Pocket Knife

Pocket Knife  |  8 x 8  |  Oil on canvas

I'm currently working on two shows for 2014. I'll be sharing the billing with Karen at Tree's Place Gallery the last week in July. A few weeks later I'm participating in a still life show at C.K. Contemporary Gallery in San Francisco which is scheduled for the first week in September. Needless to say, I may have I've bitten off a bit more than I can chew. Since my timeframe is so short I took Karen's advice and decided to do a few small pieces to flesh out my part in these events. Working small like this really took me back to my old ebay days. For years this was my stock-in-trade. So far I've done two of these smaller paintings. I'll post the second in a couple of days. It has been fun, but I'm really looking forward to a new larger painting that I can sink my teeth into. Two of those are on the drawing board now. 

Crayola

Crayola  |  24 x 24  |  Oil on canvas

Karen discovered this box of vintage Crayola crayons on ebay a while back and I've wanted to paint it ever since. I asked her permission to use it, and it was granted. The box says 64 different, brilliant colors, but I think the total of this box is somewhere in the fifties. I guess some got lost or just used up over the years. I'll be shipping this painting up to Cape Cod for a show Karen and I are sharing at Tree's Place Gallery this July. However, it was so fun to paint that I think I'll do another for a still life show I'm participating in at C. K. Contemporary in San Francisco this September. 

Chronology: a new book

I officially quit my day job in 2004 to paint full-time, so I thought it would be a good idea to put together a book highlighting some of my favorite pieces created during the last ten years. My archiving process is not perfect, so I'm sure on a few of these paintings I've written either the date, title or dimensions incorrectly, but I'm pretty confident that the majority are labeled accurately. 

The books dimensions are 12 inches by 12 inches, hard cover with a dust jacket. It's 86 pages long and available for purchase through blurb. The book is expensive, but 90% of the cost goes to blurb. There is an eBook version for those who have iPads. It downloads into the iBook app and is only $9.99. 

The link below will take you to my bookstore on blurb where you can preview 15 pages of the book and if you like make a purchase.

http://www.blurb.com/user/jnhgallery

Community Coffee

Community Coffee  |  24 x 24  |  Oil on panel

Way back in 2009 I received a commission to create five paintings for the boardroom of a large printing company here in Atlanta. They produced the packaging for a number of clients including: Reeses, Coca Cola, Nabisco and many others. Before we started they gave me a long list of their clients to choose from. I went to the grocery store and picked a variety of items who's packaging, I thought, was the most interesting/iconic. I then put together some comps and they choose the five they liked best. To my dismay one of the companies that didn't make the cut was Community Coffee. I had really wanted to paint all that crinkly, shiny red. Later that year I did paint a six inch by six inch version of this composition for auction on ebay, but I always wanted to do it big, so . . . I did. 

I'm working on two realism shows for 2014. One for Tree's Place Gallery in July and another at C. K. Contemporary in San Francisco in September. This piece will be heading up to Cape Cod for the Tree's show. 

Triumph: Complete

Triumph  |  36 x 36  |  Oil on canvas

On day 36, give or take a day or two, I finally completed the Triumph Bonneville. I spent a huge chunk of today with my camera and in Photoshop trying to get a good photograph of the finished painting. Trying, being the operative word because I've never had so much trouble coming up with a decent image of a painting. This is the best of the twenty five versions I came up with, and I'm not very pleased with it. It's a little muddy with an overall bluish cast and the background color is off as well. 

So, as soon as this painting is dry I'm taking it to Gallery Street and have it photographed professionally. They do all of the photography of Karen's paintings used to produce her prints, and I'm hoping they can do a better job than I have. If they can produce a more accurate representation of this painting, I'll post it again with some detail shots. I will also include all the progress images like I did with the P-51 I painted back in the fall.

Now it's time to get busy putting together some work for a show at Tree's Place this July. 

Triumph In Progress: Day 21

Triumph  |  36 x 36  |  In Progress: Day 21

Day 21 and the underpainting is finally done. I really bit off a mouthful with this one. Now it's time to go back to the top and start all over again. I'm spending way too much time on this one painting I know, but I have to admit I'm really savoring the process. I haven't had this much fun working on a painting in a long time, so I'm just going to enjoy it while it lasts. The second pass of a painting is always my favorite part. The hard work of building the structure is done and the subsequent passes where enhancing the detail comes into play is pure pleasure. This will be the final In Progress image. The next post will a high(er) res image of the completed painting.

Triumph In Progress: Day 15

Triumph  |  36 x 36  |  In Progress: Day 15

A couple of more days and I've got the underpainting of the fuel tank laid in. The word Triumph in the lower badge will be much darker and appear to have three dimensions in the final piece. Today I'll move down into the engine. The engine, the engine, the engine. . . . 

Triumph In Progress: Day Twelve

Triumph  |  36 x 36  |  In Progress: Day Twelve

The last few days were spent finishing up the first pass on the frame and working on the name badges on the fuel tank. If you look closely at the word Triumph on the right hand side you'll see a "shadow". My first attempt at putting in the type was a no go because I didn't center it properly. So, I had to re-measure and paint it in a second time. Even though the type will eventually be a dark charcoal color, I put the name in white to help distinguish it since I was laying it right on top of the previous version. A task that was a little confusing. 

