Two New Waves - Large and Small

Just finished these two Waves. The large one above is 18 x 32.
The little one to the right is a 6 x 8".

Random Thought #2

Someone recently said to me "Boy, you are really climbing the ladder". I never really liked the ladder analogy. They wabble, no one is ever holding them properly, you can fall at any time, etc.

So I started asking around. I then heard people refer to it as a drive, a journey, a mountain, an elevator, and a roller coaster.  I have never heard anyone say that their success was like a Log Flume. Going up slowly, one single click at a time, then straight down into a pool of murky water, and left standing there, cold, sort of wet in some places, without a towel or a change of clothes... How do you know which metaphor you are on? Maybe ladder isn't so bad after all.

Blast From My Past...

 There are photos circulating on the internet of before and after shots of artist's work from ten and twenty years ago, and this amazing transformation to their work today. The problem is that the drawings of the before shots are horrible, and most of the after shots look either traced or made with a grid. In almost all of the examples, there isn't much difference in the knowledge, just the skill.

I did the drawing to the right about fifteen years ago, roughly three or four years before I began working with Daniel Greene. Although it has many flaws, I think it shows a certain amount of knowledge and skill. It isn't downright awful (if I do say so myself). It was drawn from life in a three hour session at The National Arts Club in  NYC. I clearly remember the day. Still in art school at the time, and somewhat nervous about even being there, I was minding my own business and drawing. A very famous pastel painter happened to be there. He walked by me and said "It looks like you swallowed a Dean Cornwell book." I think he meant it as an insult but I just looked up and said thank you. To me it was a compliment!

 When I was young I tried a lot of different mediums and styles. I did several cartoon drawings in colored pencil like this one to the left. I miss doing these sometimes. I really enjoy working out of my head once in a while. I could easily have posted hundreds of terrible drawings from that time and say "look how much better I am now!"

I don't think there are many cases where artists have absolutely no skill when they are young. Most working artists today that I know personally, actually had a tremendous amount of skill when they were young.

I am not posting this to discourage young people who want to be painters, I am posting this because I believe the article to be a misrepresentation. Basically, all the article says is "If you copy enough photos, eventually you will get better at it"

Most people in a career, whether it be singers, dancers, athletes, etc, display an aptitude for these gifts at a very young age. Now I am certainly not saying that you are born with it and that's it. The same artists I mentioned above that displayed skill at a young age, also paint for ten to twelve hours a day if not more, myself included. But they had something there to begin with.

Before I began painting in oil, I worked in colored pencil, even on figurative work. In fact, when I began painting, I toned my canvas to the same color as my charcoal papers, and used only four colors on my palette, White, Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre, and Terra Rosa, which matched the four colored pencils I favored most.

 A quick Pen and Ink sketch done from life on the streets of France. So much fun drawing on the street there!
I spent six months living in France when I was younger.


One of my first jobs was a Dragon I created for a dentist in Seattle. I made enough to pay for the trip. Below is a shot of the dragon. One of my very first oil paintings actually also.

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed me embarrassing myself with old work just to prove a point! Be careful of what you read on the internet, too much of it is just plain wrong...

Two New Minnies - Off to Oregon!

 Pine Cone and Acorns II
6 x 8 Oil on Panel

 I just finished these two new Minnies for Paul Scott Gallery in Bend Oregon.

They had asked me months ago for fall and woodsy themed paintings. I had to keep putting it off due to Disney, and then this Museum show and Waves, etc.

Pine cones may look easy but they are actually very difficult to draw. I also have a hard time with leaves, which is a good reason to paint them. Whenever I find something is difficult for me to paint, rather than avoid it, I keep painting it until I get it right.

Pine Cone and Acorns II
6 x 8 Oil on Panel

Happy 4th!

 There are some things that cross my mind every fourth of July. The above painting by James Montgomery Flagg is one of them. We learned about the painting and the history of Flagg when I was in art school. I had a history of Illustration class taught at that time by Terry Brown, the Director of the Society of Illustrators. It was one of the best classes I ever took and he was an amazing teacher. He would cover everything - suggest old movies to watch, animation clips, books, lectures, etc. If it had to do even slightly with illustration, he covered it. 

Below are some pencil and  pen and ink drawings by Flagg.

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Flagg was good friends with Everett Raymond Kinstler who did the portrait of him below.

I was lucky enough to get into a Kinstler workshop at the Art Students League a few years ago. His classes are booked way in advance. An actress friend of mine actually had to call him to get me in. I love his work but what is most impressive about him is his charm and sense of humor. I have bumped into him several times since, and he is always quick with a handshake and a hello. For those of you not in the art world, this can often be a rare quality.

