Hello my friends. How are you? I am doing much better now that I am home and able to focus on painting again. I have been working on getting things to run so that all I have to do is paint and meet the fans of my work. I am hiring people to make all my prints for me from now on, and all the other things that we will have at the shows and on the website. This month, February, I am going to be focusing on finishing up a lot of loose ends, including business agreements, and just a lot of little things I haven't been able to get done yet.
Here is the latest painting in the under painting stage. I have changed up how I am doing that. Now I am under painting in oil with a equal mixture of Ultramarine Blue, Indian Yellow, and Alizarin Crimson. I really love the look and the warmth of the mixture. I learned this from Catherine Jones, one of my favorite artist. This is something I have been experimenting with that really seems to working well to. Instead of using just linseed oil as my medium for the under painting, I am using a mixture of 2/3rds of Liquid and 1/3rd Linseed oil. This way, whatever I am painting will be dry by the next morning. The linseed oil makes the Liquid nicer to work with. I don't use this once I start adding color. At that point I use just Linseed oil. I don't want the paint to dry so quick.
A lot of artist under paint with acrylic paints and then paint over that with oils. I was taught to do that as well. But the acrylic paint is very flat looking when it dries, and now that there is a good medium to make oil dry overnight, it just makes sense to use oils for the under painting. It gives the painting a much richer quality visually.
One the happy news front I was able to get a better and nicer drawing table than the one I started with last year . When I started working traditionally again, I had to buy everything all over again. I had a very nice drawing table, but that was stolen when I first moved to Michigan along with most of my art equipment. Thanks Scott. So to get going I had to buy a cheap one, about 100 bucks, to start with. It worked, but it was small and very wobbly for a full grown man to work on. But I am thankful for having it though, now I have given it to my future step daughter and started a little studio for her. I even bought her a few hundred dollars worth of supplies to get her started. She is only 11 and showing some serious talent. Here is a picture of that table and here studio area. She is very excited about it, and I am to.
My new table is make of glass and is very sturdy. I love the look of it and the feel. To an artist, or least me, that type of thing is important. When I bought my easel, I did buy a very good one, because I knew I needed that more at the time. Now I am catching up and it is a wonderful feeling, especially knowing my art is paying for all of this, even the new Abney Park and Buck Cherry cd's I am listening to right now. Big Smile. ( I learned that Big Smile from buddy Tilly, lol)
My goals for this year is to buy a second easel, because i want to start working on some gallery type of paintings as well as my Dark Illustrations. I want to expand my horizons as the saying goes. I also need a treadmill and a nice SUV for traveling in to all the places in North America I plan to visit. All I have to do is keep painting and I know I will be able to afford these things. I also need to buy some racks and things to help my displays at the shows.
I have been getting some more press this week. Liquid Imagination is running a new interview with me, and this is one of my favorites I got to talk about some things I haven't been able to talk about before, except in Main Street Magazine and Prinkipria and also CNN (Canada News Network) did another write up on me that you can see here and it features the Interview I did for my friends at Horrornet a few months ago.
My friends, I need to get busy painting and from what I hear we are supposed to be getting a blizzard tonight and tomorrow. They are saying we could get up to 16 inches of snow. Wow. Hopefully it will be fun to watch. Don't forget to click on the add on the right side down by the map so the shriner kids will get money to help their hospital. Peace and Blessings my dear friends. "May the Darkness Comfort you"
Here is the latest painting in the under painting stage. I have changed up how I am doing that. Now I am under painting in oil with a equal mixture of Ultramarine Blue, Indian Yellow, and Alizarin Crimson. I really love the look and the warmth of the mixture. I learned this from Catherine Jones, one of my favorite artist. This is something I have been experimenting with that really seems to working well to. Instead of using just linseed oil as my medium for the under painting, I am using a mixture of 2/3rds of Liquid and 1/3rd Linseed oil. This way, whatever I am painting will be dry by the next morning. The linseed oil makes the Liquid nicer to work with. I don't use this once I start adding color. At that point I use just Linseed oil. I don't want the paint to dry so quick.
A lot of artist under paint with acrylic paints and then paint over that with oils. I was taught to do that as well. But the acrylic paint is very flat looking when it dries, and now that there is a good medium to make oil dry overnight, it just makes sense to use oils for the under painting. It gives the painting a much richer quality visually.
One the happy news front I was able to get a better and nicer drawing table than the one I started with last year . When I started working traditionally again, I had to buy everything all over again. I had a very nice drawing table, but that was stolen when I first moved to Michigan along with most of my art equipment. Thanks Scott. So to get going I had to buy a cheap one, about 100 bucks, to start with. It worked, but it was small and very wobbly for a full grown man to work on. But I am thankful for having it though, now I have given it to my future step daughter and started a little studio for her. I even bought her a few hundred dollars worth of supplies to get her started. She is only 11 and showing some serious talent. Here is a picture of that table and here studio area. She is very excited about it, and I am to.
My new table is make of glass and is very sturdy. I love the look of it and the feel. To an artist, or least me, that type of thing is important. When I bought my easel, I did buy a very good one, because I knew I needed that more at the time. Now I am catching up and it is a wonderful feeling, especially knowing my art is paying for all of this, even the new Abney Park and Buck Cherry cd's I am listening to right now. Big Smile. ( I learned that Big Smile from buddy Tilly, lol)
My goals for this year is to buy a second easel, because i want to start working on some gallery type of paintings as well as my Dark Illustrations. I want to expand my horizons as the saying goes. I also need a treadmill and a nice SUV for traveling in to all the places in North America I plan to visit. All I have to do is keep painting and I know I will be able to afford these things. I also need to buy some racks and things to help my displays at the shows.
I have been getting some more press this week. Liquid Imagination is running a new interview with me, and this is one of my favorites I got to talk about some things I haven't been able to talk about before, except in Main Street Magazine and Prinkipria and also CNN (Canada News Network) did another write up on me that you can see here and it features the Interview I did for my friends at Horrornet a few months ago.
My friends, I need to get busy painting and from what I hear we are supposed to be getting a blizzard tonight and tomorrow. They are saying we could get up to 16 inches of snow. Wow. Hopefully it will be fun to watch. Don't forget to click on the add on the right side down by the map so the shriner kids will get money to help their hospital. Peace and Blessings my dear friends. "May the Darkness Comfort you"
