"SIX OF ONE" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Six of One"

20" x 30"

Oil on Linen

Here's my latest painting. I shot the reference for it at the Cedarville Rodeo in August, there was this line of cowboys that I found intriguing. They were waiting to compete, but I thought that changing the lighting and putting them in a different location would give this painting a bit more charm!

Some New Drawings

On November 1, I started a 6 week drawing group...we have costumed models who pose for 3 hours...I'm having a great time! Here are some of my drawings so far...

November 1st's drawing...I only worked on this one for about half of the group time as I had brought some new, recycled drawing paper that ended up being real junk...I would have had a better time with the blank side of a grocery sack...anyway, by the time I had had enough and got a piece of nice drawing paper, the time was half gone!

November 8th's Drawing...this lady is an amazing model...she makes her own costumes and holds a 3 hour pose like no other (we did give her breaks, but when she resumed the pose, she was spot on!)

November 16th's Drawing, on canvas...I fought with this all night long...the canvas was too rough and the charcoal just wanted to fall off constantly! Best way to learn something is by trying it though! Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

"THE RECALCITRANT" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"The Recalcitrant"

20" x 30"

Oil on Linen

Here's one of my most recent cowboy paintings I've been working on. I shot the reference for this painting at the ranch rodeo in Cedarville back in late August and the background is from out in the Winnemucca Ranch area. When my son was just a little tike, I used to read him a story titled, "The Recalcitrant Calf" and ever since I've thought that the word "recalcitrant" is a very appropriate one for calves!

"POWER NAP" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Power Nap"

24" x 18"

Oil on Canvas

I'm sorry for the delay in sending out the newsletter - I've been pretty busy lately. I have a couple more cowboy pieces I'm just about done with (but not quite) and so I thought in the meantime I'd share this fun little painting of I did of my daughter Brianna taking a power nap one afternoon after a long day of class at the Paul Mitchell Academy in Reno. (By the way, she has since graduated and I'm not just saying this as a dad - she's an awesome hair stylist, so if you live in the area and are looking for a hairdresser, email me and I'll put you in touch with her.) Anyway, when I saw her napping one day, I thought this would be a fun one to paint so I quickly snapped a shot before she awoke.

Studio Open September 10th, 11th and 12th

Next weekend I, along with 38 of the Reno area's best artists will open our studios and invite the public to come and see the creative process at work. I would really love for you to come by for a visit and to see my latest work!

Don't miss this once a year oppportunity:

September 10, 11 and 12

Click on the link below to visit the Reno Open Studio website, get a map, plan your tour and come and visit us.

Also please join us at our Preview Reception:

Thursday, September 9

5:00 to 7:00 pm

Sierra Arts Foundation Main Gallery

17 S. Virginia St.

www.renoopenstudios.com

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"A LITTLE BREAK IN THE CLOUDS" New, Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"A Little Break In The Clouds"

Oil On Linen

30" x 24"

Here's the first studio painting from the recent art adventure trip...Wayne Cockrell and his buckskin horse, Cotton of the Cockrell Ranch in the beautiful Surprise Valley graciously posed for this one...Want to know where the Surprise Valley is? Here are the GPS coordinates for where the reference shots were taken...enter these in Google Earth and it will take you there:

41 25.3238' N, 120 5.9967' W

"SPRING APPROACHES" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Spring Approaches"

24" x 30"

Oil on Canvas

Here's another painting in my Tahoe series...it's of the mouth of the Truckee River right where it leaves Lake Tahoe. I believe I shot the reference for this painting in March and while we got snow after that this year, at the time I shot this reference, the snow was rapidly diminishing...enjoy!

Photos from the field

I just want to report from the field on our plein air art adventure...

We are near Cedarville, California and while the weather hasn't been perfect, we have been having a great time and are getting a lot of painting done anyway...here are some pics...

Me, working out the details on a 16" x 12"

John Youssi proudly standing next to his brand new Soltek Rolls Royce easel! (and a nice little painting I might add)

Ray Freeman glad to be done with this piece so he can get in the truck to get warm! Nice job Ray!

Ron Spears fast and furious trying to capitalize on the sun which only made a brief appearance... he ended up with a really nice piece by the way!

"ENCHANTRESS" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Enchantress"

24" x 30"

Oil on Canvas

In sharing my latest painting with you, I thought I'd show you a little about how I conceived of it. First, I'm a fortunate man in that I have two of the most beautiful daughters in the world! Of course they don't get their good looks from me, but from their mother, so that makes me triple lucky...of course, from a father's perspective there have been many a time that I haven't been sure if having beautiful daughter's is a blessing or a curse! Well, enough of my rambling, on to the painting.

