Dragon.

Commission on canvas. Slow going, but progress is being made!

Another shot

Finished and framed! On to the next painting!

Finished the falls!

Taughannock falls, painted in acrylic. Commission.

Inkstudy on aged parchment

Aged ink study done with India ink and brushes. 22 x 30". This work is for sale. Contact me if interested.

Nude study 1

Thought I'd post something that isn't a landscape in acrylics... A 30 min nude study I did about a month ago. Cheers!

Work in progress 2

This is the other part of my hard work today... A commissioned work of Taughannack Falls outside if Ithaca NY. Slow going, but feeling more and more successful... 16 x 20".

Work in progress 1

As usual, I spent a great deal of time painting today, and came up with nothing finished, but plenty half baked...

This is an acrylic on canvas measuring 20x16". I think I will add a figure standing on a rock outcropping, although I am not entirely sure yet. Done using open acrylics by Golden. Absolutely amazing paints, which I would highly recommend to anybody of any skill level!

A sunset at sea

This impasto acrylic was done exclusively with palette knife, and heavy body acrylics and medium. It measures 16x20", and has been sold.

More acrylics.

Just a couple works up on display at the gallery attached to the corks and more wine bar where I work.

Sandy pond is an acrylic measuring 16x20" and was done using a heavy glazing medium to try and achieve an oil like effect.

Paradigm shift is an acrylic measuring 18x 24", and uses heavy influences of one of my favorite surrealist acrylic landscape painters, Tim Gagnon.

Both works are for sale. The prices are set in the gallery, but are not completely stone etched- contact me if interested.

Working from photos.

A friend sent me a photo. I painted it.

This photo was taken midway through the process- it is not finished at this point, although I will repost a photo of it when I get it returned

Acrylic on canvas measuring 36" x 12". This work is currently on loan.

Frames that make you wonder

For a piece I recently sold, I tried to make my own frame. Using cherry oak, I worked out a unique design to mount an abstract work, with the goal being to fit the work as much as possible. Keeping some of the cherry oak showing was important to both the client and myself... It really is a beautiful wood to work with. I think it was a success, but also a great adventure to try my hand at carpentry!

Courage

Since I posted this as part of another post earlier in the week, I should probably post it now. This piece is called "Courage", and is a painting of a foxhound deciding to face the shadows of an ominous wood. To me, this painting represents that moment inside each and every one of us where we decide to stand up to fear rather than flee.

"Courage" measures 18" x 24" and is for sale. Contact me if interested.

Charcoal still lives

Done for a class a while back in 2011. Measure 16" x 24".

Watercolor studies

Amongst art lovers, oil painting is considered the trade of masters. Amongst artists, watercolor is considered the untamable beast that we all dream of conquering. Having been taught by a watercolor artist grandmother all my life, I always aspired to be able to paint in watercolor. It's still a work in progress.

Both works on 9" x 12" 180 g cold press.

Illusions of light

This was a gift for a friend. I enjoyed doing the background greatly, but also used it as a great vessel to learn color versus tone. All together not a strong piece, but still contains great color... It was an important lesson to learn.

Ink study

Just a quick black India ink study I did back in 2010. I was also going through a Van Gogh obsession.

Measures 6" by 18" and is done on 180 g watercolor paper with India ink and white acrylic.

Find the path

This was an acrylic I poured a lot of time into. I considered this work a large step towards defining a style for myself. Nature, light and imagination have always been my main inspirations, and this painting really shows that.

"Find the Path" measures 12" x 36", and is for sale. Contact me if interested.

Why the right tool helps

Although I am a large believer in concept that the pilot and not the plane fly you to your destination, you can't fly across the Atlantic in a paper glider. Below I am posting a painting I did about 3 months ago. It was done using Liquitex BASIC acrylics, a student line made with the intent of being affordable. Although I do like these paints for certain uses, they are heavily diluted, and the color spectrum is less accessible both for blending, mixing, and layering.

