Open Letter to Langnickel Brush Manufacturer

Update
I just received (less than 2 hours later) a phone call from 'George' who owns Royal/Langnickel who apologized for the inconsistency in the brushes, and promised he will see what he can do to introduce better consistency, check the cement inside the ferrules, etc. -- I dunno. But he did say to send them any brushes I am dissatisfied with and they will replace them.

Please, if you read all this and agree, leave comments to this blog post below, and also write to Langnickel yourself. If they are doing their job right, they will be searching the web to find out what people think of their product. Be kind and be to the point. Be encouraging. Let them know how you as a painter would prefer their brushes could be improved. Everyone is having a harder-than-usual time of things these days.

Contact Addresses: customerservice@royalbrush.com & gus@royalbrush.com

Royal Brush Manufacturing
6707 Broadway
Merrillville, Indiana 46410
United States
219-660-4170

Please deliver to the President/CEO of Royal Brush Manufacturing

Dear Langnickel,

I don't know if you guys realize what a gold mine you are sitting on, and how you are squandering the value of it through manufacturing inconsistencies (handle length, handle color, unavailability, etc.) and quality inconsistencies.

Admittedly, I don't know if the market for your Royal Sable (series 55xx) is currently big enough to reorganize your manufacturing processes, but I do know that virtually every major portrait artist and influential oil painter I know who uses Langnickel brushes is actively looking for a suitable alternative, citing the same things I experience on a regular basis.

First of all, let me tell you that everyone I know, who I have convinced to give your Royal Sable long-haired, long-handled filberts a try LOVES them. It's an absolutely BRILLIANT concept... The shape is flawless and the fiber length is unmatched. The springiness is superb, and the strength of the hairs is wonderful. I paint better because of these brushes.

Just a few of the names of influential artists I know who use your brushes: Morgan Weistling, Richard Schmid, Jeremy Lipking, Dan Gerhartz, Casey Baugh and many, many others, including myself. I personally have a live broadcast venue, (Dave the Painting Guy) that reaches over 500 interested viewers (and rapidly growing), many of whom always want to know what brand/series of brushes I use.

I always tell them the brand name and series, but I always add, "You will come to love and hate Langnickel Royal Sable brushes. You will love them because they feel right. They apply paint just right. But you will hate them because you never know what you're going to get with them, and they do not manufacture enough for the market -- they are very difficult to find."

I tell them plainly that I can receive in the same batch purchased a brush that lasts for months, even years, and a brush that loses half or even all it's hairs immediately when I pinch out the oil into a rag. Many of my Royal Sables have become useless in an hour or two because of so many lost hairs that the remainder do not stay on the ferrule any more. (Can't you embed the hairs in an epoxy or glue to keep them inside?)

These brushes shed like no other brush I have owned. This is one of the only frustrating outside influences I experience when painting, interrupting the flow of the usual problem-solving that is the joy of painting.

One of my favorite brushes is virtually always out of stock, everywhere I look: the 5520 #8, blue handle.

By the way, what's with blue handles and red handles in the same series number? It is my belief that the filberts, 5520-blue have longer hairs than the 5520-red -- why don't you have a different series number if they are going to be that different? If they are not supposed to be different, please note that they are extremely different, and these inconsistencies are hurting your popularity.

And if you're going to have long-handled brushes or short-handled brushes, PLEASE make them a different series number. When ordering by phone (the only way I will order Langnickel brushes) I always request that the sales person get hold of the brushes personally so I can ask about the length of the hairs, the length of the handles, the color of the handles, etc., BECAUSE there is no consistency.)

Look, some of the most popular in influential artists in the US use Langnickel bushes, and virtually every artist who likes their work always wants to know what kind of brushes the artist uses. You cannot buy honest word-of-mouth advertising, and there is no such advertising more believable, therefore important.

Is there anything you can do to improve the quality, consistency, series numbering and availability of Your Royal Sables in the 5520, 5525, 5590 series and others?

I sincerely want to promote your brushes with no "buts"...

David R. Darrow
<address and phone number omitted here>

David R. Darrow's 2nd GoFigure™ Online Workshop

I will be holding my second online portrait painting workshop, May 30 and 31, 2009 (the first one, May 23 and 24th filled up fast) from 8:30am each day, Pacific Time. That's 12-hours total.

The second workshop will be the same as the first, except better most likely, since I will be learning from the first.

