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I'm really excited to say that my painting "Our Gentle Hands" has been sold! I really appreciate all of your kind words and insights about this painting, I worked extremely hard on it so it makes me really happy to see it go to a new home! And thank you to everyone who expressed interest in this painting, I don't think Ive ever had so many inquires!
I will have a full process video for this painting soon plus I’m planning on doing a print release as well so stay tuned!
I'm really happy to say that yesterday both "Silent Snow" and "Enchantment" were SOLD!
I want to give a special shout out to the Los Alamos community for embracing me and the art I love to create I really appreciate your support.
I only have a few landscape paintings left in my inventory and you can see them in my online store by clicking the button below!
Both of these paintings feature the beautiful Los Alamos landscape that I now get to call home. I feel very fortunate to live in such a beautiful place where I can explore and paint what I see!
I hope you enjoy this process video for my painting “Through the Leaves” this piece not only required a lot of technical skill but also a lot of thought and reflection. This original painting is currently available from Abend Gallery in Denver if you are interested! You can click the button below to view this piece on the gallery website.
I hope you enjoy this process video for my painting “Interconnection” this piece took many hours of planning and prep as well as many more hours of concentrated work. This piece is currently available from Abend Gallery in Denver if you are interested! You can click the button below to view this piece on the gallery website.
I hope you enjoy this process video for my painting “The Lost Traveler”. I worked very hard on this piece everyday for more than a month so I hope you enjoy seeing this process sped up to just a few minutes. This original painting is available from Abend Gallery in Denver, click the button below to view this piece on their website.
Hi everyone! I'm really happy to say "Surrender" "Impending Storm" and "Ghost Ranch" have all sold to a new collector! I always feel so fortunate when someone new finds my work and decides that they just have to have some of it in their home.
I want to give a special shoutout to the Los Alamos community for engaging in my work on facebook and welcoming me as a new small business. Their kind and welcoming words really help me feel like my art is connecting with people. I feel very luck to be a part of such a well-connected and engaging community!
My final brand new painting for the "Contemporary Figuration" show at Abend Gallery is here! Say hello to "Interconnection" This lovely original painting is available on Abend's website. Click the button below to view this piece on the Abend webstite.
Here is the painting description: The world contained within this painting shows us blending seamlessly with the environments that we love. Every memory, emotion and thought that is contained within us is interwoven with those of the earth to create a single beauty. The immense highs and lows in our lives directly mimic the mountains and valleys in a way that shows the earth understands us to the core. The mountains listen to our thoughts and feelings while the stars comprehend our dreams and aspirations. The trees plants and animals grow and live for decades only to lose their lives and begin again in another form.
As a viewer we are allowed only a momentary glance at this world through a window so that we may contemplate our existence and what we wish to do with our time.
Hi everyone, could you do me a favor? Please read my full description for this painting below. I hope that this painting can communicate with you as it has communicated with me during its creation process. Honestly I don't think I have ever put this much thought into a single painting before so I really hope that you can listen to what I have to say and process it as you view the piece.
This painting shows a trapped man. Ever since he was born into the color of his skin he has only been seen in this way. We choose see him through the leaves, broken, unfinished, and most of all unlike us. We only see him in these leaves as a way to control him rather than trying to understand him. As a society we refuse to see this person and people who look like him in a different light and recognize that all people are complex and multifaceted individuals. Like all of us this man is striving to find success and meaning in his life but he lives in a world that feels the need to put him into a specific box. Even though he is a kind, sensitive and compassionate individual his intent is assumed to be malicious and selfish and so everyday he feels the need be extra accommodating to those who are threatened by him. As he looks out through the leaves he finds a world that is fearful of him and ready to challenge his every move due to the color of his skin rather than the content of his character. He sees a world that is ripe with opportunity for others but these opportunities have conditions and requirements that shut him out.
This man is looking us straight in the eyes and asking us to be better. He is asking to be set free from these leaves so that he can live a life untethered from where we put him.
Hi everyone! I would like to introduce you to "The Lost Traveler." This is one of three new Terra Human paintings that I will be posting this week as a part of the Abend Gallery "Contemporary Figuration" show! ✅If you are interested in this piece feel free to contact me or use the button below to view the painting on Abend's website.