A few days ago, I decided to touch this work up, using Golden acrylics, a professional level acrylic paint, and the best paints I've ever used. The resulting difference is remarkable- see for yourself!

Lesson learned. You get what you pay for. Like everything else in life :)

Ps- this work may look a little less detailed than other things I've put up. It's because this painting is only 2" x 8" working that small is a different experience too.

This work is for sale. Contact me if interested.

Floating canvas work

So I decided to try and paint using a float canvas. Traditionally, wrapped canvas is set with four flat sides, and many artists choose to either hide these behind a frame, paint them black (my preference), or white. On a float canvas, the edges taper back, and are used as painting space to continue your work all the way to the wall. This creates an illusion of your composition ''floating'' in 3 dimensions.

Admittedly, this is wicked awesome to see in person, but my honest opinion is that this is a huge pain. Painting a float creates many logistical problems of how to hold the painting without getting fingers on edges, and blending across the edges is also tedious. For a commission, sure, but I doubt I'll be jumping for these at the shop again.

This work measures 10" x 30", and is for sale. Contact me if interested.

Red light district

So I don't venture into the abstract impressionist vein as much as other painters do, but there is always a time to push the boundaries in our lives- this is how we grow. This is done on canvas board, in acrylic. I used a pretty heavy knife technique which lends itself to acrylic work coming out of the late 50s through 70. For many artists and critiques, this is the definitive acrylic technique, with traditional work being a borrowed style from the oil world. I beg to differ- it is the pilot, and not the plane who takes you through the sky.

This work is for sale. Contact me if you are interested.

Roots.

Today, while cleaning my studio, I came across the first acrylic painting I ever did. Oh boy... So this is from summer of 2007. Clearly, I had absolutely no idea what o was doing, but honestly that is what I love about this one! It is a great example of how far you can improve if you keep dear the goal of making great art. I will post it side by side a newer work.

Nuthin 2 see

If you've played borderlands for either xbox or ps3, then you probably appreciate this just as much as I do. Done in illustration markers (prismacolor), this was a gift for a dear friend who always knows how to cover your back from crazed shotgunners (with his trusty bloodwing, of course)

Without a paddle...

This acrylic on canvas was done in 2011 and really marks my first successful painting, as far as my standards go. It currently hangs in my parents' house ("awwww")

Einstein

One of my favorite people to study and idolize... Portrait done in charcoal as a Christmas gift for one of the few people that idolize him more than I.

Still life

Okay, so an art blog titled "acrylic" should be, well, acrylics... This graphite drawing depicts my trombone and some wine. Took about 10 hours.

Searching

A watercolor done back in 2009, this study really reminds me how much definition a work can get from tone, rather than color spectrum.

This work is for sale. Contact me if interested.

His Best friend

A somewhat trite work... Acrylic as usual, this piece really helped me hone my skills with clouds... The secret, as I learned well after completing this, is to bot be afraid of darks, for without dark, white clouds look stupid...

First snowfall

This was an acrylic on canvas done in 2011 as a project to test a few new techniques for oil, applied to acrylics. Enjoy!

Sun warrior

This acrylic on canvas was done in 2011.

This work is for sale. Contact me if you are interested.

Acrylics of old...

Rash actions often require an explanation...

A good friend of mine was looking at some of my paintings with me this last winter. I am a professional musician.. No, nothing cool like the guitar, I play the trombone... Painting, and visual art in general for that matter, has always been something I've done for fun... Since day one, I haven't been able to keep away from art. My friend looked through a few, then suggested I start an art blog where people could see, critique, or even buy and enjoy my art. I thought it stupid, but just to see, I posted a few photos to a social media site I already had. To my utter shock, within three days I had already had 2 requests from friends to purchase my work. Shocked, I decided I needed a place to constantly post my work, and this blog was born..

Here are some older photos.


Here are some of the older acrylics I have done.