 It's no secret that Flagg worked in the style of Charles Dana Gibson. Normally I'm not a fan of artist's who work in other artist's styles. A style is like a toothbrush...but there are a couple of exceptions and I love both of their works. Below are a few of Gibson's drawings. He was famous for the "Gibson Girl".

 No Holiday can go by where thinking about painting doesn't lead me to J.C. Leyendecker.
Here are a couple of his Fourth Of July themed pieces.

The study for this one is actually hanging in my teachers studio. It was great to be able to see one up close without someone telling me to step back from it.

Leyendecker always worked from life. It is said that he hated working from photographs, which just make s the lamppost and sign in the  painting even more impressive. He was so famous that at one point in time people would wait at train stations for him to get off just to get a glimpse of him...Ahh the good old days,

I think I'll celebrate by watching a great Fourth of July Movie: Yankee Doodle Dandy. Can't go wrong with Cagney.
Happy Fourth All!

"Let It Go" from Disney's FROZEN by The Piano Guys

This came on Pandora while I was painting. Normally I don't get up to see what is playing. Unless it is an emergency "thumbs down", like if they play the B-52's. That will get me up fast. I have learned not to "thumbs up" a song because it usually changes the playlist so if I like a station, I leave it alone.
I thought this was incredible...it got a "thumbs up" I listened to a few more of their versions of songs on YouTube which were also excellent.
 I thought the set was behind them was spectacular! I assumed that it was fake but then I noticed that they were wearing gloves with the fingers cut off. I thought, the coats could just be costumes but if they are wearing fingerless gloves, it must really be cold. After the song ended there was a link to the video on the making of this:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYQ0sFhmnrA#t=143


In most of the videos he is playing the real thing but in some clips he was playing this weird 'alien from the future looking thing' so I Googled it because it looks so darn cool!
It's called a Yamaha SVC-210 Silent Cello, Pearl White. Personally I prefer to listen to the real thing, same way I prefer a real book to a digital version, but I get what they are doing and why, and they are fun to watch.

Here is a link on Amazon if you want one: Electric Violin Shop

A Recent Portrait Commission

 This is a commission I just finished for a great friend and collector of my work. When you are starting out, if you are lucky, your friends buy your work. As you get older, the people who buy your work become friends. Not everyone who buys a painting becomes a friend. Everyone is different. Some people buy a painting or two and you never hear from them again, others I talk to all of the time, usually through Facebook. It's one of the best aspects of this business is all of the great people I get to meet!
This is number five of six grandchildren I have been commissioned to paint.

 This is a 16 x 20 portrait study. My favorite portraits to paint are two and three day studies. This painting was finished in three days. Actually it was supposed to be a two day portrait, but like I said, she's a good friend...

The drawing was done with a brush, and completed in about an hour and a half, maybe two hours.
Because she was three years old, I had to do this one from a photo, but I still did the drawing freehand with the photo next to me and pretended she was sitting there. She couldn't hold still long enough to take her picture, so painting from life was out the window! I took over four hundred photos, and used a combination of three on this painting. In the shot this pose was in, she wasn't smiling, so I had to add the slight smile from another photo.

Mushrooms, Lots of Mushrooms

I just received an email from someone asking me if I had any Mushroom paintings available. When I looked at my shelf I was surprised to find out that I had four! Of course, none of them were the size she is looking for so I get to do one more. It's a good thing Mushrooms are one of my favorite things to paint!

Feel free to contact me for pricing information.

"Blue Mushrooms" 10 x 20 Oil On Panel
Available

I absolutely love this frame on this painting, It was a touch on the expensive side, but I thought it was worth it.
"Fairytale Eggplants And Mushrooms" 9 x 18 Oil On Panel
Available

 

 "Fairytale Mushrooms" 9 x 18 Oil On Panel
Available

"Mushroom Study" 8 x 11 Oil On Panel
Available

"Let Down Your Hair" The Tower From Disney's Tangled - Stone by Stone

 When it was decided that the next Disney painting would be the Tower from Tangled, I began to search for one that was already built. I looked online for hours. The best one I found was a cake...Ok, that won't work, I'd probably eat it before the painting was done.

I slowly began to realize I was going to have to build one. I called a few friends in construction and asked them how I should go about that. Basically they said, stone by stone.

 After I built the base, I knew I wanted the actual post to be made of real stone and mortar.

I used a tiny palette knife and laid each stone one on top of another. It took three days because you have to stop to let a few rows dry before you can keep laying more stones.

 The roof was done in a similar way to the stone. I wanted a hand made feeling to it so I laid each tile on the roof one at a time also.

The tower is four feet high and about sixteen inches wide.

I painted from life with the sculpture right next to my painting. The painting is 18 x 48. The hair is from a Lady Godiva wig I purchased at a costume shop.

 For Some reason the Moon didn't photograph that well. I am working on a better shot of it.