"BUT, I'M NOT FLYING" New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"...But, I'm Not Flying"

Oil on Linen

24" x 18"

My granddaughter is so darn cute! She's only three and she and her grandma had picked out some fairy wings on the Internet for her. She waited anxiously for them to arrive asking if they came yet each time she came to visit. The finally arrived and she was so excited to try them out. Her grandma helped her put them on and she immediately began to run around the house, then she stopped, twisted herself trying to see them and asked her grandma if they were on all the way. Her grandma said, yes, they are on all the way. To which she looked at her grandma puzzled and said, "...but, I'm not flying!"

Her auntie got a shot of her with her i-phone right at that moment and it was such an adorable shot I asked her if I could paint it. She agreed and here is my effort.

p.s. her hair really is that long!

"EVENTIDE" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Eventide"

Oil on Linen

24" x 20"

I've been looking a lot lately at the works of William Adolphe Bouguereau and how he was able to portray such luminous skin.  I had this nice pose from a model so I decided to see if I could approximate something akin to Bouguereau.  I'm quite sure I have fallen far short of that objective, but here is my attempt.

"CONNEMARA PONY" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Connemara Pony"

Oil on Canvas

18" x 24"

I'm posting one of the last paintings I've done from my trip to Ireland last year, the "Connemara Pony". Funny thing is, we didn't really see as many Connemara ponies in Connemara as we thought we would. Well, here's one that we did see!

I've read a lot of debate lately about the virtues of painting en plein air or even alla prima versus painting from a photographic reference as to how it relates to success in a painting that is filled with passion from the artist's soul. Personally, I think much of this debate is without much merit on either side of the argument. 

I once was told by a good friend (who happens to paint a lot of paintings en plein air as well as a lot of paintings in the studio from his plein air references) that he did not want to be known as a good plein air painter. Neither did he want to be known as a good studio painter - he simply wanted to be a good painter.

I do think the painter, in order to produce great work, must paint with passion and must endeavor to lay a bit of his soul down on the canvas, but I don't think that is accomplished by painting en plein air any more than it is from painting in the studio with or without photo reference. I think rather, it is accomplished by the painter's topophilia, that is, love of place. Or perhaps if not painting landscapes per se, I could say, subject-philia, love of the subject. The painter must be passionate about his subject and this involves a degree of first-hand knowledge of this subject. Whether you travel to a place and paint en plein air versus travelling there and taking a photo from which you paint later is not of so much consequence as whether you were struck by something there that stirred your soul to the point that you want to invest a little of it laying it down on a canvas for the world to share!

REVISITING A PLACE

photo reference shot in the spring of 2005

"Indian Summer" 30" x 40" Oil on Canvas - painted 2006

Photo reference shot in the fall of this year

"Been Here Before" 12x16" Charcoal

"Fall Creek" 16" x 20" Oil on Canvas

Revisiting A Place

If you've ever visited a place and successfully used it as reference to create a painting, it can be a fun and useful experience to go back years later and revisit the place and even the painting.

In the spring of 2005, I took a photo of Graegle Creek on a hike to the top of Mount Elwell. The photo was taken early in the morning. From that photo reference, I painted "Indian Summer", one of the first painting done using my limited palette of just three colors plus white. Even though the painting was done from a photo taken in the spring, it looked more like late summer/early fall to me - a time often referred to as Indian Summer when the weather typically warms back up temporarily after the first frost before the onset of fall and winter.

I love that area and revisited the exact same spot when it was truly fall and in the late afternoon...and six years later! From the second photo reference I created two pieces, one in charcoal on one in oil which have an entire different feel from the first.

This was not only a fun exercise, it also helped me to see my own progress as an artist. I would suggest you try the same thing as it can be a great confidence booster. If you don't see a big difference in your work over the period of several years, then I would think that perhaps you aren't painting often enough and aren't taking chances artistically to stretch yourself outside of your comfort zone. Give it a try and let me know how you do!

