"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.

"Tell Us A Story" Mickey And Minnie Process Shots

  I always start with a drawing of Burnt Umber and White. This time I filled int the black areas first. I draw free-hand with a paint brush, directly from life.

 Above is a shot of the set. The statues were on my grandmother's mantle for over thirty years.

 This is after the first layer of paint. I was happy with how far I got on this one and how fast. Not every painting goes so smoothly.

 I wanted a feeling that they were in a play, on stage, telling the audience a story.
A red curtain worked perfectly with that idea, and with the black of the characters.
I must say though that crushed velvet isn't the easiest type of drapery to paint.

The finished painting!
"Tell Us A Story"
Original - 12 x 15 Oil On Linen
Limited Edition of 195 - 14 x 18
Available through:

http://www.disneyfineart.com/clintonhobart

Some Films I Love That Were...Different

Well, It's Memorial Day Weekend! Barbecues, and parties, etc, and some people like watching movies this weekend. It's the Summer Blockbuster weekend! And although I can't wait to see the new X-Men movie, I'm not going this weekend. I'll wait three weeks and then go late on a Monday night. It reduces the risk of encountering drunk kids and stupid. A friend recently commented that my lists about movies are often about popular and major studio pictures, and that I don't post on lesser known films. It's hard to put together a list of movies you think many people haven't seen. My attitude is usually that if a lot of people haven't seen a movie - there's a reason. I also have to keep in mind, that I don't always like what everyone else likes, and some of the films on this list prove that.
I left off the list some of the Indie hits like Lost In Translation, and The Royal Tenenbaums. Both are great movies, but I think most people who like movies have seen them.
 
*This list is not about movies that I am calling great films, it's about movies that I liked, sometimes when not many other people did. The Amateurs got very low ratings while everyone seemed to love A History Of Violence, and I have never met anyone who saw Another Earth.  I tried to mix it up. Some Sci-Fi, Horror, Romantic Comedy, A Play, A Drama, and one that's a bit of a mixture of a few.

Twice Upon A Yesterday (1998) - Lena Headey, Douglas Henshall, Penélope Cruz
Also known as The Main With Rain In His Shoes -"A shambling, out-of-work actor, desperate to win back the affections of his ex-girlfriend, unexpectedly stumbles upon a way to turn back the clock." IMBD
This is one of my favorite movies. A great quote keeps popping up in it "Don't look for this years birds, in last years nest"

The Amateurs (2005) - Jeff Bridges, Ted Danson, Joe Pantoliano. Abunch of broke small town morons decide to make money by making an adult film. I thought Ted Danson was hilarious in it.
It got destroyed on Rotten Tomatoes...I loved it.


Swimming With Sharks (1994) - Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley, Michelle Forbes
Kevin Spacey plays a Hollywood Producer/ Director you'd like to kill. A great line in it: "Never go to a meeting that can start without you"


Another Earth (2011)  - A tiny planet appears in the sky one night and a college aged girl gets changed by it. I'm not giving anything else away. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it for a low budget film. It is probably considered Sci-Fi but there are very few special effects. It's not that kind of film.



The Secretary (1995) - James Spader, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Based on a short story from Bad Behavior by Mary Gaitskill, "Explores the relationship between a sexually dominant man and his submissive secretary." Yeah, that's one way to put it - Don't watch this one with the kids...


Just Like Heaven (2005)  - Mark Ruffalo and Reese Witherspoon in what some might see as your typical cute romantic comedy. I caught this one night at three am when I couldn't sleep. I watched a few minutes and thought it was silly. As I kept watching I thought his acting considering the subject was impressive. I wound up watching the whole thing, and loved it.

 
Dummy (2002) -  Adrien Brody, Milla Jovovich Written and Directed by Greg Pritikin. About a guy who can't function in the real world therefore he becomes a ventriloquist so the Dummy can talk for him. And if that doesn't make you want to see it...I thought it was great but this is a strange movie. I've suggested it to a few people who absolutely hated it. - just a warning.







Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)  Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. Written and directed by Kevin Smith. Of all of Smith's films this might be my favorite. Not at all what the title suggests.
 
 

Warm Bodies (2013) - Ok, not an Indie film, and not what anyone would call brilliant but there is a joke in the beginning which got my attention and it makes you realize that the movie is being told from the Zombies perspective. Just based on that I had to see where it was going...I thought it was cute, and fun, and different. I usually hate zombie movies, if you've seen one you've seen them all. Not this time.

 



A History Of Violence (2005) - Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt. This one wasn't really unheard of since it won an Academy Award, yet I meet a lot of people who haven't seen it. I think the title scares some people away. It is kinda violent...but a fantastic movie.
 
 

Crash (1996) - James Spader, Holly Hunter - Couples "get off" by getting into car accidents...awesome.


The Guard (2011) - Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong
An Irish comedy about a regular Irish cop, Gleeson, who has to work with American FBI agent, Cheadle to stop some drug smugglers. The absolute funniest movie I have seen in years, if you have sort of a bent sense of humor.

