Delta Sky Club Commission: Painting No. 2 - Engine

Delta Commission: Engine  |  16 x 16  |  Oil on panel

This is the second of five commissioned paintings for the Delta Sky Club at JFK. It's funny, when I was in tech school working towards my Airframe & Powerplant license, my classmates would often comment on the notes I'd take in class. They were usually embellished with little drawings and they would say, "man, why are you here, you should be an artist!". My hope, at that time was that I would upon graduation go to work for Delta Airlines. That didn't happen, but now 30+ years later I'm actually working as an artist, and will have my paintings hanging in the Delta Airlines Sky Club. 

Delta Sky Club Commission: Painting No. 1 - Fuselage

Delta Commission: Fuselage  |  16 x 16  |  Oil on panel

Here is an image of the first of five paintings slated for the Delta Airlines Sky Club at JFK. Each of the five represents a specific component of the aircraft, starting with the nose and yes ending with the tail. These will not be completed any particular order, but hopefully will be presented on site running nose to tail. I'm starting on the second pass of the engine composition today, and when it's complete I'll post its' image. I've got two weeks to complete the next four paintings. Long days ahead.

Delta Commission: First Pass

The Delta Commission is coming along. I'm really working like a dog to get these done in the timeframe I've been given. But they are fun. At this point I've got the under painting done for each of the five pieces. Each composition has taken two to three days to complete its' first pass. 

*I didn't put much time into color correcting these images since they are each still very rough.

This first pass has been spent basically blocking in the components. The colors are close but need work and the highlights and shadows will be enhanced in successive passes. The sky also needs to be blended and grayed down a bit. 

At this point in the process I essentially want to see all of the components of the aircraft working together as a single unit, and have the sense that the structure has mass.

Since painting at this stage is mostly mid-tones they do look a little boring, that's why I really love the second and third passes. When you start to refine the detail and enhance the colors, shadows and highlights the piece really starts to come alive.

One of my favorite compositions of the group is the view of engine number one. I don't know, I just love that crop.

So now it's on to the second pass. Two passes will probably be sufficient for some of these compositions, and others may take three. I'll most likely hold off on any more in progress shots and wait to reveal all of the completed pieces at one time. 

Photography and a Commission

One of the five panels with the first pass of the sky laid in.

It's been a very long time since my last post, but I've had a lot going on. The bulk of my time has been spent doing photography of some new items I picked up on ebay. I've shot close to a thousand photos, which will eventually be whittled down to around thirty images that are deemed paintworthy. I've culled out most of the chosen, and am looking forward to  getting them onto canvas, but they'll have to wait a bit longer because I've picked up a big commission with very short time frame.

The five panels ready to begin the aircraft component.

I'll be doing five 16 x 16 paintings for the new Delta Sky Club at JFK. The subject will be various aircraft views (oh boy). My work will be presented on a wall comprised of seven wood panels. One painting will be centered in each of the five middle panels. I've done the photography, picked my favorites, had them approved, transferred the drawings and got the first layer of the sky painted into each panel. Now it's time to begin working on the actual aircraft. 

This commission has to be done very quickly but I may post "in progress" shots. It all depends on how it goes.

Sunbeam Mixer No.2: Complete

Sunbeam Mixer No.2   |   24 x 24   |   Oil on panel

Well, it took more than a few days to finish up the mixer. It took nine more days to be exact. Some days I'd cover a lot of ground and on others I'd spend the entire day working on a section about 3 inches square. It was a fun painting, and honestly I wasn't in a hurry to be done with it. I think I'll flip it around and paint the other side one day. The opposite side is a little different with a cool cap on the end of the body. When this has dried and been varnished I'll be sending it up to Rehs Galleries Inc in New York. 

My wife Karen and I will be sharing the spotlight this fall in a two person show at Tree's Place Gallery. I'm looking forward to doing a show together again. I plan to have some of my standards, but I've also been busy scouring ebay for cool props, and have acquired a bunch of new stuff to paint. I hope some/all of them prove to be popular subjects. I'll be spending the next week or so working on  photography, so I won't be posting much to Blogger or FaceBook. 

See you when I get back to my easel.

Sunbeam Mixer No.2: in Progress Day 7

Sunbeam Mixer No.2  |  24 x 24  |  oil on panel  |  in Progress: Day 7

Moving along. I finished up the first pass yesterday, and worked a little on the second pass of the handle. I'm still not sure how I'm going to treat the background. I thought I liked this pale green, but it looks a bit washed out, so I'll probably play with some different colors until I come up with something that works. As with the Coke in progress updates, I'll probably stop here and then reveal the final painting when it's complete. I think the images from here on in will look so similar that they will all tend to meld together. Be back in a few days.

