Devil Ducky #2 (sold)

Devil Ducky #2, oil on canvas, 5" X 7" (approximate), 2007

sold

Alstromeria, as per Kathryn (sold)

Alstromeria, as per Kathryn, oil on canvas, 5" X 7", 2007
(sold)

I can't for the life of me remember what this flower is called. They smell okay, but they aren't too fragrant.

(update 10/29/07: I changed the picture out after I made a couple modifications to the image)
(update 11/7/07: Kathryn Law figured out what flower this is, and very kindly let me know.)

On inspiration and influence

I know I that I should be saving instead of spending (I'm getting ready to take the plunge and paint full time), but every now and again you come across a really good deal...

I have many sources of inspiration and influence. Perhaps the greatest of these are the artists I was exposed to in New York while I was at Parsons School of Design (and the Met): Hopper, Degas, Bonnard, Vuillard, Klimt, Schiele, Sargent, Silverman, Kelley...( to name a few)

I have since found many others (who I'll write a bit more later), especially with the advent of the internet era. Which has become, for me, the biggest museum/gallery in the world.

But I digress.

I started this post mentioning that I spent a little money recently. Thanks to a post by Karin Jurick, I found out that Margaret Dyer, an artist who has been particularly inspiring to me for the last ten years or so, is blogging. And not only is she blogging, she's started posting pieces up on Ebay.

And so...

I now have 3 new pieces of art in the house:

1, 2, 3

Laquered Miso Bowl (sold)

Laquered Miso Bowl, oil on masonite, 5" X 7", 2007

sold

I envisioned this as a companion piece to Chipped Sugar Bowl...
I like the composition-- especially when framed, so I'll probably do a few more (with different bowls).

10000 Maniacs

I had an interesting e-mail exchange with the author of sixtyminuteartist in regards to this post:
Becoming a Full-Time Artist-What are the odds?
Jerry pointed out that having just .00005 of the population of the US buy your paintings, you'd get about about 15,000 sales-- enough to make a living. :)

Of course, that means that you have to paint at least 15,000 paintings and sell them-- which is no small feat in and of itself.

So I'll set an easier(!) goal for my lifetime:

I will sell 10,000 paintings.

I'm not going to count past sales. This is moving forwards. Remember: it's good to have goals!
Goals need to be S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, results based, and time bound)-- I think this fits the bill nicely. 200 paintings a year for the next 50 years (assuming an 85 year life span) is achievable. Hard, but achievable.

I'll put a counter on this blog with the next sale-- and soon I'll let you in on a few of my other goals for the next year!

Cal Para La Cerveza (sold)

Cal Para La Cerveza, oil on canvas, 4" X 4", 2007

sold

Hopefully I haven't mangled the Spanish too terribly...

Here's a detail:

The Price is Right.

I'm just not really sure what to make of this.

I guess... more power to the artist (Banksy).

And the buyers are idiots.

I do believe that it's 'art' (that question was asked and answered a looooong time ago), I'm just not sure it's so great that it's worth that much money.

I wonder how much of that is sour grapes on my part? Probably a healthy amount.

International District (sold)

International District, oil on canvas, 5" X 7" (approximate), 2007

SOLD

I love the ID here in Seattle-- great architecture, wonderful color. And good food to boot...

Bike Rack (sold)

Bike Rack, oil on canvas, 7" X 5" (approximate), 2007

sold

The red bike (and yellow handlebars) created a perfect warm color arrangement with the fallen leaves. I expect that I'll do this as a larger piece someday, and I wanted to capture it while the feeling was fresh for later...

Medicinal Aloe (sold)

Medicinal Aloe, oil on masonite, 5" X 5", 2007

sold

This was posed in the corner of my studio, on an overcast day here in Seattle. The light was even, which made a nice change from what normally happens to me when I paint under daylight conditions--- I chase the light.

Needs More Salt (sold)

Needs More Salt, oil on canvas, 5" X 7", 2007

sold

I'm not 100% convinced that the color here is the best I can get, but it's not so far off that I wouldn't post it (there's more blue in the shadow in the actual piece than what I see here on the monitor). Perhaps I'll re shoot it when it dries a bit more.

In the meantime, I probably ought to refill the salt shaker...

Carmen Reading

Carmen Reading, oil on canvas, 5" X 7" (approximate), 2007

$100 USD

e-mail me for purchase information

Winged Victory (sold)

Winged Victory, oil on canvas, 4" X 4" (approximate), 2007

sold

This maple seed pair struck my fancy because the pair was more vertical than I remembered these seed pairs being (which is more like this).

