Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone is having a good time. We exchanged gifts in my family last night and are getting back together for dinner later today. We have to work around everyones schedule as some had to go here, and some there, but it all worked out. The main thing today is that the "Christmas Commission" as I called it is on my website for all to see. I can finally talk about it freely as I didn't want to give the surprise away. "Disney Magic" was created from three different photos that I had to turn into one painting that [...]

As you may recall, I recently made a post on how Winter Can Be A Challenge for me as far as getting my framing done for my paintings. I'm happy to say thanks to a nice snow free Sunday in the "fiftys". I was able to get the frame for my "Christmas Commission" done. I was able to give it several coats of dark blue paint that will match the painting well. As far as the painting itself, I'm right on track to deliver it to the collector next week I'm just working my way down the painting doing all my final [...]

As you know I'm currently working on a commission that is going to be a Christmas present for the collectors girlfriend. Normally in the past I'm just concerned about doing my own body of work on a regular basis and meeting the demands of the holidays such as decorating, card writing, and gift buying. Now I'm doing artwork with a deadline, posting three times a week in my blog, and putting out my newsletter every other week. What I've found this month is the anxiety of the holidays are reduced greatly if you do take some of your time and create a plan. I think the lack [...]

The drying time of your artwork is important in more ways then one. Not only does the painting need to be dry before it gets displayed or given to a collector but it needs to dry properly at different stages as well. Most of the time when I start a painting I lay everything out in very thin paint that will dry in a day or two. This way on the following day I can go right in and refine things or make adjustments. I have learned for the most part to paint in moderate to thin layers all the way to completion of the [...]

One of the hallmarks of creative people is the anxiety faced and how one handles, or sometimes doesn't handle it. As an artist you need to become aware of the anxiety that you face every step of the way. When I start a painting I'm fortunate that I have little to no anxiety. I'm looking at how I'm about to start by making a drawing, putting in a few guidelines with paint, or maybe a big wash of color. The "sky is the limit" as the canvas doesn't have much on it for my "inner critic" to begin. I think that the little anxiety [...]

One of the things that I look forward to when I come home from my day job is to take a nice bath with some reading material. I found that you can read one or more chapters of a book a day and finish that book in a week or so. Right now I'm reading Dr. Eric Maisel's "Coaching The Artist Within" and find it to be a must read for all artists so I would suggest getting a copy when you get a chance. One of the chapters is called "Creating In The Middle Of Things" where he talks about how artists can't [...]

Last month I posted on my blog about how people are now looking for the best value for their money that they do spend with the economy being the way it is. I'm now happy to see that from what my fellow artists are posting on their blogs, they agree. Most artists are deciding to stay positive and focus on improving their product to make it the best value for someone that they can. We realize that people are watching their pennys and want to make sure they don't have any "buyers remorse" after making a purchase. I myself when I talk to [...]

As many of you know, I frame my own paintings and paint them to match the painting. In the warm weather months this is never a problem as the daylight is longer and the heat outside aids in the drying of the paint. In the winter months this can be a challenge. First off you can forget weekdays as it is dark by the time I come home from my day job. This leaves me with Saturday and Sunday only to work with. The other concern is the outside temperature as spray paint is recommended for sixty degrees and above so cold snowy days [...]