Have you begun to wonder if I had dropped off the face of the earth? I apologize for the long break in communication; I have not in fact dropped the face of the earth, but my wife and I did take a vacation recently to a very beautiful and inspiring part of it! We spent several weeks in Ireland. I had the opportunity to paint a bit, but it wasn't really a painting trip per se. We ended up taking nearly 1200 photos there and many of those are going to end up as paintings. Here's the first one! It's fresh off the easel...as a matter of fact I just finished it a few hours ago!_I'll be launching into this new series right away and I've put up a new category on the website for it... I will however, also continue intermittently with more paintings from Tahoe, the Sierra and the West as I have been.
"Tilisco"
18" x 24"
Oil on Canvas
On occasion I like to take compositional risks and on occasion such risks pay off! This painting will and my previous post, "Buckaroo" will both be featured in an upcoming national show in Missoula, Montana at the Dana Gallery's Icons of the West show. It's an invitational show that I'm honored to have been invited to! If you are anywhere near Missoula, you should check out the show...it opens June 16th and runs through September 1st.
Here's a painting of a buckaroo I just finished from some reference I gathered late last summer. The buckaroo is a specific type of cowboy from the Great Basin. He comes from the vaquero tradition and typically wears a different sort of hat than other cowboys. There are probably a lot of other differences that I'm unaware of as well.
"A Little Rusty"
20" x 24"
Oil on Linen
I just love it when I come across these old relics...I found this one in a field in a remote rural community and one of the things I was most amazed by was that this old workhorse, after being put out to pasture, if you will, has merely sat quietly, no pillaging, no vandalism. The windshield was still intact and it wasn't riddled with bullet holes either!
"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"
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!
"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!
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 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!)
"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"
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.
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.
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John Youssi proudly standing next to his brand new Soltek Rolls Royce easel! (and a nice little painting I might add)
