Newest Commission is Complete!

Hi friends, so I’m happy to say that my newest commission is officially complete! This was a month long project so I thought I would break down as much as I can about it for you so you have get a taste of my experience.

First of all, the couple who requested this painting is absolutely in love with the landscape scenery in New Mexico so they sent me some photo options for the painting reference. I narrowed down the choices to what I thought would make a great painting and we eventually decided on the scene you see in the piece.

Once we all agreed on the image, I started to lay out my painting with an initial sketch to make sure everything was in its proper place compositionally. With the sketch in place I started to tackle this huge piece section by section starting with the foreground and moving my way back in space. A bing component of this piece was light and shadow since the scene takes place during sunset so I made sure to pay special attention to how the light was hitting different shapes and textures and then what shadows those shapes created. Another component that I really tried to pay attention to is the colors in this piece. Most of the colors in this painting are subtly shifted depending if they are in a light or shadow so I wanted to make sure the colors were accurate and vibrant.

The last major section I filled in what the sky so after that I when back into every area of the painting and worked on textures and contrast .

 
 

Overall I’m very happy with how this piece turned out and I really hope that the couple who requested this piece enjoys it for years to come!

 
 

New Figure Painting!

During my summer in New Mexico I was able to schedule a few photo sessions with a few locals, in hopes to add to my library of references for potential paintings. And this painting is the first result of one of those sessions! I really enjoyed working with Emma to create some interesting photo references for future paintings. I especially loved the photos near the end of a cliff that had an amazing view. I really enjoyed photographing her in front of the trees and plants that created an interesting and dynamic backdrop.

 
 

I’m planning on creating plenty more paintings from these photo sessions but I just had to share this great piece with you all! It’s titled “Finding Distance” and is available to purchase in my shop for $300!

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

"Uncovered Voice" A New Terra Human Painting

"Uncovered Voice"
I have finally finished my newest Terra Human piece! This one is really special to me and here is why. This piece brings an illustration to the concept of personal viewpoint. How every individual has a personal filter through which they interpret the world around them.

 
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This concept has always been a background insecurity of mine, while growing up I was always worried that I did not have a unique way of seeing the world and therefor had no voice. Even when I created art I thought it was soulless and absent of a unique perspective. I remember expressing my insecurity about this to a friend in college when I was exploring the idea of becoming and artist after graduation. I distinctly remember telling her that I felt that every artist must have a voice to express their message to viewers and I genuinely worried that I didn’t have a voice to amplify through my art. I worried that my thoughts and ideas were not worth seeing on canvas and that I had no unique viewpoint. This friend reassured me that I did have a voice and it might take time and effort to find it, but was inside me. I listened to this advice and had faith that if I continued developing my skills and creativity I would eventually start to uncover my voice in my art.

 
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And now I think I am at a point in my career where I am finally starting to discover my voice. I think this will be a lifelong process but I am finally starting to work through this insecurity and discover my window through which I see the world.
Thanks for listening

This original painting is available to purchase in my shop for $1800.

Click here to purchase!

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Stanley Arts Festival Recap!

Well it’s safe to say that the Stanley Arts Festival in Aurora, CO was our most successful festival yet! I was so honored to be accepted to this Cherry Arts event and it did NOT disappoint! There were so many friendly and talented artists that graced us with their amazing creations. And what a great location for a festival! It was so nice to have indoor and outdoor booths and a dedicated parking lot for artists.

 
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This event was the debut of our homemade art walls and they worked great! They were not only sturdy but they looks awesome as well and served as a nice neutral backdrop for my paintings.

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I choose to paint live during this event because I have discovered that people love that! Passersby were awestruck when they saw me at the easel painting away and it created some great conversations. I also couldn’t help but hand the brush over to excited kiddos who were inspired by art. They were all very respectful and honored to contribute to the painting.

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I really enjoyed talking to people about my process both conceptually and practically. I also enjoyed talking to a current art student about an artistic career and what it involves.

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As i mentioned in my other blog post we had some sales with awesome new clients who really understood my art. These customers deeply resonated with the themes and concepts in my work and were happy to invest in a few original paintings.

