Swamped

My apologies for the lack of updates lately. I'm currently swamped with illustration work which involves models, scheduling photo shoots, lighting, compositing, research, and lots of time in Photoshop. I should have some time--possibly next week--to get back into painting.

Last week I got in a sample pack of RayMar linen panels (single and double primed) that I'm really looking forward to experimenting with. 95% of my work thus far has been on Ampersand Gessobord which has some great tooth and texture, but ultimately gives a very smooth, almost graphic quality to the paintings. I want to try out a different surface for a bit that is a little less predictable and encourages a little more looseness. I'll, of course, post the results here.

Thanks again for following along, and have a great week!

Wishful Thinking Update & More

This is just a quick reminder that Wishful Thinking gets a price reduction (from $150 to $100) tomorrow morning.  See Wishful Thinking and read more about it here.

And since I'd hate to waste your visit here just to see me talk about something as trivial as a price reduction, be sure to read this awesome write-up about "The Academic Ébauche", or in a term that we can all understand, the art of the underpainting.  It's a great read that gets better as it goes along. If you don't have time to read it now, be sure to bookmark it and read about it later. Here are the links in three parts:

- part 1 -

- part 2 -

- part 3 -

Oh, and lastly I wanted to thank everyone who took advantage of the "Clear the Easel" sale.  All the pieces except for one have been sold.  Additionally, at the behest of my mom, I added one more to the sale page. I didn't add it initially as I felt the quality isn't up to par, but she threatened to post pictures of me on the internet in a blow-up pool as a child in nothing but my underwear, so I had to acquiesce.

Have a great weekend!

Gone Without a Whisper

"Gone Without a Whisper"

7 x 5 oil on panel

SOLD

   I often get asked what my titles mean.  Most of the time they originate with stories that I make up involving something going on in the painting, or a story that I see coming out of the painting, akin to seeing shapes in the clouds.  With this piece, I imagined a man, standing in the park, watching his fiance walking away far down the path (if you click on the image above you can see a larger version where the figures are more visible.)  His fiance has just suddenly broken off the engagement, leaving him stunned in this beautiful place.  He watches her walking away, waiting for her to turn around, run back, and tell him that it was all just a joke.  She doesn't, and he watches until he can't see her any longer.  She just left him, without any warning, and was Gone Without a Whisper.

   Melodramatic? Definitely. A sad story coupled with a beautiful scene? Indeed.  But this is what came into my head when looking at the painting, and so it stuck.

08/21/10 Update: I've replaced the image above with a higher-quality scan.

Inside Joke

"Inside Joke"

6 x 6 oil on panel.

SOLD

A friend of mine does pet photography and when I saw photos of her new dog "Douglas" I just had to paint him. This is my first time painting white fur and I had a blast finding all the warm and cool colors hidden in there.  He's such a darn cute guy too and I love the little smirk he has on his face, hence the title for this piece.

8/18/10 Update: I've replaced the above image with a higher quality scan.

Available Work Page

   It has been about two months now since I've started painting regularly again (after a 12 year "break" between graduating from art school and developing my commercial illustration career), and during these last eight weeks I've had a fantastic time working again in oils.  I feel I still have a long way to go yet, but the kind words and encouragement I've received through this Web site have been one of the main driving forces to keep me painting even after I've turped out (hence the name of this blog) the painting for the fifth time that day.  So thank you to all who have taken the time to follow my progress, leave comments, and even purchase some of my work.
   However, the last eight weeks has also taught me that Blogger (and blogs in general for that matter) allow work to quickly get buried under new content due to their linear nature.  To that end I've created a new page that I will keep up-to-date which displays all of my currently available work.  This way, older paintings shouldn't be lost as newer ones are created.  This is important as I intend (after I finish this darn 12 x 24) to produce paintings more regularly and frequently.
   Anyway, drop by the new Available Work page by clicking on the "Available Work" link from the menu at the top of the page, or by simply clicking on this link.
   Have a great weekend!

Wishful Thinking

"Wishful Thinking"

5 x 7 oil on panel

SOLD

This little guy was a lot of fun to paint but it took me several tries to get the initial "sketch" of him down.  Once I got it though, the rest fell together fairly easy.  The price is higher on this piece (compared to my other 5x7s) because I spent more time noodling on details--especially in the face where I had to break out my 000 brush--and because the quality is higher.  However, if it hasn't sold within two weeks, I will lower the price to $100.  I'd rather have these pieces be appreciated by someone instead of taking up space in my studio.

Be sure to click on the image above to see a larger version.  There's a lot of small details in this one.

Have a great weekend!

08/21/10 Update: It has been two weeks so the painting has been reduced in price to $100.
08/08/10 Update: Now that the painting is dry, I've replaced the image above with a higher quality scan.

"Clear the Easel" - $25 off $75 - SALE!

Last month I started the "75 for 75" project with my mother, Adele Earnshaw, where our goal was to paint one painting every day for a month. That project wrapped up several weeks ago and I have some work left over that's looking for a good home. So Adele and I are lowering the prices on our remaining pieces from $75 to $50 to "clear off the easel". Below are my paintings, but be sure to drop by my Mom's Web site to check out her sale pieces as well. Additionally, if you want more information about how my paintings are shipped to you, click "Purchasing" from the menu at the top or simply click on this link.

"Wishing Never Works"

5 x 7 oil on panel.

SOLD

"Green on Green on Green"

5 x 7 oil on panel.

Purchase this for $50 + $6 s/h

"Wiggle Room"

5 x 7 oil on panel.

SOLD

"The Battle of Fading Light"

5 x 7 oil on panel.

SOLD

"As It Turns Out, the Answer to Sam's Problems Lay in the Valley Below"

6 x 8 oil on panel.

SOLD

"I Set My Mind in Motion"

5 x 7 oil on panel.

SOLD

"Umbrellas Won't Cut It"

6.5 x 8.5 (can easily be cut down to 6 x 8) oil on linen on board.

SOLD

"Covert Diplomacy"

5 x 7 oil on panel.

SOLD

"Tomorrow's Yesterday"

5 x 7 oil on panel.

SOLD

"Foggy Bend"

4.75 x 7 oil on panel.

SOLD

12 x 24

I started a 12 x 24 this morning, which marks the largest landscape I've painted thus far.  I have the major elements blocked in and, once that's dry, I'll start defining details.  So far (albeit, just the first hour or so) it has been a lot of fun.  Working on the 5 x 7s restricts me many times to working with corners and edges of the brush, whereas working larger has allowed me to use the full brush which is a nice change.  If I can get enough time in today (between kids and illustration work) I'll post a progress shot.

Between drying times I'll also continue working on 5 x 7s for the 75 for 75 project.  We also have a Facebook group set up for 75 for 75, so feel free to follow along with us there.