Sunbeam Mixer No.2: in Progress Day 5

Sunbeam Mixer No.2  |  24 x 24  |  oil on panel  |  in Progress: Day 5

A couple of days later, and I've moved horizontally across the body of the mixer and down into the stand. Basically blocking in the structure with very little refinement. I hope to finish the stand and begin working on the blade attachment and mixing blades today. I think I can complete the first pass within the next day or two. Then it's back to the top to start all over again with the first of (probably) two refining passes. 

Sunbeam Mixer No.2: in Progress Day 3

Sunbeam Mixer No.2   |   24 x 24   |   Oil on panel   |   in Progress: Day 3

There was some re-scheduling done with the last planned Coke commission, so I decided to move on to what I had intended to paint next. I had done this mixer once before in a full frontal version, but wanted to paint it again in profile to take advantage of its awesome reflectivity. 

I figured I'd go ahead and post "in progress" images of this piece. I got a pretty nice response from visitors to the in progress photos I posted of the Coke commission, so I thought why not try it again. This is the third day of painting. 

Coke Classic: Complete

Coke Classic   |   24 x 24   |   Oil on panel

I finished up the Coke commission last night. The incremental stages completed since the last post looked so similar, that I decided to go ahead and finish up the painting then reveal it in the final post. 

My next post will probably evoke feelings of deja vu since it will be another commission, and it will be another Coca Cola painting. I'm waiting for the client to decide on a composition. I may do the "in progress" thing again with it. I'll decide when I get rolling. When that painting is done I'll get back to creating paintings for the galleries. 

Coke Classic in Progress: Day 10

Coke Commission in Progress: Day 10  |  24 x 24  |  oil on panel

Four more days and I've laid in the table top, begun to refine the carton and I've started the second pass on the full bottle to the left. It looks like this painting will probably need three passes. At the moment I'm working in the area around the word Coke. The spot just below "Coke" where the medium ends defines the current active area. Still have a ways to go before this one is done, but it's beginning to come together. 

For Which It Stands: Americana in Contemporary Art

Early in 2012 I was contacted by Carla Sakamoto (see below for her info) about participating in a book she was curating about americana in contemporary art. She had seen the paintings I had done for Print Pack, Inc., here in Atlanta and wanted to include them. Needless to say I was happy to oblige and immediately sent her hi-res images of those paintings. My one request to her was that I receive a copy of the book. Well, true to her word, yesterday was my birthday and FedEx left a copy at my door.

I have to say, it's a very beautiful book and I'm really proud to have had my work included. The quality of the printing is exceptional and the artwork is impressive. It's 400 pages and is divided into three sections: Capitalism / Greed, Equality / Prejudice, and Freedom / Limitations. The artwork includes paintings, sculpture and photography by a variety of artists. I was happy to see a few paintings by my buddy Otto Lange included. If you think you might like a copy a number of bookstores carry it, or if you prefer online shopping here is a link to the book on Amazon.

Carla Sakamoto is an art and design book editor and writer based in New York City. Having begun her career in magazine publishing at The Condé Nast Publications, she then received her Master's degree in Modern Art History at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and has since been a book editor for leading illustrated book publishing houses such as Rizzoli International Publications, Assouline Publishing, and Acanthus Press for over ten years. Her expertise in illustrated books includes developing and packaging visually-arresting children's picture books with renowned artists and graphic designers. In addition, she currently writes art criticism for Artwrit.com and has also written on art, architecture, design, fashion, food, and lifestyle topics for Surface, Blackbook, and Bon Appétit magazines.

Coke Classic In Progress: Day 6

Coke Commission  |  24 x 24  |  Oil on panel  |  Day 6

I've got three more days into the Coke commission. At this point the first pass on all of the bottles is finished and I've done a little work on the carton. Today I'll start to work on the table top and when that's completed then I'll go back to work on the carton. Once the first pass is done on the entire composition I'll start back on the full bottle and begin to work my way to the right. I work from top left to bottom right. Not sure why but always have. 

