Practice is Fun

This morning I went to a coffee shop, rocked out to High on Fire, and did a little practice drawing of my Grandpa from a photograph.I need to practice more actually, and I think the reason that I am not in a good routine is because I didn't have a cool coffee shop to go to.

Well... all that has changed now that I discovered Perk Coffee in Eugene. I think this place will help me to become a better artist.




This is my new favorite coffee shop!

Work in Progress: The Changeling

Yo Gangsters,

Today I delivered 11 paintings to the WAVE gallery for my show on Friday. It should be a really fun time, and I am trying not to think too much about it because the thought makes me excited and queasy.

Also...and to keep myself distracted...

I am getting ready to start a new painting tomorrow, and I thought that I would show you my preliminary drawings.

Drawing for "The Changeling"

This painting will the the first in a series about Elves and Fairies that I have planned for for late 2012 or early 2013. The painting will be 11 X 14, and will act as small support piece that will add to the impact of the larger conceptual pieces that I have planned....or at least that's what I am hoping anyway.

In my next series, I am planing on doing around ten small paintings, in addition to ten big ones. I never really paint small, so this should be pretty fun, and will probably only take me a few days.

This was drawn with graphite and white charcoal on tinted paper.

Thumbnails

The Antidote

Hey,

Here is a photo of the painting that I just finished.

"The Antidote" 18 X 24 Oil on Canvas 2011

Check this out, as I was walking home from the frame shop after getting a frame for this thing, I saw a real life wizard waiting at the bus stop. He wore a cloak, a wizard hat, had necklaces of beads and bones, and he even had a staff and a beard. Cool huh? I wish I had my camera with me.

Elves and Fairies are Metal

Hi Everyone,

I have finished the last piece for my upcoming show. I am pretty pleased with the results and I will post some photos of the painting tomorrow.

It is only 11 days away from the opening of my solo show at the WAVE gallery, and I am thrilled. After hundreds of hours of planning, drawing, and painting,  I think I have produced a pretty neat body of work and I can't wait share it my friends and the community. The show is called, "Death Potion" and the work represents the last few years of painting, loosely tied around themes of drinking, depression, and recession, juxtaposed with fairy tale imagery.

The album is insanely good, and served for a lot of inspiration when
creating my last body of work. Early Man will melt your face.

More than anything, the last series of paintings has been an exploration in discovering my personal voice as an artist, refining my art-making process, and learning how to become a better painter. I am still a beginner. I have only been painting seriously for two and a half years, and strangely, the only thing I am certain of in life is that I am supposed to paint every day.

THE HIDDEN FOLK 


Once you finish a painting, or even a series of paintings, you can't just sit back and relax. An artists work is never done. It's time to start a new painting. It's time to start a new series.

The show will be called "The Hidden Folk" and will, for the most part, be a series of semi-autobiographical paintings unified around folklore imagery. I believe the paintings will be set in the world of fairies, but will include modern day people who have stumbled into this world just like Alice, Dorthy, and all the others. I think coming up with my own interpretation of fairies, gnomes, elves, dwarfs, and goblins will be really fun. Don't expect any tiny half-naked nymphs with butterfly wings, or any other traditional representations of these creatures. Things are going to be a little more creepy than that.

This book is fucking rad!

"The Troll Book", shown above, was one of my favorites as a kid, and it is one of the few possessions I have kept from early childhood. It is essentially a beautifully illustrated educational text dealing with the lives of trolls and also describes other beings from Scandinavian folklore. After all these years, I still love this book, and some of the concepts with serve as a platform for the Hidden Folk series.

Arthur Rackham, Goblin Market

Arthur Rackham, is one of my favorite painters and is a pretty big inspiration. I love how he balances realism of the girl with almost cartoon-like characters.

The Labyrinth = Awesome!

Pan's Labyrinth = Metal!

And now I am off to paint!

Show Posters

Here are a couple of posters for the two shows that I have coming up in the next few weeks.

Wizards and Warlocks Vol. 1: The Shadowmarch Series by Tad Williams

Hello friends,

This is the first installment of a weekly, "what I am listening" to post. I am proudly addicted to fantasy novels and heavy metal, and I thought it would be nice to get the word out about those authors and bands that help get me thought the long hours of painting. I love audio books, and I have a subscription to audible.com. If you like audio books too, then check out audible.com, you won't be sorry.

This week:

The Shadowmarch series, by Tad Williams

There are four books in this series and I am at the very end of the last book. It has been a pretty fun ride, filled with awesome monsters, memorable characters, and great story.

And because I am to lazy to write my own summary, here is the plot summary taken from wikipedia:

"The first Marchlands kingdom, Southmarch (commonly called "Shadowmarch"), lies directly on the edge of the mysterious Shadowline, a shroud of endless mist that marks the entrance to the realm of the fairy-folk, the Qar. Crossing the Shadowline is said to drive any human mad, but, as far as anyone knows, the line has not moved any further south for centuries. Now, inexplicably, it has begun to creep slowly but surely deeper into the lands of Southmarch, bringing an unknown menace with it.

Coupled together with this threat is the dissension and endless political maneuvering of many of Southmarch's nobles. The king of Southmarch has been captured and is imprisoned in a distant land, and when the prince regent is murdered, the burden of rule falls to the inexperienced princess, Briony, and her moody brother, Barrick. Faced with invasion, betrayal, and conniving nobles seeking to take advantage, it is up to them alone to hold Southmarch together." -wikipedia

One thing the summary forgot to mention was that the fairy-folk in this series are actually brutal demons lead by the "Porcupine Queen", named after the black spikes that cover her armor. Rad! Anyway, I highly recommend this series and I think the title "Shadowmarch", would make a super heavy band name. Next week I will talk about metal, and maybe post some videos, in my other bi-weekly series, called "Into the Pit".

Work In Progress

Hello everyone,

I am currently working hard to finish an 18 X 24 painting called the "Antidote" for an up coming show. Today, I thought it would be fun to post some photos of the work-in-progress.

As you can see, I've got quite a ways to go.

A detail of the radish-head guy.

Here is the original sketch.

This next photo is a really wacky part of my process. In order to transfer my sketch to the canvas, I scan the drawing into Photoshop, enlarge it to the size of my canvas, then chop it into small pieces--my printer only prints 8.5 X 11-- which I then print out and reassemble. The end result is a pretty dumb looking poster. With a piece of graphite transfer paper between the canvas and my printed out drawing, I trace over all the key lines and bingo! my canvas is all ready to paint. By-the-way my printer prints everything in beautiful rose color when it starts to run out of ink.

...and here I am hard at work.

Events!

I am pleased to announce that I will be part of two upcoming shows. The first of which is a solo show at the gallery formerly know as the Voyeur, in Eugene's wonderfully weird Whiteaker neighborhood on the last Friday art walk. The gallery has been taken over by my talented friend Sabrina, who I might add is also an excellent painter, illustrator, and co-owner of Poppy and Moe.  The official name of the gallery will be determined this week. I have about eight spooky paintings ready to go, and if all goes according to plan, I will also have prints. Expect surf music and possibly Halloween costumes.

When: Friday, October 28th
Where: 547 Blair Blvd, Eugene Oregon

The next show that I will be a part of is on the following Friday at at the Good Gallery, in Portland's historic Mississippi District. I will be part of a group show entitled, "What the Undertaker Saw". It should also be a spooky fun time and it will be great to see what the other artists came up with.

When: Friday, November 4th 7-10PM
Where: 4325 N Mississippi Ave, Portland Oregon

My Submission to Good Gallery's "What the Undertaker Saw" group sho

Look forward to seeing you there.