Here is my description of the painting: This piece illustrates a man who has been searching for himself. It has taken him so long to get where his is right now and yet has a long way to go from here. He wishes to better himself through self discovery but the road has left him lost and exhausted. But what he doesn’t realize is that he is already learning and changing more than he realizes. His body is staring to crumble and break down to eventually be reformed stronger than before. And the plants and trees are beginning to see him for who he truly is and feel comfortable growing with him and nurturing his heart. After a long night of rest, the morning sunlight is touching the distant peaks soon to awaken this traveler to a new day of opportunity.
Here is my description of the painting: This piece illustrates a man who has been searching for himself. It has taken him so long to get where his is right now and yet has a long way to go from here. He wishes to better himself through self discovery but the road has left him lost and exhausted. But what he doesn’t realize is that he is already learning and changing more than he realizes. His body is staring to crumble and break down to eventually be reformed stronger than before. And the plants and trees are beginning to see him for who he truly is and feel comfortable growing with him and nurturing his heart. After a long night of rest, the morning sunlight is touching the distant peaks soon to awaken this traveler to a new day of opportunity.
It's been a while since I've done a throwback post so I hope you enjoy this fun comparison of one of the first faces I painted as a professional artist to my most recent painting of a face!
Believe it or not I used to be terrified of painting people and faces in particular so I often stylized figures or just left their faces blank. The idea of a human face is so engrained into our brains that we can almost always tell if it is illustrated incorrectly by an artist. We can't always vocalize it but we can tell if there is something slightly off in the proportions. So this fear of failure prevented me from even attempting to paint people's faces for a while even though I loved looking at portrait paintings. More and more I was drawn to figurative art but was afraid of painting faces and failing at what I loved to do.
The painting on the right "Terra Firma" was one of my first real attempts at painting a figure while also including the face. I worked on this piece with caution and excitement because I was so entranced with the concept and vision I had in my head. I actually started this piece with the intention of NOT painting her face as to avoid the intimidation factor. But the more I painted the more I felt confident in my abilities and was willing to take the risk of illustrating the face in full.
The painting on this right is my most recent painting of a face. "The Giver" features a seamless double exposure portrait of a woman blended with the leaves, branches and sunlight that surround her. Even now when I am much more confident in my painting abilities I approach every piece with humility because every painting can be a new and unpredictable experience. I just feel thankful that my painting abilities are starting to catch up with the visions I piece together in my head. I truly love painting people because we instinctively connect with the person we see on the canvas and can use it as a way to reflect on ourselves.
I want to share this throwback image to show that inspiring ideas don't just materialize out of nowhere, they build over your years of hard work, risk-taking and sensitivity to your surroundings. In 2015 as part of my senior thesis as an art major I painted my biggest and boldest painting to date. I had grown into a relatively confident landscape painter but decided to jump into the unknown by incorporating these haunting figures traversing the landscape. This decision would completely shift the narrative of the piece and give me the confidence to create unique and risky paintings for years to come. I often think back to this piece and the distinct moment when I had finished the landscape portion and finally worked up the courage to start painting the figures. It actually felt like jumping off a cliff into the unknown, both terrifying and exhilarating.
So when people ask me how I come up with ideas for my paintings I try to express that I have been accumulating interesting concepts, images and emotions for years in my head without really realizing it. This allows my art to build on itself in a natural progression so that I don't feel lost in a sea of ideas. When you look at these two paintings side-by-side you can clearly see an improvement in technique while also seeing a distinct starting point for the concept. With each new painting I try to take a small but uncomfortable risk so that I always feel like I'm moving forward and trying something new.
I hope you enjoy this fun comparison between a painting from 2017 vs a painting in 2020.
As I've evolved into a figurative painter over the past few years its been hard to unsee a large disparity in this genre of art. Notably that the majority of figurative art focuses on women rather than men. And even more stunning is that the majority of paintings of women are painted by men. Now this branches into a much larger topic that I've discussed in my blog but I just want to sum it up in saying that as a figurative painter I want to do my best to represent all people. Since I started tentatively painting people several years ago I've made a conscious effort to specifically paint men. I do this even while knowing that these paintings on average don't sell as often as paintings of women. I do this because I hope to shift the norm in this regard and show not only that paintings of men are valuable and interesting but that they don't also have to be hyper masculine or show a "typical" version of strength. Artwork in general has an opportunity to show that men are multifaceted and complex creatures that are allowed to listen to their emotions.
