A quote about survival

A interesting quote about survival, especially when it comes to the commercial art business.

The annual ART ATTACK weekend is here

This weekend will be a lot of fun visiting all the local galleries and wining and dining in spite of the bad weather. If you are near the Harbor Country area, join in the fun.

1969 Plymouth catalog art

Sometime ago I posted black and white versions of artwork that I had done for the 1969 Plymouth catalog as I had no color copies. I found the color versions and have decided to post them today. These illustrations were probably the last automotive catalog art that I produced as the industry was going more and more photographic, gradually eliminating this area from the Detroit commercial art market. It was a fun project and I combined some photos with the art. The model in the foreground was one of my art students, Cathy Baylough, I was teaching commercial art classes and was head of the Advertising Department at the Art School of the Society of arts and Crafts, now the Center for Creative Studies. Teaching full time and handling tough advertising deadlines was a tricky situation at times. That's Jeanne, my wife, who was a busy model in town, she passed away several years ago. Automotive catalog work was always done under a great deal of pressure as the art had to go through several stages of approval, but it was a great opportunity to display one's work. Competition for these assignments was fierce as Detroit was full of competent artists ready to tackle these jobs as the monetary rewards were very good.

"Walking In A Dream" finished

The 26th painting in my new series of abstract figures is finished. It measures 48 x 48" and is painted with acrylics on canvas. I think that Craig Smith, my gallery owner is going to pick it up to display this weekend for the yearly regional Art Attack event.

New painting under way

As you may know, I have three wonderful cats, two of which are always near me in my studio when I work. Here's Tiff resting near my drawing board.


Jpeg and Tiff having a snooze right where I need to be to work. Laura doesn't show up much, I guess that she is not an art fan.


Walking In A Dream is about 3/4 finished at this point. I still have to add some details and change some colors. A friend of mine in town, Richard Hellyer, has 12 cats ! I don't think that I could manage that, my cats sleep with me, I can't imagine having 12 cats in bed with me.

Started painting "Walking In A Dream"

Here is my computer sketch of a new painting I will do which is titled "Walking In A Dream". I had fun creating this sketch and am pleased with the design and the colors. The drawn squares on the sketch will help me to transfer the image to the canvas.


After drawing the image onto the canvas I begin to lay in the colors which may change during the long process of painting. This canvas measures 48 x 48" and I am painting with acrylics, my favorite medium. I will show you how the painting progresses in the next few posts.

25th painting in my new series

I just finished my new painting titled "Dancers" which measures 30 x 40" and is acrylic paint on canvas. As I mentioned in a previous post, the sketch for this piece was created on the computer and was used as a basis for this work. I enjoyed experimenting with design shapes as well as color in this painting, it is the 25th painting that I have done for my Abstract Nudes series. I will be starting a new painting soon and will post it's progress at the various stages that I go through.

New painting progressing well

I begin the painting by starting to add areas of color. These colors may change later when I can see how they are working together. I have already changed some of the colors from the original sketch.


As I add the orange areas I can better tell how the colors are reacting to each other.


Here I have painted in some of the darkest tones and the painting seems to be coming together nicely. Some of the colors may change as I get closer to being finished. On the next post I should be near completion. I enjoy experimenting with color and design as it makes the procedure so much more interesting and is also great learning process.

Happy Easter everyone !

Starting another new painting

Here is the color sketch for a new painting which was created on the computer. I will not necessarily follow the sketch exactly, but rather use it as a starting point.


I draw squares over the sketch which will enable me to easily transfer the image onto my canvas.


The drawing was done on the canvas using a marker pen. On the next post you will see various stages that I go through when adding the colors.

An interesting quote, something to think about.