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).