Coke Classic In Progress: Day Three

Coca Cola Classic  |  24 x 24  |  Oil on panel  |  In Progress: Day Three

I'm starting off 2013 with a commission. This will be another of my Classic Coke series, which is essentially variations on a carton of empty Coca Cola bottles. It's been a while since I've posted "in progress" images of one of my paintings, and I thought it was time to try it again. This is the piece at the end of the third day of painting. I will usually do two, occasionally three, passes to complete a piece. At this point I've transferred the drawing to the panel, laid in the background color, painted the type and carton color with acrylic and started the glass on the full bottle. I've never begun with an acrylic layer before, but my friend Jeff Cohen swears by it, so I thought I'd give a go. I don't plan to post each days progress, but I hope to show enough steps to give an idea of how one of these paintings evolves.

Coinage No.2  |  12 x 12  |  Oil on panel

Even with the goings on during the holidays I managed to get in one more painting before the end of the year. This is a commission for one of my best friends. He's had an interest in coins for a long time and asked me to put something together using these three. I'll be delivering it to him on Saturday. Hope he likes it.

Happy Holidays

I wanted to say thanks to those of you that took the time to visit my blog in 2012.

I hope you all have a great holiday season.

Cheers, Neil

Next Commission & A Big Sale

Big Ketchup No. 2   |   18 x 24   |   Oil on panel

It's been nearly a month since my last blog post, yikes. I've spent most of those days working on Big Ketchup No.2, my third commission to come from the Tree's Place show last July on Cape Cod. I have to admit I took a few days off in November to celebrate the holiday. My brother Doug came in from New York, and the we all had a really great time. 

Panchito   |   40 x 40  |   Oil on canvas

I also received some good news from Lauren Ellis at C. K. Contemporary Gallery in San Francisco. She wrote a couple of weeks ago to let me know that Panchito had sold to a collector in Switzerland. Whenever I sell an airplane, I feel it gives me permission to paint another. I plan on delving into the photos I took at the Reno Air Races in September. Can't hardly wait, but . . . I'll have to because Lauren also said that the owner of the gallery would like a commissioned piece for himself. So, now I've got four more commissions to do before I can raid the Reno archive. Not a bad problem to have. 

Commission No.2 - Black Grapes

Black Grapes Commission  |  16 x 20  |  oil on canvas

The second commission to come from the summer show at Tree's Place Gallery is Black Grapes. I have to admit, I took a couple of days off during this piece to take advantage of Karin Jurick's offer for Karen and I to stay with her and Brett at their place on the beach at Hilton Head. She was to be teaching one of her wildly successful workshops there and had rented a wonderful house right on the water. We couldn't hardly pass up an opportunity like that, so we packed up, once again, and drove down to the beach. We had two terrific days there. Sandy had little effect on that region, in fact the weather was great. The water was very choppy, but the surfers loved it. 

Brett and Karen walking the dogs a.m. day two

Once we returned I got busy finishing up Black Grapes, and now I'm onto the third commission another large Ketchup with salt and pepper shakers. It should be completed sometime next week. 

F I R E

F I R E   |   24 x 36   |   oil on hardboard panel

It's been (once again) a very long time since my last post. I picked up a few commissions after my show at Tree's Place, and I've been working on those. FIRE is the first. I don't usually, in fact I've never, worked entirely from a collectors materials or ideas, but the client for this piece is really nice and has purchased a number of my paintings in the past, so I made an exception in this case. I didn't realize at the time I started this piece, that it would take so long to complete. Once I got going, I found it to be deceptively complex.

Now I'm on to the next commission, a large bunch of Black Grapes. I know this will be familiar, in fact the next few blog posts will all seem a bit nostalgic with grapes, ketchup bottles, silverware and possibly Coke bottles. I have to say I'm excited because these are some of my favorite subjects to paint. I hope it won't seem too redundant for you all. 

When these are completed I'm planning on delving into my photos from the Air Races in Reno for a large aircraft painting. I try and allow myself one of these per year, and hopefully I'll be able to squeeze this one in before 2012 expires. It's been quite a while since I've done a really large painting, and I'm looking forward to it.

Reno - Miami and a couple of other places

Crew preparing "Precious Metal"

For those of you who follow my blog, it may have seemed like I'd dropped off the face of the earth. Well, Karen and I, a couple of non-travelers, have been on the road. We rarely leave our own neck of the woods, but 2012 has found us stretching our wings a little. 

the T-6's ready for a qualifying run

The travel bug infected us on our trip to New York. It went so smoothly, that we got to talking about the possibility of trying this traveling thing a little more often. I'll run the last couple of months in reverse chronological order. 

