Aunt Mame's Sheep- In Progress

This is a portrait of the sheep that I helped take care of for many years as a younger person. As I outlined in an earlier post, We had a family homestead which my Great Aunt Mame owned and where we had countless parties. On this land, my Aunt kept animals in order to maintain an agricultural zoning.

 I did a previous painting of these sheep in winter time and the owners of that painting, my Aunt and Uncle have now commissioned me to paint one in springtime. Here it is in progress which I figure as somewhere between halfway and two thirds finished. I am liking it so far. I'll post the final version when I the last strokes go on.

Nice Trade

Man and Woman Overlooking Their Vine- 7.25" x  7.25" Oil on panel by J. Kirk Richards

Artist friend J. Kirk Richards and wife Amy graciously hosted a little get together of fellow artists last weekend at his home and studio. We spent the afternoon enjoying their hospitality, good food and sharing what we have been working on. There was also an art swap. Since Kirk is best known for his spiritual and Christian themed art, he suggested that the subject for trade might be a portrait of Christ.

Cristo Redentor- 6" x 8" oil and gold leaf by Greg Newbold

I took on the challenge and did this small 6" x 8" rendition of Jesus based on a little sketch I had done a couple of years back. Kirk was excited to make the trade and I ended up with this beautiful little gem from Kirk. He said it had won an award at an art show in Virginia and I'm happy he was willing to part with it.

With the custom frame

I think I got the better end of the deal, but both sides were thrilled with the swap.At out house, we joke that if I wasn't an artist, we wouldn't have any art on the walls, but I'd like to change that. I have a couple of pictures in my collection, but I am looking forward to engineering trades with some of my other artist friends.

Uncle Sam Van WInkle- Final Sketch

 

This is the final approved sketch for my project for Liberty magazine. As I mentioned in my thumbnail post earlier, this article is about the faded convictions and slumbering values of Protestant America. I will now be taking this to finish in full color, but I have a few days before it is due, so today I am working on a private oil painting commission.

A Cristmas Carol- Final Version

 

Last post I showed the rough version for my poster of "A Christmas Carol - The Musical" for Pioneer Theatre Company's upcoming season. I needed to add some space at the top to accommodate the title and a little bleed all the way around. I also decided that losing the chain around the brim of the hat made for a simpler statement. Everyone knows what A Christmas Carol is all about anyway, so I let it go. Other than that, it pretty much the way I envisioned it turning out. Let me know what you think.

A Christmas Carol - Sketch

 

I am working on a poster for Pioneer Theatre Company to promote their production of  A Christmas Carol - The Musical. I was not aware that there was a musical version of the famous Charles Dickens tale so I was immediately intrigued. There is a version of this production on DVD that stars Kelsey Grammer as Scrooge and, Jane Krakowski, Jesse L Martin, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jason Alexander. I was impressed with the lively musical numbers (by Disney's Little Mermaid song smith Alan Menken (music) and lyricist Lynn Ahrens) and it's faithfulness to the story. I submitted several sketch versions to the client and this was the one we agreed on. The challenge was to give a feeling that this is a musical production rather than the normal dramatic version, so I added musical notations to the swirls of snow to achieve this effect.  I'll post the finished version when I wrap it all up.

Painting In Zion - A Spectacular Sight

I spent two days painting in Zion National Park this week with two artist friends. I had not been there for years and had forgotten what a spectacular sight the formations make at all times of day.

We painted hard on both days making three oil studies each day. Some were more successful than others and yet none of them are quite where I would call them finished. We spent around an hour and a half to two hours on each painting.

 I like how the sky and cliff face merge with my painting in this picture

Another (the first attempt of the trip after several months of not painting outdoors) was disappointing and I won't be showing it until it gets a major overhaul. I went for the big shapes and tried to capture the color and value. The details will have to wait as there was just too much to paint in limited time.

 

These are a couple of the views we painted complete with flaws. The light moved pretty quickly and it was tough to get a statement down before the light had completely changed. I tried to stick with my initial reactions but it is tough to not "chase the light". The second day we painted two views of the Virgin River as it rushed through the canyon. I'll show them in the next post.

From A Tiny Kernel

Red Barn- Acrylic on canvas 9" x 12"

Each spring we grow a garden. It was something I admit not liking all that much as a youth. Mostly because I felt like my dad made us do it. The endless sweaty hours of planting and weeding and watering were torture. When it came time to pick the beans, the rows stretched on forever. Imagine my surprise that when I had my own house, I found myself actually wanting to grow a garden. I turned to my dad, the expert gardener, for advice. Never mind that I had been working the family garden plot for years, this time it was different. I was planting MY garden and I wanted to do it right. The garden plot became a thing of pride that I looked forward to each year. I showed it off to my dad and felt the satisfaction of our hard labor. Not to mention the incomparable freshness and taste of home grown veggies. Dad is gone now and my garden expert is now my older brother. He paid more attention than I did I guess and he helps me a lot. As for the actual gardening, I hear the same grumbles and excuses from my kids that I so willingly piled upon my dad. "It's too hot, it's too hard, I hate gardening!" But the kernel is planted and someday, when they have homes of their own, I just know that I'll get that phone call. The one where the voice on the other end asks "Dad, can you help me plant a garden?"