I was also inspired after seeing Duane Keiser tackle the same subject.

Palette Knife

Palette Knife, oil on canvas, 7" X 5" (approximate), 2007

$100 USD

e-mail me for purchase information

I was setting down to paint something else when this palette knife in the sun caught my eye. The light was cool and fleeting, and I started to chase the light a bit before I called it done.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (sold)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, oil on masonite, 5" X 7", 2007

sold

Sometimes it's hard to find painting subjects that inspire you that aren't also being covered perfectly well by other artists. Pastry for example. There's lots of phenomenal pastry paintings out there. Here are a few examples to name a few:

Justin Clayton

Duane Keiser

Shawn Kenney

Will I ever paint a piece of pastry? Sure, probably at some point.

Just about everything you think to paint has been done by someone else, but you do try to be original.

So I thought "hey, what about books? I haven't seen a lot of paintings of books..." and I had a perfect tome picked out: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. So what happens? I immediately come across Michael Naples. Who of course has been painting books...

Here's mine anyway.

Carmen at the Window (private collection)

Carmen at the Window, oil on canvas, 5" X 7" (approximate), 2007

(private collection)

Carmen has amazing long red hair that frames her face beautifully. I've painted her before (and I'm sure I will again!), and she's a great model (and friend).

Tacoma House

Tacoma House, oil on canvas, 5" X 7" (approximate), 2007

$100 USD

e-mail me for purchase information

Every now and again you have to shake things up. I've been doing single objects as still life for awhile (a couple of months), and I felt the need to explore a little bit of a cityscape. I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more of these pop up here and again.

Paper Airplane#2 (sold)

Paper Airplane#2, oil on masonite, 7"x 5," 2007
(sold)

I'm the art director for the game studio that makes Microsoft Flight Simulator (among other titles), and had to find a way to honor a little bit of that history. So I set on the idea of working paper airplanes into my still life exercises. You'll probably see more crop up as things progress...
Next up: Trains? ;)

Mariposa (sold)

Mariposa, oil on masonite, 5" X 5", 2007

sold

Blue Bottle

Blue Bottle, oil on canvas, 5"x 7", 2007

$100 USD
e-mail me for purchase information

Clementine (sold)

Clementine, 4" X 4", oil on canvas, 2007
sold

Winged Lever Style (sold)

Winged Lever Style, Oil on canvas. 7"X5", 2007

sold

Chipped Sugar Bowl (sold)

Chipped Sugar Bowl, oil on masonite, 5"x 7", 2007

sold

Have Another Bite (sold)

The last of my birthday cake!
Have Another Bite, oil on canvas, 7"x 5"(approximate), 2007

SOLD

Photos of paintings in the home #2

I frame pieces nearly as soon as I am able, and I put them around the house so I can live them a bit. This helps me to process the things I learned from each pieces and often leads to me dragging a painting back into the studio to work on it some more.

Sake Vase #3 (sold)

Sake Vase #3, oil on masonite, 5"x 7," 2007
(sold)

I love strong complementary color schemes, and the detail on the vase is a good challenge of observation and patience in painting.

Yellow Bath Salts (sold)

Yellow Bath Salts, oil on canvas, 5"x 7"(approximate), 2007

sold

Duane Keiser made a really lovely image of a cut glass vase with flowers in it. I thought of that image when I bought this little vase of bath salts, knowing that it was going to be a challenge. I'll no doubt paint it again, as it was as hard as I thought!

Photos of paintings in the home #1

I always like to see pictures of how people display the paintings they buy.
Intrepid Hal Bryan, off on what may have seemed like a Grand Tour in the old sense, came home to find the following on his wall:

I hope that he enjoyed his home coming.

Hal is a pilot extraordinaire, both of pixels and pistons.

Enjoy, Hal and Muffy!

Bust of Kwan Yin #2 (private collection)

Bust of Kwan Yin #2, oil on masonite, 7"x 5," 2007

(private collection)
This small alabaster bust of Kwan Yin is fascinating to me. The soft white features take on aspects of whatever its surroundings are-- in this case a green background and cool natural light.

Fiskar's Bypass Pruners

Fiskar's Bypass Pruners, oil on canvas, 7"x 5," 2007
$100 USD
e-mail me for purchase information

I set out to clip a rose from the garden to paint, and ended up painting the pruner's instead.