The Big Kahuna (1999) - Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, and Peter Fascinelli. Not just number one on this list, one of my favorite movies of all time. Three guys, in a room, talking for the whole movie. Nothing gets blown up or eaten by aliens. Danny Devito's little speech at the end should be taught in schools.

More Illegal Prints! canvaschamp.com Is Stealing Artwork!

Hey, I'm getting a little sick of this!
Once again there is a website selling prints of my work illegally.
The website http://www.canvaschamp.com/ has two of my images available.
Thankfully the reviews are that the prints are just awful.
What ever happened to a Robin Hood complex, can't they wait till I'm rich to steal from me!

"Pairs" 12 x 24 Oil On Linen. This one sold to a collector in December of 2012.

 "A Shoulder To Cry On" 10 x 20 Oil On Panel

This one sold out of the Ridgewood Art Institute also in 2012.

The interesting thing is that both paintings were included in the Salon International at the Greenhouse Gallery in San Antonio. I believe the images were taken off of their website. The gallery takes photos of the paintings that come in for the show themselves and usually posts hi-res images on their website.

I called them on the phone. I of course got a very unhelpful employee but I was surprised that when I asked him how he felt about working for a company which was stealing images of paintings and making prints without permission, he replied "If we are doing that than I would not approve". The guy was clearly foreign, most likely from India, and he said the company was American and located in Georgia.  

 They seem to be registered: 

Canvas Champ

 Nishant Shah
10 Treyburn Ct.
Greer, South Carolina 29650
(864) 848-5680

Make sure you complain to Canvas Champ - There is also a website called Canvas Chimp, which seems to be legit.

Top Ten Worst Movies I Have Ever Seen!

Every once in a while I like to post a blog which has nothing to do with painting, work, or art. Something fun. I think it is important to do other things besides work, like read books and watch movies. I love movies... old movies, new movies, almost any movie. A movie has to be REALLY bad for me not to like it. I did not to include bad old movies on the list because I feel that even a bad old movie has a certain charm to it.  I was looking at a list of the Worst Films according to Wikipedia and found that I didn't agree with most on the list because most of them had some entertainment value. In order for me to not like a movie: First I start thinking about other things or what the actors are doing in the movie. If I am watching a movie and thinking "Bruce Willis looks bored", probably not a great film. Second, I think to myself or say out loud "this is pretty bad". And last I get up and leave or turn it off. If I turn it off, that says something.

Please keep in mind I am not a paid movie critic, and while doing all of this I really should have been painting...

10. A Good Day To Die Hard - I started with this one because I really wanted to see it. I wanted it to be good! I was stunned at how awful it is. Bruce Willis is just walking through it like he doesn't care. In fact that element makes it sort of funny, except that it's a Die Hard movie. Rumor is they are making one more. I'd like to see them go back to the idea of the first movie. A regular guy stuck in the wrong place who does some amazing things, gets lucky on a few, and cracks a few jokes along the way. I think everyone involved realizes how bad this one was so I am expecting good things from the next one...we'll see.

9. The Hulk (2003) - I'm actually mad that this one is on the list. I love comic book movies, almost all of them. No one should even let Ang Lee on the set of one from now on...The last thing a comic book movie should be is boring. I'd rather watch Daredevil again than sit through this one...But, at least Mark Ruffalo has a chance to make up for it, and I think he already has. Hopefully, he gets his own movie some time soon.


8. Snakes On A Plane - Samuel L. Jackson has been in some of the best movies I have seen, and some of the worst. Usually he shines no matter how bad the movie is. He is the only thing in the remake of Robocop which made me smile. I've been told to watch this one again, that it is so bad it's good...but I just don't have that much free time right now.


7. Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo - I realized that any movie having Rob Schneider in it has a really good chance of being terrible.

6. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby - Will Ferrell is an interesting actor to me. I loved Melinda and Melinda, and Stranger Than Fiction is one of my favorites, so how he manages to also be in some of the worst movies ever made is...well, it just is. Elf isn't on the list but if the list went to 20...I couldn't wear a diaper in a movie - I don't care how much money they gave me.

5.  I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry - Adam Sandler is the only leading actor on this list to appear twice. Unlike Will Ferrell, I don't think he has ever made a great movie. I liked Big Daddy, but I keep waiting for him to do something fantastic. This wasn't it.

4. Piranha 3DD - I don't even know why I bothered. This one is actually my fault. I knew it was going to bad before I started but thought, maybe it won't live up to my expectations...it did.

3. Movie 43 - Richard Roeper called it "the Citizen Kane of bad movies. So bad that I watched it in awe of how bad it was...but I finished it, which says something. The scene with Kate Winslet and Hugh Jackman is memorable, I will give it that. It's not funny, but it's memorable.



2. Mystery Men (1999) - William H. Macy and Pee Wee Herman in a movie, how can it be bad!? This movie is the only movie I have ever seen in a theater, and walked out of.

 

1. Jack And Jill - Well, I didn't see it in the theater, but I did turn it off...If I were Al Pacino I would just deny being in it. When someone asks, he should say "wasn't me". By far the worst movie I have ever seen.