One of the T-6's coming around pylon number 7

Working backwards, I just got back from Reno Nevada, where I attended the National Air Race Championships. I haven't flown or worked on a plane since 1987, but it's still in my blood. In fact it was 1987 when I last attended the Air Races. One of the reasons I gave myself permission to go there again this year, was Lauren Ellis at C. K. Contemporary, my gallery in San Francisco said that they would be happy to accept aircraft and automobile subject matter in my paintings. So, I thought this would be a good opportunity to get some photography to draw on for paintings. I took about 900 photos, and hopefully some of them will be paintworthy. Mason Murer has also accepted and sold aircraft art from me in the past, so I felt the trip was justified. Plus . . . I really wanted to go!

Karen with her friend Christine at the Mountain Retreat

Moving back a little more in time, just prior to my leaving for Reno, Karen took a few days off and went up to Highlands North Carolina to attend a yoga retreat. It's a beautiful location held at a facility called Mountain Retreat and Learning Center and Karen had a great time there. This is her second visit to the retreat, and I wouldn't doubt that she'll be there again next year. 

A few steps from our hotel

Heading back a few more weeks we find ourselves in South Beach Miami Florida. When we were in Cape Cod we only had (literally) 30 minutes to spend at the beach, which was a huge tease. So, when we got home, Karen who was starved for some beach time, it had been a couple of years since we'd spent any significant time at the ocean, got busy planning a trip to the sea. Potential locations changed multiple times, then she asked my brother Doug, whose been everywhere where he'd go. He told her, "based on your wish list, I'd go to Miami". One of her main criteria was clear emerald water, and South Beach delivered. Karen also found an awesome hotel called the Savoy a block from 5th street on Ocean Drive. It was this great hotel built in the 30's. We had a suite with three terraces. Two overlooking the pool, and a third with an ocean view. The water, weather and accommodations were all perfect. We made a pact to stay at that same location when/if we return to Miami.

One last walk on the beach before we returned home

Now, returning to the present, we had one more short adventure this past weekend. Karen and I drove up to Asheville North Carolina to attend Karin Juricks show at 16 Patton Gallery. It was an easy drive up from Atlanta on Saturday, and we got there early enough to visit some of our favorite galleries and have a wonderful barbecued portabella mushroom sandwich at 12 Bones Smokehouse, before we had to get ready for Karin's show. The weather was beautiful and a steady stream of patrons passed through the gallery all evening. Karin sold two paintings, and when the gallery finally closed we returned to our amazing hotel. The "W" chain of hotels built a new hotel on Biltmore Avenue, right in the heart of the city called Aloft. It's only been open three weeks and it's reeeely nice. After Karin's show we went up on the roof deck next to the pool, sat around the fire pit and talked life and art for a long time before we finally gave out. 

Now we're home, and it's time to get back to work. I picked up three commissions from the Tree's Place show, and I'll be getting started on the first of those today. I'll hopefully have something new to show in a few days.

Sunbeam Mixer

Sunbeam Mixer  |  24 x 24  |  Oil on panel

My friends Karin Jurick and Brett Trowbridge found this Sunbeam mixer at a flea market, and knowing of my fondness for vintage kitchen appliances, bought it for me. It had a great shape, and lots of chrome. I especially liked it viewed from the front. Wonderful reflections, and the Sunbeam "S" is terrific. I used a Gesso Board for this, which has a very smooth surface, and took some getting used to. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I may have to try it once more before I make a final judgement on this brand of panel. I'll be sending this to my new gallery in San Francisco, C. K. Contemporary, along with the Big Drill from Tree's Place Gallery and a couple more to be determined later. 

Big Grapes No.2

Big Grapes No.2   |   24 x 24   |   oil on canvas

I've been working on Big Grapes No.2 for a couple of weeks now, and it's finally ready to be shipped. This will be sent to Rehs Galleries Inc. in New York, along with Milkshake Mixer on Monday. After I did the grapes painting for Tree's Place Gallery, I had the desire to push the size of this composition up a little, so I re-cropped the image to reveal more detail in the lower lefthand corner and changed the format to a square. Going larger really let me enhance the detail, which is what I love. I wonder sometimes, how big can you go with something like this. I know many of the hyper-realists paint subjects like this as large as 48 x 48, or even bigger. It's got me thinking.

My next order of business is to get work on new paintings for my gallery in San Francisco. C. K. Contemporary has been really patient while I worked on my show for Tree's Place. Thank you Lauren, I really appreciate it. When those are complete I'll be starting on a few commissions I picked up at that same show. Busy . . . which is good!