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!

Levi Doesn't Care Much...

Levi Doesn't Care Much for Strangers Since the Yogurt Incident of '09
5 x 7 oil on panel

Purchase this for $100 + $6 s/h

My apologies for the lengthy absence. I should be able to start posting work more regularly now and I'm looking forward to seeing some of the pieces I have planned.

Have a great weekend! 

I'm not dead yet!

Despite my lack of posts lately, I have not in fact fallen down a well or been trapped in a cave by a rabid bear. Illustration has been keeping me busy lately as well as some changes in our family schedule (kids' soccer games/practice, etc). My mom has been doing some really neat color/mood studies lately (see 1 and 2) that have been giving me some ideas. So, apologies for the lack of posts lately. I should be back to posting more, interesting paintings soon enough.

Have a happy and safe Halloween! I'll be out this Sunday night with my ten year-old vampire masquerade dancer (an interesting twist she came up with), my eight year-old zombie soccer goalie (another fun twist), and my nearly two year-old...something-or-other. We haven't yet decided what to do with her yet, but I'm sure it'll come to us. Eventually. ;)

Checking Eyelids For Leaks

Checking Eyelids for Leaks
5 x 7 oil on panel

Purchase this for $75 + $6 s/h

I started this one as a quick, 15-minute speed study in Westcliffe, CO and finished it up back in the studio. I love how blue her face was with some subtle warms below and above the eye.

This piece is also the first for today's commencement of a new "75 for 75" project; at least one painting, every day, for a month. Hard work, but always an exciting challenge, starts today!

"75 for 75" project - part two!

Being exposed to so much great art and beautiful scenery over the past five days has been a big inspiration and has made me want to start another "75 for 75" project.  So, on the way back from Westcliffe, CO yesterday, I challenged my mom (Adele Earnshaw) to another "75 for 75" battle starting Wednesday, October 6th and ending on Saturday, November 6th. We're going back to our roots with this one and I'll be doing landscapes (with a dog or two thrown in possibly). Adele has had many requests to repeat the bird theme, so she will be focusing on bird studies. Each day we will post our paintings on our respective Web sites (see below) as well as on our Facebook group page. It's always a challenge for me to balance my commercial illustration work with doing a painting each day, but over the past few months I think I've got a little more practice under my belt and I'm pretty confident that I can make the painting-a-day goal.

The goal is to produce at least one 5 x 7" painting each day, but I might not stick strictly to the 5 x 7 format. While Adele will be painting 5 x 7's, I might mix it up with some 6 x 8's, or 6 x 6's. I'll let the composition dictate the size, but most pieces will probably be 5 x 7.

We'd love for you to drop by now and then, take a peek at the work, offer some comments or words of encouragement, or simply just follow along! As before, each piece will be available on our Web sites, unframed, for $75.
Here are the Web sites where the work will be posted:

Adele Earnshaw: http://adeleearnshaw.blogspot.com

Shane Rebenschied: http://turpitout.blogspot.com

As with the last "75 for 75" project, I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to expand my abilities, try out new things, and I'm excited to see where it takes me.
We look forward to hearing from you, and let the games begin!

Oh, and since I posted so close together, don't forget to read about the Westcliffe trip below. :)

Westcliffe

WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD!

I'm back, and I'm alive! I was hoping to blog each evening, but I quickly discovered that standing in the sun all day combined with the altitude wiped me out by the end of the day. It was all I could do to stay awake long enough to participate in some light conversation before crawling between the sheets and passing out.
   The trip was great fun though. We had long hours in the car, but it was offset by great conversation and some beautiful scenery.

Driving through New Mexico, we were treated to a rising full moon while it was still relatively light outside. We arrived in Westcliffe, CO late that evening but were up fairly early the next day to hang pieces for the show, and then we were off to search for good scenery for some plein-air painting.

Many homes were built in among the trees. I wonder which came first, the trees or the homes?

This one will definitely become a painting. I eventually figured out that the reason the grass was so green here was because it was soggy wet. The cows made "splurch" sounds as they walked through the boggy green zone.

My easel set up, ready to paint. Eventually I'll get an Open Box M, but for now it's a borrowed and broken mini Julian.

Fortunately you don't have to look far to find an incredible vista. The vibrant greens and yellows provided a great contrast to the blues in the Wet Mountain Range. There were also a lot of Aspens changing to brilliant yellows and oranges in the mountains.

   We spent a little over half the day on Friday and another half day on Saturday out painting and collecting reference. One thing I discovered while standing near fields containing hundreds of heads of cattle, is how often they defecate and urinate. Holy smokes.

Earnshaw snapping some shots of cows mugging for the camera.

The aforementioned cows

It wasn't all cows. There were some beautiful horses out and about as well.

While it was definitely a kick to be outside painting, my plein-air abilities are quite rusty so I spent lots of time scratching my head, turping out pieces, and making the cattle blush with my swearing. It's certainly a challenge, but one I look forward to besting in the future.

Joanne Hanson evaluating her piece. She ended up with three great plein-airs.

Joe Garcia putting the finishing touches on a great landscape.

Me, holding the brush badly, doing a 15-minute speed painting of a cow. I didn't even have time to set up an umbrella.

Our collected work from earlier in the day. From left to right it's Earnshaw, Earnshaw, Hanson, Hanson, me, Garcia.

The show on Saturday night was a lot of fun and I had a fantastic time talking with some great artists. Sunday morning we packed up and took the back-roads out of town where we came across miles and miles of incredible Aspen, changing to stunning, brilliant yellows.

This guy was surrounded by Pine Trees and so made a wonderful, yellow stand-out.

The variations of yellow were dramatic.

The back-roads drive didn't seem to last long enough as before too long we met up with a highway, then a freeway, and were on our way out of Colorado. Fortunately, we split the drive back to Arizona into two days so it didn't seem as long as the drive out.

   So now I'm back in the studio, catching up with work, and looking forward to the next trip. I'll also be announcing a new painting-a-day project with my mom, Adele Earnshaw, later today so keep your eye out within the next few days for some regular paintings being posted here again.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Leaving Tomorrow

I'm leaving early tomorrow morning on a five-day painting/reference-gathering trip with my mom, Adele Earnshaw, her best friend (and my best man at my wedding 12 years ago), Joe Garcia, and my aunt Joanne Hanson. We'll be spending quite a bit of time in the car but we should have at least a day and a half for plein-air and time to stop whenever we spot something that needs to be photographed. Our destination is the picturesque town of Westcliffe, CO where Adele and Joe will be showing at the Art for the Sangres.
It should be a great trip and I'm looking forward to having five days to devote to painting and gathering reference. I also plan on blogging our progress during the trip and, if I can sneak some shots past the guards of Garcia, Hanson, and Earnshaw, posting some pictures of our plein-airs.
Below is an in-progress shot of a 12 x 24 piece I've been working on lately. The foreground is still very much in-progress, but since the landscape is Westcliffe, CO, I figured this would be an opportune time to post it, even unfinished as it is. I should have time to put the last 5% into finishing it when I get back next week.

Time to finish packing my panels, brushes, paints and...umm...oh yeah, clothes! More to come later from the road...

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