Sunday, January 15, 2012

Chicago Mashup Final

I finished up the Chicago commission a while back.  So after allowing for some drying time I shuffled it off to one of our town's best imaging firms, Beeline & Blue to have it scanned.  A lot of times I'll employ a photographer if I've got multiple works that I need print-quality images of, but in the case of a single painting it's more cost-effective and expedient.  I can drop the piece off whenever I wish and pick it up at my convenience.  Easy. I like easy.

I used to take my own photos, but after a while I decided to trust it to the pros.  It costs a bit more, but I like giving what business I can to local vendors. Plus I have neither the equipment or the space to get decent photos of my own work.  My new studio space is a little smaller than I'm used to.  With the way the lower level of the house is laid out I've had to divide my studio into a drawing/painting space and a framing/stretcher shop.  It works out to be more space on the whole, but the division has some limitations.  I'm glad to exchange some horizontal space for the additional headroom I've gained.  I can actually lift the masts of my larger easels to their full working height.  Which is good because I've recently picked up a commission for an additional painting to be installed at Aviva USA's headquarters here in Des Moines along with the grouping they picked up last year.  They're tall pieces (72") and with my previous setup I wound up crawling around on the floor whenever I needed to work on the lower bits.  Not complaining... just saying. As always I'm glad for the work.


I'm very happy to be done with this piece.  It was a lot of fun, and it was also a major challenge.  It stretched my ideas about creating scenes and putting elements together in such a way as to appear natural.  It gave me a few ideas for future work.  It's coming up on time to start getting some studio work together again and I'm looking forward to employing some new ideas.


Off to pick up a new taboret (read as rolling tool chest I found at the hardware store) and bust out the oils.  Enjoy your day.  I plan to.


Cheers,

R

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