Bernie Wrightson October 27 1948 – March 19 2017

March 19, 2017, 8:36 am

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Comics legend Bernie Wrightson passed away this weekend. His impact on the comic book world and horror comics cannot be overstated.  Anyone growing up reading comics and especially things like the old Warren comics will be familiar with his work. He was co-creator of Swamp Thing for DC along with writer Len Wein and had a long award-winning career.

In 1975 Wrightson was a co-founder of the studio with artists Jeff Jones, Michael Kaluta and Barry Windsor-Smith.  Wrightson worked outside of the comics industry too, producing posters and calendars, working as a concept artist for films like The Thing, Cycle of the Werewolf, and The Mist and illustrating books and album covers.

One of his crowning achievements was a graphic novel version of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Wrightson spent seven years creating the fifty pen and ink images for the book. Wrightson’s work on the project is reminiscent of other pen and ink greats of the early 20^th century like Franklin Booth and Joseph Clement Coll. 

Wrightson was one of those artists that helped kindle my early love of art. The work he and the other artists of the Studio did for comics was always a cut above their contemporaries.  He will be missed.

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April Events

April 2, 2017, 12:06 pm

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On Wednesday, April 5th I will start and finish a painting for George Mason Students again at The Clifton Institute. The demo is not open to the public but I will take process shots and post them in a later blog article.  These are some of my paintings from past years.

 20 x 24 oil

 24 x 30 oil

 24 x 18 oil

18 x 24 oil

Saturday, April 29th I will be painting at the Inn at Little Washington from 10 AM to 3 PM as part of the Town of Washington Historic Garden Club Tour Events. There will be a silent auction starting at 5 PM that evening. You must purchase tickets to attend the auction.
Wine Tasting at Tula’s Off Main from
3:30 to 5:30 p.m. followed by local
Plein Air Artists’ Silent Auction at 5:30 p.m.

2017 Bull Run Demo

April 9, 2017, 8:52 pm

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One of my favorite times of the year is finally here. Spring is slowly taking hold again which means it's time for bluebells. They only last a few days in early spring so if you live in Virginia get out and see them while you can. Today was a beautiful day with temps in the 70's. I went to one of my favorite bluebell spots The bridge at Bull Run in the Manassas Battlefield. This year did not disappoint. 

I set up and decided to try a 16 x 20 canvas. A little large for the angle of the light and subject but it's good to push yourself in the field.

After deciding on my subject I started to draw the landmarks with a big brush.

Next, I quickly blocked in the large flat poster shapes for my background middle and foreground locking in the lights and shadows for the image.

Working all over the canvas I started to pick out important details and add them to the mix.

I established my darks and strengthened my color in the places I thought it needed more emphasis.

I weave in colors to give the impression of branches and leaves and refine more of my shapes.

 I continue to refine shapes color and edges.

The finished painting Bull Run Spring 16 x 20 oil. Total painting time 3 hours.

Washington VA Historic Garden Club Paint Out

April 23, 2017, 2:43 pm

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The time for the Garden Tour is almost here. Saturday, April 29th I will be painting at the Inn at Little Washington from 10 AM to 3 PM as part of the Town of Washington Historic Garden Club Tour Events. There will be a silent auction starting at 5 PM that evening. You must purchase tickets to attend the auction.
Wine Tasting at Tula’s Off Main from
3:30 to 5:30 PM followed by local
Plein Air Artists’ Silent Auction at 5:30 PM

I will be set up and be painting by 10 AM somewhere near the Inn itself either looking at the entrance or in the back in the herb garden.  Depending on the weather and light I should be able to finish two paintings in the allotted time frame. If you can't make the morning painting you will still have a chance to see me painting in the afternoon until 3 PM.  

Some past paintings I've made on the grounds of the Inn and you can see a number of my paintings of Virginia and the Piedmont at the Shops at the Inn right next to the post Office.

  Koi 10 x 8

 Late Day Shadows 12 x 9

 The Herb Garden 12 x 16

Gamekeepers Cottage morning 9 x 12

Washington, VA Garden Tour Paintings

May 1, 2017, 11:31 am

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The Washington, VA garden tour auction was a success with all of the paintings selling for the artists involved. I started at 10 am and finished by 3 pm and did two 9x 12 paintings on Saturday. Even though the weather was in the low 90's that day, turnout for the tour was high. I talked to quite a few people and everyone was happy there were artists involved in the tour this year and the paintings were being sold.

people while I was painting.

