"JOHN YOUSSI" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"John Youssi"

Oil on Canvas Panel

16" x 12"

Every now and then the light catches my eye in such a way that I am compelled to paint it. That's how it was earlier this summer when my good friend John Youssi came out to pizza with my wife and me. The sun was hitting his face just so that I knew it would make a great painting so I pulled out the old smart phone and snapped a couple of reference shots saying, "nevermind me, keep talking" so as to maintain as natural and candid pose as possible... 

"AGAINST THE WALL" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Against the Wall"

Oil on Canvas

30" x 24"

This past summer my beautiful daughter Bri modeled for an open painting session at my art academy.  Prior to the session I asked her to pose for some photography in the alley behind the academy from which I would create a painting at a later date.  This is the result...

"MRS. POMKNIEDRE" New, Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Mrs. Pomkniedre"

20" x 16"

Oil on Linen

My latest painting. It's a portrait of a woman who we've all heard about but probably have never actually met. I say that with a little tongue in cheek!

She's actually painted from a model we had in the recent drawing group I was part of at the museum. She had such a great costume I had taken a photo of her live pose and it was this that I worked from. I mainly wanted to do this painting to try some classical techniques that I had been studying. These techniques worked out great and I have chronicled them in a brand new Studio Secrets eBook available from Payloadz. Click here for more information if you are interested in the tutorial or just interested in the process.

Anyway, back to my inital comment. I've titled the painting "Mrs. Pomkniedre" after the famous (or possibly imfamous) wife of Peter, the renowned nursery rhyme character. My wife and daughter took one look at her when I was painting her and made the comment that she looked like Peter Pumpkin Eater's wife, so I thought that's what I'd call her only taking a few liberties with the spelling!

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, ...

"Self-Portrait" - Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Self-Portrait"
24"x28" Oil on Linen
I did this painting mainly because I wanted to enter the American Artist Magazine's Self-Portrait Competition, and secondly because I've always thought it would be a challenge to paint a self-portrait and well, I'm always up for a challenge!

"Tim Finnigan" original oil painting by Mike Callahan

"Tim Finnigan"
8" x 10" oil on canvas

This is a fun little portrait I painted of my daughter-in-law's little brother Tim.

"Glance" - New Oil Painting By Mike Callahan

"Glance"
Oil on Canvas 8" x 10"
This has turned out to be a breakthrough piece for me. I've discovered what for me is a way to get great luminosity in skin...I've posted the details in a step-by-step of the painting as well as a larger picture that you can see by clicking here.

Daily Original Oil Painting for May 16, 2007 by Mike Callahan

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"Girl With No Eyes"

6" x 8" Oil on Canvas
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See my larger paintings by visiting: http://www.mikecallahanart.com/

The title of this painting comes from a song by a group out of the sixties called, "It's a Beautiful Day". I know, there's a clue for you, I'm that old! I have this on vinyl, so there you have it! Anyway, I don't even remember what the song is about really, but that title came to mind when I was looking for a name for this little painting that my daughter posed for because the strong, top directional lighting caused her beautiful eyes to be so much in shadow I wasn't able to paint them...Enjoy!

Daily Original Oil Painting for May 15, 2007 by Mike Callahan

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"Lissy and Squeak"

11" x 14" Oil on Linen

See my larger paintings by visiting: http://www.mikecallahanart.com/

It really feels good to do some more portrait work. My daughter and her dog posed for this one and I'm really happy with it. It's currently not for sale though I'm thinking of entering it in a competition. Please feel free to comment on it it! You can see a larger version with more commentary here. Enjoy!