Hey there everyone!  I'd like to announce that I've launched my new sports art website!  It's called Impact Sports Art and you can find it here:  Impact Sports Art

Yes! I am still alive.  It's been, oh, several months since I've made an entry here but I've decided to rectify that matter.  No promises on whether or not I'll update things regularly but maybe I won't be quite so scarce.  I've completed several new pieces but I don't really have any plans on uploading them here.  I'd like to announce that I'm working on a website for my artwork and it should be up and running in a fairly short order.  In the meantime...click here:  Frederick GFC

Yes, I realize I'm a bad bad boy who doesn't update this often enough anymore.  I have many many new pieces that I've not uploaded pictures of.  There are a couple on display at the pub that I haven't even taken pictures of yet!  My pastel works are coming along very well and I'm extremely happy with that medium.  It really suits my impetuous nature, my need to do things rather immediately lest they be forgotten in the heat of a new inspiration.  I think this month alone I've completed about 5 pieces.  I'll try to follow up with pictures soon.  I also have a few pictures of the opening at Mike McGovern's I'd like to post.  Maybe I'll get around to that soon.

 

I have to put together my application for another show up in Pennsylvania before the end of the month.  I forgot about it until just this very moment.

 

Yesterday, we put together a studio space in a spare bedroom upstairs.  I have lots of wall space to hang curing canvases and pastel pieces in progress or waiting to be framed.  My only concern about it is that I'll feel isolated and not be willing to work there very often.  We'll see how it goes.

 

I'll be adding some new folks to my list of other artists on Spaces.  Check them out too!

Well, my wife just called and told me that I recieved acceptance into my first juried show!  It is a fairly large art fair-type gathering.  I'm pretty excited about it.  This is a huge week, I have to go set up for my month-long solo exhibition Wednesday night and then open it on Thursday.  I have a league championship hockey game tonight too.  So, I'll be out very late because we also like to a parking lot cook out after final games.  So far this season I have 5 goals and 3 assits in I believe 12 games.

 

On recent art work, I have 3 completed pieces that I haven't uploaded pictures of yet.  I decided to diversify and do some more flowers (fuschias again).  All of these are small at 11X14 but they were really fun to do.  I've also begun to experiment with pastels.  So far, I really like them.  I only have a very small set so my pieces are fairly limited in depth.

Finally!  Here is the finished product of Alexander Ovechkin.  The piece is 22X28.  I'm very impressed with myself on this one.

Wow, I've really gotten lazy about posting new entries here.  I really should probably post more shorter ones.

 

Anyway, I'm working on a 14X18 of Jarome Iginla.  He plays for the Calgary Flames for those of you who don't actually follow NHL hockey.  I'm currently wearing the same number as him, 12.  I'm nowhere near as successful in finding the back of the net, though.  I'd say I'm about 70% complete with this one on an hour effort basis.  I've put in about 5 hours total so far.

 

I'm nursing a torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder.  I have real problems with these.

I completed Ovechkin.  There were still some things I might have done but it needed to be put aside.  I may go back and touch those up at a later time.  I also started and completed a study of a bird, a blue fronted amazon.  I think it turned out well.  I'll post some pictures in fairly short order.

 

Also got the Setanta sports channel on Directv!! Awesome! Rugby...lots of rugby...

My Ovechkin painting is frustrating me some.  It's a combination of factors: it's taking me much longer than it really should and I'm not having enough opportunities to work on it.  I have several more projects I want to work on but I'm closing in this one and it's hard to start something else when I'm not having to wait on layers to dry.  I put in about 2 hours Monday night and I still feel I have about 5 more to go to "complete" it.  I'm approaching 30 hours invested on this piece now and it really should not have taken this long.  I overworked the jersey early on and I'm paying for it now with too many layers to retone the darks.  I may force in a half hour or so tonight before my own hockey game just so I can keep moving forward.  My son has a tournament this weekend and Sunday is completely shot (one game at 6:00 AM!?!?!? and possibly as many as 3 games that day.)  I should be able to put forth some effort Friday night and Saturday morning.  I HAVE to finish this by the end of next week so I can get it in my April show.

 

I was hoping to do a series of rookie phenoms with Sydney Crosby up next but I don't see it happening.  I'll give it my best but I doubt I'll do many hockey paintings during the summer after the season is over.

 

 

I've been in a very musical mood lately and even though we've not had time to sit down and work on any of the songs we have in the queue, we'll hopefully make some time for it soon.  Some months ago, I was looking all over the net for places where we could get some airtime for Netherael that focused more on industrial, goth, or concept music.  I found one awesome online station called Digital Gunfire.  It's entirely industrial/EBM and it is just seksi good.  Here's a link...go and stream... CLICK!  Unfortunately, I doubt you'll hear Netherael on here anytime soon.

I realize I've not posted anything for about a week now so, here goes, a rather bland posting where I say how many hours I have left on this painting or that painting....

 

Ovechkin needs about 5 or so hours over 3 sessions.  The only area left to detail out is the right sleeve of the jersey.  Everything after that is thin glazing to give extra highlights or deepen shadows.  I guess I've probably put in about 25 hours on this one so far.  It's been a real challenge.