"STONE BRIDGE" - New, original oil painting by Mike Callahan

"Stone Bridge"

18" x 24"

Oil on Canvas

This is perhaps one of the most magical spots we visited in Ireland this past summer (though there are many)!  This stone bridge crosses a small tributary of the Owenmore River in Ballynahinch.  Just an awesome place to visit!

"CAED MILE FAILTE" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Caed Mile Failte"

20" x 16"

Oil on Canvas

The red door in Ireland means "welcome" and typifies the Irish spirit.  We saw red doors all over the emerald isle when we travelled the country this past summer.  The title of this painting literally means "one hundred thousand welcomes" in Gaelic. This particular door was one of the many we saw in the section of Dublin with the Georgian architecture...simply amazing!

"LONESOME DOVE" - New, Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Lonesome Dove"

Oil on Canvas

30" x 24"

I've been working on a new series of small works for the holidays. I call the series Western Skies and they are a series of small paintings ranging in size from 9"x 12" to 5" x 7". They are on the website here with a few more additions to come. 

If you live in the area or will be visiting, I'm having an open studio on Sunday, November 6th from noon till 4p.m. where you can see these paintings firsthand as well as other new paintings not yet posted online. I'll also have a "clearance" wall of paintings that I've had in the studio a while that just haven't found a home yet, so if you have the chance, please come by. If you'd like to visit my studio on that day or make an appointment for another time, email me and I'll send you driving directions.

Collectors, I will be having a special "collector's night open studio" on Saturday evening November 5th and if you haven't received your invitation yet, look for it in your mail or inbox, you should receive it this week.

The painting shown below, though not part of the Miniature Show (too big), was inspired by all those sky paintings I've been doing...I just wanted to do at least one cloud painting at a larger scale - I get such great skies here and painting them has been great fun! Dove and other birds often perch on the power lines but when I was gathering reference for this painting there was just this one lonesome dove sitting there and I just thought it would work for the painting. What do you think?

"THE OWENMORE RIVER - BALLYNAHINCH" New, Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"The Owenmore River - Ballynahinch"

Oil on Canvas

24" x 30"

I just finished this one from my Ireland series. It's of the Owenmore River in Ballynahinch, Connemara. I was fortunate to complete a plein air study of this when we were there this past July. This is truly a magical place! Painting so much green is a huge departure for me, but I'm really enjoying it and hope you enjoy seeing this work too!

"OLD DUBLINERS" New, Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Old Dubliners"

Oil on Canvas

18" x 24"

Here's my latest painting, just finished! These three guys were playing in a pub called O'Donahue's in Dublin. There's an Irish band called the Young Dubliners, and obviously these guys aren't them, but I thought it would be fun tongue-in-cheek to call them the Old Dubliners.

"BODHRAN PLAYER" New, Original Drawing by Mike Callahan

"Bodhran Player"
16" x 12"
Charcoal

Here's a charcoal drawing of a bodhran player we watched and listened to in a pub in Dublin earlier this summer. I love the sound of that drum! I also love to draw especially in charcoal from time to time. It's a great discipline and I believe it really does help you to be a better painter.

"HOME BY THE BAY" New, Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Home By The Bay"

18" x 24"

Oil on Canvas

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.

"DREAMFIELD" New, Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Dreamfield"

Oil on Canvas

24" x 30"

COMMISSION

My daughter is getting married soon and I told her she could have a painting...(I do have a few in the studio). Well, she's always had her own mind about what she wants and really didn't want any that I have already painted, so she shared with me her vision of what she wanted and commissioned me to paint this one. It's a little bit of a departure from my usual style, but I'm really pleased with how it came out - I really like the tonal quality.

"TILISCO" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"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.

"BUCKAROO" New, Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Buckaroo"

Oil on Linen

30" x 20"

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.

"ERIN & ROBERT" - New Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"Erin & Robert"

20" x 24" Oil on Linen

Here's my most recent portrait that I did of a delightful couple named, of course, Erin and Robert. They commissioned me to do this portrait as a gift to Erin's parents and I'm told that they were overwhelmed with delight upon receiving it! This makes me happy!

"A LITTLE RUSTY" New, Original Oil Painting by Mike Callahan

"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!

"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!

"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!

"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!