Large Wave Painting Demonstration

Hello Folks!

I will be doing a Large Wave painting demonstration in Palm City, FL on Wednesday Afternoon, November 12, 2014. It will start at 1:30pm and run til 2:30, maybe 3pm.
 

The location is:
Cummings Library
Donahue Room
2551 SW Mathison Ave
Palm City, FL

I'll Be A Guest Artist At Cleveland Comic Con Feb 20 - 22, 2015

I'll be a Guest Artist At Cleveland Comic Con this February!
 

Come and see me in Cleveland with William Shater, Michael Rooker from Guardians Of The Galaxy, and Graham McTavish from The Hobbit Movies!

I've always been a big Shatner fan from Star Trek to Common People, and I absolutely loved Boston Legal, one of the best shows on TV,  ever. Shatner was hilarious and excellent, and James Spader is perfect in everything he is in.

I'm really excited and thrilled to be invited to this event!

Click Here To Visit The Website

Apples And Rainier Cherries

I just finished this Apple and Rainier Cherry painting and it's on it's way to Scottsdale Fine Art along with "Aloha" and the watermelon painting. The watermelon painting is one of my favorites. It was just one of those paintings that sort of painted itself. Sometimes a painting can be easy, and sometimes they can be difficult. The pineapple for example, was the most difficult thing I have ever tried to paint.

Apples and Rainier Cherries 10 x 20 Oil on Panel

 

Aloha 18 x 12 Oil on Panel

Watermelon 9 x 18 oil on Panel

Rolly Crump's "Museum Of The Weird Show" at Creature Features in LA

A few months ago I received an email  from Creature Features asking me if I would like to participate in a group show honoring Disney Imagineer Rolly Crump. I said of course!

Let me give you a bit of background on who he is. Rolly Crump began his career with Walt Disney Studio as an "In-Betweener" in Animation at the age of twenty-two. Walt was fascinated with his ideas and moved Rolly out of Animation and into what was then WED (the original Imagineering company) and he became one of the first Disney Imagineers.

"The Museum Of The Weird was to have been a Madame Tussaud's-like attraction inside The Haunted Mansion's entrance. This attraction within an attraction was to have been a spill area, showcasing an unnerving display of oddities from all corners of the world.

Such oddities included a melting candle man, gypsy and voodoo artifacts, a chair that stood up and talked with guests, a appearing and disappearing organist, among other trinkets and items.
Though the attraction was ultimately scrapped in the end, when the Haunted Mansion became a ride-thru, many of the concepts and illusions made it into the final attraction. These included chairs with faces, a ghostly organist, a seance chamber, busts and portraits that followed you, and paintings that changed right before your eyes." From Wiki

 Above is my finished painting for the show. It is 20 x 26 Oil on Linen

A Drawing by Rolly Crump

Before I started the painting however, I had to build the set from which to work.

To the left is one of Rolly Crump's original drawings for the place. I used this as my reference. I wanted my piece to feel like this, but to put my own stamp on it in some way. I thought the drapery worked well in a drawing, but was to busy for a painting. My first priority was to simplify it into something that I thought would work as a painting.

I started by building a box and the floor and walls. While I was building these, I was searching local shops and antique stores for any objects which would either work in the set, or that I could modify to work. I found the fireplace, coffin, mirror, candlestick, and dress mannequin in doll house furniture. I had to modify the chair so I built the arms out of fabric and wood. Everything else I had to make from scratch.

The staircase was far harder to build than it might look. Getting it to move into the shape and direction I had wanted, took so many attempts I lost count. Even though it was meant to be surreal, I also wanted it to look slightly believable.



Below is a shot of the finished set.

Now that the set was finished, I could begin working on the painting.
I had at this point less than a month to get this painting finished. I knew drawing all of these complex shapes with a brush was going to take forever so I decided to do a drawing in pencil first.

 I actually wound up drawing this four times. The first drawing I just scrapped and had to start over. The second went well. After I finished the drawing, I brought it to a reprographics place and had them make a photocopy of my drawing. I then brought that home and transferred the drawing to my canvas. Then, I re-drew the entire thing with a brush and burnt umber, and let it dry overnight. I will do another post on the painting process shots another time.

 

Below is a shot of the photocopy of  the finished drawing.

