Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Man It's Cold!

February Chill - 8" x 10" Oil by Greg Newbold
Closing out 2014 with a small painting from my recent show. I painted this one on a February afternoon in the western Utah desert near Cedar Fort. It was about 40 degrees when I started the painting and dropped to about 30 before I stopped painting an hour and a half later. Needless to say, I finished it up in the studio. Well, It's about five degrees outside today. That's way colder than I enjoy and it puts a cramp on anything that involves venturing outside, even if it's just hopping in the car to drive somewhere. The walk from the parking lot to the arena last night to watch the Jazz beat the Timberwolves was downright arctic.
Shoveling the driveway? Brrr. Good thing tonight's festivities only involve games, snacks and movies inside. Whatever you are doing tonight, enjoy your loved ones and have a Happy New Year!

This painting is available at Alderwood Fine Art

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Christmas Surprise


I got an unexpected surprise a few days before Christmas. This lovely watercolor study by Arnold Friberg (unsigned, but most certainly by his hand) showed up in the mail from a friend. He had picked it up as a part of an auction lot that included three other Friberg studies. It's  a small (about 7"x7") but nicely detailed pencil and watercolor on paper. If you are unfamiliar with Friberg's work, have a look at this previous tribute that I posted at around the time of his passing in 2010.

This is the full lot of Friberg studies
The lot included other studies for possible Canadian Mountie works done for the Potlatch Paper company, likely in the 1950's. Friberg created dozens of full scale paintings on the Mountie theme from the mid 1940's to the mid 1960's. A quick web search turned up the final version for one of these studies complete with Friberg signature in the lower left.

Finished Friberg painting for the Potlatch paper company
As a lifetime admirer of Friberg's work, I was dumbfounded by the generosity of my friend, but he assured me that there was nobody he would rather see enjoy the piece. He knew I would love and care take this gem.

the back has some tape residue that needs attention.

As you can see, there are a few condition problems including slight paper loss tot the corner and some tape and tape residue on the back that I want to address. I am in the process of getting feedback on how best to proceed there. Then will come proper conservation, framing and finding the right spot to showcase it in my home or studio. It has become the highlight of my small but growing collection since it is the first I have acquired by a non-living artist. I could not be more pleased.

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Wolf Den Cutaway


Just a little sketch for a textbook project I am working on. This is the preliminary drawing that will be painted digitally next. I'm not sure how I became the "cutaway" specialist for this particular client (this is the third or fourth such project this year) but I am OK with that. It's a fun challenge to show what goes on inside the different animal's dens without making it look weird or cheesy. See the previous cutaway I posted earlier of the beaver lodge here.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Autumn Dusting Small Prints Now Available

Autumn Dusting - 60" x 36" oil on canvas by Greg Newbold

I just wanted to let everyone know that prints of my large painting Autumn Dusting are now available Just in time for Christmas!. They are approximately 13" x 8" on archival heavyweight paper and are priced at $25 apiece. Shipping to most domestic U.S. locations is $3-5. If you want one or more. Please contact me at the above email address. I accept PayPal and Square. Merry Christmas everyone!

Friday, December 5, 2014

Come to My Holiday Show and Sale


Next weekend I'll be doing a Christmas boutique show and sale of my artwork and other cool stuff. It's been a few years since I have done one of these things during the holiday season, so I figured it was to to do it again. I will have around 25 new oil paintings available and priced for holiday buying. A few of the smaller ones are shown below


Above are a few of the 8x10 oil paintings available at $525. All are framed and ready to hang. Your pick at bargain If you have been waiting around for the right opportunity to pick up one of my paintings, now is the time. The friends and family discount is in effect during this event and I have items for all ages and budgets.



 I will have signed children's books (The Barnyard Night Before Christmas, The Touch of the Master's Hand and maybe limited quantities of a couple of my long out of print books that will be available. All books will be $15  and can be personalized at the event. I can ship books to you for $18 domestic.



I will also have on hand my ever popular all occasion art cards (see above), this time with all new assortments of my more recent paintings. If you liked the cards last time, this will be right down your alley. The note cards come in sets of twelve with envelopes for $15. If you want me to ship them to you, the price is $18 domestic delivery.


I will also have two different six foot tall growth chart posters available, perfect for charting how tall those little ones are getting All the posters shown will be available for $10 each. I will have various other limited edition art prints available as well as a big old pile of unframed work from the archives that will be priced to move as well.

For my out of town friends, don't feel left out. If you want to buy any of the paintings or items you see here, Please contact me and I can make arrangements to deliver them to your door. I can take credit card or Pay Pal payments now. No cyber store yet, but stay tuned. In the meantime I am happy to fulfill phone or email orders.