Overall this was an excellent festival and we hope to participate again next year!

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New Washington Landscape!

Hi everyone! I wanted to share my newest landscape painting titled “Winchester View.” While I was getting married in Glacier Washington I was able to get some amazing photo references for new paintings! The incredibly dynamic and jagged mountain peaks were so inspiring and interesting that I might have to create a special Washington series of paintings! So here is the first piece! This 11”x14” original painting is available for $300. Click here to purchase!

 
 
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"As One" A New Terra Human Painting!

I'm proud to bring you my newest Terra Human painting "As One.” Whenever I reflect on my artistic process its always safe to say that I’ve chosen a profession that requires an incredible amount in internal motivation that solely depends on my personal drive and dedication , and while working on this piece I felt constantly driven and inspired to create something that surpassed anything I've ever created. And by creating small attainable steps for myself everyday I was able to accomplish what I set out to do! So here is the final product along with a description. Below these you will find some process photos along with some descriptions of my painting process.

Painting Description

In this piece humans and nature breath as one. The divisions that we have insisted on for generations have evaporated and we finally see ourselves reflected in the natural world that surrounds us. Plants, trees and moss start to grow with her body as her hands reach into the earth with humility and understanding. The curves and angles of her limbs are reflected in the surrounding landscape showing the balance we can achieve when we listen and reflect. As she sleeps her breath soars with the birds in the sky while her heartbeat synchronizes with the core of the earth.

Creation Process

Before approaching this painting I did a few studies first starting with a sketch, then a landscape study and lastly a figure study. When planning large paintings like this these studies become incredibly helpful in order to learn about your proportions, size ratios, values and colors. After the studies I laid out my composition with pencil on the canvas, making sure to measure out proportions early. Now that I had the pencil sketch I started to paint in small (bite sized) sections as to not get overwhelmed. I started with the figure because I knew she would be the most challenging part of the piece and I wanted to achieve a certain glow in her skin by layering paint. I very interesting tip that I recently discovered by painting many figure studies is that the face will always contain more pink color than the skin from other parts of the body. It creates a much more natural look!

Once I painted the figure to about 90% I started painting the surrounding landscape section by section paying special attention to color and value. The colors were very important in this piece, because they showed how the sunlight was hitting the mountain peak and illustrated the shadow below. Another key decisison that added to the realism of this piece was adding cast shadows behind the tress on the figure to show that this figure was indeed a part of this landscape and had her own weight and mass. And finally once I filled in each section of the surrounding landscape I evaluated the painting overall as a whole and make some small adjustments in order to make it feel cohesive and alive!

This lovely original painting is available to purchase for $3000 in my online shop! CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

Newest Terra Human in the Works!

Hi friends, while I was working on my recent commission I was just so inspired by the large scale of the piece that I decided to painting new newest Terra Human piece in a huge canvas! (24”x48” to be exact) Recently I’ve been in the habit of creating small to medium sized paintings because they can act of faster studies and they will be more affordable but I also think there is something to be said about investing a lot of time in a big project and using it to push your skills forward.

 
 

So here is a progress shot of this awesome project! This piece is almost complete as of now and I’m really excited to share it with you all soon!

Castle Rock Commission is Done!

My latest commission is done! I really enjoyed the tackling the challenges of this piece from it's massive scale, to the minuscule details of the houses to the fluffy clouds. Castle Rock is truly a beautiful area and I feel honored to recreate it as a painting. I hope you enjoy these photos and be sure to check out the time-lapse video at the bottom!

 
 
 
 

Daily Figure Studies

Hi friends, so recently I was inspired by another artist to aim for painting a figure study everyday in order to push my skills and experiment with new techniques. And while I haven’t been able to create a new one everyday it’s been a great way to take a break from a long project and work on my rendering skills. Here are a few pics of my recent studies along with time-lapse videos showing their process!

New Terra Human Study

Here is a new Terra Human study titled "Impending Storm" this piece explores how our internal world affects our external environment. As the storm develops and creates conflict in his mind so too does the storm gain power above him.

