Patiently Waiting

Since the beginning of 2011 I've had a near-constant, full load (at least eight simultaneous covers going concurrently) of illustration work. In years past my workload usually has peaks and valleys, but 2011 has left me with nary a moment to squeeze in anything else. Having worked for nearly a decade to get to this point, it's certainly great to be this busy for such an extended period of time, but my dusty palette frowns at me every morning when I walk into the studio.

A few months back I ordered some new paintbrushes, medium, and gesso, and prepped about 5 panels with gesso'd muslin (something new I'm dying to try out), but just haven't had the time to paint.

I have loads of reference and supplies at the ready, I'm just waiting for my workload to ease a bit so I can get back to painting on a regular basis. Maybe I need to challenge my mom soon to another 75 for 75 project to get me started.

Thank you to those who haven't unsubscribed from following this blog, especially since it has been so long since I've updated it. I'm still here! I'm just patiently waiting for the workload to lighten...if just a little. ;)

 - Shane

Five States in Six Days With Three Kids

Whew. That about sums up last week. We arrived back home on Sunday night after a six day trip to Yellowstone (starting in Arizona) going through Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and back. Our 11, 9, and 2 year-old did really well considering we had many long days in the car and spent each night in a different place. Thank goodness for books, games, and big sisters.
   The trip was a whirlwind, but very beautiful. Along the way my wife fell in love with several of the very rural towns in Idaho and the scenery throughout Idaho and Utah is definitely a landscape painters paradise. As soon as we shake off this cold we all seemed to pick up on the last day of the trip, I plan on starting a whole series of paintings from many of the places we visited, a few of which I've included below. So much inspiration I discovered along the way is just fighting in my head for first dibs to get laid down on canvas. I look forward to getting started! *cough* *sneeze* *sigh*

Dreaming of Icarus

Dreaming of Icarus
6 x 6 oil on panel
Reserved...for now

I tried to work thinner on this piece, and succeeded in the beginning, but as it evolved I caught myself on several occasions applying the paint a little thicker than I'd like. My goal—at the moment—is to allow the underpainting to play a larger role in my paintings and to bring out some of the details with more opaque strokes. It's a challenge as I'm continually wanting to define and refine instead of being more suggestive. One day I'll get there.

When, all of a Sudden...

When, all of a Sudden...
6 x 6 oil on panel

SOLD

About an hour West of Austin, TX is some great, open ranch land that's right on that transitional border between hills and Oak trees and flat grasslands that stretches on for miles and miles.

Edit: Replaced photo with a scan, now that the painting is dry.

Shoving Match

Shoving Match
Eventually the argument just devolved into a shoving match...
6 x 6 oil on panel

Purchase this for $75 + $6 s/h

I saw this grouping of Oak trees at a rest stop somewhere in Texas. In our 20-minute break to let the kids run around in the grass and get rid of some pent-up energy, I think my daughter must have collected around 50 acorns. All together, in our four days in Texas, she must've brought back close to 200 acorns. At the moment they're just sitting in a plastic container and I don't think even she knows what she's going to do with them. Maybe collecting them for a purpose isn't the point. ;)

Edit: Replaced image with a higher-quality scan.

Halfway Sideways

Halfway Sideways
6 x 6 oil on panel

Purchase this for $75 + $6 s/h

Found this guy posing for me next to a dusty road in Westcliffe, CO in front of an old water barrel.

Edit: Replaced photo with a scan, now that the painting is dry.

Regular Painting and Posts to Resume

Well, after months of saying to myself "After I finish this batch of illustrations, I'll start painting again" only to see that promise fall to the wayside when a fresh batch of illustrations roll in, I've decided that the only way I'm going to get time to paint is if I make time for it. Starting today I'm scheduling a block of at least two hours to paint, every day. It's my aim to work on commercial work from 9am (the earliest I can get into the studio after I get the kids off to school) to 2:30, and then paint from 2:30/3 until 5 or 5:30.

I need to get the brush back to canvas and the only way I'm going to accomplish that is by forcing it into my schedule. While I'm hoping to pick up where I left off, I've also been thinking a lot lately of experimenting more with texture. Seeing some of Michael Workman's originals in Santa Fe made me realize there's a lot of room to explore textures by not only layering the paint, but also by manipulating the surface.

Expect more regular posts starting this week!