I hope you see what I'm trying to accomplish in a lot of my artwork. In the years to come I am planning on pushing myself to paint more people of color as well as more people in the LGBTQ+ family.
I feel very fortunate to have been interviewed by Shoutout Colorado about my art career! They seek out inspiring entrepreneurs and creatives and have them share some insights into their career.
I really appreciate this opportunity to share what I have learned so far and reflect back on what makes me tick as a working creative.
Please give this article a read if you have the time, I put a lot of thought into my answers so that you can get get to know me better on a professional and personal level. Click the button below to read the full interview!
I’m really excited to share 3 brand new Terra Human paintings for the 30th Annual Holiday Miniatures Show at Abend Gallery!
These pieces along with many other incredible paintings are now officially available during the virtual opening at AbendGallery.com click the button below to view this amazing show! Scroll down to view all three of my paintings!
“A Moment of Acceptance”
7”x11'“
Oil on Artefex Panel (Framed)
Available for $775 from Abend Gallery
This piece serves as a reminder of the importance of our self image. How we think of and speak to ourselves greatly influences our mental health and mental well-being and unfortunately we can be our own biggest critics. But if we can choose to give ourselves the grace and patience that we give others we will find ourselves in a healthier mental state. Like many of us, the person in this painting sometimes asks too much of herself and can’t help but speak words of negativity in order to push herself. But these words can do more harm that we know, degrading our self worth and leaving us unbalanced. The moment in this painting is a moment of realization. A moment in which we see ourselves for all of our strengths and weaknesses and decide to give ourselves the grace that we need to stay healthy and balanced.
“Creator and Creation”
7”x11'“
Oil on Artefex Panel (Framed)
Available for $775 from Abend Gallery
This piece illustrates the innate connection we all have with the natural world that created us. The incredible nature that surrounds us serves many purposes and one of which is the way in which it encourages us to look inward and recalibrate our identity. Often times our fast paced lifestyle causes us to lose sight of who we are and replaces our empathy with malice and judgment that distances us from others and ourselves. Our primal brains are still catching up with the ever changing lives that we live, which are filled with social media, technology and an overwhelming amount of complicated people.
But when we are able to step out of the day to day chaos and immerse ourselves in the nature that created us we connect with our surroundings and tap into our primal nature. This innate connection we have with nature can help us reestablish what we value in our lives and it can help us grow as individuals to then better serve others.
“The Giver”
7”x11'“
Oil on Artefex Panel (Framed)
Available for $775 from Abend Gallery
This piece is an ode to those who strive to do good in this world. The people who despite the darkness surrounding them emit a light of empathy, kindness and understanding that inspires others. These people are the helpers, listeners, watchers and hard workers who always seek to help the world even in the most microscopic of moments or gestures and never ask for anything in return. The heart of a giver is one that should be cherished.
I’m really excited to announce my official sponsorship with Tri Art Manufacturing! About a month ago Tri Art reached out to me with this great partnership idea and after using their excellent oil paints in some upcoming works I decided to sign with them!
So far I’ve really enjoyed using their paints for a number of reasons. The first being the excellent paint texture and color. Straight out of the tube these paints mix incredibly well and are very easily workable. Also I personally can get really frustrated with other paint tubes that build up dry paint near the cap but the Tri Art paint tubes don’t do this at all and tend to stay very clean.
Overall I’m super excited about this partnership and look-forward to exploring the rest of their excellent products! 😁
My first podcast interview! I'm so happy to have been interviewed by the kind and insightful Christopher Syyap in his podcast the Creative Brick Road! Give it a listen if you have time! You can find it on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher and Youtube!
Here are the links for Youtube and Spotify!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEHVljpwElI&t=1s
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1YpjIRtdJvXIPsGpw48WTF...
I'm so appreciative to have had this platform to talk about my artistic journey thus far and what I am looking forward to in the future!
"EVE" limited edition prints are officially available! You can view and purchase your very own print by clicking the button below!
