Painting for a Red Sox Photo-Shoot Pillow

I enjoy the challenge of being asked to paint anything and everything – and my recent project with an interior designer was no exception!

Kristen DiBella from Blue Door Designs called me in a pinch.  She was doing a photo shoot in 2 days and she needed a prop quickly!  The shoot was for the Red Sox and Airbnb promoting a sleepover at Fenway Park, and she needed a 2 foot square pillow of the “Green Monster Seats” sign for the set.  The actual sign is painted on old brick and has a great, uneven texture to it that she wanted to capture.  She explored online resources and even looked into having it printed, but there were no options to capture the look she wanted on such short notice – until she called me!

Using fabric that Kristen got to me and a picture of the sign as a guide, I shifted things around to start on her painting right away.  I decided not to gesso the fabric (gesso is a clay-based paint that preps the surface for painting)- which created a challenge with the paint soaking into (instead of sitting on top of) the fabric, but it also kept the fabric from being too stiff since it was being made into a pillow.

I was able to turn the painting around and get it off to a seamstress (Jen) who also jumped in to get the pillow done on time.  The exchange was like a baton hand-off in a relay race as Jen ran off to get her “leg” of the process done.  The end result was exactly what Kristen was looking for thanks to a clear vision and some fun team effort!

Below are pictures of the painting, the pillow and the photo-shoot set.

Enjoy!

Jason

The painting

The pillow

The set

5 Things to Consider When Planning a Kid's Room Mural

When decorating children’s rooms, there are so many things to consider with all the great furniture, bedding and accessory options out there – but will a nice wall color and sheet pattern combination truly transform your kid’s bedroom into a magical space he or she will cherish? You know you want to do something special and create a room that will inspire your kid’s imagination (and maybe make them hang out in their room a little longer on weekend mornings before waking you up), but how?

Ditching the traditional flat wall color and going with a custom kid’s room mural is a great option.  It is easy to see how surrounding your child with a painted scene on his or her walls can engage their creative side, but there have also been scientific studies that show how viewing art actually makes us feel better, with other benefits ranging from improved health to reduced stress to increased empathy (one of the articles talking about the benefits of art can be found here:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/in-the-neighborhood/201303/the-art-stress-relief ).

This is all well and good, but particularly with young kids (or babies on the way!), how do we know what kind of mural to paint?  Collaborating with a mural artist is your best bet, but the following list of things to consider should give you a good place to start:

1)    Avoid popular cartoon characters.  From Elsa of “Frozen” to Blue of “Blues Clues”, these types of characters are sure to evoke a squeal of delight from your kids at the first unveiling, but the effect will soon wear off.  One problem with the approach of using a known character is that it limits the extent to which it will engage your kid’s imagination.  More problematic, however, is how short-lived the appeal is likely to be.  Let’s face it, kids only love Elsa or Blue for so long – and after that year or so is up, you are back to square one in the process of figuring out how to re-invent a great space for your kids who now love SpongeBob SquarePants.

2)    Avoid going too “cutesy.”  Smiling suns and floating hearts can certainly create a happy-feeling space, but they won’t go far in terms of inspiring your kid’s creativity.  Similar to the trap of #1 above, it is also important to remember that while your son or daughter may be three when you have the mural painted, it’s best to avoid the rosy-cheeked train they will lose interest in when they are five.

3)    Avoid letting your own interests hijack the planning process.  You may be an avid football fan, but turning your infant son’s room into a gridiron may not necessarily have the desired effect of giving him a space that he really loves and cherishes.

4)    For younger (or expected) kids, do stick to bigger, more universal themes when planning the room.  Kids room murals based on nature and/or or animals tend to be the most successful and long-lasting.  Think about how your child will engage with the images on the wall… keeping it open for them to find patterns in clouds, or create adventures for animals or put themselves into another space and story is what makes a mural successful.  It can also be fun and meaningful to incorporate something specific to your family in these larger-themed murals (for example, a sea scene if you love to vacation on the ocean every year, or including an eagle because it is their grandfather’s favorite animal).  I have also been surprised to see how these types of murals can be cherished by kids from infancy all the way into their teens. 

