"AMARYLLIS' New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Amaryllis"
30" x 24"
Oil on Birch

This is a painting I've wanted to paint for some time now...I painted it on a birch panel primed with gesso. I must admit, I'm not sure if I like the surface or not, it's very different to say the least. My daughter Alissa posed for me for this one, I got the vision for it last winter when the amaryllises were in bloom...Enjoy!

"SEPTEMBER CALM" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"September Calm"
24" x 30"
Oil on Canvas

This has to be one of the most blissful spots in the Ruby Mountains...it's at the edge of Favre Lake, late afternoon just about when the fish started biting...Enjoy!

"READY TO ROW" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Ready to Row"
12" x 16"
Oil on Canvas

Fish and Game folks often leave their rowboats locked to trees during the summer so that they are ready for them to row when they come to check the fish populations or whatever their jobs entail. Last year while doing some camping and hiking around some of these great little Sierra lakes I happened upon this one that just looked like it wanted to be painted!...Enjoy!

"HIGH COUNTRY REFLECTION" New Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"High Country Reflection"
12" x 16"
Oil on Canvas

This is probably the last one I'll do from my Ruby Mountain trip for now...I really was intrigued by this little mountain stream bed, so I thought I'd paint it...Enjoy!

"RUBY HILLSIDE" - Brand New Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Ruby Hillside"
16" x 12"
Oil on Canvas

I can't believe how many great references I'm still working my way through with these Ruby Mountain paintings...I'm really enjoying painting them and I hope you enjoy seeing them as well!

New Conte Drawing

Untitled Study
Carbon and Conte on Toned Paper
8.5" x 8"
I recently decided I needed to draw more, so I bought some conte and some toned paper...here's my first drawing in a while...a study for part of a painting I have in mind. I know it's a little different for me, but hey, that's how you grow as an artist!

"SUN LIT" New Oil Painting By Mike Callahan

"Sun Lit"
Oil on Canvas
30" x 30"

Here's another painting from my Ruby Mountain trip. When we were on the trail, the Sun broke through the clouds and illuminated this peak for just long enough for me to get a great reference shot. I really like this scene because I think it really portrays the immensity of the place. Enjoy!

"DOWN TO LIBERTY LAKE" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Down To Liberty Lake"
Oil on Canvas 30" x 24"
As you might be able to tell, I'm going through my reference shots from my Ruby Mountain backpacking trip of last September. This painting comes from a shot I took of a couple of deer hunters descending the trail to the glacial Liberty Lake. (Being a really deep, cold glacial lake, it really does have that turquoise quality of blue!)...Enjoy!

"UP LIBERTY PASS" new original oil painting by Mike Callahan

"Up Liberty Pass"
36" x 24"
Oil on Canvas

The Ruby Mountains in Eastern Nevada are often referred to as 'Nevada's Rockies'. Parts are mighty rocky, I can tell you that much! This is another painting from the backpack trip my son and I took last September. We were heading back out of the wilderness area when we met up with this outfitter going in to pick up one of his clients. At close to 11,000 feet, and having already travelled several miles that morning, it kind of made me wish I had a horse!

"JED" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"JED"
Oil on Canvas 30" x 20"
Last September, my son and I took a backpack trip into the Ruby Mountain Wilderness Area. On that trip we ran across this old outfitter and his dog sitting at his camp watching the pack mules while his clients were out hunting Mountain Sheep. I asked him if I could take his photo and he agreed. He wasn't very talkative and really didn't say anything beyond agreeing to have his photo taken. He had on a copper bracelet with the letters JED on it...I don't know if those were his initials or if his name was Jed...Enjoy!

"GRAEGLE CREEK CATARACTS" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Graegle Creek Cataracts"
Oil on Canvas
24" x 30"
Last spring I took a trip up to Long Lake and the snow was really starting to melt...the water coming down Graegle Creek was just blasting over these falls and I've wanted to take the challenge of painting them for some time now! Enjoy!

"ANOTHER DAYBREAK ON THE COLORADO" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Another Daybreak on the Colorado"
24" x 32" Oil on Canvas
Here's another painting done from the banks of the Colorado River from the trip I took to Moab last year...enjoy!