 
 

This piece started just as a figure study but while I was working on it I felt excited to push it further and experiment with it. I really enjoyed creating the environment around this figure and pushing my technique to make sure he seemed incorporated in it.

This piece is available to purchase for $250 in my online shop! CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

"Seeking Balance" A New Terra Human Painting

Hi friends, my newest Terra Human piece has been finished! And I thought this would be a good opportunity to share some progress photos and talk about my process when creating this challenging painting!

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When I initially laid out my shapes I accidentally over-estimated some things like the length of the figure and the height of the mountains. So I then needed to reshape these components while also starting to figure out my colors. The unfortunate part of my figure was that my reference photo was obviously not in this sunset environment so I had to adjust the colors and shadows of her skin to make it appear that she is actually being lit by this sunset.

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A huge component of this piece was the figure’s face. Her head was tilted back and to the side so this created some very challenging perspective with her features. After several tries I was able to capture her features and move onto the lace in the dress. The intricate threads in this dress were challenging but worth the struggle. I used a very small brush with long bristles so that I could create long smooth strokes. After all of the controlled details it was nice to then add in some abstraction and expressive strokes to create some movement. Once I felt close to being done I took a break from the piece and ended up coming back to it to enhance some of the colors in the sky and trees.

 
 

After many hours of work this is our final result! This original painting is available to purchase in my online store for $850. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE!

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Accepted to the Stanley Arts Festival!

Hi friends, I'm happy to announced that I've been accepted to the Stanley Arts Festival in Denver this coming September!

Last year I wasn't accepted to this great festival so it's really nice to feel an improvement!

 
 

I will be able to share more details closer to the event, but this should be a great festival! After all it’s produced by Cherry Creek Arts!

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Works in Progress

Hello everyone, I just thought I would share two progress photos of some paintings I’m currently working on! The photo on the left is the face of a 18”x24” Terra Human painting that is almost done! The photo on the right is a shot of a smaller Terra Human study that I’ve enjoyed working on.

Both of these paintings should be done this week and I’m excited to share the final results!

Veteran Artist!

🇺🇸Hi friends, I would love to share a brief story with you. In my short flight from Chicago to Virginia two days ago I sat next to a man who was a Vietnam veteran. This kind man saw me drawing in my sketchbook and asked if I was an artist. After answering yes, he told me he was one too! He said that he used writing and drawing to cope with his PTSD over the years and it was a sort of therapy for him. By writing and drawing about his experiences in Vietnam he has been able to honor those that were lost and continue his own healing process.

We talked the whole flight about both of our relationships with art and how it can help heal people who have traumas in their lives. Towards the end of the flight he said he loved meeting artists because there is something unique about them. They document history in a way and create something that outlives them. This man chose mostly to give his drawings to his family and close friends in hopes that he would be remembered through his art. He gave me permission to share a few of his drawings on social media because I felt this story was important to share.

This man told me that war strips you of your identity and humanity but art can help restore these key aspects of yourself. So please remember these selfless people who have sacrificed so much for our safety. We are forever grateful 🙏🏻

"Between Worlds" A New Terra Human Painting

Hello everyone! Here is my newest Terra Human painting titled “Between Worlds.” I’m very proud of what I’ve accomplished in this piece and I would like to share a little bit about the process with you! Overall visually with this piece I wanted to approach it like a classic portrait and then let my imagination have some fun with the surreal and abstract aspects of the painting. This process and visual composition is fairly different from my typical approach to figures because I usually show the whole person and they are typically in a dynamic pose within a large landscape scene. So I thought a change would be nice in order to try something new.

 
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In terms of concept I wanted blur the line between humans and nature. I wanted trees and grass to be seamlessly growing on this figure as if it was a completely normal thing to see and understand. I wanted this very unrealistic dreamlike image to somehow make sense in the viewers mind so that the concept can come across effortlessly. A big theme in this piece is humility and a strong respect for the nature that surrounds us and I wanted this image to be a visual representation of that . You can read the full description of this piece by clicking HERE!

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