Leon Gallery Painting 2 Progress

photos, initial sketches, digital grisaille, reference photos, and the first three steps of this painting in aerosol, titled "DreamWalker". This piece began with light over shadow, on a toned ground, but I managed to omit that image, sorry!. I have always been fascinated by insects, and always have a connection to them of sorts, so with all the ref files of insects I have personally photographed up close, and the many instances of dreamscapes filled with insects this piece somewhat painted itself. I will post the final painting, and with frame soon, but for now another slight teaser. Thanks for stopping through and look for more tomorrow. 

Jeet Kune Do Concepts

is a new concept in the works, comprised of multiple refs of the true inspiration and master Bruce Lee, also the thumbnails and roughs. This will get a few more layers, and I might work more into the background, not final on that yet. What I do know is it's a lot of fun to draw the oblique-winged man, and to start thinking color for this piece that will be for an upcoming group show and benefit. Look for more on that show and this paddle painting, thanks for stopping in.  

Washington Park Paint-Out Nocturne

was yesterday, and I was accompanied by the wonderful and amazing Karma Leigh and Javier Flores. Here are some action shots courtesy of Karma and a couple from me before my batteries died out, so you cant quite see the scene I was aiming to capture, but that is why I have provided you with the final painting. I made the slight mistake of working on a barely primed canvas, and for anyone that knows what this does its like trying to throw rocks in mud. Basically the paint has zero movement until there is a decent amount of build-up, and for on location nocturnes, this doesn't happen quickly. However, I worked through and aimed to block in layers quickly. I used the Zorn-Anders palette again, and this time I turquoise shifted it, with pthalo turquoise. The desired effect was that the murky foreground water with the silhouette reflection, was a interesting color mixing challenge, and I think for my first nocturne this year one that I am satisfied with. It got pretty cold down by waterside so we painted for about 2 hours, maybe a half hour less, biding the occasional mosquito bite. Nocturnes are such great learning exercises with the crowding of the values and the bright man-made lights, it is important to stick to your original idea of what you want to achieve. My goal was overall silhouette with light glow, and murky foreground water. Look for more from Denver Plein air paint-out and personal locale setups, and visit both the Plein Air Facebook page, and GTMD.org for more info. 

"Midnight glow at waters edge" Oil on canvas , 9 x 12

Buffalo Bill Grave/Lookout Mountain Paintout

was Saturday, and my good friend Dan Castillo and I took to the hills for a late afternoon setup. Here are some progress shots of both of our paintings in progress. I have been intrigued by the Zorn-Anders palette and decided to give it a go yesterday, as did Dan. In the final stages I introduced Cad Yellow Pale for some foreground pop, but I felt I was going to have to slightly shift the palette in the final stages. It was a great day to paint and the weather was perfect. I enjoy the look of the finish, and am excited to continue to explore this palette in future setups. Look for more from Denver Plein Air soon, and check GTMD.org for any extra info on paint-outs and registration. Thanks for stopping in. 

Diggin in the Crates

of the art piles, and had to post these shots of some previous work, circa 2010, which I haven't previewed before. Well at least the GFellas in aerosol, and the detail shots of "Majestic Light", both pieces are in private collections and I sometimes don't post or talk about those kinds of works, more so these days I suppose. It made me realize it was the second time I had painted DeNiro in aerosol, more on that in a later post. I was first studying the brushstrokes in this studio piece in oil. Then I was keying on the chiaroscuro and the brushstrokes of these paintings. I enjoy the look back especially with a show coming up with new works in both aerosol and oil, "Of the Melancholy and the Macabre" at Leon. Looking through archival work always helps me to think about certain techniques and practices that made things successful, and to see the many things I hope I have built from. More tomorrow, thanks for stopping by.

Indy Anniversary Works Framed and For Sale

from the 10th Anniversary show this past weekend. Many thanks to Max Kaufmann for the Curator magic and the entire Indy crew, a pleasure to have known and worked with you all for so long! Psyched for the new Tshirt design, and even more psyched to start to show teasers of my Skate Deck/T-Shirt Design for 303 Boards and Indy set for November..stay tuned on that....I may get to another post today but I am not making any promises. Get to Indy Ink, Broadway and Bayaud to purchase these works, the second piece is by the amazing Karma Leigh, buy her too there are really nice and affordable works there, don't wait. 

