"The level of achievement that we have at anything is a reflection of how well we were able to focus on it." -Steve Vai
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Cover art for FABLE by Lisa Fender
Monday, October 15, 2012
SALVADOR DALI Original Painting SOLD!
Salvador Dali:
Salvador Dali Acrylic, 8x10" Collection of Christy Boerckel |
Christy is an avid art collector and fell in love with the painting.
It is always rewarding when my artwork strikes a chord with an art appreciator.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Public Image 2012 Art Walk and reception @ Anam Cara Gallery
Finished hanging my new pieces for the show! |
Art Walk/Reception for "Public Image 2012" at Anam Cara Living Arts
445 S. Saulsbury St. Studio G
Lakewood CO 80226
You are invited to enjoy the art walk in Belmar's Block 7 Art District. Feel free to drop in and say hello... I have over 24 pieces in the show, over half of them are brand new!
Hope to see you there!
Monday, August 20, 2012
New pieces - Music Legends
I have expanded the catalog to include both living and deceased musicians...
Some faces are just too much fun to resist!
Prints are now available in 8x10" and 11x14" of the following:
Kurt Cobain (Revised) (Nirvana) |
John Entwistle (The Who) |
Keith Moon (The Who) |
Ian Paice (Deep Purple/Whitesnake) |
Joey Ramone (The Ramones) |
Bob Marley |
Janis Joplin |
Steve Marriott (Small Faces/Humble Pie) |
Roy Orbison (Travelling Wilburys) |
Rick James |
Ronnie James Dio (Rainbow/Black Sabbath/Dio) |
Gallery Show at Anam Cara
along with work by Carrie MaKenna and Craig Rouse.
The show features some of my favorite paintings, along with several new pieces -
and lots of PRINTS!!!
The show runs through Friday, September 14.
I will be at the gallery for the show's closing party on the 14th.
In the meantime, drop by the gallery, say hello to Carrie and Craig. and view the artwork!
Here's a quick view of the wall - Just after we finished setting up the display. Many more pieces are also available at the show as prints. |
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Mermaid...W.I.P.
Monday, April 2, 2012
MO' BEATLES
Experimenting to see if I want to use Oil for the Humorous Likeness paintings.
I had an idea the other night for the Fab Four, to do each member in his own variation of a B&W color scheme, a takeoff on Kruger's paintings of Keith Richards in blue-gray, with one accent color. But what colors? Then it came to me - use their names as the cue:
Red for Ringo
Purple for Paul
Green for George
...and of course... John Lemon.
LOL
So here's a little test. Originally, John was the most difficult to 'get a handle on.' I was NOT going to paint John in the New York t-shirt (that has been done way more than enough times already.) Yesterday, I was looking at photos, and this one jumped out at me. Suddenly, I could see what I wanted to do with it. So, I gave it a try.
We'll see what happens with the color scheme, the idea is good but the implementation needs some tweaking.
KEEF ... Revisited
Yup, it's about time I got back into this painting.
After meeting with the crew from LOL, and looking forward to a spectacular summer, I felt the inspiration return.
I really liked the 'other' sketch of KEEF, and decided it would make a better painting in the end. (I can see why Sebastian Kruger painted him so often, he has a fantastic face, so much 'character...')
I covered over the old block-in (see it HERE) and started a new sketch. I'm thinking I'll continue with Acrylic for the humorous paintings for the time being, although I'm experimenting with Oil for these as well.
Weightless – the painting – an idea?
The basis of the idea is good, but in order to turn it into a painting, I feel it needs a little extra 'something.' We have the sky, and the figure; I believe that 'something' is a third element – something for the figure to interact with. She has an expression like she's enjoying the sunshine on her face... or she might be inspecting – or just looking at – something floating in front of her in the air. (Or perhaps something was already there, and is checking her out...?) The challenge is to figure out what that other element might be.
So I'm sketching and playing around and thinking about it, and wondering what that extra element would be... I think it should be something that is unexpected (kinda like a woman floating weightless above the clouds...) It should, however, make sense in that 'alternate reality' if you catch my drift.
Some of the ideas I came up with were pretty much what you'd expect: a bird, or a butterfly, perhaps? A hummingbird seems kinda cool. How about a balloon, or a kite? A goldfish?
Each idea creates a different 'story' to the picture. However, I think that most of these ideas are kinda what you'd expect. That one great element is still out there somewhere...
My sister had a good idea: a miniature globe (of the earth.)
Hm... need to think on this one a bit....
More studio developments... the palette
I'm trying out a combination of ideas that I've seen over the years. The Lexan palette is from Richard Robinson and Barry John Raybould from the Virtual Art Academy. they also suggested painting the backside a middle gray.
