oldschoolvikings

I do a kind of complicated primer technique. One thin coat of gesso, followed by a thick coat with a little fine sand added, then a final coat of straight gesso. I like the texture, and it gives me the ability to pull some broken layers of color. Plus, I just paint pretty thick anyway.

Just finished this commission for someone... I think it was a Christmas present for a wife/GF...

I'm still here.

I'm asking because they have sizes and players that the NFL's official shop doesn't. Plus everything is significantly cheaper. For instance, they're selling Limiteds for $100... how does that work? You know, the old saying... if it seems to good to be true... Anyway, I just wanted somebody with a sense for these things to check out the website and give me an opinion.

Anybody have an opinion about how legitimate this site might be? http://www.vikingscustom.com/

I've done a few commissions for dog owners. It started when an elderly lady approached me at a gallery opening and asked me if I'd consider doing a portrait of her dog. I told her I really didn't do that sort of thing, I was pretty sure she'd be disappointed. When I start a painting, I can't really promise where it'll go, what colors I'd use, etc. She said that was fine, that she liked my style, and just wanted to see what I'd come up with. She also offered to pay me half up front. Then she showed me a picture of her dog... an incredibly old one-eyed pekanese... at that point I was sold. Here's what the poor old guy looked like; And here's what I gave her; Strangely enough, she loved it. Word got around a bit and I've since done a few more...

I use a digital camera. Some of those images, if they're older, might be scans of slides. Scanning the painting directly is kind of out of the question since my standard size (probably more than half) is 52" X 40". And I generally don't varnish at all... they are acrylic, which is already annoyingly shiny, and fairly indestructible.

OK... some more; A view of the studio...

I've sold a lot. (Not as much as I'd like, obviously, but I have been at this professionally for 20+ years.) When I was an undergraduate a painting prof gave me a amateur/beginner pricing guide. He said if you've never sold, or sold very little, cover the cost of all materials and then give yourself $25 to $35 an hour. (of course, that was the late 80's.) That was sort of helpful, but falls apart pretty quick. Usual, for me anyway, it's hard to say how much time you actual spend on any given painting. Sometimes they come together pretty quick, other times you struggle, but that isn't likely to show on the final result. I once sold a painting that took me less then a half hour for a ridiculous amount of money, but I gave half of the sale to a gallery. Once you get into the gallery/juried show/agent business, they start to basically tell you how much to charge. Galleries will generally take %40 to %50 of the sale, agents %10 to %20. Here's what I would say. Don't charge too little. If you basically try to just give it away for a song, you're devaluing your time, and worse, you're telling the person who wants to buy it that they have crappy taste. And if the work means something to you, you'll regret just giving it away for a small amount. When I was younger, I made some stuff that meant a lot to me, and its all gone now. I wanted to sell it, I'm pretty much glad that I sold it, but I wouldn't mind if I'd gotten just a bit more for it.

That's not cheating. That's why they call it painter's tape.

Awesome.

And this guy has, of course, sleeve stripes!

Well, OK then...

Whoa... that digital work is real nice! I've recently tried my hand at some digital images (not counting my never ending uniform concepts), but I feel a little out of my element with them. I originally intended them to be preliminary ideas for paintings, but with the patterns and text, they kind of became their own thing. (By the way, I apologize for flooding this thread... let me know if it's annoying.)

This one ("Anxiety Bear #3 Blue) became part of the permanent collection of the Toledo Museum of Art, which sound awesome on my resume, but you won't see it if you go there. They buy a piece of local art annually, but where they put it, I don't know. Maybe they'll hang it when I'm dead. Couple more bears...

Here's some from a series of been dealing with for about a dozen years now. Titled "Anxiety Bear" based on my fathers then impending heart surgery and my panic disorder that came from it...

New Packers and Steelers... home, road, alts (in this case, both throwbacks) and color rush uniforms.

New Jags... playing off their original look.

Broncos... modern take on their late 60's gear. Weird number font, and new secondary logo on the sleeve.

They could mix and match.

First the obvious one.... Then, the less obvious one... C and C appreciated.

New Lions; concept. As usual, step one; dump the black trim. Also, I've been fiddling with my template. As always, C and C appreciated.