Merry Christmas

and Happy New Year.

Look for more posts and more updates on art making and art education in 2010.

Thank you for reading.

2010 Foot in the Door

Foot in the Door is an open exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for all Minnesota artists.

Works of art must be in any visual media that can fit intoe a 12 inch square box. A/V submissions will be considered.

Drop off dates for works are Thursday, February 4 through Sunday February 7, 2010.

http://www.artsmia.org/maep

Here is the Web site for exhibition in 2000. It only comes around once every 10 years.

http://artsmia.org/foot-in-the-door/

Van Gogh's Letters

Just heard about this Web site today, vangoghletters.org.

The site design is fantastic. The letter viewer allows one to switch from the original text in Dutch or a translation. There are scholar's notes that can be viewed if one chooses. In another pane, on the opposite side of the screen from the text of the letter, once can choose to view a scan of the letter or referenced works of art.

I plan to spend some time each week reading the letters. There are over 900 of them. I will write here when I find something interesting to write about.

Latest progess on red chair portrait of Carmen

This is not the best digital image of this painting. It was taken in low light and I had to push it a bit in Photoshop to come close to the colors of the original. I will post better images soon.

The next steps I will take will be to heighten the shadows with glazes on both the figure and the chair. I really want to push the back of the chair into space with some deep shadow behind the figure. Carmen was wearing glasses when she sat for this. Those will be the last detail I add.

Be on the look out for a new feature on treden.com. I will soon be adding a gallery of works in progress. You will be able to follow several of my recent paintings from the initial drawing through to the varnished (completed) piece.

Latest red chair portrait - June 16, 2009

Brian Setzer Album Cover Concept

Brian Setzer's record label held a contest to find the designer for the cover of his new album. This is my submission. Unfortunately, the contest only gave you ten days to come up with the design and I missed the deadline. I sent in my entry anyways. I haven't heard anything from Surf Dog Records. I don't expect to.

If I had more time I spend it on the guitar. I am going to work on it and post the updated version here.

Recent work: Red Chair Portrait, Donna

Recent work in progress

Inspired by a photo of the daughter of a friend in her christening gown, this painting builds upon my interest in 19th century American painters of the Ash Can School. It will also reminiscent of the work of Minnesota painter I admire greatly, Malcolm "Skip" Lipke.

New website: Dutch Lake farm Guest House

I recently completed the web design for the site for the Dutch Lake Farm Guest House. I used some techniques that are new to me. Using CSS I was able to create some interesting roll-overs without using Java. The result is an elegant light weight site that meets the needs of my clients.

Check it out.

http://www.dutchlakeguesthouse.com


Fine art fans: more paintings are coming soon. I have been in the studio working. Not as often as I would like but I am behind in posting pictures of the works in progress. Check back soon.

Yesterday's progress

I took some vacation time this week to work in the studio. Here are the two portraits I am working on as of yesterday afternoon.

Updated Red Chair Portrait

Another Red Chair Painting

Here is another portrait I am working on. This one started with the two hour session from life but as it is a commission piece I will finish the painting from photographs. I will post additional pictures as it progresses. I hope to have the painting completed by the end of July with delivery in August.

Red Chair Portrait No. 1

I posted earlier about wanting to loosen up and that I am planning an exercise to work quickly on small portraits painted from life. Here is the first one. This was painted in 2 hours and is approximately 18 x 24. I would like to have more of the face finished so the sitter is coming back for another session.

Changing - our 48 Hour Film Project film

48 Hour Film Festival

I am part of a team, The Other End Productions, that submitted an entry in this year's 48 Hour Film contest. Our film "Changing" will be screened on Monday, June 23 at the Riverview Theater.

We had a blast making the film this year and we finished on time.

I will post more about the film after the screening.

Self Portrait

This is a self-portrait in oil that I have been working on for some time. I started it in my old studio space. I am still trying to loosen up. The technique, the way the paint is handled, is close to what I am trying to accomplish. I am happy with the right side of the face (your left). The background appears lighter on the right in the photo. This is largely due to the lighting I used to photograph the work. In the painting the background is more uniform.

The hair really bothers me in the image but not so much when I am at the easel. I am not sure what the camera sees that I don't. Photographing your work is a good way to get a second pair of eyes. I also use a mirror for this. When I look at my works in progress in a mirror I can see where the drawing went wrong.

This piece is about 18 x 24.

Recent painting: Portrait study of Greg

Lately, I am working on several things at once in the studio. This is a study of the face from my portrait of Greg in the Up Against the Wall series. This image is in oil painted on canvas paper and is approximately 9 x 12.

In the study I am trying to work out the features and technique I will use in the final painting. I want the brush strokes to show. The likeness is a starting to show but it is not quite there yet. My hope is that the familiarity with the image that the study will give me will free up my hand in the final piece.

Watch this space for more on this series and this painting.

Debra Blair's work in exhibition in Colorado

My friend Debra Blair, a painter who works primarily in encaustic, will have work in an upcoming show at Shy Rabbit Contemporary Arts in Colorado.

Any readers close to Pagosa Springs, go and check it out.

Visit the site to learn more. Hopefully they will soon have pictures of the installation online.

Shy Rabbit Contemporary Arts

Recent illustration: Giraffe

This is illustration of a giraffe was done for a colleague's birthday card. It is approximately 6 x 9 inches. It is a combination of media including graphite, watercolor, and colored pencil.

Painting experiments

I am working on developing some exercises or experiments that will help me loosen up. I tend to get focused on details and this tightens up my technique. This tightening results in surface that is too smooth and an absence of brush strokes.

Here is one that I have come up with. Readers please feel free to comment with exercises that have worked for you.

Paint directly from life within a specific time limit, such as 45 minutes. When the time is up the painting is complete.

I am planning on trying this with seated models. I think most of my friends could sit for 45 minutes. Especially if cocktails were involved. Working from a still life would work too.

I plan to set up the palette in advance by mixing some of the colors that I will need. For an exercise like this the panel (painting surface) will need to be relatively small 18 x 24.