"Shiva the Destroyer" Watercolor on Rives 6"x9" (11 x 14 Framed) $75.00

Blown Covers Global Warming Submissions

was the latest submission theme for Blown Covers after switching to a monthly format. The basis of which is simple, deadlines stay the same and in-line with real world time limits, less than a week to create the concepts, but the run down of the winners is set in a teaser format. I think all of the artists who submit are fond of this decision to keep the deadlines based on Nyer editorial schedule. Each day of the month is allotted to each one of the runner-ups and winning submissions until the contest runs again. there were some great runners-up and winners this month, and I had a good time w my concepts as well, had a feeling the thermometer play was too direct, but only one other artist played it, so I suppose it did have some effect. Overall the first submission was a fun one, I enjoyed the idea of the nuclear hot sun and its closest planets are cowering from the toxic earth. I was pleased to have worked two final watercolors for my submissions, which I am aiming to maintain doing. Head on over to the links to see all the submissions and the comments from all the great artists, and look for next months Autumn submissions soon. Thanks for stopping in and more tomorrow!

Global Warming Winner and Runners-Up

97 Global Warming Images

Red Rocks Paint Out

was yesterday, and for the first time in a long time, I worked en plein air at the world renowned Red Rocks ampitheatre. The reason I mention the lapse in painting outdoors at Red Rocks is because the last time I painted in oil there was sophomore year in college! I remember those pieces and the critiques all too well, and the difficulty with painting organic shapes from observation. I still have two of the paintings in storage at home if I remember correctly. So today's paint-out excursion was not only enlightening, but one that I am glad I was able to participate in, and to create a painting, even if a small one from observation. I am also pretty thrilled that the DPAAF organizers put some mountain locales on the bill because it is a big change to leap from organic shapes to manmade ones, but I enjoy the challenge. So without further babbling, here are some progress shots (last two photos), and final shots from the field, I want to say working time was just over two hours, and for once I actually attempted to paint the ampitheatre rocks, which I am please with the turnout and the atmospheric perspective. Thanks to Alicia for the photos of work in progress, and she has some cool ones on Instagram as well, but I don't have a fancy phone so not sure how to link those here. Apologize for the lapse in posts, working space and such is in limbo, so bear with me. Thanks for stopping in, and check GTMD.org for show dates and more.  

OTMAM Painting 2

sneak preview of another new piece in aerosol for the show, and the final show flyer and lineup. Please re-post and share as you want, extra promo for all these amazing artists is always appreciated. I will be posting the full piece and another WIP for the show closer to the show dates, so stay tuned and keep an eye out.

Of the Melancholy and the Macabre

at Leon Gallery, Sep 8th, featuring a wonderful lineup of artists in the concept, sculptural, and digital fantasy genres. Honored to be a part of this show, here is the flyer and artist listing so please re-share and send to any interested parties and folks you may know who would be interested in viewing the work. Did I mention that the curator, Chris Guarino has had his work in Spectrum and beyond, and is an amazing artist with many mediums, most recently it seems, life casting! Look for more info and work previews for this show,and in the meantime please spread the word. More posts tomorrow from Denver Plein Air.

Shiva Concept Watercolor

is a small watercolor painting of one of the concepts from the previous post. As I mentioned I was most likely going to continue working these ideas, and here is one that I put some layers on, and am pleased with the finish. I really wanted to keep it in the traditional color range, but obviously I didn't design them to be classic, but a more modern take on the Hindu gods. The washes went smoothly and I used complimentary color to get the blueish, blue-green skin tones to pop more. Also very pleased with the cobra's look and feel,   the black and white version is the threshold in Photoshop to show if my dark and light pattern is showing up as I hoped. Look for more info on this piece and its final destination in future posts, and I thank you much for stopping through.

"Shiva the Destroyer" Watercolor on Rives 6" x 9"