Vrock commission in progress pt. 2

I'm around 90-95% finished with this piece. I took some rough photos to share. Above the stalagmites are pretty much done. I just have to adjust one or two areas. Same with the photo below. I'm looking forward to completing this and getting a photo taken of the entire piece to post in the near future.

Spectrum 19 & The Art of Happiness

After a few years of having pieces rejected, it was nice to find out for the first time that this piece was accepted into Spectrum 19 this year. It will be published in November and I'm looking forward to it. Thanks to Cathy & Arnie Fenner, the spectrum jury and congratulations to everyone who got in this year!

For those who did not make the list, stay positive, keep submitting and continue creating. See it as a stepping stone to something brighter. Just because your work wasn't accepted doesn't mean you're not good enough but remember to work hard at being better. Oak trees don't grow in a day. The most important thing is to be happy with what you're doing. I play the guitar, sing and write songs because it makes me happy, it feels right. When I have the time, I carve bows, make arrows and shoot at targets because I enjoy it. I practice my marksmanship skills with guns because it's an art form I love! I cook and drink because it's an art form I respect and enjoy. Those who know me know that I like to take photos of food and drinks :)

I draw and paint because.....I'm happy doing it. Might as well be doing something else if you're not happy creating artwork. We all have our off days but you get my point. Ahhh.....The Art of Happiness, something everyone should practice.

Vrock commission in progress pt. 1

Quick photo of the final drawing ready for paint. Still have to finish painting the stone on the frame. I've been thinking about this piece for the last couple years and finally came up with a decent sketch a couple months back. It took some time to get all my reference together so I painted the boarder and worked on the drawing in stages. The archer will eventually have tattoos on his face at the end of the painting process.

The swift and deadly warrior armed with a bow and arrow is defending himself from vicious Vrocks. With an unbelievable rate of fire the Vrocks are no match. In the dark cavern, a blue stone mounted to his bow illuminates his way through orange, jagged terrain.

Stay tuned for the final painting.

Vrock maquette reference

My Vrock reference maquette out of the oven and ready for paint. Finally getting around to posting some photos and info.
A close up shot of a section of my current commission in progress on canvas.
After the acrylic paint, I varnished some areas and took some photos for reference and for the blog.
The Vrock body. It is picture hanging wire twisted together and foil underneath the clay. I came up with the idea of leaving the joints exposed so I could maneuver the limbs. It's around a foot tall. There's more than one Vrock in the painting so instead of constructing a few small models, I built one that could move into different positions. I also made separate hands and claws. Crude but it'll serve its purpose. The scene takes place in a small cavern so I built extremely small stalactites and stalagmites out of clay as well. I'm finishing up the drawing and plan to post a photo early next week. Long process but it'll help the painting in the end.

frame in progress

This is my next commission and I've been working on painting a frame around the drawing. It has been a spontaneous process. I was going to paint the bottom corners silver but after painting the aged stone, I decided a copper look would be better. I still have to work out the center stone and tweak it all out when the piece is more complete. Since the drawing is unfinished due to absent reference material, I attacked the frame. I'll post an image of the entire drawing in the future!

"Midnight's Mist" 15" x 20" Acrylic/Oil

My finished commission. I tried a different approach with the acrylic under painting. Usually I'm pretty loose and aggressive but I took a more patient path blending out the acrylic with a stiff brush creating smoother transitions in some areas. Something I've never tried but I'm happy with the outcome.

Spectrum 19 submissions

Here are my entries for Spectrum 19 that I sent out in December. I'm hoping at least one will be accepted this year. You can see these images in better detail on my website.