VCU Family Weekend Paint Party

 This was the first of 3 events for VCU's Family Weekend event. Throughout the Family Day weekend event, families of students are invited to participate in fun activities, whether it's ghost tours, paint parties, pep rallies, white water rafting, city tours, and a whole lot more. I was given the opportunity to put do 3 events - a paint party for 150 people on Friday, and two more on Saturday (both with 150 painters). This is a short video I put together of the event on Friday.

Portrait WIP

 This commission came completely by accident. I was doing a painting of a woman and her husband and she had a small tattoo on her leg. This lady saw it and immediately reached out, "have you ever done a nude but make the focus on the tattoos?" I've painted plenty of nudes, but never one that focused so much attention on the tattoos. We did some live sketches and her cat, Stu, popped in and kept looking over at me, and then over at her. So I painted him in. This is a progress pic of the painting. I'm looking forward to seeing the end result. I love the way that tattoos work with a person's figure and their overall image. The body is a canvas, and I'm excited to paint something a little different than what I usually do.  

Joseph & Jaelyn Live Wedding Painting

 

Camera to Canvas auction

Lynanne and I had an absolutely phenomenal time last night at the Camera to Canvas auction at The Boathouse at Rockett's Landing. All 4 of my bird paintings were auctioned off to raise money for conservation of the James River. This comes one day after the Art For The Journey auction, where 2 of 4 original paintings sold. Having Lynanne in my corner, pushing me and encouraging me has put me into some amazing situations. Last week, I was given the opportunity to sit down with the curator of the VMFA, Dr. Taylor and go over a strategy for the VMFA to (at some point) own some of my work. It's because of this woman here - she's strong, tough, and quite possibly the best thing that has ever happened to me. 

Photorealistic Drawing of the CSX Train in Richmond, VA

 

Pencil Drawing of the CSX Train going over the James River Bridge

Black & White pencil drawing from an original photo by @billdraperphotography 

This was originally meant for the Camera to Canvas Fundraiser this upcoming Thursday, but halfway through, I realized I would not have time to finish. The drawing is 18x24 and is currently being framed, and will be available for purchase within the next few weeks (frame molding is on backorder).

The price for this piece is $1900. Generally I donate 10% to the Innocence Project, but because this was specifically for conservation of the James River, I feel it's only right to donate to them.

 

Unfortunately...

 Unfortunately for me, my white Ford Escape has come to an end. On Friday evening, a man decided to try and beat the light...he lost, and so did I. I slammed into him, spun his car around and then crashed into the guardrail. The witnesses on the scene, the two men in the Mercedes and the guy in the Steak and Seafood Direct truck (who, despite being white, kept calling me 'whiteboy') were so kind; neither stuck around to give details because both "didn't want to get involved." How was your weekend?