Triumph In Progress: Day Nine

Triumph  |  36 x 36  |  In Progress: Day Nine

The last couple of days have been spent working on the upper frame, front fork and wheel. The rubber sleeve covering the suspension was a real challenge. I'm debating whether to finish the frame first or head into the fuel tank next. The fuel tank frightens me so I'll probably finish up the front end first.

Triumph In Progress: Day Six

Triumph  |  36 x 36  |  In Progress: Day Six

Moving downward. Had to do a lot of redrawing in the handlebar area hence all the lighter shades of grey in spots that would otherwise look black. Those will become more defined in subsequent passes. I'm not sure how many passes this painting will take. I've bitten off a lot with this subject and I think it's going to take a few. As complex as it is, I have to say I'm enjoying the process. I may be singing a different tune when I get into the engine and the name badges on the fuel tank. Enough whining, onto the front fork and frame.

Triumph In Progress: Day Three

Triumph  |  36 x 36  |  In Progress: Day Three

It's been a couple of days and I've worked in the first pass of the rear view mirrors and the left hand grip. I'll probably wait until I have the right hand grip and speedometer laid in before I add my next post about this painting. 

Triumph In Progress: Day One

Triumph  |  36 x 36  |  In Progress: Day One

It seemed like a good time to post some "In Progress" images again. It's been a while since I've done this but this composition seemed to be a good one to offer up. I've never painted a motorcycle before and I'm hoping this turns out ok. The drawing is a little wompy, and there are a bunch of spots that have me freaked out. Parts of the engine and fuel tank in particular. Fingers crossed I can "fake" those in a believable way. I'm also trying something new here by placing the subject on a background of solid intense color. The blue areas are painters tape used to ensure a crisp edge on certain components. 

Coke with Straw No.2

Coke with Straw No.2  |  24 x 24  |  Oil on panel

I've been working on a few paintings for C. K. Contemporary in San Francisco here lately, and realized that I'd never sent them a "Coke" painting. So, I decided to do a second empty bottle with a straw composition. I love the accordion fold in the straw and how it's distorted by the shape of the bottle. 

It's a good thing I have some green and red paint left over, because just as I finished this piece I got a commission from Tree's Place Gallery for another Coca Cola painting. 

Commission: Place Setting No.3

Commission: Place Setting No.3 |  18 x 18  |  Oil on panel

This third version of Place Setting was a commission contracted through Tree's Place Gallery. It should be ready to ship in a week or so. With it complete I've moved on to another piece for C. K. Contemporary. I've not sent them a "Coke" painting yet, so I've got one of those going. I'm not exactly sure what I'll choose to paint after that. There's talk of another commission, and I've also acquired some new props, so depending on how things go, it might be time for some more photography. 

Cherry Knife No.2

Cherry Knife No.2  |  16 x 16  |  Oil on canvas

With Precious Metal on the road to C. K. Gallery in San Francisco, I was in the mood to paint a smaller still life. I had a lot of images from the fishing knife and cherries shoot and was eager to paint another. I really like the pearly handle of the knife and the tarnished silver cup. Once it's dry and varnished, I'll be shipping it to C. K. as well. I wasn't able to show them much love in 2013 and plan to send them more soon, but my next painting will be a commission. It's possible that the next two paintings will be commissions, but once they're complete it's back to work for California.

Commission: Pool Bowl No. 23 Final Painting for 2013

Pool Bowl No. 23  |  24 x 24  |  Oil on panel

The final quarter of 2013 was a real mixed bag of unexpected activity that ate up a lot of painting time. Some of that activity was really fun but the bulk of it was a real drag. That said, I still managed to get in one more painting before New Years Eve. A commission for a Pool Bowl arranged through Rehs Galleries in NYC. I think this was the largest format I've ever used for this subject and it took a lot of hours to complete. Hope the client will be pleased when it arrives.

Now it's on to 2014. I've got a lot of catching up to do and there's been discussion of a few commissions as well. At this point I'm just trying to sort all of that out, so I'm not sure what's going to appear here next.

Happy New Year Everybody!

Precious Metal: Complete

Precious Metal  |  36 x 60  |  Oil on canvas

I ran into a rather large snag just as I finished the underpainting for Precious Metal. Without going into detail, we had a series of house disasters which occupied all of my work time for nearly four weeks. After what felt to me like an eternity, I was able to return to the easel and finally complete work on the P-51. Once its' dry and been varnished I'll be shipping it to C. K. Contemporary Gallery in San Francisco. I've got a Pool Bowl commission next on the schedule, then it's back to work for C.K. 

Precious Metal: In Progress - Day 24

The underpainting is finally complete. Now the real work begins. Fortunately, for me, the next stage is my favorite part of painting. The refining layers. I'll probably hold off on anymore "in progress" posts since the upcoming photos won't look that different from the image above taken in my studio. The final post will be of the completed painting shot with the "good" camera in hi res with appropriate lighting and none of the background clutter. 

Precious Metal: In Progress - Day 20

I've got the first pass of engine in place, and now it's on to the prop and the spinner.

Precious Metal: In Progress - Day 12

Slowly inching towards the nose. I'll be starting on the exposed engine today, making my way up to the prop. The engine . . . definitely the scariest part of this painting. Wish I could fast forward to my next post to see how it turns out.