There will be ONLY 50 limited edition prints created and each is the actual size of the original painting (18"x24"). I worked closely with LKMNDD who took detailed photos of every section of the painting and then photo-stitched the images together to create a highly detailed print that is true to the original. Each print will be come with a signed certificate of authenticity that displays your print number.
To celebrate the week of release, every print ordered between now and Friday at midnight will be 15% off!
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. I'm incredibly excited to be releasing these prints to you! I worked on this painting for over 100 hours and have worked really hard with LKMNDD to create these amazing prints for you! I have no doubt that these prints will make for excellent holiday gifts to loved ones as well as a meaningful gift to yourself.
EVE prints will be available soon! Please read!
This Monday October 19th will be the long awaited print release of "EVE"! All prints ordered during the week of release will have a special limited time discount!
There will be ONLY 50 limited edition prints created and each is the actual size of the original painting (18"x24")
All prints will be available through Like Minded Productions
Click the button below to visit my store on their website!
Hi Everyone!
Here are some of my throwback Thursday posts that I like to put on Facebook and Instagram. They are great opportunities to look and back on my old work and reflect on how far I have come in the last few years. I hope you enjoy!
In this throwback post I thought it would interesting to look at two different styles I implemented in with a single reference. Before creating the realistic version of this painting I decided to make an energetic and expressive study to get a rough impression of the subject and experiment with color. Once I got into it I really enjoyed jumping around the piece with spontaneous brushwork that seemed to add some nice movement to the figure and the light source. Now I don’t always create these impressionistic studies but in this instance it serves as an interesting comparison to the more realistic “final” painting. In the realistic version I worked in sections with a variety of brushes to both apply and blend the paint. I focused on blending and color accuracy to make the piece realistic and nuanced.
I feel like both of these painting styles have a place in my creative practice and in the artistic world as a whole. Being spontaneous and heavy handed can serve as an amazing break from my usual detail oriented process. And I greatly admire fellow artists who can blend both realistic and expressive techniques into a single dynamic painting. Overall I really love how there is so much to explore in the realm of painting and I feel like I have barely scratched the surface!
For this post I thought I would show a triple comparison showing my progression from High School to College and finally professional art! And I want to take this opportunity to talk about the most important thing that I learned in this 15 year process.
Throughout my education I was especially lucky to have much more exposure to art than most and it really worked well for me. But like most children who are artistically inclined I was only rewarded for my "inherent artistic talent." Me and other creative students were told over and over again that we were talented and this choice of words told us that our artistic ability was fixed and couldn't be changed. Now I don't blame anyone for this because as a culture this is how we see artists because we don't understand them. So my time creating art in high school was great overall but I still was not able to shed this preconception that I was "talented" and therefor not able to improve.
My art experience in college was a transition time, I started to make a connection between practice and improvement in my art. My professors were the first people to tell me that art is a skill that can be developed over time. All of the sudden art felt less mysterious to me, I always knew that I was a hard worker and now I was starting to find a place to dedicate my effort.
It's safe to say that my professional career as a painter would not have happened if I wasn't shown that art is a skill not an innate talent. So much of how I work now is based on practice and slow improvement, trying to make every painting better than the last using my own personal growth to measure success. And I look forward to learning and improving as much as I can for the rest of my life 🤗
Thanks for listening
Decided to try some watercolor painting during our mini vacation to Winter Park a few weeks ago ! So happy that I was able to find this little spot to setup and throw some color around. It's been a long time since I've painted in watercolor so it was nice to try something different!
Hi everyone! I'm excited to be donating my original painting "Cascade" to Connected Through HeArt who will be auctioning it off at the end of September! All proceeds will be going to the Humane Society!
Connected Through HeArt was started in May of this year by two precocious Colorado girls who wanted to help their community through art and I'm very happy to be working with them as their first featured guest artist! Use this link to visit their website!
https://sites.google.com/.../con.../featured-guest-artist...
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!
I've been meaning to share this figure painting that I made a few weeks ago so here it is! This piece served as a study for an upcoming Terra Human painting that I'm working on right now!
Feel free to contact me if you are interested in this lovely piece, I worked very hard on the lighting and intricate color relationships
This piece is currently available for purchase! Contact me or check my online shop for purchase!
Austin Howlett Art