Calgary Expo 2013

I shall be in the Artist Alley of the 2013 Calgary Expo. So excited! :) This convention is shaping up to be the biggest in Canada, so its really drawing great guests, artists, and lots and lots of people.

http://www.calgaryexpo.com/

I shall be in G5 and G6, along with my pals, and also representing Crown Nation and our video game Sunset Over Lievnos (which will be demoing by then).

I will post more about my preperations for the show closer to the event. ♥

Just a block away from the Expo Store, and right near an entrance. :)

Historical Calaveras / Marie Antoinette

I have completed a new addition to this series. A calavera woman inspired by Marie Antoinette. :)

Prints of this image are available in my Etsy Shop. http://tempeststudios.etsy.com
5x7 inch prints, and art cards 2.5x3.5 inches.

Calavera Marie
5x7 inches. Watercolor and ink on paper.

The others in this series can be seen here. http://tempeststudios.blogspot.ca/2012/10/new-artwork.html

New Nest Painting

This is the fourth of these nest paintings that I have done. They always take a long time to paint, for their size. It just ends up being a slow process, of building up the texture, creating a three dimensional image with shadows and light, and all the different colours in the straw or twigs or whatever the nest is made of. In the end though, I always really like the way they turn out.

"Northern Mockingbird Nest"
Acrylic on canvas.
10 x 10 inches.
Sold.

Symphony Series / Goldfinch

"American Goldfinch Impromptu"
Acrylic on canvas.
20 x 20 inches.

The newest addition to this series. :) Just finished in Dec 2012.

I need to take a better photo of this painting, but for now it will have to do. Enjoy!

Fundraiser Donation

One of my local gallery spaces has a fundraiser every year. It is a not-for-profit space so I try to support it.

This is the illustration I created for them.

Hard Candies. (One of my favorite subjects.)
It was 5x5 inches.
Watercolor and ink on paper.

Art Card Dump #2

Fishies! You know you love them. :D
Check out my Etsy Shop if you are interestsed in purchasing one of my fish pond illustrations.



Jewels

Night Koi

To Fish

Maple II

Citrus Koi

Sky Koi

Art Card Dump / #1

Oh boy! I have so much artwork to post. I haven't been as up to date with this as I should.

Keep in mind that I am always working on new stuff, I just dont get a chance to blog about it as much as I would like to. So this is the first of a few posts that will be done back to back to show what I have been working on.

MUSHROOMS!!! and Pumpkins!

I started challenging myself to practice painting without doing any drawing. With these I did a quick basic sketch to layout the composition and then went in with my acrylic paints, so they are different from my usual work, but super fun none the less. :)

Each piece is atc sized @ 2.5 x 3.5 inches.
Available for purchase through my Etsy Shop.
*Click the image to magnify.*

2.5 x 3.5 inches each.
*Click on the image to magnify.*

Edmonton Expo / Phase Three

What I learned at the Ed Expo.

- Star Wars is super popular! I would say the majority of costumes were from Starwars. There was also a good turn out of Steampunk, and Star Trek, as well as Marvel and DC comic characters (mostly Avengers).

- If you want to make cash, make Fan Art. I admit I was a little high brow with my attitude that I didn't need to make no fan art. Facts are that people go to an entertainment con to collect things, to add to the things, of the things they collect. One of my fellow Artist Alley neighbours put it best, that we need to have fan art in order to get attention. Once you have their attention you can segway into introducing the customer to your own, original work. Makes perfect marketing sense to me.

- Next time I shall be making art and taking commissions right there, at my table. A lot of the artists were doing it, and I think the attendees really like to watch the artists at work.

- Don't eat sushi at a Vietnamese restaurant. My brother (who was my helper for the weekend) got deathly sick from food poisoning after eating bad teriyaki chicken. It was really bad.

- Cons are expensive. The average attendee spends around $200.00. A small portion of this is for merch, including art. The majority of it gets spent on admission, photo ops and signatures from the celebs, and food/drink. Im going to make sure I have lots of small items to buy.

- Having a helper lets you get away to actually see the con you are at. I barely got a chance to walk around. I wish I had taken more time to see the sights. I was planning on doing that on Sunday, but my brother was food poisoned, so I didnt get that chance. Next time.

- I met great people. :) Everyone there wants to have a good time, so in general the atmosphere is really positive.

Edmonton Expo / Phase Two

The weekend is over! What a weekend. Totally exhausting, but I learned so much about this whole comic con thing. Thanks especially to my fellow Artist Alley artists. Most of you are old hats at this so I really appreciated the Yoda like knowledge you passed on to me.

Here is my table set up.

I will change a lot of this for next year (and hopefully the Calgary Expo in the spring). There are definitely better ways to execute a display, plus I had much less room than I thought I would have. The table was 6x2 feet. I seems most people like to be able to flip through a portfolio style book (of prints) so that's the first thing to change.

I did get a lot of attention with my "Drawing with Paint" technique, so that was great. I love texture, everyone loves texture. :) Most of this work is actually a few years old, and I'm a MUCH better painter now. I'm going to have to create some new paintings to showcase that.

I was so happy I had that sign made. It really looked great.

click to magnify
Taken early Saturday morning. Before the crowds.

Here is a 360 degree view of the Expo from my table.

The Expo was a huge success, in my opinion. They exceeded the attendance expectation at 14'000 people. Everything looked great. They had excellent celebrity and creative guests. I wish I had, had time to attend a couple of the Panels. Next time I'm going to make time for that.

