Stories Behind the Art
Mele Kalikimaka – Art Drop Monday
Mele Kalikimaka is the painting for you! This acrylic on canvas painting is one that we hung over the Christmas holidays. As it comes down, and before we file it away into storage, I’m willing to offer it at half it’s regular price, for anybody who cares to hang on to a little bit of…
Read MoreArt Drop Monday
As promised, every other Monday is “Art Drop Mondays”. This is where I upload new affordable matted sketches, studies and minor compositions to the Gallery section of my website. Today’s three offerings are: “Swing,” “Stately Man,” and “A Lady on a Stroll.” The Stories Behind The Art “Swing” This gem of a piece came about…
Read MoreLet me tell you about Audrey…
By now, many of you are familiar with my Audrey Hepburn portraiture piece. Simply titled, “Audrey,” here is the story of how she came to be. For many years now, I have become known for a unique caricature illustration style, created with acrylics on illustration board and enhanced with colored pencil. From this style, I’ve…
Read MoreDay Three: "Along the Road to Cape Cod, 2"
“Along the Road to Cape Cod 2″ $99 for today only as a part of the 10 day, 10 paintings, cyber week special. Oil on board. Optional frame as seen in picture. Size of art: 11″ x 14.” Size of framed art: approx. 17″ x 21″ Comes with a certificate of originality. Being a Colorado…
Read More"Safe!" New Art by Benjamin Hummel
He’s reaching to steal second. The pitch is low and inside, which most pitches tend to be at this level. The batter was told to swing regardless, to distract the catcher, while the runner on first waits for the sign from his coach… who happens to also be his dad. “He’s scratching his nose. Does…
Read MoreLandscape to Paint: Colorado's Hill Country
In today’s edition of New Art!, I’m always impressed with some of the spectacular scenery the state of Colorado has to offer, from the flat Eastern plains to the sharp cliffs of Ouray and Telluride. In the middle of teaching a landscape painting class, I painted this piece as a class demo from a photo…
Read MoreThe Future of Children's Literature: The Story Behind the Art
This new piece, co-illustrated by both Benjamin Hummel and Cherish Flieder, tackles the question, what role does children’s literature have as we move full steam into the 21st century? We certainly live in a changing world. Book sales nationwide continue to drop–magazine and newspapers are going out of business left and right. We are in…
Read MorePikes Peak with Wild Lavender (or Purple Mountain Majesties)
I am reminded of a few lines from one of our most beloved patriotic songs. “O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain…”The song was first written as a poem titled, “”Pikes Peak,”” written in 1895 by Katharine Lee Bates, inspired by a trip she…
Read MoreRight Field: The Story Behind the Art
The phenomenon of little league sports can be pretty humorous at times. Attending many such outings with my younger brothers, there were always two or three (usually my siblings among them), who would find interest in anything other than the game in which they participated. It was easy to spot the casual player compared to…
Read MoreA Dragon Named Trouble
This piece was co-illustrated by Cherish Flieder and Benjamin Hummel according to their acclaimed Been Cherished style. The story is simple. There is a dragon named Trouble who would love to come inside the kingdom. So he makes his appeal to the children guarding the gate. The boy thinks he remembers this dragon being here…
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