The show is at:
Creature Features

2904 W Magnolia,
Burbank, CA

Opening is Saturday,  September 13, 2014, 6pm to 8:00 

Show runs until September 28, 2014

Creature Features Website

A link to the show on Facebook

Ebay's Policy On Helping You Out If Your Artwork Is Stolen? - They Don't!

*Updated 10/15/2014 - As of today the Chinese listing is still on ebay. Ebay has neither contacted me by phone or email.

* Updated 9/16/2014 - I spent over an hour on the phone with ebay today. The below report was last wednesday, and the listing is still up. I called today to see if I can get a supervisor on the phone. I was transferred SIX times. SIX! Each time I was told that I would be connected to a supervisor who can handle this sort of thing. And each time I was put back into the system to get another random operator. The sixth guy actually told me I was being put back into the system each time and that I was never going to get a "specialist". All he could do was file a claim.
So one again, ebay did nothing. I was also told that ebay doesn't take down listings immediately. I said, sure they do. If the listing had alchol in the description or child pornography you can bet they would take it down immediately.

Finally I reached a supervisor who said that all he can do is to file a report, and investigate. I asked why the listing isn't taken down while they investigate, after all my name is on it! He said he can't do that. The listing is still up.

Wed Sept 10, 2014
Recently, while looking at some items on ebay, one of their suggestions popped up. Imagine my surprise to see that ebay was suggesting that I might like my own work! I looked at the seller, guess what - China. What a shock! 

I reported that listing using the "report item" button, and then I went to the sellers page only to find another one!

I reported this one, and nothing happened - no response. I posted it on Facebook, and had some friends report it as well. Again, no response. The auction is still up.


How can we expect to stop the  Chinese from stealing our work if American companies look the other way? Shame on ebay for not taking this down immediately, and contacting me with an apology.
My signature is still on the painting in the photo! It's not like they needed a detective to figure this one out.
I know now that they will do nothing, but I just wanted to make the news public. If someone steals your work off of ebay...You are on your own.

Link To Ebay

This is a shot of my painting titled "A Shoulder To Cry On". I painted it in 2008 during a time when someone close to me was going through a tough time. The painting was an attempt by me to see if I could convey that emotion through fruits and vegetables. I thought I did it and it is still one of my favorite paintings. Also a milestone for me was that it wasn't painted in a studio. A was staying in a small apartment for three weeks and my alloted painting space was a tiny section of the dining area. I had to set this up directly next to a portable easel and make it work. I entered it into the Salon International at the Greenhouse Gallery and I believe once again, that this is from where they stole the photo. I remember the first time I saw that the Gallery was posting such high-res photos of the artwork on their website, thinking I wonder how they stop theft of images. The answer is, they didn't. Later that year it won an award at the Ridgewood Art Institute annual show in December 2009 and sold out of that show.

Six New Minnies Off To Scottsdale Fine Art

New Minnies off to the gallery! All are 6 x 8 Oil on Panel 

Six Portrait Commission Completed!

I just finished a six portrait commission I began working on last year. Each painting is 16 x 20 Oil on Linen. These are quick studies, which is why the backgrounds are unfinished. It was also the first time I painted anyone that young. I had a lot of fun doing these and am actually looking forward to the chance to paint more like them. The client, who not long after we started, I quickly could call a friend, was an absolute pleasure to work with! It makes the work so much easier and fun to work on.

Six Wave Studies

 I did another round of Wave Studies. Most of these were two hour studies this time. I find that the more I do these, the more I can get finished in one sitting.

 Study Series II #1
4 x 10 Oil on Panel

SOLD

 Study Series II #2
4 x 8 Oil on Panel

 SOLD

 Study Series II #3
6 x 6 Oil on Panel

 SOLD

 Study Series II #4
4 x 8 Oil on Panel

SOLD

 Number five turned out to be my favorite of this bunch. I was trying to do a few that were different from the last time I did this.

 Study Series II #5
4 x 8 Oil on Panel

SOLD

 Study Series II #6
4 x 10 Oil on Panel

SOLD

Summers are usually slow months so I am not planning on putting anymore of these up for auction for a while.

The more I paint waves, the slower I get. Some people might think the opposite is true. I definitely think that the more I paint them, the more efficient, I am, but not necessarily faster. The reason is that the more I paint them, the more subtle differences I see, and the more changes in value, and color.