Sugar Bear, 11x14 inches, watercolor on cotton paper, by Kenney Mencher
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago. I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This piece is called Sugar Bear. It’s an 11x14 inch original work on thick cotton watercolor paper. I painted it in 2025 using watercolor and crayon—my go-to combo for capturing both softness and structure. I usually spend my mornings working on larger oil paintings, but drawings and mixed media pieces like this one are part of my evening routine. They’re a little looser, more personal, and a way to play around with form and tone while I listen to music or audiobooks.
The subject is a strong, bearded man with a thick, muscular build and a confident, slightly playful expression. He’s wearing a chain with a pendant and nothing else. The focus is on his body, his posture, and how light hits the planes of his muscles and chest hair. I used layered watercolor washes in warm skin tones and shadows, then brought out structure and texture with black crayon. The black background was added at the end to push the figure forward and give it some drama.
Stylistically, this piece leans toward naturalism with stylized touches. The anatomy is proportionate and muscular, but I’ve emphasized the structure using geometric simplification—triangles in the torso, rectangles in the arms, and bold outlines to define shape. The hair is drawn quickly with expressive marks, not fine details, to keep the energy loose and gestural. The figure’s pose is slightly turned and casual—not heroic or stiff—more like someone caught mid-conversation or posing in a mirror.
Making work like Sugar Bear is about more than just form or figure drawing. It’s about visibility, pride, and reclaiming space. Queer art has always been political, whether or not it’s intended to be. In today’s climate, where LGBTQ+ representation is under attack in some places, having art like this on your wall is an act of resistance. It’s also deeply personal to me. For decades I’ve been painting men like this—strong, tender, human—and showing that there’s beauty and dignity in bodies that aren’t often celebrated in mainstream culture.
Details
Title: Sugar Bear
Medium: Watercolor and black crayon on cotton paper
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 2025
Unframed
Signed and dated lower left
Ships flat with archival sleeve and backing
Original artwork—not a print
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago. I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This piece is called Sugar Bear. It’s an 11x14 inch original work on thick cotton watercolor paper. I painted it in 2025 using watercolor and crayon—my go-to combo for capturing both softness and structure. I usually spend my mornings working on larger oil paintings, but drawings and mixed media pieces like this one are part of my evening routine. They’re a little looser, more personal, and a way to play around with form and tone while I listen to music or audiobooks.
The subject is a strong, bearded man with a thick, muscular build and a confident, slightly playful expression. He’s wearing a chain with a pendant and nothing else. The focus is on his body, his posture, and how light hits the planes of his muscles and chest hair. I used layered watercolor washes in warm skin tones and shadows, then brought out structure and texture with black crayon. The black background was added at the end to push the figure forward and give it some drama.
Stylistically, this piece leans toward naturalism with stylized touches. The anatomy is proportionate and muscular, but I’ve emphasized the structure using geometric simplification—triangles in the torso, rectangles in the arms, and bold outlines to define shape. The hair is drawn quickly with expressive marks, not fine details, to keep the energy loose and gestural. The figure’s pose is slightly turned and casual—not heroic or stiff—more like someone caught mid-conversation or posing in a mirror.
Making work like Sugar Bear is about more than just form or figure drawing. It’s about visibility, pride, and reclaiming space. Queer art has always been political, whether or not it’s intended to be. In today’s climate, where LGBTQ+ representation is under attack in some places, having art like this on your wall is an act of resistance. It’s also deeply personal to me. For decades I’ve been painting men like this—strong, tender, human—and showing that there’s beauty and dignity in bodies that aren’t often celebrated in mainstream culture.
Details
Title: Sugar Bear
Medium: Watercolor and black crayon on cotton paper
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 2025
Unframed
Signed and dated lower left
Ships flat with archival sleeve and backing
Original artwork—not a print
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago. I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This piece is called Sugar Bear. It’s an 11x14 inch original work on thick cotton watercolor paper. I painted it in 2025 using watercolor and crayon—my go-to combo for capturing both softness and structure. I usually spend my mornings working on larger oil paintings, but drawings and mixed media pieces like this one are part of my evening routine. They’re a little looser, more personal, and a way to play around with form and tone while I listen to music or audiobooks.
The subject is a strong, bearded man with a thick, muscular build and a confident, slightly playful expression. He’s wearing a chain with a pendant and nothing else. The focus is on his body, his posture, and how light hits the planes of his muscles and chest hair. I used layered watercolor washes in warm skin tones and shadows, then brought out structure and texture with black crayon. The black background was added at the end to push the figure forward and give it some drama.
Stylistically, this piece leans toward naturalism with stylized touches. The anatomy is proportionate and muscular, but I’ve emphasized the structure using geometric simplification—triangles in the torso, rectangles in the arms, and bold outlines to define shape. The hair is drawn quickly with expressive marks, not fine details, to keep the energy loose and gestural. The figure’s pose is slightly turned and casual—not heroic or stiff—more like someone caught mid-conversation or posing in a mirror.
Making work like Sugar Bear is about more than just form or figure drawing. It’s about visibility, pride, and reclaiming space. Queer art has always been political, whether or not it’s intended to be. In today’s climate, where LGBTQ+ representation is under attack in some places, having art like this on your wall is an act of resistance. It’s also deeply personal to me. For decades I’ve been painting men like this—strong, tender, human—and showing that there’s beauty and dignity in bodies that aren’t often celebrated in mainstream culture.
Details
Title: Sugar Bear
Medium: Watercolor and black crayon on cotton paper
Size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 2025
Unframed
Signed and dated lower left
Ships flat with archival sleeve and backing
Original artwork—not a print
