Youtube Painting Video Demonstration by Joseph Lorusso

 I stumbled on this video on Youtube and thought I would share it. I first met Joseph Lorusso about ten maybe twelve years ago. I used to teach at Scottsdale Artist's School. As part of our salary we were able to take another instructors workshop for free. Most of the instructors were impressionists, and although I liked their work, I had little interest in becoming one myself. I knew Joe had done some Illustration work and did a drawing before putting down paint. I thought it might be fun to meet him and work with him for a week. It was a great class and he is a super nice guy. I still use a few colors on my palette that he has on his. And only a few years later we both were showing in the same gallery in Arizona before he moved over to Overland and I moved over to Scottsdale Fine Art. It is fun watching him paint! Hope you enjoy this - I did.

Here is a link to his website: http://www.josephlorussofineart.com

A Painting For The Boston Red Sox Winning The World Series

Recently, I got a call from a friend who had purchased one of my smaller Baseball and Peanut Paintings. He asked if I could do one with a theme of the Boston Red Sox Winning the World Series.
Of course I said sure!

  I drew the banner in pencil and filled it in with white first, I just can't seem to find the pic of it. The whole thing was painted from life.

 

As a Yankee fan though, I must admit I am a bit disappointed in the fact that no Yankee fan has had this idea yet...Com on Yankee fans, you can't have a Boston painting by me out there without a Yankee painting by me out there too! And maybe Dodgers painting too...and a Mets. This could be interesting.

I am not one of those Yankee fans that hates the Red Sox. Having lived  Boston, I actually I root for the Red Sox as well...What good is a rivalry if the other team stinks!

Disney's "Frozen" Came With A Preview of "The Box Trolls"

 

Over Thanksgiving weekend, my girlfriend and I went to see Disney's new "Frozen". Jordan wanted to see it in 3D, which the last time gave me a headache. We went to see The Hobbit in 3D last Christmas, and although I loved it, after three hours of 3D, I had enough. I figured I'd give 3D another chance and I was really glad I did. For some reason the animation wasn't nearly as difficult to watch in 3D as the live action was (for me), and a shorter movie length was perfect for it. I thought visually Frozen was one of the most beautiful things I have seen, in any movie! Two scenes especially were just amazing. The ending of this film ( I won't give it away), is also just incredible and a bit shocking in a good way.  If I had to say anything about it was below my expectations it would be the songs. Now I happen to like the songs in Disney movies and I think of them in the same regard as a Broadway show. A good song in a show is one that furthers the story along. If it feels like the show stops and then resumes after the song is over, it's not a well placed song. And I think all of the songs in the movie were very successful at that, I just didn't think they were as quite as good as those in Tangled. And no, I'm not sick of Alan Menken, I think he would have done a great job on this one. Overall it was an excellent movie.
I am actually thinking of seeing it again, which is something, because I almost never see a movie in the theater twice. I highly recommend it.

When I go to a movie, I can't miss the previews...Yeah, I'm one of them. This time, one of the previews that really caught my attention was for LAIKA's new "The Box Trolls" (The company that did Coraline). It's one of the most unique trailers I have ever seen and the movie just looks stunning.

*Images are used without permission, but I'm promoting your films for free so don't sue me.

Two New Coconuts & Limes Off To Scottsdale Fine Art

These two are 8 x 10, a little larger then my usual Coconut paintings. They just arrived at Scottsdale Fine Art in Arizona! I also added the Holiday theme to my website...not that that is breaking news but I enjoy doing it every year. Here is a link for anyone who wants to have a look:

http://www.clintonhobart.com 

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.

http://www.cbsnews.com 

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....

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...

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 

"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.

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

http://www.paulscottfineart.com