5)    For older kids, do incorporate things they love.  If your son or daughter has developed a passion for music, or sports, or dance, or owls, or cats (you get the idea) – using these interests as part of the overall mural or even as the central theme can be a great way to give your son or daughter a room they can’t wait to spend time in and share with their friends.

Most importantly, focus on the warm feelings you want your child to have for (and in) their room and have fun with it!  With a little bit of planning and a good dash of art, you will be able to create a space that is more than just a bedroom.

A Commissioned Painting as a Special Birthday Present

In trying to come up with the perfect 60th birthday present for her husband Roger, my client Pam was going through the usual checklist of his interests, but was coming up short on the gift idea.  As is often the case, Roger already has most of the things he needs to support his interests – which is when Pam started thinking of something Roger could enjoy when he wasn’t doing his favorite things (but wished he was).

Topping the list of Roger’s passions is his sailboat that he keeps moored off the shore of their house in Maine, which was the inspiration for Pam’s idea.  Certainly, they can’t always be in Maine enjoying the boat or their house – but what if she did something special to capture the feeling of the house and the boat that Roger could enjoy year-round?

To accomplish this, Pam reached out to have me do a custom painting of Roger’s boat.  After looking through some photos, we decided to use an image that captured the view of the boat from the house, with trees framing the view of the boat and the ocean. 

Pam shared a number of images, and I combined elements from a few of them to get the best composition while still capturing the feel of relaxing on the porch on a sunny afternoon.  Year-round, Roger can now enjoy looking out on the slightly hazy July day and thinking of the day enjoyed on the boat.

Below are the pictures I worked from.  The first shows the trees framing the boat, the second has the water with the great light streak in the background and nice reflection in the waves, and the third shows the orientation of the boat that I ended up using.

The shot used for the view through the trees

The shot used for the water and reflection

The shot used for position of the boat

The final painting!

 Enjoy!

Faux Painting Wallpaper in Wellesley

My most recent project was a fun challenge that used both my decorative painting and mural skills to replicate wallpaper.  Yes – I painted wallpaper!

Thanks to our crazy winter, my client in Wellesley had ice dams that unfortunately lead to significant damage in their master bedroom.  Part of this damage included the destruction of the wallpaper in one corner of the room – wallpaper that was just hung less than a year ago!  Even though the paper was relatively new, the challenge became more interesting when they discovered that this particular pattern was discontinued.  So – my client was faced with the need to strip the entire room and re-paper with a new pattern… But, they really liked the pattern they had.

The damaged corner

Fortunately, their painter had the idea to have a muralist/decorative painter paint the damaged section of the room to replicate the wallpaper pattern. By calling me, they were able to keep the wallpaper they like and fix the damaged corner!  They were skeptical at first that it could be done, so I did a test board (below) to show them the paper side-by-side with my painting.  They liked what they saw, so I was brought in to do the same on walls and around corners.

The test board

My first surprise was when I found that the base-color paint that matched perfectly in the paint store did not match in the lighting of the actual room.  Fortunately, I also brought some of my stock of different color wall paints and I was able to mix a better match by eye when I was on site.

The bad match

With the re-mixed paint and "printed" texture

Once I had that piece done, I “printed” the texture pattern in the background using screen wrapped around a block.  With that complete, I was able to dive into the pattern using stencils I made in advance…

The completed job

When the contractor came in, he had to bend over to look close at the seam to see where the real paper ended and the painting began – which was a great way to end the project!

Close-up including seam with the actual wallpaper

Enjoy,

Jason

Drawing Class for Kids

Who says lessons in proportion, sketching, line variation and shading aren’t the stuff of summer vacation fun ?!  I certainly had fun as I worked with 8 great kids between the ages 8 and 12 in my “How To Draw Your Favorite Animal” class last week.

I had the kids start by drawing with no instruction from a picture they chose of their favorite animal.  We then used this to do a “before and after” to compare with a drawing they did from the same picture at the end of the class.  We did an art show for the parents on Friday, showing these before and after drawings – and one of the most rewarding moments is when the kids themselves walked through the show and marveled over how all the drawings had improved!