Come celebrate the season with us and pick up the gift of art for a loved one (or yourself)! It's always a fun time to enjoy a cookie and some art while hanging out with friends and loved ones. Hope you can make it!

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Upcoming: Lost In Fantasy Show

There Be Danger Below- Digital by Greg Newbold

A while back I was asked to curate an exhibition at Pioneer Theater Company's Loge Gallery in Salt Lake City, UT. The show will run concurrently with the theater's production of Peter and the Starcatcher, which I had the privilege of creating the poster for. The theme for the Show is Lost In Fantasy and I have invited several of my friends who work in this genre to participate in the show. I dabble in fantastical art from time to time, so I get to have my work exhibited alongside some great company.

The Lost In Fantasy show will hang from December 4 through December 23, 2014 at the Pioneer Theater Loge Gallery located at 300 South  1400 East on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City. The gallery is open to the public during regular business hours. Most of the art in the show will be available for purchase, so go and pick yourself out a great Christmas present or simply enjoy the fantastic art.

Here are the show bios of who will be exhibiting:

Angel of Flight- by Howard Lyon
Howard Lyon


Howard began his career studying illustration. For 15 years he has worked in the video game industry and as a freelance illustrator. His work can be found in products from Dungeons and Dragon’s books, World of Warcraft cards, Magic the Gathering and Star Wars.  He has studied art in Italy, France and the Grand Central Academy in New York. He has combined these experiences to expand his subject matter to create inspirational pieces in the style of some of his favorite old masters: William Bouguereau, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, and John William Waterhouse. Howard is also a frequent contributor to the Muddy Colors blog.

Rush - by Ron Spears - 36" x 24" Oil
Ron Spears

Along with being an award winning Art Director for Wizards of the Coast, Ron Spears created hundreds of illustrations for Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, Harry Potter Card Game, Upper Deck, Blizzard Entertainment and others. In 2014 he created the art for Nevada’s 150 Years of Statehood, Forever Stamp.

Ron has also illustrated book covers, magazine articles and the children’s book  “Dad Are You The Tooth Fairy?” written by actor Jason Alexander.

As a Lead Illustrator for International Game Technology, and an Art Director for Sierra On-Line, Ron has created countless illustrations for dozens of video games.

In January 2015, Ron will begin his new position as Chair of the Illustration and Sequential Art departments at Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia.

He received his BA from The University of Puget Sound, and his MFA in Illustration, from The University of Hartford.

The Guardian - by Kimberly Kinkaid

Kimberly Kinkaid
I’m a freelance artist who has returned to art after a 30 year hiatus to raise my family. I’ve studied with various teachers, including Jeff Hein and Hala Wittwer. I’ve attended the Illustrators Master Class in Amherst, MA several times as well as Rebecca Guay’s online course, SmART School. My work has been in Imagine FX and Spectrum and Society of Illustrators 50, West. In 2013, I was selected as one of Muddy Color’s Rising Stars for Spectrum Fantasy Art II. I will be included in Women of Wonder, a book featuring the women working in the fantasy art industry.

The poet Emily Dickinson wrote, “I dwell in Possibility”. That’s what I love about what I do and why fantasy art entices me. Anything that can be envisioned or imagined is possible. I love the challenge of visually expressing my personal voice when telling a story through illustration. It’s the quieter, insightful moment of storytelling that lures me…the intake of breath, the pensive gaze, or the moment of wonder. I prefer to bring the viewer up close to the subject’s face, using the subtle nuances of human expression to convey the intended emotion.

Kokopelli - by Val Paul Taylor
Val Paul Taylor

“My art is for people who like pictures.”
If you sit down and talk with Val Paul Taylor I guarantee you will open a door to a conversation rich with wonderful stories.
I say wonderful carefully and deliberately.  While Val’s spontaneous stories are a tapestry woven with threads of life, emotion, purpose, fantasy, aspiration, and nobility, wonder, humor and surprise—they also create a vivid picture and hang it for you to treasure in the gallery of your mind.
His art is exactly the same, a visual expression of what Val is himself. Val credits much of his artistic intuition to being a “hybrid.”  He’s been a Graphic Designer, Art Director, Creative Director, Illustrator, and Painter—and to that you could add Successful Businessman and Consultant. Also Teacher, Father, Grandparent, Counselor, Youth Leader, Fisherman and a lot of other things that make him a keen observer and highly effective problem solver.
Val’s art skills were honed by his studies at Columbus College of Art and Design, and Brigham Young University where he first earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. After a lengthy working career in the Pacific Northwest in a series of prestigious publishing, design and illustration roles, including Raindog Creative, his own highly rated studio, he returned to The University of Hartford Art School in Hartford Connecticut for a Master of Fine Arts in Illustration.
Val has a personal pantheon of heroes as diverse as the Renaissance painters of Northern Europe, Mickey Mouse’s dad, his kindergarten teacher Mrs. Beck, and modern influences from political cartoonists like Jeff McNelly, to artist W. Heath Robinson, creator of Rube Goldberg-like mechanical contraptions, to animated film pioneer, Winsor Mackay and Modernist painter Wassily Kandinsky.
Which only means that when you approach Val’s work, in the immortal words of Monte Python, you should probably be prepared for “something completely different.”