William Bliss Baker

June 18, 2017, 11:58 am

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William Bliss Baker was born in New York City in 1859. At 17 he began studying at the National Academy of Design with Albert Bierstadt and Mauritz De Haas. Baker showed ability from the beginning of his studies and quickly became known to art critics. Baker won the Elliott prize during his first exhibit in 1879 at the academy and in 1885 Baker won the Julius Hallgarten Prize at the Academy for his painting Woodland Brook. 

Baker built a studio named ‘The Castle’ in Clifton Park on Ballston Lake and also maintained a studio in the Knickerbocker building in New York City. Baker was just beginning his career when he died from complications following a skating accident. In his short time working he completed just over 130 paintings before his death in 1886 at the age of 27.

                                                                             the castle

Bakers work shows a maturity and confidence for someone so young. His vision is fully formed and his statements carry authenticity and reverence for his subjects.

Bibliography

I couldn't find any books on WBB (Information for this bio came from Wikipedia and Quest Royal Galleries and other online sources)

Historic photo of ‘The Castle’ from John Scherer from an article in the Daily Gazettte by Bill Buel

Watercolor Workshop

June 26, 2017, 9:05 pm

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My watercolor workshop is almost full, only two spots left.
I will be teaching in Highlands North Carolina at the Bascom. More info
here

Upcoming Events Summer 2017 and Beyond

July 30, 2017, 9:38 am

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I was interviewed for Southwest Art Magazine about my paintings for a 3 man show with Brent Jensen and Xu Gang at Tirage Fine Art Gallery in September. The show preview will feature all three of us and should be in the September issue of the magazine. I will have 12 to 18 pieces in the show depending on space. The show runs from September 9 - October 6 and the reception will be Saturday, September 9.

The watercolor workshop at the Bascom is full. We’ve started a waiting list and if there is enough interest for another class we will make it happen. Looking forward to being back there and teaching it should be a fun class.

Illuxcon the Imaginative Realist show is October 18-22. This will be my 6^th year attending and my 5^th year as a main show artist. I hope if you are in the area you will come out and support the show. It’s really the only show of its kind in the US. The main show is limited to traditional paintings and sculptures no digital work at all.

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Eclipse

August 21, 2017, 12:20 pm

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The 2017 eclipse did not disappoint. Even though we were not in the path of totality it was still a great experience. I took about fifty pictures from my front porch here in Northern Virginia. This was my best shot. Right after the peak, which was 82% here, it clouded up and started to rain. During the height of it, the temp dropped ten degrees and the light was like being in a car with tinted windows.

What’s Been Happening November 2017

November 5, 2017, 8:06 pm

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Sunset Serenade 48 x 36 oil on linen       

I haven’t posted in a while, lots of things keeping me busy and competing for my attention. I find myself using other platforms to get information out there and because of that my blog posts have suffered. The blog format is starting to feel outdated to me now with all of the focus shifted to other social media like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and YouTube.

I spend most of my social media time on Facebook. That site is where I get the best response to my paintings in terms of direct sales and workshops in terms of student signups. It’s also where I interact with most people either privately through Facebook’s internal messenger or in public. My personal site on Facebook

  https://www.facebook.com/armand.cabrera 

is not limited to just art and I share my politics and beliefs about a wide range of topics. 

For people only interested in my work I have a professional page on Facebook 

https://www.facebook.com/ArmandCabreraFineArt/ 

This is where I post paintings and upcoming shows and workshops.

My other profile links are as follows

Twitter

https://twitter.com/ArtAndInfluence

 Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/armandcabrerafineart/?hl=en

Linkedin

https://www.linkedin.com/in/armand-cabrera-9791236/

I will continue to post here on the blog as I find new things to talk about or revisit old ideas that I may have gained some new insight for and I think they are worth sharing. A lot of people are using the blog format for posting videos but at this time I am reluctant to start down that path. The amount of time it takes to create free video content for blog supporters is just too prohibitive to do on a regular basis given my current lifestyle, I hope you understand. This might change in the future but right now I want to continue to paint for clients and galleries and teach workshops around the country.

If anyone has specific questions about my painting process or philosophy that they would like me to share here feel free to leave a comment about it and I will try and answer them as best I can.

Gulf Shore Majesty 30 x 36 oil on linen

Weekend Sale

November 24, 2017, 1:56 pm

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Inprnt is offering some discounts on orders

Free world Wide Shipping on orders over $40 USD and 10% off orders over $100 USD with code BF2017

https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/dpaint/

I have traditional landscapes and imaginative work in my shop