My main focus for the class was “draw what you see!” (a phrase I’m sure most of the kids are still hearing in their sleep).   The idea here is to focus on what is really there instead of what you think is there.  You may be amazed at the difference!

After “draw what you see”, the #1 thing I had them work on was to focus on the “big stuff” first.  In this lesson, we talked about how it won’t matter how good the details or shading are if the proportions and shape of the animal aren’t correct first.  So we did exercises to teach them how to find and draw proportions, how to find the big shapes in the animal (and to draw these big shapes before the features or details) and the importance of the initial sketch.

Then we were able to do exercises focusing on details like the eyes, nose, ears and mouth (focusing on the “draw what you see” lesson!)– as well as techniques for using line variation and shading to create shape and detail.

After 10 hours of drawing fun (and a lot of work) – we got some great results.  Below are some before and after shots of the kid’s animals!  Enjoy!

Before #1

After #1

Before #2

After #2

Before #3

After #3

Before #4

After #4

Before #5

After #5

Before #6

After #6

Before #7

After #7

Before #8

After #8

Feature Article about BlackBeak studios

As a sponsor partner of n2  Publishing's "Chestnut Hill Living" I was featured in this article for the June edition.  It is great to have the opportunity to get involved in this community!

A Special Portrait Project

When I am doing commissioned projects, I often feel a responsibility to honor the memories people entrust me with – which was very much the case with my most recent portrait project.

My client Matt approached me to do a painting of his grandparents, which is reason enough to make sure I cherish the image with my painting – but in talking with Matt, I also learned that his grandfather is in poor health. Matt’s goal with the painting was to honor his grandparents and create something that will bring joy to them and will be treasured by the whole family.

I like to learn about the people I am painting, and Matt shared how warm and loving his grandparents are - adding that they are the type of people who accept and appreciate their family no matter what.  He talked about how they are always happy and excited just to see their children and grandchildren, and nothing ever gets in the way of that.  They are also warm and loving with each other, so the photo Matt chose to have me work from was perfect.

Starting with the image below, we talked about things that Matt’s grandparents would appreciate, like the fact that his grandmother loves purple and that his grandfather has worn the same silver watch since he was in the military.  Using the notes I took from my conversation with Matt, I tweaked the composition and colors of the photo to focus the attention on his grandparents and their embrace while highlighting the things they will appreciate and enjoy. I also wanted the painting to have a joyful and hopeful feeling.

Matt just gave the painting to his grandparents yesterday.  Unfortunately, his grandfather was having a difficult day - but Matt shared that when he saw the portrait he just glowed.  Both of his grandparents were shocked, thrilled and touched by this incredibly thoughtful gift from one of their grandchildren who wanted to give back just a little of the love and joy he and the whole family has received from two amazing people.

An Epic Dog Portrait

One of the biggest benefits of commissioning a mural or a painting is the ability to customize the image to make it truly unique and special.  My latest client David decided to take advantage of this when he asked me to do a 24”x18” painting of his 11 year-old labradoodle Ollie.

Of course, when it comes to portraits of people or pets – the most important thing is to capture the subject.  As the basis of the painting, David wanted to start with the image below, as he loved the fun, almost regal pose Ollie is striking in this particular shot:

Original shot of Ollie

Because it is an older photo and does not completely capture Ollie’s face, though, David also shared some additional images – including this one:

Then came the setting for the image.  The shot of Ollie on the couch is from an old apartment and did not quite go with the pose or the objective of creating a special keepsake.  David is an architect who also does interior design, but he has not yet designed his own home – so we instead decided to create an entirely new space from scratch.

David’s original direction was to replace the couch with a black Barcelona daybed and place it in a room that he described as “California modern” with large windows and wood trim.  To start, I sourced several images that gave me elements of what David was looking for (below) and proposed how I would combine these different elements in the final piece. 

David liked where we were going, so I did the following sketch and sent it to him to confirm the direction for the painting.  David loved the sketch – so we then talked about colors, and David gave me direction to use dark trim and neutrals for the tile, chimney and carpet.