I had tried the idea of the Lexan palette earlier, but Acrylics just dry too fast, and it wound up being more hassle than help. Painting in Oil is a different matter, and I decided to revisit the idea. Placing the palette vertically came from an article I saw on David Jon Kassan. In my small studio area, I have to maximize my efficient use of space! So I am utilizing a second easel for the palette.
The benefit is that the palette receives the light from the same angle as the painting, and there is less discrepancy between the two.
So far so good. It is nice not having the glare from the lights on the palette (when looking down onto the table top.) I also like being able to easily clean the palette between sessions, or even between mixtures. And this one is big, has plenty of room.
I'll see how it goes, and post progress...
Color Charts in Oil
Now that I am digging into painting in oil, I have run into some issues with mixing colors. I found that if I'm painting the sky and sea, I simply need to have Cerulean Blue on my palette. I tried to mix it from other colors, but never was satisfied with the results. The straight tube color, when mixed with white, is so close to what I see as one of the major colors floating in and out of the sky – especially the skies I saw in Florida and the Caribbean. It also works for the skies in Colorado, although the colors tend to lean a little in the other direction, depending on the time of year and what altitude you're at. The skies of the Pacific Northwest tend toward the neutrals and grays, and California has its own personality as well.
COOL JARZ!!!
I found these jars at my 'day job,' they were marked down because there were three missing from the package of nine. SCORE!
I had been looking for small jars: one for turps (specifically for painting,) one for Medium. and one for Retouch Varnish. They need to be small, just enough for when I'm painting. "Dirty turps" for brush cleanup etc can be seen in the big jar, but when using the turps in painting, I want them to be clean and 'undiluted.'
These jars are just the right size. As a bonus, they can either be set straight up, or at a 45-degree angle (see photos.)
SWEET!
Yeah, I know... but sometimes, it's the little things in life.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
The Mermaid_W.I.P.
New piece in OIL!!! The Mermaid
The working title: The Mermaid oil on canvas, 18x24"
(Yeah, I know... where do I come up with these crazy titles?)
I have to give a nod of admiration, appreciation and thanks to Duffy Sheridan, whose personal advice and online guidance has been invaluable. His work is downright breathtaking. Ever since I saw his piece "Promise of Renewal" in the ARC Salon Catalog 2006, I realized that his work embodies everything I aspire to in my own artwork. Links to his website and videos are at the bottom of the post*.
[Please forgive the poor quality and inconsistent quality of the photos. Some are from my cel phone, and some are from the webcam on my laptop.]
Read my recent travails with this piece, in a separate post HERE.
Follow photographs of the Work-InProgress HERE.
*Check out Duffy Sheridan's phenomenal artwork on his website HERE.
Check out Duffy Sheridan's YouTube videos HERE.
Being an artist - an emotional roller-coaster ride.
03/26/12
Being an artist is such a roller-coaster ride.
On Sunday I spent the majority of the day drawing and painting, and nothing good came of it, except in the end I decided to do some prep work for today. I did some sketching and drawing on an idea that I ]had that seemed spectacular (the sea nymph emerging from the seaweed and floating to the surface.) It was frustrating – I just couldn't get the composition to work, and I realized that I would have to do a gratuitous amount of inventing on the seaweed, and it was just looking hokey.
I did start to clean and organize the studio area a bit, which was good. Actually, I made a clean spot, and that got me going...
Today, I started by taking the prep panel and testing out how I was going to paint in the mermaid's fish tail. It worked well, so I set up the painting and began work. It was up and down – it looked good, then it started looking crappy, and back and forth... In the end, I was satisfied with how it looked, so I decided to let it dry and move to something else.
I painted in the section of the hair that I overlapped when I was correcting the sky (again...) [Click HERE to see what I'm referring to.] I was very happy with the way it was looking, and starting to 'see' the finished painting coming together. The lighting is working well, it's lookin' pretty good.
I took the hair as far as was feasible at this stage, and took a breather. Next I decide to continue on the (correction of) the distant ocean and waves.
I didn't see that I dragged my hand through the (wet) hair, and next thing I know, I have a great big smear of super-saturated burnt sienna right over the beautiful fluffy white clouds and sky (that I had just corrected – again – two days ago.)
Now, not only am I panicking and wiping off the reddish brown blobs on the sky, but I see that the hair (which was looking really good) got all smeared when I dragged my hand through it.
* sigh *
LOL
Oh well, I did a bit of repair work, and I'll have to fix that bit of sky once it's dry – that burnt sienna is just too strong a color to paint over if it's even slightly wet; it'll totally screw up and over power any paint on my brush. So I'll wait until it's dry and fix the sky.
The good news is, in the process, the color in the hair got a bit more 'daylight-ish', and the edge where the hair meets the sky, and the turning form, may actually work out better in the long run.
I try not to get too caught up in the emotional highs and lows – I'm just along for the ride. I am constantly making decisions on what to do here and what to do there... it's just another decision to make.
:)
The Musketeer - WIP
Check our my original compositional analysis HERE.