Show in May

I just found out that my portrait of Ethan has been accepted into the Academic Artists Association 61st Annual National Exhibition. The show is on from Sunday, May 1st through Saturday, May 14th at the Karen Sprague Cultural Center, 1000 State Street, Springfield, MA. A reception will be held Sunday, May 1st from 1-4pm.

I am currently doing final touches on a portrait commission, and then have a new figurative piece already started that I hope to complete by the end of the month.

Winter Blues II

Above is my latest piece, Winter Blues II, 11x14, oil on panel (I previously did a colored pencil self portrait titled Winter Blues). I have started planning my next piece, which is to be colored pencil, but it will have to be put on hold for a bit while I work on portrait commissions.

Now this makes me smile!

My colored pencil drawing Smile has been awarded Honorable Mention in the Artist's Magazine All-Media Competition! Images of the winning artwork in all of the media categories is now online: http://artistsnetwork.com/2011-online-competition

Acrobats and Apples

Above are scans of my two latest paintings, Acrobats and Apples, and Lady in Blue (a much better image than my previous photograph!)

Winter Distractions

This photo is not me getting ready to go skiing, but getting ready to go shoveling. Again. But I have been planning a new still life, and my canvas is prepped and ready to go for Monday. In the meantime, below is a photo - actual size, on my screen - of a mini (3x3!) drawing I did of a local farm. This drawing, along with other drawings by members of the New England Chapter of the Colored Pencil Society of America (CPSA), will be part of a collage that will be shown at the Annual CPSA Convention in Dallas, TX this July. I did this on sanded paper, so some of the details are rough... but it definitely has the overall feel of Peter's Farm in the summer. And it made me forget about the snow for a little while.

New Work - Lady in Blue

Here is the final piece, Lady in Blue. I was able to get the canvas re-stretched without disturbing the partly dry paint, but next time will stretch the canvas first!

Oil Painting - Step by Step

I started a new oil painting just before the holidays, and am nearing completion. I decided to photograph my progress, as I was trying a new "technique" with this piece. Previously I had painted directly onto a white canvas, but I find it's much easier to judge values when starting with a toned canvas. I had also tried a grisaille technique, establishing the values in grey tones prior to adding glazes of color. This didn't prove to be a successful technique for me, as I tend to let the paint dry and then repaint entire sections. So with this piece, I just decided to go with my instincts. In the first photo below, I just loosely established the basic shapes to get the proportions right, and wasn't too concerned with details.

In the second photo below, I have begun to lay down some color, mostly darks and mid-tones.

In the third step, I have continued to lay down color, adding more lights and contrast in general.

In the fourth step, I have begun to tighten up the details, except that I have purposefully left out the baby's breath flowers in order to allow the background to dry first.

In the final photo, I have made a few adjustments and added the flowers. The only problem is that the canvas is loose, so I will have to carefully re-stretch it before photographing the final piece.