 After this step, I usually like to wait to show the final piece for a dramatic reveal – but because David had a specific look in mind, I sent him a picture of the painting in progress to show the colors in the room (before I had Ollie painted) to make sure he liked it.

I was able to deliver the painting today, and David is thrilled with it!  His business partner was also there - and commenting on how much the painting captured Ollie, she is already lobbying to have the painting hang in their office instead of David’s living room.  Either way, I couldn’t be happier that it will be enjoyed and cherished.

 Enjoy,

Jason

Italian Restaurant Faux Painting

When you think about the north end of Boston, you think about great Italian restaurants.  There are actually over 70 restaurants in the area – and soon there will be one more opening!  To get the space ready, the owner is having a full renovation done, and I was happy to be a part of it.  Like most north-end restaurants, the space is small, but filled with charm.  This particular space features an exposed brick wall, a scalloped ceiling and a dark wood bar to give a rustic but modern feel.

To further enhance this look, the owner worked with the painter on a paint scheme for the non-brick walls that uses a light yellow as the dominant color, which is offset by a prominent but appropriately rustic orange color.  To take this a step further, they decided to go with a textured look for these accent walls – which is where I came in.  Using a glazing technique, I was able to create this old-world plaster look, while still keeping it sharp and contemporary looking.

Below are a couple of pictures showing the before and after of these walls

Enjoy!

Jason

Back wall before faux painting

Back wall after faux painting

Front wall before faux painting

Front wall after faux painting

Wine Label Illustration

As I have mentioned in this blog before, I love the diversity of doing different types of projects – so I was excited to get started on this illustration for a wine label!

I was contacted by two couples who had worked with an outfit to make their own wine.  They are now getting close to the bottling part of the process and needed to come up with a label for their creation. Rather than taking the usual path of using stock images for their label, however, they wanted to do something to reflect the fact that their wine was hand-crafted by friends. They were looking for something distinctive and special that would make the fruits of their labor more enjoyable from the moment they pull each bottle off the rack.

 As a first step, they needed a name…

The group made their wine through the winter, so they wanted the name to reference the historic weather this year.  Being from Connecticut, however, they decided to go more tongue-in-cheek with the name and reference the fact that in their area, they saw more hype and warnings than actual blizzards!

 After talking with them about the wine and what they wanted, I came back with 2 concepts.  The first was all about the hype they reference with the wine name, while with the second I wanted to create a much quieter image and focus on the look and feel of a winter day before a storm hits.

 After looking at the different ideas, the couples chose to go with the second concept.  To complement their wine, they liked the quiet beauty of the scene with the hint of something stronger in the background.  With this decision in hand, I created the final piece below and will be working with a local printer to deliver the final touch for this wine project!

Decorative painting projects

If you are looking decorating ideas to add some character to a space, decorative painting is a great option.  The term “decorative painting” can cover a lot of ground – but here are some recent projects that give some idea of what can be done.

The first example is a painted kitchen backsplash.  The goal with this project was to add more interest to the counter area and create a better visual flow between this open kitchen and the adjacent rooms.  To do this, we worked with the colors of the kitchen itself, but we also pulled in some of the warmer reds and a touch of mustard yellow from the dining room and living room on either end of this space.  The pattern also ties to the graphic feel of the living room carpet, and the staggering of the colors is purposely random to give it a looser, less formal look.  Working with paint saves money vs. tile, but also gives all the flexibility to do whatever you need to get the exact look you are going for – like we were able to do with this project.  Below are the before and after shots:

Before

After

Decorative painting can also be used with furniture or even an accent piece.  For another recent project, I applied a painted and antiqued look to a small wooden stand.  The original stand was not in great shape and was finished in a standard mahogany-color stain that blended into the background of the room.  To transition this piece from bland to dynamic, we decided on this paint finish.  We wanted the end result to be a brighter color for some pop, so we went with a lighter blue color with a touch of grey to tone it down just a bit.  Part of the antique look was to do a “crackle” finish, which shows the color under the final coat.  To maximize this , we used an antique yellow color to contrast with blue while enhancing the aged effect.  I also did a little surface standing at the end to show some wear, so there is a coat of off-white under the yellow for a little more depth in those few places where this color shows through.  Finally, I used some stain that I quickly buffed off to replicate the affect of age and use.  The end result now adds the pop to the room that we were looking for, and is just a fun piece to look at!