My younger daughter Alissa has a friend who is a very talented photographer, her name is Charissa Booher and you can check out her work here. One day, she did a photo shoot with Alissa and got some really great shots! It was suggested that do a painting or two from them, but I usually don't use other people's work for reference. I had to admit it was an intriguing shot so I told Alissa to ask her friend how she'd feel about me using her photo for a painting. Fortunately Charissa thought that would be cool, so I picked one that I felt held particular qualities that would translate well into a painting. While I really liked the shot shown here, I felt I'd like to do a little something special with the background. Last fall, on our way home from a trip to Apple Hill, Alissa could see that there was some great light on the American River from Highway 50 late in the day. She kept bugging me to stop and take some photos, but I was kind of like the horse headed to the barn at the end of the day. Finally, I saw a decent spot to pull over so I stopped, handed Alissa the camera and told her to go for it...but to hurry up, I would keep the car running. She climbed over the guard rail and descended to the river's edge and shot up about half a memory card! When she came back to the car she kept exclaiming that "it's just magical down there!" It looked pretty from my perspective, but when I got home and reviewed her shots, I had to agree, "magical".

So, naturally, I felt this was the perfect pairing just waiting to be painted, a great shot of her backed by the great shot she took!

"SECRET COVE 3"- New Original Oil Painting By Mike Callahan

"Secret Cove 3"

Oil on Canvas 20" x 38"

Here's another Tahoe piece. I shot this reference about this time of year two or three years ago. I'm still qute taken by the beauty of the lake here, so I just had to paint it again. Enjoy!

"OVERLOOK" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Overlook"

Oil on Canvas 20" x 38"

Hello Friends, Here's a new Tahoe piece I recently completed from an overlook descending to the eastern shore of the lake. Enjoy!

"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.

"FOREST PATH" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Forest Path" - Triptych

20" x 10" (each panel)

Oil on Panel

After painting the last triptych of the lilly pond, I felt like doing another. This is from the same area near Blue Lakes. As a matter of fact, the path here leads to it; it's just around the bend! ...Enjoy!

"LILLY POND" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Lilly Pond" - Tryptich

20" x 10" (each panel)

Oil on Panel

I know it's been a while since I sent out a new piece, but I have been working on a series that I want to show all at once. These shown above aren't part of that series, but instead are from the same lilly pond up by the Blue Lakes that I just love! This is my first attempt at painting a tryptich and I hope to build a custom frame for it soon. I will try to get painting updates out a bit more frequently, but with the holidays approaching, bear with me!

QUICK TURN - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Quick Turn"

18" x 24"

Oil on Canvas Panel

Last spring I went out to Winnemucca Ranch to gather some reference for some paintings and who do I see but my old buddy Dennis McCroskey chasing this little cow around! His activity provided me with this great little shot...I really enjoyed painting this piece; it was a fun one! ...Enjoy!

SECOND YUBA RIVER STUDY - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Second Yuba River Study"

9" x 12"

Oil on Canvas Panel

Here's the second painting I did down by the Yuba river a couple of weeks ago. This was a great little spot where we painted in the late afternoon light. A beautiful fall day! ...Enjoy!

'YUBA RIVER STUDY' - Brand New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Yuba River Study"

9" x 12"

Oil on Canvas Panel

I recently had the opportunity to get out and paint on a simply gorgeous day down along th Yuba river with a friend of mine. This is the first of two little paintings I did that day...I'll post the other one next week.

This is how I began, just sketching in my composition...

It can really help your concentration if you hang your mouth open like this (as long as there aren't too many bugs buzzing around!)

...and here we are just about done...

"TAHOE ROCKS" - Brand New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Tahoe Rocks"

9" x 12"

Oil on Canvas Panel

I recently did a studio demo showing how I approach painting rocks and water. What a better way to demonstrate that than with Tahoe, its great rocks and clear water?...Enjoy!

"OLD WEST" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Old West"

9" x 12"

Oil on Canvas

I was looking through some of my older reference photos and I decided I wanted to paint a few more of Bodie, probably the best preserved ghost town in the United States...here is a fun little painting of several of those great buildings...Enjoy!

"RIGHT-HANDED LILLIES" New Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Right-Handed Lillies"

20" x 20"

Oil on Canvas

Nearly a year ago I had surgery on my right shoulder and couldn't use my right hand to paint with for a time. I painted some water lillies left-handed and titled the painting "Left-Handed Lillies" Recently, I decided to re-visit the reference material I had gathered from a trip to the mountains and thought I'd like to paint some more of these delightful lillies...of course, this time I painted them with my right hand...Enjoy!