10th International Art Competition

Fear Not Little Flock- Oil on Canvas mounted on board
24" x 32" by Greg Newbold

I am pleased to announce that my painting "Fear Not Little Flock" has been accepted into the 10th International Art Competition and will be on exhibit at the Church History Museum from September 29, 2015 until August 15, 2016. No word yet on purchase awards or awards of merit yet, so fingers are still crossed. Anyone interested in purchasing the painting can contact me directly but you won't be able to take it home until next fall! The Church Museum is currently undergoing extensive renovations and this exhibit will be one of the featured shows to kick off the grand reopening. I am excited to be part of it.

Recent Gallery Sales News

Siegfried Pyre- Grand Canyon, North Rim; 24" x 24" Oil on board by Greg Newbold

I found out yesterday that I have been having a really good week of sales at my newest gallery Evergreen Framing Co. & Gallery. All six of the paintings in this post have sold. Evergreen is a full service gallery and frame shop that along with paintings represents artists who create an eclectic selection of art pieces and handcrafted gifts. I am pleased to join their talented group of artists. It doesn't hurt that they are the closest gallery to my neighborhood either, making them effectively my "local" gallery.

Falling Shadows-Pulpit & Altar, Zion; 8" x 10" oil on panel by Greg Newbold

Third Wheel; 9" x 12" oil on panel, by Greg Newbold

Six of my paintings have sold in the last little while and I could not be more pleased with the news.
Sometimes sales are slow and then inexplicably, a whole bundle of collectors appear. I'll take it!

Freshly Mowed; 8" x 10" oil on panel, by Greg Newbold

Provo Bay; 8" x 10" Oil on panel, by Greg Newbold

Virgin River Ripple; 8" x 8"; Oil on panel, by Greg Newbold

I am slated to be part of group show at the gallery there in September, but with these recent sales, I will need to restock them before that, so I am going to be a busy boy! Thanks Evergreen for the shot in the arm. Now back to work.

Barnes & Noble Table Topper

I had to keep this project for Barnes & Noble under my hat for a while but I just got the green light to show it. I got the cal a few weeks back to work on a table display poster for kids to showcase books that have been turned into movies.

Rough concept sketches- the center sketch won out

The poster will roll out nationwide and may already be sitting atop displays in your very own local B&N bookstore! I'm really excited to have had the opportunity to work on this one.

Detail of the adventurous kids

Always fun to do a fat little pencil

The client loved it so much, I am currently working on two other projects for them. I will show more of those projects when they are final, but suffice it to say, I am pleased that my work seems to be a good fit for Barnes & Noble and hope to continue working with them for a long time to come!

Delivering the Truth

Delivering the Truth- Digital over graphite by Greg Newbold

Here is another book cover I just finished. The book is a mystery novel called Delivering the Truth and deals with a Quaker midwife in 1888 Massachusetts. She doles out advice, delivers babies and even solves mysteries in her spare time. I wanted to do something that gave the flavor of the era as well as a sense of mystery.

The client proposed an arrangement similar to this

The client proposed a shot of the character from behind that focused on the apron strings. I secured a great costume through my connections at the regional theater here in town, Pioneer Theater and had a great photo shoot that gave me multiple options. I created three possibilities of which I liked one the best.

I felt that a cropped shot of the figure holding the doctor bag was strongest and would be more to the point. By zooming in closer on the hands, and not showing the face, that cover option would add a sense of mystery as well.  Thankfully the art director and designer agreed and I got the go ahead. I was asked to add the town and landscape behind the figure in the distance which I had left out of the sketch.

I was not sure that my favorite option would be chosen, but it was simple to drop a few buildings in behind the figure. The monochromatic color scheme allows for the hands to be the true focus of the piece as well. I enjoyed painting them and tried to say a lot with the gesture of the hands. I think it gives a sense of confidence, gentleness and a bit of apprehension all at the same time. Perfect for the tone of the book. Thanks to Llewellyn Worldwide Publishers for the chance to work on this project..

High & Dry- 300 Plates 2nd Piece

High & Dry- 10" x 11"- Oil by Greg Newbold

Here is my second piece for this year's 300 Plates Show at Art Access Gallery. I described a bit about this show/fundraiser a bit ago when I posted November Pastures here. The show is coming up on Thursday night, May 14, 2015 and tickets are limited. Get tickets early to have a chance at tons of great work at reasonable rates and benefit a great cause at the same time. Click through to the 300 Plates show site here  and I hope I will run into a few of you at the show.

Cactus Hotel Project Finished

Saturday afternoon marked the final upload of the art for the Cactus Hotel project. Here are a few more of my favorite pieces from the project in their final state. All final images were created in Photoshop using digital brushes and handmade texture over the top of the graphite drawings I posted about earlier.

Enjoy!

Cactus Hotel Progress

Here's a little sneak peek of the final for the book I am working on called Cactus Hotel.  Just a little full page of a roadrunner having a little lizard snack in the shade of a big Saguaro. A few more of the drawings were posted earlier, if you would like to have a look. I have been a bit busy the last week or two working on this project as well as a little thing for Barnes & Noble, which I will post in a few weeks when it hits the stores. It's nice to be busy again with nice illustration projects. I have a lot on the plate, but will try to post more regularly as the work progresses. Thanks for having a look.