Steve Irwin

Here he is! It's hard in this Michigan gloomy winter to get the right lighting to photograph this painting. The colors aren't as deep, and it's difficult to try to get them to where they really are in Photoshop, so some of the detail is lost. I need a good sunny day and a room that doesn't have windows at all the wrong angles!

The Detroit Shoppe/ Somerset Mall Poster

Work in progress. This will be my submission for the Detroit Shoppe's poster contest. The shop will be moving to a new permanent location in the Somerset Mall, and they are looking for submissions for posters to sell at the store. I love the architecture and sculptures best about Detroit, so I decided to focus on bronze sculptures in the area (hence the man pouring molten metal). There are some tweaks that need to happen, for instance the tile pattern is supposed to be Pewabic Pottery, but unfortunately the pottery isn't bronze, so now I feel it is out of place. Also, some of the molten ribbon needs to be enlarged so that the statue names are more easily readable. This will be a lino cut and I will colorize it in Photoshop. I'm pleased so far!

Rug Competition

Here's my submission for a recent call for entries to the annual Hagopian Rug Competition. Hagopian Rugs makes high quality rugs here in Detroit and they annually invite College for Creative Studies students to submit designs.

The theme this year was the spirit of Michigan, and to me, the lakes are what make this my home. Growing up on Lake Michigan we were always going to the beach, listening to the jet skis and seagulls; in the winter we would sit in the parking lot and watch the waves crash against the lighthouse, and every spring my siblings and I would see who would jump in the lake first (when we were younger it was sometimes in March or April!) I'm all about the lakes. My design is meant to be the sun set sparkling on the waves lapping up to shore. Mmmmm. Home.

Steve Irwin

Most recently, I've been painting a portrait of Steve Irwin wrestling a heavenly crocodile. 'Nuff said! He's still in the works; I'm going to bump up the value of the clouds in front of him, do a little bit more on the crocodile, and fix those hands but he's about six hours away from being finished. I'm painting in oil (titanium white, cad yellow, magenta, burnt sienna, pthalo blue, burnt umber) on a gessoed wood panel.

Here are some other painted studies from models. Each is about 25 minutes.


Also I'm working on a poster for The Detroit Shoppe for their new location at Somerset Mall. The poster is art deco themed, and it will be another lino cut! I'm very excited about it, and it should be a good one!