"LAST BOAT ON THE LAKE" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Last Boat On The Lake"

Oil on Canvas 20" x 24

It was late October when I last went up to Tahoe to shoot some reference for this  series I've been doing and when we went to the dock at Zephyr Cove where there are typically lots of boats, there was just this one!

"SECRET COVE #2" New Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Secret Cove #2"
Oil on Canvas 24" x 30"
Here's another painting of the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe...it's the second new Tahoe painting that is currently featured in a 'Tahoe' show at the Truckee River Gallery thru December 21st. If you get a chance stop by and see the show; I was at the reception Saturday night and there's a lot of great work in this show!

"SPARKLIING SHORE" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Sparkling Shore"
Oil on Canvas 24" x 30"
Here's my latest painting of the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe...it's one of two new Tahoe paintings that will be featured in a "Tahoe" show at the Truckee River Gallery from December 3rd thru December 21st. If you live nearby, please mark your calenders for the reception on Saturday, December 6th, from 4-7p.m.

"DAYBREAK ON THE COLORADO"-New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Daybreak on the Colorado
Oil on Canvas 24" x 30"
My right arm is working again and here's the first of many paintings I intend on painting with it...this is a scene from the banks of the Colorado river near Moab, Utah from the trip I took last year...Enjoy!

Free Landscape Oil Painting E-Book Now Available for Download

If you are interested in my tutorials, I now have something just for you! I'm giving away my new e-book called 'My Approach to Painting the Landscape in Oils' It is 37 pages covering everything from materials, color palette, composition, technique and more! I'm excited to be able to finally make this available and when you sign-in for the free and immediate download, as an added bonus you will also be signed-up to receive a NEW twice monthly Painting Tips Newsletter for FREE! You can get your copy by going to http://www.mikecallahanart.com/paintingtips ...Enjoy!

New E-book coming!

New E-book..."My Approach to Painting the Landscape in Oils" by Mike Callahan coming soon!
For those of you who have been wanting more tutorials, there's lots more on the way! Be watching this blog after next week to find out how you can get your complimentary copy of Mike's 37 page e-book!

"LEFT-HAND LILLIES" new Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Left-hand Lillies"
28" x 22"
Oil on Canvas

I couldn't help painting during my recovery from shoulder surgery, but I obeyed the doctor's orders (and my pain!) and didn't use my right hand. On my easel is a painting I call, "Left-hand Lillies" and I painted it entirely with my left hand. By the way, I'm not the least bit ambidextrous!
I've posted it online; you can see a larger version of it here...enjoy!

My Art To Be Used On The Cover of "RATTLE"

My painting, "Long Day" is going to be used for the cover art of the poetry magazine, "Rattle" for their cowboy poetry issue. It will be in Barnes and Noble and Borders on December 1st. You can pre-order a copy if you would like at http://www.rattle.com/cowboy.htm. I'm quite honored and excited to have my work featured on this great magazine!

"RANCH HOUSE" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Ranch House"
16" x 36" oil on canvas
"This is an early morning view of the house at the Marshall Ranch out in the Winnemucca Ranch area. I painted it from a different view last year for the Winnemucca Ranch show at Patagonia. At any rate, I was intrigued with this view so typical of these old Nevada ranches where years ago ranchers planted rows of Cottonwood trees around their ranches which is not only practical, but impressive as well. Enjoy!"

"THE MEADOW" - New Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"The Meadow" 12" x 9" oil on canvas
I participated in a 'quickdraw' event this weekend - a fundraiser for the Scenic Nevada organization. I had an hour and a half to complete this painting on the grounds of the M&L Ranch in Reno. The afternoon and evening were great, the weather was superb, the barbeque, absolutely delicious and my painting auctioned off at a nice price raising a good sum for the organization. My only regret is that I somehow forgot to pack my trusty camera and so the only photo I have of the painting comes from my friend Nancy Peppin's iPhone. Thanks Nancy! There were thirty artists there and the event was a great success, a great time was had by all! Enjoy!

