"INTO THE WIND" New, Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Into The Wind"

30" x 24"

Oil on Linen

I'm pleased to finally be getting around to sharing some of my High Desert Ranch paintings with you. This one was painted from a reference shot taken at the same location as the one I shared last week. It's the same buckaroo, Moe.

This painting was on my easel during the Reno Open Studio tour and is in a video produced by Suli Yi of Voice of America...you can see his video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8UxnQ7dkBU

It's in Chinese so you can't really tell what they are saying, but my segment starts at the 4:58 mark and I'm speaking in English.

P.S.Who wants to go? Watch for a special announcement in the next post for your opportunity to come on a painting adventure to the High Desert Ranch in June!

"LOOKS LIKE RAIN" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Looks Like Rain"

24" x 30"

Oil on Linen

This painting is painted from some reference shots I took from my High Desert Ranch trip last year. It was very overcast that day, but some dramatic scenery nonetheless. Running into this cowboy named Moe was a huge added bonus!

"MUSTANG" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Mustang"

20" x 16"

Oil on Canvas

This painting was commissioned by a friend of mine as a present for his wife. This is something that I often see out in the Winnemucca Ranch area whose landscape is seen in the background of this painting. You may possibly see more mustang paintings this next year as I really enjoyed painting this one.

"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.

"Long Day" - Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Long Day"
36" x 16" oil on canvas

My good friend Dennis McCroskey is the model for this painting...he's the real deal and this is from a photo he provided...at least the cowboy is, I shot the clouds that I used in the background. The unstable weather that we get on the Eastern side of the Sierras yield some pretty impressive clouds from time to time.

"Wary" Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Wary" Oil on Canvas 24" x 32"
Here it is, the finished painting...you can follow my progress in more detail here.

"Wary" - Painting In Progress - almost finished!

"Wary" Oil on Canvas 24" x 32" (painting in progress)

This is my progress for days five through seven...I've just got a little more of the foreground to finish up, a few details and it will be done! Check back for more progress..more details of my progress here.

"Wary" - Oil Painting In Progress

"Wary" Oil on Canvas 24" x 32" (painting in progress)

Here's my fourth day's progress...I couldn't take it any longer, I had to start painting the Indian. More to follow..more detailed progress here.

"Wary" - Original Oil Painting (in progress) by Mike Callahan

I'm beginning a new painting...I'll try to keep my progress updated here. Above are my reference materials for the painting. I had already painted the study for it, I'll be using that for my color and values. I decided to put an Indian warily watering his horse in the shallow stream. I was able to get a nice shot of a horse that was rather nonchalantly grazing in a nearby field. I didn't see any Indians around, so once again I asked my son Ian to pose for me. He humored me and I turned him into an Indian in the sketch shown above. Just to make sure he fit on the horse, I scanned my sketch, gave it a quick wash of color and put him on the horse in Photoshop. I put the both of them in my original reference shot. Now I'm ready to begin.

"Wary" Oil on Canvas 24" x 32" (painting in progress)

This is the first couple of morning's progress. I've started as usual, underpainting and sketching in my major elements in the wet underpaint. More tomorrow..more detailed progress here.