2 New Paintings, and also now on Etsy!

Exciting news around the studio this evening. I have been working with a printer buddy of mine to make prints of some of my art work. I am beginning with 3 smaller pieces. I have set up an Etsy account..http://www.etsy.com/shop/brianabell1980 and am very excited about the future. I am try to get in a few coffee shops also.

Anyway, without further blabbering... here are the 2 I am beginning with.. and they are all the prints version(just so you can see they do look good framed!)

They are all 3 matted and framed to show @ 16x20. The printed image on each is 9x12 and would not come matted or framed.

I am also offering FREE 2 Day Shipping through next week... finish your Christmas shopping with these great additions to your home.

Christmas Cards

Working on the Christmas Cards for this year. Kim and I decided to do a block cut/printmaking approach to the cards, finished with a watercolor wash. Still tweaking the finished products, but so far so good.

Framed 1, working 1, 1 on the horizon

Decided to make a wood frame for the last landscape I made, so I replace one of my old painting with this one. I apologize for the image quality, I took them quickly with my phone camera. I am in the middle of another commission for a friend, then I have a new idea I have begun to work on. I am going to try my hand in a portrait. I have selected a cool old photo that I hope to create an interesting piece from. It will be my first experiance with a portrait since school, so it will either rock my face off, or go down as a big disaster. But you never know till you try it.

Fall Creeping In

Decided to get back into the larger paintings of landscapes.. I think I have decided that is my strength. This one is an acrylic on canvas. 40x30". I wanted to bring in some fall colors that are beginning to creep into the fields near our house. The mornings and evenings are cool, and days arent as warm as they were even last week. I feel pretty good about this painting. Sometimes Im not quite sure if im finished, and they just feel that something else is needed to finish it off strongly, but thats not the case with this one. I also will be framing this one with a wood boarder. I will take a picture once I do that. The colors on the actual painting are hard to get exact with a photo, but its somewhat close.

"Fall Creeping In"
30x40" acrylic on canvas

"Fall Creeping In" Detail

Cash Register Building, Denver

While I have been working on a large commission painting I have done a few smaller watercolor studies. Thought of trying a skyline painting. This watercolor is of the Cash Register Building, Mailbox Building, Wells Fargo Building... whatever you want to name it. It just a small study(took like 3 hours) measuring about 8"x8". I placed it in an offset opening mat measuring 16"x20". Hanging on the wall at work.. aka the only outside the home gallery I have.

Cash Register Building, Denver
Watercolor 8"x8" mat to 16x20 with an 8x8 opening

2nd of The New Landscapes

This was the second of the new landscapes I painted a couple of weeks ago. Its always tougher to paint during the summer because you want to spend as much time outside as possible, so expect more art coming from me during the winter. I am still hitting the studio though so dont expect a drop off, just that more then what I currently am doing will come though during the winter. As always, the paintings are for sale, if you are interested in any of my work, please let me know, dont feel shy, I dont charge an arm and a leg

.... just a leg

Untitled

Acrylic Landscape

framed to 20x16

View of frame

The lovely couple together

New Landscape

I have 2 new landscapes I painted this past week, I will post one here, then another later this week. They are very similar in color and tone. Hope everyone is having a great summer.

Untitled

Acrylic on Canvas Board

Framed to 16x20

Side View Showing the Frame

Full View

Kenai

I decided to try my hand in some abstract mixed media paintings with out pups as the subjects. The first one to get their image on my canvas was Kenai our Pitbull. It was a fun project and Kona the Lab mix will be the next in line in the up coming weeks.

Kenai

Mixed Media on 16x20 canvas

A Small Gift For Joshua

A few months ago Kim's brother Mike and sister in law Christina welcomed a new baby boy to their family. We decided to drive to Fargo to meet the little man this past week. It was a great trip and we had a blast. I decided to paint something for Joshua to bring up with us on the trip. The painting is on a wood block(actually a large then normal wood post card). It was a great experience and I have a few more pieces of wood left to do some more work on. If you want the name of the pace I got them, just let me know, you can put post card stamps right on the wood and mail it if you so wish. I just used it as a canvas for my watercolor. I was afraid the watercolor ink would just soak in too much and run, but it did not(to my relief). Anyway, I am working on a commission piece right now and I am excited to add it to the blog soon.

"Joshua"

Watercolor on wood card

6"x 6" framed to 18"x18"

Detail of "Joshua" click to enlarge

Kona got entirely too bored with me that evening..

but doesn't she just make you wanna go take a nap?!?

So I guess I wasn't quite done

After I posted the last entry on the blog I realized that I didn't feel the painting was complete. I worked a bit on it the past couple nights and I am finally, officially done. I like the idea of line art on top of the painting and I think I will dive into this idea further in the future. A couple new pictures with it hanging up...

Sorry it had to be from the side. Due to the varnish I put on it, the glare is strong.

Hanging in our family room

All Moved In and back to Painting a Little

We are all moved into our new home in Windsor(the reason for the long break in new paintings). We are loving it and my commute it much shorter. I started this newer painting(which is very large) back late last year and never really knew where it was going. After layer and layer I have found a finishing point I am happy with. This painting is mixed media(really just acrylic on canvas and watercolor paper). Finished size is 4feet by 3 feet. It resembles a storm off in the distance. for some reason I have always been attracted by weather and I think its beginning to take root in my paintings too.

Golden Field with Storm
acrylic on canvas and water color
4'x3'

Detail on the storm section(click to enlarge)