The online workshop will be limited to 16 people due to time constraints related to regular reviews of each participant's work. Participants will view the instructors work via the "over his shoulder cam" and work on the same painting, using the same reference (shown at right), with step-by-step instruction from beginning to end, along with helpful assessments along the way to keep each participant on track.

There are still a few spots left.

Click here for detailed information on David R. Darrow's GoFigure Online Workshop

John Warby

Just finished John and Bunty Warby -- these are 5" x 7" on panel... I will post the other soon. These were painted on my Paintcast™ Dave the Painting Guy, live.

Patty Calls from Australia

From the Dave the Painting Guy Show

The remainder of the broadcast failed to record, apparently... However the painting continues Friday night.

Corpsman Meeks In Studio Again Tonight

 

Kyle Meeks in studio for live portrait, last night.

I had an unexpectedly great time painting my friend Kyle last night, formally Corpsman Kyle Brock Meeks, U.S. Navy; Senior Line Corpsman for Alpha 3rd Platoon, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division. 

Despite some technical challenges, and arranging the studio, cameras and computer monitor so Kyle could participate in the chat, the painting session was one of my all-time favorites.

I have never painted someone who, though present to pose, was also actively communicating. Of course, I asked him to, and I accepted the challenge of painting him while he was sharing so many fascinating stories of his military tour. (Tonight, however, I am going to have him pose with his mouth closed while I finish his mouth, which, subsequently to the frame shown above, I wiped off the canvas.)

Technical difficulties at the uStream.tv end of this broadcast caused a Broadcast FAIL and my show abruptly ended mid-sentence as Kyle was laying out a great story of the time spent alone in a Jordanian hospital while waiting for his 'boy' (an injured Marine in his care) was attended to. I attempted for some time to re-connect, but it was impossible for unknown reasons. I am so sorry!

The painting will continue tonight with Kyle in-studio one more time, tonight, starting at 5pm, Pacific time.

Click here to go to the show URL at the proper time.

Emily

As promised, below is a sharper photo of the painting of Emily, created last week for my wife's birthday. (if you want to see it a bit larger, click the image)

Live Pose on Dave the Painting Guy, tonight

Kyle Meeks, left, with his father Brock days before Kyle's deployment in Nov. 2008

Tonight, starting at 5pm until 8pm or so, Pacific Time (GMT -8) I will have a friend in studio sitting for a portrait. I expect the painting will carry into tomorrow night's show, same time, and so have scheduled him to pose again. Click here, at 5pm, to go to the show URL.

My subject (the sitter) is Corpsman Kyle Brock Meeks, U.S. Navy. He's the Senior Line Corpsman for Alpha 3rd Platoon, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division. He just returned recently from a tour to Afghanistan, if I am not mistaken (details to be corrected during broadcast, I am sure).

Kyle is my friend Brock's second youngest son of 4. I have known Kyle since the day he was born, though due to the way life goes, until last Fall I had not seen him in 15 years or so. I found out he was stationed at the nearby military base, Camp Pendleton, CA and invited him out for a beer, catching up and a couple of prayers before he headed off on a tour of duty -- his first tour, but less than a year before he'd completed his contract with the military.

Teresa and I have met many Marines decompressing over a cold beer at our favorite pizza and ale hangout in Carlsbad, CA, and, despite the expected "we're the best branch of the US Military, to a man they always admit that a Navy Corpsman (their walking Emergency Room on the battlefield) is the most respected man from another branch, maybe even more so than their own brothers. 'He's there to save your life.'

My live broadcast is always about oil painting, and I do work hard at keeping politics out of online discussions. It's a painting show. I do, however, want to honor the men and women who serve our country and the cause of Freedom, by singling out the one man I know personally who has gone to Hell and back, by painting his portrait. Plus we'll get to hang out together again.

The set-up will be multi-cam, special lighting, with a camera on my blank canvas and a close-to-my-vantage-point camera on him while I paint, discuss my thinking as I paint, all the while having a conversation with him about his tour. As he sees fit.

I know I have viewers on both sides of the war issue, and I respect your thoughts and feelings about it. I'd just like to ask in advance that the chatroom is used respectfully. The broadcast is about painting.

Make a Name for Yourself - Logging In

If you go now and create an account, you can log in with your made-up username in the chat-room. Just go to uStream.tv and click the link that says Sign Up, in the upper left.