Finally, decorative painting can be a great way to add some texture, depth and even color variation to a room.  The first example below is a wall opposite the backsplash.  Our goal was to keep the overall color in the same family as the other walls which we did not faux finish, but to also bring in some of the blue from the counter as well as some of the warm dark tan from the living room.  Adding texture enhances the warm feel of this nook and goes perfectly with the distressed look of the chairs. 

I also used similar finish technique for this bathroom project.  In this case, we wanted make this small, previously dull bathroom feel like a special place.  To do this, we pulled in some of the gray of the tiles together with two shades of green to create this rich but fun feel:

The last project was another bathroom, but in this case we were going for a different look. Here, we went with a glazing technique to add texture and give the room a subtle old-world feel:

Happy painting!

Commissioned 3'x4' Tuscan window scene

When I first met with Cathie, it was to look at a challenging space in her home that she wanted to do something with, but she was not sure exactly what. 

Cathie’s house has an addition with a vaulted roof, and the area where the addition meets the original house features a large triangle shape wall that starts at ceiling height and continues up the peak of the roof.  The result is a big blank wall that is 17’ wide at the bottom and about 15’ high at the point of the triangle.  Below is a snapshot of the wall:

 In looking through the room and the rest of the house, I was able to get a sense of Cathie’s tastes color scheme.  From other paintings, I could see that Cathie prefers realism, but also paintings with a looser, almost impressionist style.  The color scheme includes yellows, gold, reds, browns and sage/olive green.  I also talked to Cathie about her interests, and things she might like in a painting.  In this conversation, we talked about Italian/Tuscan scenes, the French countryside, vines/flowers, adobe buildings and the painter Pino.

We then traded pictures and talked about different ideas for images that would work.  We both looked at Italian landscapes, but ultimately decided that a landscape might look out of place at the height at which the painting would be hung.  In these exchanges, Cathie shared the idea of doing a window – which was the perfect approach for the space while also capturing all of the colors and interests we had discussed.

 Once we settled on the idea of a window, we looked at various source images to get a sense of exactly what the painting should look like.  In the end, we found a few different images and I compiled different elements (plus a few from my imagination) to come up with the final composition.

Before starting work on the final 3 foot by 4 foot canvas, I did a painting sketch to review with Cathie and get her input. Below is a picture of this sketch:

Cathie was happy with it, but wanted to do only one background window to clean up the composition a bit, and she wanted a little more color in the foreground flowers.  Below is the final painting and a picture of it hanging in the challenging spot where our conversations started:

Best of all, Cathie was thrilled with the painting, how it looked in her house and how it ended up being exactly what she needed for this previously big blank space!

Commissioned Dog Portrait

A little while back in this blog, I talked about how much I love the diversity of projects I get to work on – and my most recent project is another great example!

Pam has a portrait of her own dog and had the idea to have me paint her sister’s dog Gus as a birthday gift.  The process started with the picture below, but I also met with Pam to talk about what she wanted to see in the painting.  Her sister likes this particular picture, so including the rug and the chair were going to be important, but we also wanted to make sure Gus was the hero of the final piece.  In addition to capturing the appearance of Gus, we also talked about his personality to make sure I could show that as much as possible – so understanding Gus is a sweet, feisty, playful and mischievous dog was essential.

Pam did not want to include the red kerchief, and we talked about cropping out the hardwood floor and pillow and deleting the chair leg to clean up the composition.  I also simplified the chair and pulled it in closer to overlap with Gus so that were not too many lines to pull the viewer’s eye away from the dog.

Finally, I shifted Gus’ gaze slightly upward to make him look more at the viewer.  I also accentuated his crouch slightly to make it look like he is ready to spring into action!

The best part is when I delivered the painting to Pam and her first words were “You nailed it!  That’s Gus!!”