Perhaps the best thing that happened was meeting Laurie B! Right at the end of the show she stopped by my table, and even bought one of my chapbooks. Awesomesauce! I admit I didn't know very much about her, but after reading her blog and checking out more of her work I am super inspired. She is really real, and honest, and authentic, AND she attended Red Deer College (like me)! What I think I like the most about her is that even though she has achieved a great amount of recognition and success, she is still striving for growth and seeking to achieve personal goals. Wow! You give em hell, Laurie!
http://www.artoflaurieb.com/

Edmonton Expo / Phase One

I set up my table at the Expo today, all ready for Saturday and Sunday. Here is hoping I have a great weekend for sales, and im sure the experience is going to be great.

While I was setting up (I was a keener and there really early), Camilla d'Errico was also setting up her table, so I just went over and introduced myself. :) She was very friendly, and after a brief conversation about Con's I told her I would wave occasionally, and she said she would invent an apperatus for throwing spit-balls my way. ^_^ I hope she is sooo busy she only has time to imagine one. ;)

Here is one of my favorites of Camilla's. Yeah, she's a pretty great painter.

www.camilladerrico.com

Edmonton Expo / Wares

So here are a few of the things I shall be taking with me to the Edmonton Expo on the 20th.

Artist Trading Cards. You collect those, right?
$5 each.

Pin Back buttons.
This is the cool bowl I shall be using for display.
$2 each. 1.5 inches each.

Yuki-Onna. I had this Chapbook printed specifically for the show.
Its 32 pages, at 8.5 x 5.5 inches.
Its totally awesome, with both the folk story and
my illustrations.
$12 each, black and white.

Ye ol Studio

I thought it was about time to post a photo of my studio.

Key features ...
- Big ass table, with glass top.
- Lots of blank canvas's.
- Chair with handmade pillows.
- Drawers and cabinet to put things in.
- Couch ... for fainting spells, and back stretching.
- Antique Chandelier, cuz its pretty. :)

Edmonton Comic Expo ... I'll Be THERE!

This will be my first time at a Comic Con, and I am so excited. This is the first year for the Edmonton Expo. You may have heard of its big sister the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo or CCEE which happens in April.

Last year over 60'000 people attended the Calgary convention (mostly because of the main attraction with a full reunion of the Star Trek: Next Generation cast!), so it would be totally awesome if both the Calgary and Edmonton become huge success's. What a boon to Alberta in general.

Anyway, the Edmonton Expo, which I am showin the ol wears at will be on Saturday October 20th, and Sunday October 21st.

CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE!!! www.edmontonexpo.com

I will be in the Artist Alley at booth F2.

More posts to come leading up to the Expo, so stay tuned.

New Artwork

Here are a couple of 5x7 illustrations of Calaveras. I really enjoy this subject, and now I get to combine it with one of my other favorite subjects, History!

"Calavera Elizabeth"

and

"Calavera Maiko"

These are both available as prints in my Etsy Shop, at 5x7 and as aceo.

tempeststudios.etsy.com

Reference model was Sinju-hime
http://senju-hime.deviantart.com/

Reference modeling provided by Coi-stock
http://coi-stock.deviantart.com/

Long Time ... Its Summer!!!

Well I kind of let this blog go the way of the summer holiday. Summer is almost over though (omg only a month left) so I shall be getting back to keep this up. Here is my new bird painting. Its a commission I finished up in July.

 

"The Pretty One"

18 x 24 inches.

Acrylic on canvas.

 

*Click on the image to magnify.*

 

Koi Art Cards

 A new batch of art cards. :)

*Click on the image to magnify.*

- Fire Koi
- Fishy, Fishy
- Fish Tails II
- Maple
- Oak
- Olive

- Hooked
- Now you see me II

Mini Birds

These two are an unlikely pair, but they are my latest mini bird portraits.

I hope you enjoy them. They will be going up for sale in my Etsy shop, if they dont sell at the Art Show im at this weekend.

- Robert Pheasant
- Ruby Hummingbird

5 x 5 inches each.
Acrylic on massonite board.

Symphony Series / Cedar Waxwings

This is a very large painting, that took a very long time. I am really glad its done and it turned out so well. :)

"Waxwing Rhapsody"
36 x 60 inches.
Acrylic on canvas.

Available at the Bluerock Gallery.

*Click on the image to magnify.*

Symphony Series / Crow

A new bird painting! This one is meant to be a companion piece to the Cardinal I did a little while ago. http://tempeststudios.blogspot.ca/2011/11/symphony-series-cardinal.html

"Crow Nocturn"
20 x 20 inches.
Acrylic on canvas.

For sale at the Bluerock Gallery in Black Diamond, AB.

Lacombe Art Exhibit and Sale / April 20,21,22

This year I will be returning to the Annual Lacombe Show. I will be displaying my work with fellow artist Jeri-Lynn Ing, so check it out! Its always a great show with lots of great art, and many people wait all year to buy art from the local artists represented during the weekend.

http://www.lacombe.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1892&Itemid=101

" The 13th Annual Lacombe Art Exhibit & Sale will be held on April 20, 21 & 22 at the Lacombe Memorial Center 5214 – 50th Avenue in Lacombe. Featuring the works of over 70 Alberta artists, this event runs from 1 – 8pm on Friday, 11 – 5 on Saturday and 11- 4 on Sunday. Admission is a mere $4.00! "

I will have some of my bird paintings, some of my Foliage work, a whole bunch of my miniature illustrations, PLUS greeting cards.

See you there.