Friday, November 29, 2013

Ouch! Never Read The Comments!

Just for the fun of it, I read the comments on the CBS News article posted on their website.
I was warned by Seth who did the interview and Jennifer, the producer, not to read the comments!
Now I have read the comments on other news articles, and I am always shocked at the level of stupidity of the average person commenting...so I expected no less on a story about me.
I do however want to clear up a few points that I think might be a reasonable misconception to anyone who stops by here.



The question of time came up quite a bit. People commented about making paintings in fifteen to twenty minutes. It takes me an average of six hours over two days, to make a painting like "Three Persimmons". I usually do about a twenty minute drawing in oil with a brush, then I slowly begin to fill in paint from the deepest darks to the lightest lights. Very often, I will spend as much as ten hours spread out over three days, on one, especially if they have grapes in them...grapes take a while for me to paint. These paintings are not meant to be considered "finished paintings". They are studies, and when my galleries sell them, they are sold as studies.

Next the price was mentioned. Some people were shocked at a $500.00 price tag. Let us break that down. $500.00 is gallery retail which means that I get a check for half of that. Most galleries do not split the cost of a frame, so that comes completely out of my cut. Next, I have to make the panel it is painted on, and of course paint and brushes. I use new brushes for every painting so my materials cost per painting is about twenty dollars. If you add up insurance, rent, shipping, and other life expenses it doesn't leave a lot of money left.

Next, to the people who said "I can do that in an hour" - No, you can't.

I do have friends who can paint wonderful paintings in a very short amount of time, and they do sell them for hundreds of dollars...but they don't need to boast about it on news websites.

As far as me making prints of my work to sell. I have thought about that for a while. Prints are an investment. It usually costs about $80.00 just to have it photographed by a professional. Print on demand companies are usually of lower quality then having a large print run made all at once and large print runs are very expensive...If you think you know of someplace that does high-quality prints for a reasonable price, by all means let me know!

I own the copyright to my work, regardless of whether or not it is signed. If the Chinese had gone to a store and bought their own persimmons, nothing would have ever been done in the first place.
But they didn't, they stole an image off of my Blog and passed it off as their own work.

The quality of the copy is not even close to the original. If you look at the two side by side, I spent alot of time making sure the drawing was right. There is something wobbley about the persimmon on the left in the Chinese painting. Also, the "random" strokes in the background, in my painting, aren't random at all. I actually spend quite a bit of time making sure those strokes are well placed. There is something about the way they were copied which just isn't right. And the bottom is a powder blue, which I don't think works as well as the grey.

And lastly, there is no glazing in the Chinese copy at all. It was painted in one sitting with straight paint. They way that I use layers is what makes my work bright and vibrant, which is what most people really like about it. I realize in reading the comments that not everyone can see the differences between the two, and that is OK. Recognizing subtlety is what makes life fun. The differences between wines and cheeses, music, literature, and art are what make us unique. Having opinions about the differences, and our preferences gives us something to talk about during and after those events...

I'm sure I will thing of more to add to this but until then....



Wednesday, November 27, 2013

For Those Of You Stopping By For The First Time - Hello!

Well, I was on the CBS News last night and so I think a few new people might be visiting this blog...actually about a thousand new visitors in the last twelve hours. 

I treat this blog like I'm in my house, and the first thing I do when someone stops by is offer them a drink. OK, that won't really work here but let's just pretend I offered you a drink and then gave you the tour of the place.

As I'm sure you are aware, I paint pictures. Still-Life, Portraits, and Seascapes of Waves, mostly. I also draw and do a bit of Illustration when someone asks.

 

I'm not one of those uptight, easily offended, blue mohawk, high maintenance, types of "Artist" that "feel" everything or breathe through my eyelids. I'm just a regular guy who paints pictures, so feel free to send a message, add me as a friend on Facebook, or give me a call. Looking forward to hearing from you!

 Here are just a few samples of recent work...

 I'm almost finished with this commissioned painting. A friend who had purchased a Baseball painting of mine last year, wanted another one commemorating the Red Sox winning the World Series. When it is done I will make a separate Blog post for it...









Tuesday, November 26, 2013

I'll be on CBS News 6:30pm est. Tonight!



Hello Folks,

Some of you may remember a few months ago I had my work stolen by a Chinese company...well I'll be talking about that on the news! CBS 6:30pm eastern time... I'll update this post after it airs because we shot about two hours of footage and they are going to chop it down into about two minutes so I have no idea what to expect.
 These are the two images that they were copying. Both are 6 x 8 Oil on Panel.



To the right is my painting of the Persimmons and underneath it is the bad Chinese copy... 

To read the whole story and see the segment on CBS News click:

http://www.cbsnews.com 







Thursday, November 21, 2013

"Tale As Old As Time" Process Photos and Video




I made a short video of the process photos but if it went too fast for anyone I have posted the images here...


I always start with a quick loose sketch






A shot of the set-up which wasn't in the video...
One of the most common questions I get on this is "Is it legal?"
I own the teapot so I did not copy Disney characters into a painting, I simply painted a still-life.
The Mrs. Potts Tea set is the only item in the painting that was actually made by Disney. Everything else came from somewhere else.

The finished drawing is actually my favorite stage of the painting.





The linen I used was too rough for a porcelain tea pot so I had to sand it down several times with 400 grit sandpaper to smooth it out.


In the photos I had started with a plastic rose. I decided to use a real rose instead and had to paint it out.


From start to finish tha painting took about two months to complete.





Thursday, November 14, 2013

New Minnies Going To A New Gallery!

 I am pleased to be represented by the Paul Scott Gallery in Bend, OR!
Here are six of the eight Minnies that went out to them.

Paul Scott Gallery
 869 NW Wall St #104, Bend, OR 97701
(541) 330-6000









Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Wave XVI - 6 x 12 Oil On Panel


My first 6 x 12 wave painting. I plan to keep getting bigger and bigger! ...but slowly!


Thursday, November 7, 2013

Off to The Disney Festival Of The Masters



This weekend I will be at The Disney Festival Of The Masters at location 202.
The above painting is 
"Tale As Old As Time" 13 x 22 Oil on Linen
and will be at the show!
Hope to see some of you there!