My Work

“Master Artist” is one who:

a. Has gained mastery over his or her chosen field, evidenced by the greatness of their works as judged by others.

b. Pioneers new skills, techniques and procedures.

c. Trains apprentices and associates for the development of their own skills.

My style: I paint in a style known as “classical realism”, meaning that I attempt to recreate my scene as close to reality as possible. To accomplish this, I normally work from photographs I have taken. If the piece is done on a commission I may either work from my client’s photo or I may photograph their subject and work from it. In either case, the quality of my finished painting is directly proportional to the quality of the photo I am working from.		My belief: While I am a Christian by faith, I am also positive I was a 17^th century Dutch painter in my past life. During a recent trip to The Netherlands, I entered the town of Leiden and immediately knew I had been there before in some distant time. I felt as comfortable there as I was at home in Indiana and even knew where the bakery was around the corner before I got there. I wasn’t a famous Dutch artist, only a run of the mill type of artisan who plied my trade from that small town while earning but a few guilders for my efforts. To this day my hero’s include all the Dutch Masters such as Joannes Vermeer, Frans Hals, Anthony van Dyke and Peter Paul Rubens.

My technique: I have developed a unique technique I call “strip painting” which allows me to quickly capture the likeness of my subject, whether it be a portrait, background or a landscape. Rather than work on the entire painting at once, I work on one small strip at a time. Once I have covered the entire canvass with the finished strips I go back and blend them all together. I often teach this technique under the program, “Paint Like a Pro In 30 days”.		Leiden, South Holland, The Netherlands

My colors: I only use the three primary colors of red, blue and yellow, along with black and white. By mixing these 5 colors I match the colors from the photo I am painting.		My brushes: I prefer bristles for most of my work, except for the final flesh work of portraits where I use nylons for both applying the paint and blending. A view of Leiden – Jan van Goyen

My process: I prefer to cut and stretch my own canvass. While exceptions are certainly made for a variety of reasons, I lean towards stretching my own. My paintings begin with the canvass being mounted to a flat, hard surface and the size of the work measured out with masking tape. The work is normally done a little over-sized to make it easier to mount the finished canvass to stretcher bars later on. On occasion I will use a purchased, pre-stretched canvass, depending on the circumstances (like when I run out of a roll of canvass LOL).		My canvasses: I prefer linen but to keep my costs down I will often use cotton duck. For my recreations of the old masters I will often use either jute or hemp canvass, depending on availability. I try to use primed canvasses (I prefer Fredrix), but if necessary will prime my own. When doing so, I first lay a heavy coat of sizing of rabbit glue (or a commercial grade of sizing) followed by multiple layers of acrylic gesso primer. I gave up making my own stretchers and only use manufactured ones now. For a sealer I tend to use either spray varnish or a light coat of Liquin applied with a rag.

The sequence: Depth in a painting is achieved by layering paint. Therefore, I typically have three to four layers of paint on the finished product. The first layer I call, “the base”. At this stage my intent is to basically get the canvass covered with paint. The second layer I call, “the cartoon” as on completion it looks rather cartoonish in nature.		My assistants: In the manner of my Dutch idols such as Peter Paul Rubens, modern artists such as Thomas Kinkade and many other current accomplished artists, I often use personal assistants to help me with some paintings. By doing so, not only can I be much more prolific in my work but I can also pass along the years of learning and skills I have amassed to the next generation of classical realism painters. It is not the act of applying paint to a canvass that I am most proud of, but rather, the concept and creation of the final piece of art. In the words attributed to the Master Ruben, “Pity the man who laid the last drop of paint.”

The third layer I call, “the features” as it’s during this stage I concentrate on capturing the real likeness of my subject. I call the fourth layer, “highlights” as it’s here that I concentrate on the really fine details of the subject.		The finish; The final stage of my work consists of mounting the canvass on stretcher bars and adding the final highlights. This is where I set the original photo aside and work strictly from my own perspective, making adjustments to the piece as I so choose to.