Michael R. Barrick

Welcome to my nightmare....

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 20:51:12 GMT

Welcome to my nightmare....

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I made an interesting mistake. I wanted to adjust a line over part of the frame that was…

Fri, 12 Jun 2026 16:30:28 GMT

I made an interesting mistake. I wanted to adjust a line over part of the frame that was already textured. I built up a bunch of crappy gel that I never liked and weirdly found a way to blend the flat foreground over the textured background. It cost me some of the detail work that I'll have to redo, but c'est la guerre.
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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This has inadvertently become a larger experiment in texture than planned. As usual, there's a…

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 17:49:18 GMT

This has inadvertently become a larger experiment in texture than planned. As usual, there's a lot more I would like to go on about, but the crushing reality of rent and the double edged sword of my ineptitude of navigating both the academic and commercial realms of the art world hangs over me.
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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I spent most of the morning in a waiting room wondering how people can navigate life to…

Wed, 10 Jun 2026 22:13:32 GMT

I spent most of the morning in a waiting room wondering how people can navigate life to adulthood and not know how a "take a number" queue works.
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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Put the suggestion of some of the seams on this morning. These are intended to mostly get lost…

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 17:48:51 GMT

Put the suggestion of some of the seams on this morning. These are intended to mostly get lost in the detail of the pattern on the fabric, which all has to be done, along with the skin, before I can really get on to the fur, because it's not like I can paint around individual hairs.
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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Made a little progress on the corset this morning. It's challenging because I don't want to…

Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:50:11 GMT

Made a little progress on the corset this morning. It's challenging because I don't want to get as mimetic as the Baroque paintings I'm drawing inspiration from for the fur and have it be more in the loose realm of mid-20th century illustration.
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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Probably will take more time to make this post than I actually spent painting, but at least I…

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:59:19 GMT

Probably will take more time to make this post than I actually spent painting, but at least I did something.
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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This morning I started putting the structure of the corset together while thinking about…

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:51:24 GMT

This morning I started putting the structure of the corset together while thinking about my ancestor that worked in the court of the wife of the previous King Charles.
#painting #process #acrylic #acrylicpainting #familyhistory

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Spruced up the hubcaps on my Mini. Two of the centres were missing when I got the car. These…

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 22:39:23 GMT

Spruced up the hubcaps on my Mini. Two of the centres were missing when I got the car. These will go with the aftermarket taillights I have planned, but I can't afford to do everything at once. I got a new windshield and a bunch of trim didn't survive the swap. That's getting fixed tomorrow, but with OEM parts that don't come cheap.

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The very beginning of making the fur look furry this morning and the specific inspiration from the…

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 17:18:00 GMT

The very beginning of making the fur look furry this morning and the specific inspiration from the National Gallery in London that I am unlikely to approach but endeavour to nonetheless.
#painting #process #inspiration #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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Because today is the 100th anniversary of his birth, I went digging around in the Veterans…

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:04:12 GMT

Because today is the 100th anniversary of his birth, I went digging around in the Veterans Affairs archive to see what I could find of my dad's service to king and country in WW II. Here, for example is a record of him being removed from active service ("S.O.S." = "struck off strength") and sent to hospital ("C.A.C." = "casualty clearing station" i.e. mobile medical unit, "on adm to hosp" = "on admission to hospital".) Note the date, "25 Sep 43." He was born June 1, 1926 - injured in combat at 17 years old. He lied about his age and joined up at 15.

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100 years ago today this fellow, to whom I bear a passing resemblance, was…

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:00:26 GMT

100 years ago today this fellow, to whom I bear a passing resemblance, was born.
З днем народження, dad.

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Trying something I haven't tried before.

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 11:00:17 GMT

Trying something I haven't tried before.
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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Fighting the enshitification blues with a paintbrush and Benny Goodman…

Sat, 30 May 2026 18:42:43 GMT

Fighting the enshitification blues with a paintbrush and Benny Goodman
#painting #process #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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Top three mistakes made by artists:

Fri, 29 May 2026 15:32:02 GMT

Top three mistakes made by artists:
1.) not practicing
2.) listening to shit advice
3.) getting pretentious enough to give unsolicited advice.
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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Got that ear problem sorted. I'd write more, but no one reads the captions. Or if they do,…

Thu, 28 May 2026 17:34:54 GMT

Got that ear problem sorted. I'd write more, but no one reads the captions. Or if they do, they don't let on.
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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How to paint an ear in the 21st century:

Tue, 26 May 2026 17:58:00 GMT

How to paint an ear in the 21st century:
Try not to think "ear", just look at the light and shadow. Think about what you are going to write in your social media post. Have your train of thought interrupted by an alarm on your phone. Look at what you have done and hate it. Try to fix it. Get interrupted by a text. Too late, now that paint is too dry. Start to paint over it. Get another text. Give up because you've completely lost the headspace to "just look at light and shadow" and you've got to get to work to barely make enough money to pay rent. Acquiesce to the futility.
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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Nothing to say

Mon, 25 May 2026 18:00:52 GMT

Nothing to say
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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Last Thursday was vyshyvanka day. I forgot to post this picture I took on my way out the…

Sat, 23 May 2026 17:12:43 GMT

Last Thursday was vyshyvanka day. I forgot to post this picture I took on my way out the door.

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Per long-standing personal tradition: new shoe…

Sat, 23 May 2026 03:11:59 GMT

Per long-standing personal tradition: new shoe post.

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Foreshortened fingers are always a special challenge. I'm still just blocking in,…

Thu, 21 May 2026 17:43:13 GMT

Foreshortened fingers are always a special challenge. I'm still just blocking in, they'll (hopefully) get better later.
Now it's off to work at the gallery where I'll be continuing hours of work already done to protect our collection and archive website from being bogged down to death by unethical, non-standards-compliant bots run by "reputable" AI companies scraping for image model data. Cultural institutions pay for your prompts. Genuine artists and researchers are left in the cold when "AI" bots crash library and archive websites.
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting #aisucks

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Just a little more blocking-in. Little 5–15 minute sorties with everything recorded a.)…

Wed, 20 May 2026 22:24:54 GMT

Just a little more blocking-in. Little 5â15 minute sorties with everything recorded a.) because it helps me see what I am doing, and b.) the inevitable Ñunt that thinks everything on the Internet that exceeds their ineptitude is the product of diffusion tensor image generation. I'll make an old Chinese takeout bag into something interesting, turning garbage into art rather than accept plagiarised garbage from mass-harvested art.
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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A few painterly scribbles this morning to conjure her…

Tue, 19 May 2026 18:49:40 GMT

A few painterly scribbles this morning to conjure her ghost
#process #painting #acrylic #acrylicpainting

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This is what I have decided on for this exercise. I was blown away by the furs in several of…

Sat, 16 May 2026 19:55:27 GMT

This is what I have decided on for this exercise. I was blown away by the furs in several of the portraits in the nationalgallery in London and want to give it a try. This is my own original photo from 2012. The model is melodymangler
#process #painting

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I seem to have gotten pretty good at flattening grocery bags…

Thu, 14 May 2026 15:55:51 GMT

I seem to have gotten pretty good at flattening grocery bags
#process #painting<br />
<small><a href="https://instagr.am/p/DYUsQdOv8nM/">via Instagram</a></small>

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Michael R. Barrick

Welcome to my nightmare....

I made an interesting mistake. I wanted to adjust a line *over* part of the frame that was…

This has inadvertently become a larger experiment in texture than planned. As usual, there's a…

I spent most of the morning in a waiting room wondering how people can navigate life to…

Put the suggestion of some of the seams on this morning. These are intended to mostly get lost…

Made a little progress on the corset this morning. It's challenging because I *don't* want to…

Probably will take more time to make this post than I actually spent painting, but at least I…

This morning I started putting the structure of the corset together while thinking about…

Spruced up the hubcaps on my Mini. Two of the centres were missing when I got the car. These…

The very beginning of making the fur look furry this morning and the specific inspiration from the…

Because today is the 100th anniversary of his birth, I went digging around in the Veterans…

100 years ago today this fellow, to whom I bear a passing resemblance, was…

Trying something I haven't tried before.

Fighting the enshitification blues with a paintbrush and Benny Goodman…

Top three mistakes made by artists:

Got that ear problem sorted. I'd write more, but no one reads the captions. Or if they do,…

How to paint an ear in the 21st century:

Nothing to say

Last Thursday was vyshyvanka day. I forgot to post this picture I took on my way out the…

Per long-standing personal tradition: new shoe…

Foreshortened fingers are always a special challenge. I'm still just blocking in,…

Just a little more blocking-in. Little 5–15 minute sorties with everything recorded a.)…

A few painterly scribbles this morning to conjure her…

This is what I have decided on for this exercise. I was blown away by the furs in several of…

I seem to have gotten pretty good at flattening grocery bags…

I made an interesting mistake. I wanted to adjust a line over part of the frame that was…

Made a little progress on the corset this morning. It's challenging because I don't want to…