Make up a username, remembering that it will remain yours "forever." Example: John_Smith_AUS is better than John_Smith, because it tells me your name and your location when I see it displayed in the chat-room. Either of those is better than John_S; those are all better than John; and any of those are better than BrushKleener, if you catch my drift.

Otherwise if you just watch without logging in, (we call that lurking) and you will be auto-assigned a generic name like Ustreamer-45698 -- which you can change for the time you are logged in by typing:

/nick Name_you_want

"/nick" is a chat-room command that says "change my chat-room nickname" and "Name_you_want" (following a "space") is a continuous string which is a name you make up. This will be a temporary chat-room name you can use for the session, and may or may not allow your chat comments to appear, depending on whether the the show gets 'moderated,' which we have to do sometimes when unruly punks come by to see what's going on.

See you tonight,

--Dave

Alan C. Campbell Portrait

by David R. Darrow
11" x 14" (27.9cm x 35.6cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel
SOLD
Collection of Alan C. Campbell
San Diego, CA – USA

About This Painting

This portrait of my client Alan Campbell was started with Alan in the studio watching while I painted during the broadcast of Dave the Painting Guy.

I asked him if I could paint him because I like his face and I like him. He balked at the idea at first, but I talked him into posing for photographic reference for the painting, and then he became interested in obtaining the painting for his office.

So, what started out as a Fine Art piece for me to paint and sell, became a portrait commission. Either way, it was fun to paint.

Alan is a recognized, award-winning architect in San Diego. Visit the website of Alan C. Campbell.  ◙

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Captain Nick

by David R. Darrow
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 27.9cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel
SOLD
Collection of Simon Wickstrom
Alameda, CA – USA

About This Painting

I first met Nick at North Coast Calvary Chapel in Carlsbad, CA. He was a 'morning greeter,' welcoming people as they walked in the front door, greeting them with a big smile, friendly eyes... and something you just could not help but notice: the biggest hands you've ever felt giving you a handshake.

My own hands are large; Nick's are massive.

When I moved my studio to Oceanside in 2007, I discovered Nick was my new neighbor, and we chatted from time to time. He'd had to retire due to a heart condition, the treatment of which seemed to be barely tolerable. His weight increased rapidly over a few months, and this once grizzly, hulk of a human was reduced – by increased size – to a man at the mercy of distances, stopping to catch his breath every 15 feet or so when merely walking. He was always kind, generous and jovial, with endless stories of days in Hollywood as a stunt-double, or other bit parts.

A few months before Teresa and I moved to Encinitas, Nick told that me a good friend in Costa Rica had invited him to come down there and help him out with his new Club for mostly American tourists, right on the beach, free grub and free rent and a small paycheck.

I asked him if I could come, too.

One day, in those last weeks, I dropped by with my camera and asked him if I could shoot some pictures of him for a painting.

"Me?" he gasped. "I thought you wanted to be a successful painter," he winked. A moment later he was up scrounging around in some of his packed boxes for his hat collection, and pulled out this delightful captain's hat. I suggested that he'd look official if he had a pipe. "Oh, I have one right over here, he said, turning around to get one out of his china hutch.

I snapped about 10 shots and left him alone, thanking him for the inspiration. A week later his apartment was empty, and Nick was on his way to Costa Rica.

I have not heard from him since.

Nick left me several hats as costume props, and several Hawaiian shirts, most of which I wear on my broadcast, my favorite being the one I was wearing in last night's broadcast – the parrot one. Thanks Nick!

* * *
This is the painting I completed January 2nd – my first painting of 2009. I began it on the Dave the Painting Guy broadcast on January 1, 2009, and finished it the next evening. Most of it was recorded as a public clip at the uStream location. ◙

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Ashton's Morning

by David R. Darrow
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 27.9cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel

About This Painting

Ashton is a young woman I met when her family was on vacation to Carlsbad, CA.

She had me at the Coke machine.

Really! I was walking by the soda fountain on my way out the door to the back patio with my new, ice cold Palapa Pale Ale at Pizza Port when this striking beauty with large, dark eyes and cascading black curls turned towards me as she finished filling her glass. She smiled and turned to return to her table.

I have to paint her.

I followed her to her table, where she joined her family. Her mother and father, also very attractive people, looked at me with raised eyebrows as I stumbled through my introduction, telling them I am a real artist – "See, here's my card, and it has one of my paintings on it..." – asking them if I could possibly arrange some time to paint their daughter.