"A PRINCE OF CATALINA" - New, original oil painting by Mike Callahan

"A Prince of Catalina"
16" x 20" oil on canvas
In contrast to the harbor in Avalon, the interior of Catalina Island is dry and grassy, perfect for a herd of buffalo that have lived there for quite some time. This bull that we saw was big, but surely not the biggest, that's why he's a prince and not yet the king! Enjoy!

p.s. I'm toying with a new, enhanced feature on my site that enables the viewer to zoom around and look at the details of the painting to a much higher degree...you can check out the enhanced, zoomable page with audio commentary by clicking here.

"AVALON AWAKES" - New Painting and Podcast from Mike Callahan

"Avalon Awakes"
18" x 24" oil on canvas
This is a painting from my recent vacation...one of the stops was beautiful Catalina Island off the southern California coast. This is a view of the harbor at Avalon at about 8:30 in the morning.
p.s. I've created my first ever podcast featuring this painting and a little more description...If you'd like to check it out, click here...it's M4A format, so you'll need Quicktime if you don't already have it...
(free from Apple, click here if you need it).

Portrait of My Parents

Portrait of my parents - Ed & Alyce Callahan
on their 50th Anniversary
24" x 32"
oil on linen
For a long time now, I have been planning to paint a portrait of my parents. As their 50th anniversary approached, one of my brothers told me that this would be the logical time to do it. I was gone on vacation two weeks ago, so I had to get it done in an inordinately short amount of time, but I pulled it off somehow and so, here it is...stay tuned, next week you should start seeing paintings that come from my vacation trip - hint, think sailboats, ocean, ...

"TRAILER HITCHED" new oil painting by Mike Callahan

"Trailer Hitched"
20" x 20" oil on canvas
I'm sure I really annoy people when I drive; I'm constantly looking around observing things, looking for things that really lend themselves to a painting. This painting is one of those times, my wife and I went out early one morning in search of some dramatic lighing on the landscape and as I was driving along the road, there were these to beautiful Paints hitched to their trailer readied for a ride. I hit the brakes and pulled out the camera...this painting is the eventual result.

"INDIAN PAINTBRUSH" - new original oil painting by Mike Callahan

"Indian Paintbrush"
10" x 8" oil on canvas
Sometimes when you are hiking in the desert, something catches your eye and repositions your view from wide angle to close up...that's what Indian Paintbrush flowers will do; they are such bright, energetic and unexpected flowers usually growing where nothing else will...enjoy!

"COWBOY'S RIB" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Cowboy's Rib"
16" x 12" oil on canvas

"This painting is the second to last from the Tule Peak/Winnemucca Ranch series I've been doing...it's called 'Cowboy's Rib' because that's the name of the ridge that we climbed to get to the top of the peak. This is a view looking up the canyon that runs along the rib near the base of the mountain before things started getting really steep...enjoy!"

"LONELY AT THE TOP" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Lonely At The Top"
12" x 16" oil on canvas
"During last summer's trek to the top of Tule Peak, I was intrigued by the tenacity of the Juniper trees that grew on the rock outcroppings near the peak. This is one of those lonely, ardent strugglers. Even though it is only at about 8,000' in altitude, it's close to 4,000' above the valley floor a mere three miles away! Aside from snow, I have no idea what water it may ever get, and it has to grow in near constant wind. I guess that explains why there are so few of these up there at the top!"

"TULE SPRING" new original oil painting by Mike Callahan

"Tule Spring"
12" x 16" oil on canvas
"This is Tule Peak just a few weeks ago with the last dusting of snow falling on it over night - but alas, spring's triumphant advance continues, evidenced by the greening of grasses and underground springs yeilding their abundance. This is another one, like last weeks, where I was thoroughly taken by the early morning light on the mountain broken by retreating clouds in the sky - I've done my best to capture that here...enjoy!"

"Dogskin Peek" Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Dogskin Peek"
12" x 24" oil on canvas
"This is Dogskin Mountain with the spring's last dusting of snow on it peeking out behind the foothills a few weeks ago. I just loved how the sun kept highlighting certain features as it broke in and out of the clouds early one morning. I've tried to capture it here for you...enjoy!"