 Enjoy,

Jason

A Collaborative Mural Panel Landscape

Adam is a contractor who had the unique idea to turn a reclaimed 52” x 50” window into an unforgettable Christmas gift for his wife Sarah.  When Adam first reached out, his thought was to have me paint a scene on the 35 glass panes to give the effect of looking at the scene through the window.  After our initial collaboration, we decided instead to paint a mural panel to attach to the window in order to create the same effect, but avoid the challenges of how easily paint chips off of glass.

The first step was to meet with Adam and Sarah to see the space where this mural panel would be installed and to get their thoughts on what they would like to see in the final scene.  Sarah started with the idea of a field of red poppies.  As we talked further, she shared that she liked the bold patterns of Marimekko and also the paintings of Karen Tusinski.  In looking through my work, she also enjoyed to the folk-style I used on some of the furniture and fine art pieces.  She talked about how she was drawn to the pattern-like approach of Marimekko and Tusinski, but also liked the detail of my work.  In the end, she felt the best approach for this piece would to be somewhere between these two looks, with a focus on colors and textures.  For the color palette, we had the reds of the poppies to work with, but also looked at the colors in their house and decided to incorporate the wall color this piece would hang on (a pale grey-purple) as well as an adjacent hallway (pale grey-green) and room (grey-blue).  When we talked about the feel of the scene, she liked the idea of staying away from an overly bright/cheery mid-day scene and instead focus on the colors and light of a sunset.  As a final element, Sarah wanted to include her mother’s barn, for which both she and Adam have a sentimental attachment.

After this meeting, I put together 3 different concepts – which are basically painting “sketches”- to show different approaches to how we could look at combining these elements.  I also created a template of the window to lay over these concepts to show how the final installation would look.  When I did the first 2 concepts, I did not yet have pictures of the actual barn, so I used a “generic” structure as a placeholder.  In the first sketch, I leaned more in the direction of the folk style, while in the second, I went more in the bold/pattern-like direction.  With the third concept, I tried to incorporate both – with the clean look of folk but keeping with Sarah’s idea of focusing patterns, colors and textures.

Concept #1

Concept #2

Concept #3

Concept #3 with window template

The next meeting was to review these concepts with Sarah, and number 3 was a clear winner for her.  To make sure I transferred what Sarah liked about the concept to the final piece, I asked for specifics of what she liked.  She shared that she liked the asymmetry of the poppies on the left, the “blotchy” painting style, the accentuated highlights on the petals, the consistency of the red between the poppies and the small accents in the barn and the combination of the patterned/Marimekko look with the folk style.

With that, I was back to my studio with a 52”x50” piece of plywood.  I started by laying a grid over the concept to proportionally correspond with a grid I drew on the prepped final board.  Since Sarah liked the concept, this approach helped insure that the sized-up version has the same layout.  In painting this panel, I used a lot of layers to build depth, richness and interest.  For example, the poppy petals use 4 different colors of red.  The first layers used smooth blending of the darkest and next lighter shade to create shape, while the last 2 layers of lighter shades were applied in looser and more abstract patterns to create the final look.  The background uses the same approach, with 13 different shades of green making up the field.

The final result was a hit and captured exactly what Sarah and Adam were looking for!  They are excited to mount it with the window so they can start to enjoy the new view.

The final panel

Putting a Home Under the Christmas Tree

When Meg began thinking of Christmas presents for her husband Dan, she decided she wanted to do something that he would cherish for years to come.

Both Meg and Dan had seen my paintings online and in person, and when Meg saw my painting of Martha’s backyard shed she got the idea to have me do a painting of their home.  The key word here is “home” instead of “house”.  What makes the house special to Meg and Dan is the life they have built together there with their two sons.  When Meg saw the final painting, she thought about not only how special it would be for Dan, but also how it would be something that her sons would always have and cherish as well. 

One of the challenges in this painting is the season.  Taking pictures now gave me a lot of the information I needed, but in talking with Meg, we decided that showing the house in spring would be the best way to capture the picture she was looking for. Below is the picture I worked from and the final painting, showing the educated guesses I needed to make on the surrounding landscape!