Grabbing Hands - by Chad Grohman
Chad Grohman

For the past 15 years, I have worked primarily as an illustrator, but also as a painter, a designer, and a teacher of illustration. I am a father, an artist, a distance runner, and most recently, a novice Buddhist priest.

I hold a BFA in Illustration from Rochester Institute of Technology, 1994, and an MFA in Illustration from University of Hartford, 2010. As a painter, my primary medium is gouache on hot press watercolor board. As a freelance illustrator, I work in gouache, as well as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. As an industry professional, my work is centered in the advertising and editorial genres. I am currently employed by Fisher Price for design and illustration and am a tattoo apprentice in Buffalo, NY.

The Battle - by Christopher Thornock

Christopher Thornock

I received my BFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California and my MFA from Brigham Young University. I normally paint works based on visual perception but fantasy illustration is my secret hobby. Shhhh, don’t tell anybody. I live in Utah with my wife, children and pesky mini-schnauzer. When I am not sitting at my easel I am teaching as an adjunct professor at BYU. 

And last but certainly not least, I am pleased that my friend, mentor, fantasy art legend and all around great guy James Christensen has consented to add his work to the show also.


The Listener- By James Christensen - Courtesy of The Greenwich Workshop
James Christensen

Inspired by the world's myths, fables and tales of imagination, James C. Christensen wants his work to add up to more than a beautiful - if sometimes "curious" looking work of art. Having taught art professionally for over 20 years, he likes to think of the world as his classroom. His hope is that through whatever he creates-be it a porcelain, fine art print or book-he can convey a message, inspiration or a simple laugh. He believes that teaching people to use their imagination helps us find solutions to sooth the stresses of everyday life-or get a little lift to help us keep going. In short: all things are possible when you share Christensen's philosophy that "Believing is Seeing."

Christensen was born in 1942 and raised in Culver City, California. He studied painting at Brigham Young University and, for a while, the University of California at Los Angeles before finishing his formal education at BYU. Since then, he has had one-man shows in the West and the Northeast and his work is prized in collections throughout the U.S. and Europe.

Christensen has also won all the professional art honors the World Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention can bestow, as well as multiple Chesley Awards from the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists. Christensen has been designated as a “Utah Art Treasure,” one of Utah’s Top 100 Artists by the Springville Museum of Art and received the Governor’s Award for Art awarded by the Utah Arts Council recognizing the significance of Christensen’s artwork to Utah’s cultural communities. He was inducted into the U.S. Art magazine’s Hall of Fame and is an Honored Alumnus at Brigham Young University for his contributions to fine art and education.

And of course, me:

Angel of Inspiration- by Greg Newbold mixed media/oil 18" x 24"
Greg Newbold

Greg has been drawing and painting the world around him since the age of three and has spent over twenty years creating artwork for such notable clients as Simon & Schuster, Random House, Heinz Foods, Sony Pictures, Fedex/Kinkos, Harper Collins, Smuckers, Kleenex, BoysLife Magazine The New York Times and American Express. Greg’s illustrations have received honors from Society of Illustrators, Society of Illustrators-Los Angeles Communication Arts, Spectrum and 3x3, among others.

His Illustrated children’s books include The Touch of the Master’s Hand, Winter Lullaby, Spring Song and The Barnyard Night before Christmas.

Greg’s influences include regionalist painters such as Maynard Dixon, and Grant Wood and LeConte Stewart as well as Golden Age illustrators N.C. Wyeth and Maxfield Parrish and J.C Leyendecker. He also has a passion for oil painting and in 2013 his painting Beckoning the Peace of Wild Things was purchased by the Springville Museum of Art for its permanent collection. You may find his gallery works at David Ericson Fine Art and Alderwood Fine Art in Salt Lake City.

Greg earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at BYU where he also has taught and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Hartford.

If you get a chance to be in Salt Lake City this next month, please come check out the show. It has been fun putting it together and I am grateful for the generous participation of so many great artists and friends.