Wight

Yachats Ocean Road

More Landscapes

Mount McLoughlin


Mount Jefferson


Mount Adams


Mount Hood

Grand Opening for Open Studio

Tonight we start opening the studio to the public on Tuesdays and Saturdays. We'll be serving wine and greeting anyone who can stop by for a visit. Here are some images of recent works that will be on display. A couple of these paintings might still be wet tonight.

Open Studio

This Summer in Hillsboro I will be opening up the studio for visitors during Saturday Markets, Tuesday Markets, and First Tuesdays Artwalks. It's a chance to see the works in progress and where it all takes place. I'll also have finished artwork and art prints available for purchase.

If you are interested, the studio is located on the corner of 2nd and Main, upstairs above the Tea Shoppe, across from the courthouse. The entrance way is right next to the Tea Shoppe's door, on Main. Here's the address:

205 E Main St Studio 9
Hillsboro, Or 97123

RPGA LFR at Rivals

Recently I have been organizing RPGA LFR tables at my local game and hobby store, Rivals every Tuesdays and Wednesday. If you are unfamiliar with RPGA, or LFR, click on the links.

If you are familiar, and interested in getting some mid-week gaming in, feel free to sign up at our Warhorn site. Come on out and bring your character and have fun. I personally DM the games, but there are several other DMs who also come and play, so we can always open a second table if we have an over-abundance of players.

Soon I hope to be showing original artwork at Rivals as well.

ME2

I'm psyched.

Jorn 7

Traditional

So after a few months of playing in Painter and Photoshop with the Wacom tablet I've come to the following conclusions about digital media:

1) Frustration is directly tied to hardware. If your computer isn't fast enough, you'll sit there as your program slowly loads in the new tool that you just selected, or watch your large brush stroke agonizingly crawl across the screen. If I'm going to really do this seriously, I need a new dedicated machine.

2) Frustration is also tied to relative familiarity with interface. It's hard to maintain the creative process while learning the interface and commands, especially if they're so radically different between programs, like Painter and Photoshop. I'm far more familiar with Photoshop, so some of the things in Painter just seem counter-intuitive. But I got the hang of it eventually.

I am glad that I went through this, and learned what I did. I'm not writing off digital media. It'll probably have its uses moving forward in some way or another. I picked up Painter pretty well and got it to do what I wanted it to do (still can't use large brushes or too complex textures or bristles though, computer just lags to a stop). So the tablet is nearby, accessible when I need it to do certain things.

But lately I've been back in the traditional, with a renewed focus, taking everything I've learned over the years and trying to really get to that level that I've been striving for. I'm not even sure if I want to do it professionally anymore, because of how much I hate the whole self-promotion gristmill. I mean, if the stuff gets noticed, and somebody wants to use it, or use me, then by all means let's get to work... I'm no stranger to the business, from an art director's and a contractor's perspective. But I've found some pretty cool self-fulfilling activities, working for my own projects and also for a few extremely nice and cool clients I happened to trip over along the way.

If I had things my way, in my own little ideal world, the work would speak for itself and I wouldn't have to promote anything. But we all know that's a pipe dream. Nevertheless, that would be ideal.

So I'm back to sketching and drawing and swimming in real paints again, loving the immediacy of full-contact creation, the feel of pencil on paper and brush on panel or canvas. Very satisfying... liberated even, going back to what I'm confident with and attacking it again with renewed focus and vitality. I've got some pretty cool things I'm working on that I hope to share pretty soon.

2009

At the turn of 2009 I hit a few realizations and set some goals for this year, one being to get back into health and fitness. But more on the subject of art... I've decided to delve into the digital medium and draw some lines in the sand for myself as an artist.

Clearly the commercial art markets are going digital. The trends have been going this way for the past 10 years but lately it's becoming the norm. Any company relying on traditional media for commercial work, including illustration, is short-sighted, in my opinion, and will soon find itself neck-deep in costs while striding on the wrong end of the efficiency bell curve. The niche is shrinking. Put simply, it's just smart, and good business sense, for a company to do things digitally nowadays, and this is only becoming more true moving forward.

The nostalgia for traditional media is becoming less appreciated on the business side of commercial art, especially since technology is able to emulate traditional media so closely. The argument for traditional artists is usually that there exists an original that retains value versus a digital painting that exists only in pixels. This argument applies less and less to commercial art with each passing day, as the standards of the business (deadlines, flexibility, etc.) adapt to meet the pace of digitally produced media. Traditional art is being phased out of the commercial world, becoming more eccentric, more "fine art" (I hate that term and try to never use it).

I think it's just about seeing the writing on the wall. Ultimately, I'd like to do some more illustration work sometime in my life beyond what I've already done. But the current landscape is very different now than when I was illustrating 10 years ago. Back then I had to bake my oil paintings in the oven in order for them to dry in time to ship, and ship in time to meet the deadline. Sketches were also mailed or faxed back and forth, and any changes to this work meant getting it back and going into it with more paint or making changes with zero room for error. When you compare the process of traditional media illustration with the digital world we now live in, the old ways take forever, and there's all that risk in shipping and storing the art (and baking it in the oven). It's just no contest anymore.

I picked up Painter X and the 9x12 Wacom tablet, and that's why I've been so quiet lately. For the past few months I've been working in the digital medium, trying to learn and adapt and figure out my style and technique. I still have my studio downtown, and I'm keeping that for purely traditional work... studies, figures, landscapes and still lifes, and so forth. It's important to keep the traditional art alive, regardless of whether it'll ever be seen.

But as far as illustration, I've decided to plunge headlong and see what I can do digitally. Lately I've made some strides and I'm looking forward to completing some pieces and putting them up here.

LE Massive Black Art Book and Sketch

I received this yesterday, and it is a beautiful thing. Massive Black is a design studio that stands in the midst of the interweaving and congealing creative media industries and on the threshold of forward momentum trends. This package is a showcase of their mission of passion and discipline within these industries. Mine came with a hand-drawn sketch by Michael Bierek, and everyone signed the book itself. It goes on the top shelf to inspire for years to come.

Egg in Painter X

My first digital painting. I've got a long way to go. This is an egg study from today, working with brushes and learning Painter X.

Andrew Wyeth passes away today at 91

A contemporary legend in his own time that we were blessed to share, and the son of a legend that inspires my art, career, and life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wyeth

Inukshuk Statue

Shape 1

HCA presents Valentine's Day Dance

Head on over to the HCA Blog for information on the upcoming Valentine's Day Dance!

HCA Blog now active

Head on over to see what's going on with Hillsboro Community Arts. Get news, tidbits, and updates from each of the board members in the HCA Blog.

Happy New Year

I wish you happiness, contentment, fruits from your labors and vitality for your ambitions throughout the new year. Bring it on!

Plant Window

Merry Christmas

2008 rolls gently to a close and what a year it has been. I am looking forward to 2009 in purely the most functional aspects... all external distractions are behind and 2009 will be a fruitful year with a focus on art, creativity, and the indulgence of the imagination unlike any time before.

But for now, we celebrate my favorite time of the year before 2008 leaves us for good. It's so important to enjoy the moment. And now I am off to the studio for the creation of gifts for family and friends.