush of inspiration I didn't get many photos taken.  But every time I stood back to see where my madness needed to be woven next, I took a quick snap.  They are below, and track the green fiddler's path through my mind to the canvas.

PROGRESS

Painting Video - making a quick painting I have decided to call "Two People at a Jetty" ... Bit abstract and energetic, so I picked a Voodoo Dred track to go with it that has the same edgy power...

'Two People at a Jetty' painting from video

Hey again!  Here is the 'Two People at a Jetty' painting from video.  Enjoy!

'Two People at a Jetty' by Daniel Grant Newton

A Thank YOU from Daniel Grant Newton (and a Happy New Year wishing too!)

Incoming message from the Shambhalan Cave:

...dad-ti-dat-dat-dat!

Dear Reader,

Happy New Year!  I hope 2014 brings you much joy, success and love this year, with New Years Resolutions resolved in wonderful ways.

With more and more subscribers getting into this blog and more and more readers discovering The Last King of Shambhala in online stores, I think 2013 has been a ground-breaking year for Independent Artists and Writers.

And so a big thanks goes out to you for having the forward thinking to try something outside the commercial world of pop literature ... and for supporting an artist and writer who believes in their work so much they don't want it watered down to follow what is "trending" or to make sale quotas ... but an artist and a writer who creates work to connect with you, make you think outside social and media constructs, and give you exciting stuff that isn't like something you have read or seen before.

And so I congratulate you and thank you, and celebrate 2013 with you, because in the end this body of work was always meant for someone just like you, and I feel you too are a partner of my success.

However as good as 2013 was, my New Years resolution is to bring to you even more stories and art that I have been working on (some of which I've been crafting for a number of years) that I am absolutely certain will knock your socks off, figuratively speaking.

Thanks for enjoying my blog and book in 2013, and being part of this emerging artistic revolution.

Here's to a sock removing 2014!

Daniel Grant Newton