 

The church painting, well, what can I say, I really am not liking it.  I could probably finish it in about 2 hours or less but I'm having trouble setting my mind to task since I'm not at all satisfied.  The style and techniques are not really typical of me so that's what's at issue.  I'm quite certain that many people will fall in love with it, though.

 

Not much else to tell...oh yeah, scored two goals the other night!  I'm back on pace for a 15 point season, yeah!

I'm in the middle of 6 straight days of hockey.  Starting last Tuesday, I've had 2 games and my son has had 1 practice with another practice and 2 games to go before I get a day of not having to go to the rink.  Then next Tuesday it starts up all over again.  And in just a couple of weeks, we'll be starting the lacrosse season....

 

Needless to say, this doesn't leave much time for painting.  I was out till after 1AM last night for a game so I hope I can stay up long enough tonight to paint some after getting home from his practice.

Well, the date of my exhibition has been set for the month of April.  I have space for 6-8 paintings at Mike McGovern's Pub in Baltimore.  It is a beautiful little Irish themed pub in a neighborhood in the process of redevelopment.  Please visit the website and if you're ever in Baltimore, go for a visit!

 

Now, I'm afraid I have a conundrum.  I'm not really sure what I'd like to show.  I know that my landscapes tend to please a wider audience but I don't feel they are as technically sound as my more recent sports work.  The audience at McGovern's is a fairly wide array with many being sports fans but just as many not really caring.  So, for that reason, I'd like to request of my viewing audience here: What do you think would be best to show?  If you would be so kind, give me 2 pieces you think would work for this type of exhibition.  Many thanks in advance!

We got about the only real snow of the whole season along the mid-atlantic region Saturday.  Out where we live, we got about 12 inches but I heard of folks who got more like 18 inches +.  We managed to get to the grocery while the snow whipped about Saturday afternoon.  Now, we're not panic shoppers so we weren't stocking up for the end of civilization like so many other people do around here.  We genuinely needed to buy groceries.  All of the panic-striken masses had ravaged the store on Friday so it was about normal in terms of number of people there.  We were amazed to still find milk on the shelves!  With the cupboards laden, I proceeded to tear into some canvas.  The Alexander Ovechkin piece is moving along well with jersey and face fully blocked in.  The Capitals logo, gloves and helmet still need to be blocked in though.  The face is rather well built and I'm going to let it rest for a bit as I decide if I've done a decent job or not in making it look like him.  I started another 14X18 canvas that is based upon a small local rural church.  I originally had planned to stay faithful to the actual location but found it lacking in compositional elements so I embellished the scene liberally.  Anyone local who knows the church will recognize that aspect although it is in a completely different surrounding.

 

I've been having some mild issues with my turps thinned ground washes.  They just aren't drying like they should be.  Granted, I've used a much thicker wash than typical so I have lots of vibrancy in the finished piece but the wash on the Ovechkin is still not completly dry even after 1 week.  Very strange.

For those few people who stop by on a semi-regular basis and who habitually leave their speakers on, you will notice that you are no longer hearing any music.  I decided to turn off the auto-play feature in the off chance that loading the song was resulting in people on dial-up or high activity broadband connections suffering delay in loading the page.

At last!  Here is the finished product.  Peter Forsberg of the Philadelphia Flyers jumps on a loose puck at the blue line.  He'd better get his head up if he doesn't want to be layed out on the ice by a defenseman!  Dangerous business crossing the blue line with your head down, staring at the puck.

 

 

Hey, I just added guestmap.  Go and pin your general geographic location:

 

I completed the Forsberg painting last night!  It came together VERY quickly and I'm extremely happy with this one.  For the first time in a very long time, maybe ever, I'm completely happy with a painting.  I'll upload a picture probably tomorrow night.  I have a hockey game tonight so I doubt I'll find the time to do it.

 

I really want to get the oil line sketch done on Ovechkin tonight.  I'm not certain I'll have the time but I'll do my best.

 

We bought a new camera over the weekend.  A Sony Cybershot 6.0MP.  The Mars painting was taken with the new one.  Can you tell the difference?  I think it looks a bit crisper than the old camera.

Here's my recently completed panorama of Eagle Crater as seen from the Opportunity rover.  The actual panorama was taken over Sols 58-60, a full 2 months after landing.  The rover spent the first 2 months on Mars investigating the bedrock seen behind the lander.

For some strange reason, last night while watching the Lombardi Trophy being presented, I noticed something that had never really bothered me before but for some reason I find it very disturbing now.  The thing that I noticed was this:  the trophy was presented by the comissioner to the CEO of the team first, then the coach, and only then was it handed to the players.  Contrast this with the National Hockey League presentation of the Stanley Cup.  Lord Stanley's silver beauty is given directly to the team captain who then skates it around the ice and it is passed to each and every player before going into the hands of the coaching staff and front office people.  In hockey, the players win the trophy.  But not so in football.  Football is a sport without heart, where the dollar is more important than the glory of the winning.  This is even more apparent when one considers how much emphasis and hype is placed on the half-time show and the commercials which air during the event.   I just overheard a conversation in the break room where 2 gentlemen, in discussing the game, talked about the lack of creative commercials at least as much as the disappointing calls.

According to MSN's stats, I've gotten to 1000 page hits.  That's pretty cool don't ya think? lol