Sepia Love

More drawing group sharing.

5 minute gesture painting, oil on Vellum, 9x12

Anders on Tuesday, 14x11, oil on Ampersand Gessobord

I'm having much fun with these value studies. At this drawing group we only get one hour with the model so it is a lot of pressure to get color down. For now it is nice to be keeping things a little looser and simple. Also it is a good idea to go back to basics every now and then and think about concepts like value.

The oil on the vellum slides around with slippery goodness and feels on the verge of out of control. Kind of exhilarating.

On the more sustained piece, I started with a thinned out mixture of burnt umber, more OMS than linseed oil, gradually adding more paint, till I was painting straight out of the tube for the darks.

You may see some other posts about sketching with oil here.

ABC 33/40 in the Studio

A few weeks back I had a fun visit in the studio from ABC 33/40 TV anchorman Dave Baird and cameraman Johnny Rockett.

The Incognito Project exhibit and book had come to his attention and he wanted to do a TV segment for the Focus at Four show.

The books are on sale worldwide for 9 days only, April 22-30, 2013, at the special Portrait Society of America Conference price of $55, on Amazon or with PayPal through my website.

Below is the video. He did a great job editing out my nerves and eloquently summarizing The Incognito Project in two minutes, something I've never been able to do. I loved the Wizard idea for his alter ego, totally!


The book is available through Amazon, or through my website, or blog.

It will also be available at the Portrait Society of America's, Art of the Portrait Conference, Atlanta, GA, Artist's Book Table or at the Artist's Book Signing, Friday, April 27, 2013, 12:30 PM. Stop by and see me!

The Incognito Project Book on Sale!

The Incognito Project book is on sale for $55, April 22-30 for 9 days only!

I'm going to the Portrait Society of America's Art of the Portrait Conference in Atlanta, GA next weekend and will be participating in the Artist's Book Signing event, Friday, 12:30-1 PM at the Grand Hyatt.

The book will be available to conference goers at the PSoA's Artists Book Table all weekend long.

So we thought why not make the book available at the conference price to everyone worldwide the week of the conference! On Amazon or my website, or email me at terrystr@terrystricklandart.com

I know you can't judge a book by it's cover so here are a few 2 pages spreads and pictures from the event.

Have Brushes Will Travel

On a recent trip to VA I was lucky enough to visit Norfolk Drawing Group. They are an amazing bunch of artists. They have been going strong for years and know how to show a girl a good time!

Here are a couple of the pieces I did that night. 

20 minute, oil on vellum, 12x9

I'm enjoying working on the vellum. It is Borden & Riley Denril Multi-Media Vellum. I block in an abstract shape and rub out with a scrap of T-shirt material.

40 minute, oil on Ampersand Gessobord, 14x11

I worked on the background of this one after I got it back to B'ham. I simplified and made it darker. 

The model was late so one of the drawers jumped in to do gesture poses, (Thanks Carol!)

The 40 minute pose, oil on canvas by my friend Mark Miltz. 

Walt Taylor, the renown artist of Crack Skull Bob sketch blog captured me in the act. He says he was inspired by my boots :)

I have his book, Under the Rancid Toreador. It is comprised of selections from his blog and is hysterically funny. I read it from cover to cover chuckling to myself. I highly recommend it and his blog.

Carol, Mark, Me and Walt

Sometimes people have been known to skip the main event and just show up for the after party, sorta' like in Hollywood.

Artist's Top 9 Signs You Are In Love

...with your new painting that is.

Starting a big, new piece is like falling in love for the first time.

Athena (working title), 47x32, oil on canvas over panel

1. You're excited, inspired and smile like an idiot!
2. You enjoy spending silent time together.
3. You can't wait to introduce your family to it.
4. You daydream about it.
5. You fight, you make up.
6. You think about it first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
7. You just can't get enough, no matter how much time you spend together.
8. You forget to eat when you are together.
9. Your friends say they miss you.

Oh yeah, I'm twitterpated. It must be Spring!

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How to Mount an Oil Sketch

I do oil sketches sometimes on unstretched canvas or canvas paper from a pad. Since quick oil sketches can be sketchy with their success rate, it's an inexpensive solution. Of course, if you have to mat and frame them under glass, there go any savings you may have had.

But what to do with the successful ones you'd like to frame? I mount them on acid-free foam core so that I can varnish, and frame like any other painting on a panel.

What you need:

~A sketch you think worthy of framing, (the hard part)
~A clean flat space to work on (also a challenge in a busy studio, this table is in the thinking corner of my studio, and I keep a clean sheet around for projects like this)
~Acid-free foam core, about 1 inch larger than your piece
~Old but clean piece mat board or foam core larger than your painting (I used the back of an old canvas board)
~An extra piece of mat board or foam core larger than your piece
~An Exacto knife
~Rubber brayer
~Drafting brush or clean Swiffer
~Ruler
~Lineco pH Neutral PVA Glue
~Heavy books
~Old paint brush
~Dartek Plastic Film, Glassine or sheet clean plastic
~Self healing mat or cardboard to cut your foam core on

Click Read More below to see the directions.

Little Dramas Everywhere

I've delivered two paintings to Principle Gallery for their 2013 Still Life Invitational.

Bad Business, 9x14, oil on canvas

 And here are a few details:

Indiscretion, 9x12, oil on panel

And a few details:

Custom frames by James at Forstall Art Center finished off my little dramas.

The show opens Friday April 12, 2013, 6:30pm-9pm and be up for a month. It looks like a great show!

Ode to Melancholy or an Ode to Joy?

I'm so pleased to announce that my painting Ode to Melancholy has won a Certificate of Excellence in the Portrait Society of America's 2013 International Competition. 

"Ode to Melancholy", 24x36, oil on panel

Ode to Melancholy is a portrait of my daughter at a sad time in her life. In painting her, she became a stand in for our melancholia, a universal human experience. It reminded me that to understand joy one must fully experience the melancholy, the painful parts of life, not just get through them. There is a sweetness in experiencing life fully and John Keats put it so well in his poem that I borrowed his title for the title of my painting.

The Portrait Society of America has put together a beautiful collection of paintings that have won the 20 Certificate of Excellence Awards, and the 20 Finalists. The Finalist's paintings will be at the Art of the Portrait Conference, April 26-29 in Atlanta, GA. It will be wonderful to see them in person!

(I've had Ray Charles and Georgia on my mind.

I'm so looking forward to seeing friends from around the country!)

I will be there with The Incognito Project book, at the Artist's Book Signing table, Friday, April 26 at 12:30 pm. If you are at the conference stop by and see me! The book will be available at a special conference price of $55,  $10 off the usual retail price. 

Professor Rattus and Her Royal Court, Pages 94-95

Professor Rattus and Her Royal Court, Pages 98-99

 The Activist Pages 110-111

Ode to Melancholy has proved to be a favorite with judges over the past year. Maybe because it is such a heart felt moment.  It won an Honorable Mention in The Artist’s Magazine 2012 All-Media Online Competition, an Art Renewal Center’s 2012 International Salon, Chairman’s Choice Award and was a finalist in The Artist Magazine’s  2012 competition.

Ode to Melancholy is in my studio for the time being. If you'd like to see it, just let me know. Not around Pelham, AL? I guess a few close-ups will have to suffice.