As we looked at pictures and walked around the house, Meg wanted to make sure the lawn in the painting was a lush green to honor all the work Dan puts into it.  She also wanted to make sure I captured the flag out front.

We then talked about the painting style she preferred and what would work best to achieve her goals.  We looked at my primitive trunk, the folk-style Nantucket sailboat and the painting of Martha’s shed.  Ultimately, we decided something between the clean and precise look of the Nantucket sailboat and the feel of Martha’s shed would fit the bill.

Meg can’t wait to give the painting to Dan and to hang it in the front hallway as people enter the door so their family and friends can enjoy it right as they enter the house.

Painting a Memory

Coming up with the perfect Christmas gift is often a challenge, and when it comes to that perfect gift for dads – it seems like it is always a challenge. The process of pondering this dilemma is how my most recent client came to me.  Matt had seen my other paintings online and got the idea for making this year’s gift a memorable one.

Rather than getting something his dad may be able to use, Matt decided to go with something he definitely would cherish.  Digging back into the photo archives, Matt found this special shot of he and his father from over 20 years ago when Matt was about 9 years old.  Matt’s dad loved his boat and loved his times on this boat with family even more. 

As I have the opportunity to work with more clients, I am struck by the precious memories I am trusted to capture in a painting.  I always want people to love the paintings I do for them, but in cases like this painting for my client Matt, I also feel a responsibility to honor that trust.  I also love the picture and could immediately see why it is special to Matt and his father.

Since this is a portrait, my first goal was to make sure I captured the faces.  Beyond that, it was important to keep a little of the “old” look to the picture to maintain some of the charm while still brightening it a bit to bring out the details and the summer-day feeling.  In talking with Matt, the only other enhancements we wanted to make were to subdue the trees a bit to push them further into the background and of course drop the date stamp.  Finally, I wanted to balance the importance of being accurate to the photo while still having a touch of the paintbrush apparent to add a little something to the final piece that is more than the photo itself.

I delivered the painting to Matt this morning and am looking forward to hearing his father’s reaction!

“Thanksgiving Sky”

George Winston’s album “December” is a long-time favorite of mine.  There is a somber but still joyful feeling about this collection of songs that makes me pull it back out every year as the holidays approach. 

There was something about this scene that had the same kind of appeal for me.  I love patterns, so a big part of the draw was the shapes these trees make.  What made it a subject worthy of painting, though, was more the mood of the view.  It has a peaceful feel that, together with the obvious ‘November in the Northeast’ look, brought me to the same quiet but joyful place that George Winston’s album does. 

Painting this made me think about the drive to see family on Thanksgiving, which inspired the title “Thanksgiving Sky”. I hope you enjoy some of the same feelings looking at it here!

It is now on display at the New England Artisan Gallery on Route 1A in Wrentham, MA for anyone local who is interested in checking it out.   

Happy Thanksgiving!

A View Back

Sometimes a painting is about a feeling as much as it is about the subject - which is what I tried to capture with my latest painting. 

Martha wanted to refresh her kitchen with a special painting, and asked me to capture the view out of the back of her house. The spot itself is beautiful, but I know it means much more to Martha than a nice vista. It is also about family and memories and the peaceful, quiet feeling of the place.  It is this peaceful, quiet feeling that I focused on.

When painting a scene like this, picking the right composition is key.  I wanted to get the full view but also wanted to make it so that no one part of the painting overwhelms everything else.  Certainly, the shed should stand out, but setting it off to the side and subduing the colors helps it blend more into the whole painting and allows your eye to move around to the other elements of the scene.  Editing is also important.  While a painting like this needs to be accurate, there are things like a corner of a fence and another much larger wood pile that I omitted because they would have detracted from the overall composition.

Another key focus of this painting was the colors.  To create the quiet mood, I needed to avoid vivid colors.  Using an overcast fall day helped, but I greyed back the colors even further than the original photo to make a final piece that doesn’t reach out and grab the viewer so much as it subtlety pulls the viewer in.

