Happy Halloween!

Every year we are invited to a themed Halloween party that is put on by friends. Some years result in elaborate costumes that include props. As we were digging through our decorations this year, I found the "Wilson" that I had made for a "haunted island" theme party a few years back.

I'm not sure why I thought Castaway was a scary movie except that it is. From the plane crash (still one of the scariest crash scenes ever) to the nightmare of being alone on a deserted island to fend for your self against the elements, hunger and creeping insanity is about as scary anything I can imagine.

Plus it included one of the most interesting supporting actors ever played by a beat up volleyball. The one sided conversations that Tom Hanks' character has with Wilson gave him such a personality that I was literally sad when Wilson floated away.

I had my Fedex box with the angel all scuffed up too, which has long since been recycled, but I held on to Wilson. I struggled to age the plastic I found when cutting open what I thought was a leather ball and the red handprint was a little too red, but in retrospect, I still like it. Have a safe Halloween everyone, especially my East Coast friends recovering from Hurricane Sandy!

Painting Parley's Canyon

Mouth of Parley's Canyon- 13.75 x 9.25 Oil by Greg Newbold

Recently I went out painting with my friend David Meikle. We chose a spot on Parley's Trail just off Tanner Park near the mouth of Parley's Canyon on the east bench of Salt Lake City.

Every time I go out I search for an objective in the scene I choose to paint. My goal for this piece was to capture the drama of the deep shadows on the north facing slopes of Grandeur Peak where the canyon opens up. Here is a little progression of what I painted that morning and how it finished up after I did a little tickling in the studio.

The clouds were ever changing and I could not capture quite what I wanted (as you can see from the first picture compared to the third) so I repainted the sky in the studio. I also wanted to tone down the warmth in the far slopes a bit to create more distance. I am really happy with how it turned out. After it is dry, it will be for sale at my gallery Williams Fine Art.

Young Angus

Young Angus - 9" x 12", Oil by Greg Newbold

I just finished this little piece that I started a few weeks back when I painted live at the Williams Fine Art summer barbecue. Click the link above to see what it looked like after the first session. I will now be sending it off to Williams to find a nice home somewhere. Good luck little cows!

3 Hog Night - Update

A while back I created a T-shirt design for Lake Country Neighbors, a community group in Emory Texas for their annual food bank fundraiser. I sent off the design, got copies of the T-shirts back and then waited. For months. The shirts were done so far in advance that I almost forgot about it except that the shirt made it into my son's favorite shirt rotation. I kept looking at the date , realizing the event had not happened yet until last week when I realized that it was THE week. Well. I got this note from Pam Bowden who coordinated the event (at least my involvement in it). I asked how things went and here are excerpts from her reply.

my pigs as cutouts on stage at the event

It was a success!  We made over $8300 for our food pantries.  In a small town like Emory, that was quite a feat!  It's more than any pig roast we've done to date... Your t-shirts were everywhere and we made Styrofoam pigs for the stage that looked like the pigs on the shirt.  As I said before, this is our favorite pig to date.

Lake Country Ladies rockin' the pig shirts

Also, it contained this bit of bad news:

Our fund raiser could not have come at a better time.  The weekend before our event, someone broke in to the fenced area where the Good Samaritan's trailer was stored and stole it along with a lot of other items.  This is the trailer we use to go to the East Texas Food Bank and pick up the food for our local pantry.  This was the second time it has been stolen in less than a year.  It seems the harder we try to make things better around here, there's always someone ready to take it one step backward.  Needless to say, some of this money will go to a chip to put in the trailer.  At least next time we'll be able to find it and hopefully prosecute some thieves.

Really? Stealing the trailer from the Good Samaritan? I hope they catch these goons. Regardless, it is always nice to be able to lend a little help to such a worthy cause. I was happy to have contributed to the success of this event and the possibility is open to have a piggie shirt sequel next year.  HAMlet anyone?

Anyone wanting to donate or see how else they might support the Lake Country Neighbors, a worthy cause in east Texas- click here

Boys' Life Commemorative Print Finished

In the Shadow of the Tooth- 24" x 30" Oil by Greg Newbold

I Just finished up this painting and submitted it for final approval to Boys' Life Magazine. If you have been following my blog, you know have worked with Boys' Life for many years, but this one is a little bit special.  I am really excited for this project since it is the first time that the magazine will produce a fine art commemorative print using one of my paintings. We are still working out the details, but based on previous conversations, there is a particular group of dedicated scouters that will be the recipients of this print. I posted some of the conceptual sketches previously on the blog here, so I thought you might want to see how it turned out. It is a little intimidating to think that this painting might one day hang alongside all the beautiful scouting pictures that Norman Rockwell painted, but I am honored nonetheless.

Creative Illustration Back In Print!

This week Titan Books released a reprinted facsimile edition of Andrew Loomis' Creative Illustration. Loomis' books have been popular for generations of artists and Creative Illustration is no exception. It has arguably been the most anticipated of Titan's four Loomis reprints and was long overdue.

Original volumes of Loomis' illustration masterwork have become difficult and expensive to come by since I got my copy for $35 some twenty years ago ( but Amazon's current price for the new hardcover edition is below what I paid then!). For years, copies have been selling on the Internet from anywhere between $100 for a well worn copy to $300 for one in prime condition.

I have featured excerpts from Creative illustration many times here on my blog and still hold it up as the standard by which all instructional illustration books should be judged. Loomis effectively breaks down the process of creating a picture into logical chapters dealing with concepts such as line, tone and color.

Even after over twenty years as a freelance artist, I find Loomis' insights into picture creation valid and instructional. If I were to recommend just a single volume to someone on the subject of creating illustration, this book would have to be on top of the list.

Much of the original version was printed in black and white, so I am excited to get a new copy of Creative Illustration that is reported to include a whole new full color section on working with color.

Order your copy of Creative Illustration by Andrew Loomis right here:

Previous Posts for Creative Illustration on Life Needs Art:
Loomis on Toning a Color Palette
Composition Based on Numbers and Letters
Creating Visual Balance
Eye Path Reverse Analysis