Dark Matter

This painting has been hanging around my studio since 2009 and I finally got around to finishing it up this summer.  The subject matter is very different for me, but it shows my love of the pulp fiction cover art from the 1930s and 40s.

This image shows the early stages of the painting

Detail shot

Final Work:  24x33 inches, Oil on Panel

Portrait of Bonnie

Painting a spouse can be a scary endeavor.  Bonnie is not only my biggest supporter, but also my harshest critic (which has benefited my work greatly over our 10 years of marriage).  So trying to capture her likeness, nuanced expression and personality was daunting...that's why this has taken me two years to complete.

This painting was inspired by a visit to Cà d'Zan, a beautiful mansion in Sarasota, FL where John Ringling (from "Ringling Bros" fame) lived with his wife, Mable, in the early part of the 20th century.  There was a great portrait of Mable in their vast living room and I realized that my own bride should be immortalized in paint. 

Here are some process shots and the finished piece which also features our cat, Penelope.

The Seventh Knight

The past few years I have filled my "creative time" with various design projects, comic books, class preparations, teaching, illustrations and work initiated by a second Master's degree.  Needless to say, my painting hours are few and far between.  It is still my first love, creatively speaking, so the time I am able to paint is golden.

This past fall (2014) I was commissioned to paint a "knight" for a central Mississippi company.  I've enjoyed working with this collector in the past and enjoyed discussing the potential symbolism, color and tone of the commission.  I started by collecting reference material from around the studio (I do have several, small knight statuettes laying around) and acquired a book showing armor & weapons throughout history.

After doing the preliminary work, I started sketching and decided on the following composition:

Using the sketch, I drew out the figure onto the 36x48 inch canvas and began blocking it in with oil paint and large brushes.

Below is the finished product after the detail work with smaller brushes.  I ultimately decided to go with gold flourishes based off of 16th century "parade armor" from Belgium.