Moon Dance

Hi Everyone! The other day I was working on an abstract background for the beginning of what I thought was going to be a new wildlife painting. But for some reason I just couldn't connect with any animal for the piece. Thankfully the idea of doing a children's illustration in this cold wax medium dawned on me. The results I think are just so much fun! Working in cold wax is highly enjoyable and also very time consuming. the background part is quick but doing detailed work is not. However the results have so much character that it just may be worth the extra effort. Can't wait to do another one! This piece is 16" x 20" - cold wax and oils on panel and it's called Moon Dance. I hope you're having a great day and thanks for looking!

Painting Finished!

Well I finally put my butt in the chair and finished this painting! I do have some glazing to do once it dries enough but for the most part it is done. I had a lot of fun doing this painting, all the little details were so much fun, I hope you think so too. I'm calling it "Song of the Spirit Fish". Oil on paper on masonite.

New Beginnings

Yesterday was a big adventure for me. I was invited to talk to 150 third graders at one of our local elementary schools.What I had intended to do was talk for a few minutes about animals and the endangered species and then move on to my artwork. The time flew by and I ended up speaking much more about the animals than intended. I don't think the kids minded too much and they had a ton of questions afterward which was great because it meant that they were listening and interested. Afterwards I got to work with a small group of young artists on a painting of the endangered Black Footed Ferret. I think they all enjoyed themselves, plus they got to have lunch in the art room so there was an extra bonus! I'll have photos to post of all that fun soon.

On the personal art side of things I've been pretty busy. I've been doing more sculpture and have really found my groove with painting in cold wax and oils. I didn't know about this medium until a few months ago but I am really loving it. Working in wax feels natural, I suppose that's partly due to my years as a wax tech in a couple of bronze foundries. Plus it's more tactile and physical which I enjoy immensely. Here are a few of the wax paintings and a couple pics of recent sculptures too.

Great Horned Owl

I've been doing more sculpting lately and just finished up with my latest piece. It's a Great Horned Owl bust which stands about 8 inches tall and is probably about 6 inches in diameter. It's a pretty hefty sculpt and I'm really pleased with the results. I'm feeling out my style of sculpting which appears to be more angular in nature. I do like clean lines.

New Work

We're a month into the new year and things are moving forward. Lately I've been working on some children's illustrations aside from my wildlife art. My first piece is titled "Captain Blackbeard Chickadee". It's 8" x 8" and was partially painted digitally, I then printed it out onto a cold pressed watercolor paper, sealed it and painted with acrylics. I have to admit that it turned out beautifully and was so much fun from beginning to end.

The second piece is not as far along but is a much more complex piece. It's 13" x 19" and I did virtually the same method as with the Blackbeard piece. I completed the original drawing, took it into Photoshop and adjusted the line art to a nice reddish brown then set it as a multiply layer. On another layer I added in all of my values in the same brown tone. Once I was satisfied with it I took a high quality Strathmore drawing paper (can't remember just what kind) and I cut it to size. Then I printed my layout at about 55% onto the paper. After it dried it was then ready to adhere to a sheet of masonite with acrylic matte medium. So now that stage is done and the whole thing is drying. Tomorrow I'll trim the bit of excess paper and begin painting! Right now the working title is "Little Satyr and the Spirit Fish" but I'm not sure that's a keeper.

Sweaty Creatives

As an artist and someone who spends a lot of time alone I've discovered a few things about myself. One of these things is that I have an incredible imagination. You might be thinking, well that's awesome you're an artist. But what I mean is that my mind can take me on journeys that I didn't even want to go on and they have nothing to do with creating art and yet they have everything to do with being an artist.

Creatives are some of the most self deprecating people and as Brené Brown puts it, we're constantly putting ourselves in the arena. It's difficult to put your work that you spend so many hours, days and weeks on out in front of others. You want people to like/love what you do but sometimes they don't respond as well as you'd like. Sometimes there are critics. Sometimes you want certain people that you know and respect to respond to your work and all you hear are crickets. For me, this is when my imagination goes into overdrive and can lead me into the darkest of places. But realizing you have absolutely no control over whether or not they like what you have created is a great starting point to letting go of the need for their approval. Just do your work. Period. Whatever it is, do the best you can and don't worry about what anyone thinks, good or bad. The people who need what you do will find you. So work from your heart, put it out there and leave it. Now go back and do it again. This is all that you are required to do. So get your butt in the arena and create something!




99UCONF 01A BROWN v05-720p from 99U on Vimeo.

Clouded Leopard

Yesterday I finished this small 8" x 10" commission of a clouded leopard. This was a really fun piece to do and I can see another clouded leopard in my future. More than likely at a much larger size. These leopards like far too many animals, are on the verge of extinction and this painting will be auctioned to raise funds for these amazing cats.