Ben Gogh

This was a personal piece I created for my profiles online, my avatar. I can relate to Van Gogh as an artist, his work is amazing. He was a little unbalanced, if you remember this portrait which I painted my face on was the one he painted of himself after he had cut off his ear. (I added blood to the bandaging) Some think that you can only be a good artist if you are unbalanced or a little crazy. Probably true. My only critique of this picture I painted was from my mom, she doesn't like how I am smoking. But if I took out the pipe, it would make no sense, it would no longer represent Van Gogh.

Franky and Glinda

This was a fun piece, the only direction on this was to paint a picture about Halloween. My favorite activity before Halloween is carving pumpkins so I thought it would be fun to have Halloween characters on a date doing the same thing. It was fun to modernize these characters at least Frankenstein with a mullet.

None of the Prophets Have Written, Nor Prophesied, Save They Have Spoken Concerning This Christ

I did this piece for the most recent LDS Church International Art Competition, I was please to have made it in. I always loved to go to see the winning art at the Church Museum of Art but to be a part of it was a really cool experience. Plus refreshments were served opening night, I felt like a celebrity. Not so much, but it was nice. My blub on this painting.

The message of this painting is that Christ is the source we look to for our salvation. Prophets have testified of Christ’s mission and His saving role throughout the ages (see Jacob 7:11). Prophets today repeat what has been said concerning Him, prophesy of His future coming, and teach us what He would have us do. The prophet in this painting represents all the prophets throughout time. The words coming from his mouth are statements found in the scriptures about Christ. How marvelous are God’s works in giving us prophets to lead us to Him.

I loved incorporating words with the image, I did the word digitally then painted on top. I was thinking of Greg Manchess when I painted this. His illustrations are beautiful, he paints with oil, I actually tried to use his process on this piece. He starts with dark muddy colors pretty thin and as he builds up he paints over the paint he has laid down thicker and more vibrant color.

Richard III

In this picture I have Richard the 3rd gloating over his king brother's death, conspiring how to take the reigns, how to put those who are in his way out of the way. Shakespeare's play is amazing. I added Shakespeare's face to the two characters in this poster. Also I wanted Richard to touch his spiny fingers together much in the same way that evil Mr. Burns does it.

Portrait of Kellie

This assignment was to paint a portrait of someone we knew, it could be ourselves. My teacher didn't want to see a direct portrait just sitting on a chair or just showing their face but capture who they are. My wife was a good subject because she was a free model and I hadn't painted a portrait of her before. This painting is an example of a happy accident. I did my color study on the computer and printed it out, it printed out the gray area in the middle and cut off the top and bottom, so I used colored pencils and finished those parts on the paper. The result was saturated top and bottom, grayed down middle. My teacher saw it and was really excited, he couldn't wait to see the finish. So I finished it that way and it was a success.

Faces of Arnold Schwarzenegger

In this illustration, I wanted to do people with buildings on their heads to represent the type of people they were. I was going to do a Christian with a church building on their head, like Joel Osteen. I thought about doing a shopaholic like Paris Hilton with a shopping mall on her head. But I ended up choosing Arnold Schwarzenegger because he has worn many hats, he was a bodybuilder extraordinaire, a movie superstar, and a not so good Governor. I thought about doing him as adulterer but couldn't think of a building to represent that. Maybe a brothel?

Boy Who Cried Wolf

This is a picture that started with a plein air study, I had to figure out what I would put in this boring empty field, (no it was beautiful in it's own right). I thought the boy who cried wolf and some sheep was a perfect fit. I really love the paintings that have a main subject in shadow. And in this case it made the wolf look more sinister. I liked the silhouette that the wolf made. In order to make the boy look like he was leaping to get out of there I had to add the strong shadow behind him.