Scanned artwork!

I have the other one coming soon, but here's the scanned version of yesterday's artwork of CN international winner Olivier Philippaerts. The portrait is on pretty small paper but it turned out pretty decently! Moving onto portrait #2 today.

And a scanned version of the showjumper head I did before.

And more graphite!

I drew a show jumper yesterday. A few weeks ago, I took an adventure to Spruce Meadows in Calgary to watch the Spruce Meadows CN International $1 million show jumping competition. I have recently acquired a decent camera and took the opportunity to take a bunch of photos as I am in LOVE with show jumping (and have ridden show jumpers in the past) and it was my first time attending an international competition in show jumping.

Well the trip inspired me to start a show jumping series, and I have actually sent out some e-mails to some Grand Prix riders and I'm discussing potentially doing some portraits for a couple of them.

For now, I started on the series with the winner of the competition, Olivier Philippaerts, using a photo of him that I took myself.

Here's #1! I need to scan it yet as the lighting and the angle are bad in the photo, but it gives a good idea and I've thrown this photo on my website for now.

Another to add to the series.

I am having waaaay too much fun with this project. I mean the other pieces were fun and all, but for some reason (potentially the color scheme...) this is by far the funnest and my favorite. Which is cool, because every one I go further on on this series gets more entertaining in the best possible way.

So here's an update. My poor customer has been getting absolutely hammered with e-mail updates all day on this piece!

Current oil painting project

So as some of you know, I've been quite busy with a number of oil paintings recently. Two are corporate series and are going through copyright transfer right now, but if the businesses are okay with it, I will be posting the entire series at the end of it. Another is a personal series.

I just want to throw a few pieces in a series up here to give a view of what I've been working on in one of these areas.

It's official!

Tonight, it's going up on the website and social media. But the readers get it here first!

CCMS is now offering speed drawing/painting videos of customer's artwork.

For $10.00 I will film the artwork being made, go through a digital editing process, and then put a video together featuring the finished product and the making of, along with original music and a few artist's notes on the work.

The video will be featured on my YouTube channel, and the link will be provided with the artwork to make for easy sharing on the internet.

The customer will also receive a DVD with the video.

Here's an example (sans artist's comments)





Also, I am taking requests for tutorials to put on the website, so if anyone has any suggestions or anything they want to see, please let me know!

Some FAQ that will be going up shortly.

I get asked a lot of repetitive questions when I am first discussing terms of commissions, and so over the years I've compiled a list of FAQs and have decided to put a page up on my website to that people can read through and feel a bit more at ease.

Here's a sampling of the most popular ones!

Q: Are your prices negotiable?
A: Yes, I am quite flexible with my pricing and package programs, within reason of course!

Q: Will you trade personal art for advertising in my business?
A: No, sorry. I do not do free commissions.

Q: I want a logo or design done that will be used in promotions and sales. What about copyrights?
A: I am willing to sell the copyrights to all pieces. If copyright is not purchased, there are certain royalty standards set by Canadian copyright laws that I do uphold.

Q: Why do you require a 50% deposit?
A: The deposit does two things: it gives me security so I don't spend hours on a commission that someone changes their mind on, and it also helps to pay for the initial materials (I buy most commission materials new)

Q: What does "plus material cost" mean and what does it buy?
A: All paintings are priced with a flat rate "plus material cost." A material cost is the price of the art supplies that go into the painting. It buys the canvas, the paint for your portrait, paint brushes, and ink  or charcoal for the original outline.

Q: What do you do with your concept sketches for the main commission? Can I have mine?
A: I am usually okay with handing off any preliminary sketches along with the artwork. Just be warned that if the main work is complicated, I may have traced over it with ink to help me stay on course, or I might have altered or changed it. Also they aren't coated or on thick paper, so they will easily damage. If they don't go to the customer they just sit in my sketch book.

Q: Is art your only job?
A: In a sense. I am also a professional musician and a writer, so I'm very deep into the arts. I have also trained and showed horses and have been getting back into that as a job.

Q: Why is the wait time for oil paint so much higher than acrylic if their completion dates are the same?
A: Oil paint takes anywhere from 4-8 days to dry to the touch. If I let the painting leave my home before it dries to that point, the colors and oil will rub off and the painting will be damaged.

Q: How long does oil paint take to fully dry?
A: It takes 4-8 days to dry to the touch, and a week or two for the shine to go away. Then after that it takes eight months to a year before the paint is completely settled and hardened. After you take your painting home you should be careful to not lean anything against it or to put pressure on the painted area. It will be more susceptible to scrapes and gauges during this time. People don't have an issue as it is hanging on their wall anyways!

Q: Will direct sunlight damage my art?
A: I spray art down with some fixatives and protective coats to prevent fading and warping. Most sunlit places in homes are not under direct sunlight for more than a couple of hours a day as the shadows move about. Also, glass and other things filter out the sun's intensity. It's very rare that, inside, artwork will be affected by sunlight.

Q: Can you make multiples of the same drawing or painting?
A: I can get very close.

Q: Do you teach art lessons?
A: Yes, I will do one-on-one lessons either in person or through e-mail.



There will be more up on the website!

New week, new art, new promotional, new offer!

A lot of new things happening this week. I'm kicking off a full-out promotion of character design (probably coming tomorrow), I'm offering a new video feature that I will explain in a minute, and I've got a couple new pieces to show you all! Exciting times.

So first things first, this new video thing is a cheap little DVD where I basically take the time to set up a camera and film myself drawing commissions. I then transfer the videos onto my computer and speed them up until the time is compressed into an 8-10 minute video, and then add a finished photo at the beginning and end of it. Back it up with music, burn it onto a DVD, and the customer has their very own "making of" video. In theory it sounds a little anti-climactic, but I've yet to find a person who doesn't enjoy a good speed drawing video. Well, you can judge for yourselves! Here's the first video:



I have a new one of a show jumper coming up in a couple of days. It takes a while for the videos to convert and load, so it probably will be a 2-day wait period after the completion of the commission to get the videos done.

All depending on how well my computer performs!

The other thing that I mentioned was character design. I've been pushing into some different areas of my knowledge and learning more about concepts and designs by working with a handful of authors and script writers in order to recreate characters, concepts, and other things in relation to characters. It's been a useful tool for myself and the authors to help them visualize and help me expand my horizons. Watch for that promotion coming soon.

Last but not least, here's what I've been working on since I last posted:

The first is an original of my friend's showjumper horse, and the second is the one you saw in the video! 

That's all for now.

Twitter, due to popular demand!

So I've received a very interestingly high requests to create a Twitter account for CCMS, because it's a bit easier than a blog for customers to stay up to date and will, guaranteed, consist of more frequent updates.

So if any of you are interested in keeping up with CCMS on a more regular basis than this blog, feel free to head on over to the Twitter page and follow me!

The page is in the baby stages right now, so it will take some time to gather an audience, but don't be discouraged! I will continue to update it regardless.

@MSCommissions or click here!