The small, digital version I have here doesn’t quite have the same impact as the 18”x24” original, but I hope you enjoy spending some time taking in the feeling of the painting as much as I enjoyed painting it.

The original photo

The final painting

Completed Illustrations and Story for Children’s Book!

As I had mentioned in an earlier blog post, my wife Gwynne had written a children’s book a while back that has been waiting for illustrations – which are now complete! 

As you can hopefully see from the story and pictures below, this book is meant to be interactive.  We want each of these little mini-stories to be a jumping off place for the reader to make up different possibilities of where the story can go from there.  This was inspired by our experience reading to our own kids, and the endless number of nights we could read books like this and have fun telling stories every time.

With these illustrations, my goal was to capture the scene and the mood of the story, but also give the tools and inspiration for kids to be engaged.  In the scenes with the little girl, you will see hints of images that then appear in the next “story” image.  And with these “story” images, I wanted to give just enough to spark kids’ imaginations without limiting options for where the story can go. 

Our next step is to try to get this published – but in the meantime, enjoy!

"And So Our Story Goes..."

In the quite light of a Saturday spring morning, you sit on the stone front stoop to have a simple picnic.

"Daddy, bring your coffee." You say, and we look out at the brown and muddy garden waking up.

"Once upon a time there was a butterfly and a balloon and a flower as fragile as glass," you begin.  And so our story goes...

Under the hazy heat of a midday summer sun, you dangle all ten toes in our pintsized plastic pool.

"Daddy, bring your towel." You say, and we look at the ripples our dancing cold toes make.

"Once upon a time there was a white perch and a willow and a shell as black as night," you begin.  And so our story goes...

Wrapped inside a blanket keeping out the late day wind of fall, you sit on our back porch while a pumpkin waits for carving.

"Daddy, bring your scooping spoon." You say, and we try to hold the slimy seeds as they slip between our fingers.

"Once upon a time there was a crow and a candle and a leaf as bright as gold," you begin.  And so our story goes...

Beside a hungry fire, while snow falls beneath cold stars, you snuggle under blankets and curl your toes inside wool socks.

"Daddy, bring your coco." You say, and we stare at the wild flames as they snap against red brick.

"Once upon a time there was a deer and a drum and a tree as brave as you", you begin.  And so our story goes...

Watching by your bedside as the moonlight bathes your skin, I think of the fine stories your once upon a times always make.

"Good night sweet heart, I love you." I say, and I notice your quiet shape hidden happily beneath the sheets.

"Once upon a time there was a girl and her father and a world as wide as wonder," I begin.  And so our story goes.

Masking a Cell Tower with Faux Brick Painting

Have you ever seen those not-so-convincing cell towers made to look like pine trees?  I recently learned there is an entire industry of companies who provide ways to hide cell towers – and unlike the pine trees, the results can be extremely convincing.

My experience in this space started when an old colleague from the print world forwarded me an email from a friend of hers who was looking for scenic painters.  While my actual “scenic” work is limited to a few small projects I did for the drama group in college, I reached out to see if my mural/artist/house-painter skills would be applicable.

After an introductory phone-call, I made a trip up to visit Atlantic Concealment in Maine where they produce many different styles of enclosures.  The project they were working on at the time was a brick enclosure that was going on the roof of a building in Connecticut.  They do this by creating panels out of special dense foam and then stamp a brick pattern on the surface that gets painted uniform “mortar” and “brick” colors.  In this case, the building was older and had a lot of variation in the brick colors, so the uniform brick color was not a natural enough match to blend with the existing structure.

My task was to go on-site in Connecticut so I could see the existing brick first hand and mix colors to match.  After some challenges with rain (of course), I was able to dig in.  It turned out to be a fun challenge not only to match all of the colors, but also to figure out how to replicate the patterns of color variation, stains and wear that were on the building itself.   

Following are some pictures from the job – including the “before” shot of the pre-painted panels, an “after” shot of a panel, and the final installed result.  For more on this – Google images for “cell tower concealment” to see some of the ways cell towers all around you are hidden!

An example of the panels before my retouching

After the matching process!

The panels installed