more show info

I also just heard back from the bi-annual show OVAL's Kentucky National Wildlife Art Exhibit and both of my pieces were juried in (Intrigue and On The Prowl)!   My frame shop is loving me right now - with 6 pieces needing to be framed!!

I started a new piece that will be 24"x24" and hope to post a picture tomorrow.  I am not very far along yet.

Pinto 'Stang update

My allergies have really been kicking my butt for more than the past month and I am so 'done with them'.  None of the regular drugs seem to be having much impact, so I feel congested, headaches and tired all the time right now, which is very irritating.  They started later than usual into the summer and seem to be sticking around a lot longer than usual for me too.  What a drag!!

Anyways, I did make some good progress on the mustang girl this afternoon.  I keep calling her a pony, but it came from the fact that I thought I might make her an indian 'pony' with feathers and war paint and such, which I will do eventually a board or two on, but decided not to on this piece.  In reality she is not a pony at all, but a horse.  Oh well whaterever you call her... here is the update.  I decided I didn't care for her markings with almost all white body and dark head.  It was confusing to the eye and thus I added a pinto marking on her side back into the image.  I still have some work to do on her face, but am getting pretty close to calling her done.  I am open to title suggestions too.

updates and such

Sorry for being so reticence in posting updates to my blog!  The days just seem to go by so quickly and before I know it I am onto the next one!  How did it get to be the middle of July already!!  Wasn't Christmas like a month ago??

Anyways... I have been busy indeed. 

My art portion of my website (http://www.aphelionart.com/) has had a bit of an overhaul as I try to get my page rankings up and make myself more findable for search engines.  Most of the changes were html and behind the scenes things, but I did add a couple of links about scratchboard with some tutorials and FAQs.

From the end of June through July 4 I had seven works hanging at the Greeley Stampede Invitational Western Art Show.  Two works were sold (Bending and What Next?) and I also earned the top two spots for people's choice awards with Walking The Line and Bending.

From July 7 through the 14th I was off to Indianapolis where I was a part of a scratchboard artist show and workshops.  Approximately 15 artists from all over the US and Canada attended.  We shared techniques, styles and tips and had an overall wonderful time!  We also discussed the formation of an international scratchboard society and I will be helping to work on that as well.  If that is something that you are interested in once it is up and running feel free to send me an e-mail and I will make sure you are notified.

While I was away in Indy I found out that my piece, A Driving Force, has been selected to be published in "Strokes Of Genius III - Best of Drawing".  This book is slated to come out in 2011.  The original of this piece was donated to the Buffalo Bill Historical Society "Patron's Ball" that will be held in September.

I also learned that The Interrupted Drink was picked as a finalist in The Artist Magazine Annual Competition.  While my 3rd place last year was a step up ;)  it is still quite an accomplishment to make it as a finalist.  They pick around 30 total winners/finalists in each category (of which there are 7) out of around 12,000-14,000 entries!!

Two piece were juried into the American Academy of Equine Art exhibition, a pencil drawing (A Kind Eye) and a scratchboard (Darkness and Light).  This show told me last year that scratchboard was not an eligible medium. This year I wrote a cover letter explaining why it should be included so I felt like getting one scratchboard in was a small victory! This show starts in the middle of September at the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, KY

So I guess you could say it has been a productive month already!!  Look for an update on the pinto pony tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Maddie!

It is my first Belgian Sheepdog, Maddie's, Birthday today.  Yep she was born on the 4th of July.  I have had her since she was 10 weeks old and she has done everything I have ever asked of her and more!  She turned 9, but you would never know it by the way she acts. 
Maddie is more formally Champion Isengard's Makin' A Scene CDX RA OA NAJ

She still looks great- don't you think?  This photo was taken in May of this year.

I made good progress on the pinto today.  Getting the smooth look of horse hair (especially white) is far from a fast project. I spent about 5-6 hours working today.

Pinto Continued

I worked on this piece more last night and some today too in between updating my website and adding some new sections.

summertime... BUSY

I feel like I have been on the go for the past month and will be off to Indiana in early July too.

Despite that I am trying to make time for my art, of course!

I believe I have pretty much finished up "A Rustle In The Brush" (16"x20"); I find backgrounds are hard to get good photos of as they always seem to loose some detail.

I also started a new horse piece of a pinto indian pony; obviously still a long ways to go.  Size is 14"x18"

updates

Right now I am donating 15% of all sales done through my web site (www.aphelionart.com) toward Oil Spill Relief efforts to help wildlife.  Now is a great time to buy, as you will not only get great art, but also help out!

I have made more progress on Rustle and also started a new piece while in Oregon.  The background is still being worked on, but getting closer to completed and just a little more tweaking.

This small macaw piece I will be using as a demonstration at the Indianapolis scratchboard convention in July.  I will be doing a demonstration on how I color my work and also on doing feathers and different textures.

Travels and Such

I appologize to those following along on the tiger.  It will be a bit before I come back and finish her, as I am going to be traveling for about 10 days to Oregon and won't be taking it with me.  Then I will be returning and busy, busy with the opening of the Greeley Stampede Western art show.  I hope to squeeze some hours to work on her toward the end of the month.

My artwork will be gracing the poster for this year's stampede event since I won thier purchase award last year.

working the background

More background is being added.  It is primarily being created with the fiberglass brush for the foreground plants and a nail buffer for the stalks in the background.  Diluted ink is added to help push the elements 'back' so that they are not too bright and do not distract from the tiger.

And more...

The depth of fur that you see on the body is created with a comination of a scalpel blade done in somewhat randome directions, followed up with a light touch with the ultrafine fiberglass brush to soften the lines.  By  leaving some lines darker it looks like the fur has clumped together.

Developing the foreground brush

More Rustling...

New Piece - A Rustle In The Brush

 A new tiger piece I started on Wednesday.  This piece will have a moderate amount of folliage and environment to go with it.

Sometimes when you open the box...

...you find good things!  Today I finally got around to opening my box that I got back from LSU Animals In art Show a couple of weeks ago.  As I am  unpack my piece,  "Shaking It Up", out comes an envelope as well.  Inside the envelop are two articles printed in local newspapers during the show (one that my piece is mentioned in) and also a People's Choice Award ribbon!  Woo Hoo!  It turned around a day that started out not very good and put me in a much better mood. 

My list of awards still astounds me; that my work can win awards so consistently under so many different judges is well... amazing.  With this win, this year I have won awards in every show I have entered.

To Black and White

I feel like I should write an ode to black and white art with that title, but in this case I actually mean completed to black and white. My bear that I have titled "Patience Is A Virtue" has been completed to black and white.  It will be colored at a scratchboard symposium in Indianapolis in July as part of a demonstration I will be giving.