They both looked at her.

She gave a look to her dad that was sort of a wide-eyed head-shake that communicated Hey, I don't know any more about this than you do, but it sounds fun! They explained to me that they were just down here on vacation, but if they could squeeze in some time before heading home, they would call me.

They called and dad brought his 17-year-old treasure over to my studio for a quick photoshoot. It is rare that I have gotten so many paintable reference pictures in such a short time. She's as photogenic as she is beautiful, but her face, eyes, head-shape, hair and mouth are as easily paintable as anyone I have ever met.

And she's a truly sweet soul.

* * *
This painting was completed on my Dave the Painting Guy live broadcast.

It s available as an 11 x 14-matted giclee in my online store. ◙

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Sitting Nude Alla Prima

by David R. Darrow
11" x 14" (27.9cm x 35.6cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel
This painting is not framed
Available in my eBay Store
Price: $250 — Or Make an Offer

About This Painting

This nude was painted as a demonstration on my live broadcast Dave The Painting Guy (my free, live, Internet broadcast).

This original Oil Painting is 11 x 14, and sold UNFRAMED.

Note: The painting needs to dry until about December 16th before it can ship.  ◙

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Reclining Nude 2

by David R. Darrow
10" x 8" (25.4cm x 20.3cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel
SOLD
Collection of William Rowett
New London, New Hamshire – USA

About This Painting

This nude was painted as a demonstration on my live broadcast Dave The Painting Guy (My free, live, Internet broadcast). ◙

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Morning Light

30-minute backyard sketch. 6:45am.

Oceanside Harbor Sketch

15-minute color sketch in gouache [gwahsh], which is opaque watercolor.

On the days we want relax, but also "get out" my wife and I find ourselves often landing at the Oceanside Harbor about 15 miles away. It's always quite relaxing, with tourists walking about, fishing boats trolling in and out, sea gulls and pelicans diving in and out like planes in a war movie.

We sit at Robbin's Nest, a little restaurant with outdoor seating at the corner of the harbor.

The Blind Merchant - Color Sketch

by David R. Darrow
8" x 10-1/2" (20.3cm x 26.7cm)
Oil on Panel
This painting is not framed
Not For Sale
Private Collection

About This Painting

Last evening on my internet video broadcast Dave The Painting Guy I did a preparatory painting, known in painting circles as a color sketch.

This is part of a process of a larger work in which I can test at a small size how I might approach the color and some of the brushwork on a larger work.

In the case of The Blind Merchant, a commission from a San Diego collector of my work, I painted this on top of a mounted print of the pencil layout I have already done on the final, 18" x 24" canvas.

The painting is ready to go, and I will begin it in a 2 - 3 hour broadcast beginning Wednesday at 5pm, Pacific time.

To go directly to the broadcast, where you can view my show if it is live, or view video clips of past broadcasts, click here.  ◙

Limited Edition (25 total) Giclée

I am making available an Edition of 25 limited Edition, signed and numbered, 8" x 10" Fine Art Giclées of

The Blind Merchant color sketch I did Monday, September 22, 2008. They are signed and numbered in the order payments are received.
As of now, there are only 12 left in this edition.

Optional matting upgrade

$20 - UnMatted Giclée Only$37 - Double-Matted & Mounted, Archival

- $25 including Priority Mail shipping. This edition will not be repeated, and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

These Giclées are printed with lightfast, archival inks on archival, acid-free Fine Art paper and will not fade or yellow for over 100 years.
(Click image to see larger)

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Samuel Gompers

by David R. Darrow
8" x 10" (20.3cm x 25.4cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel
This painting is not framed
Click here to see it bigger
Price: $295

About This Painting

Next Dave The Painting Guy show:
Today, Wednesday, 5pm Pacific Time (GMT -8)

This past Monday, I relaunched my Dave the Painting Guy streaming internet show (website link) after over a month off the air, a month off from any painting (other than walls), and a month of packing and relocating to a large enough home to comfortably accommodate my wife and I, our individual home businesses, my art studio, and occasional guests and family-member sleep overs.

Somehow Labor Day seemed like an appropriate day top get back to work. So I announced my intentions to go on the air again to subscribers to my notification list... and then set about trying to figure out what I would paint fro the show.

As always, careful planning and meticulous forethought are not my strongest gifts.

So it seemed Labor Day might have some interesting faces associated with its history, and sure enough, this interesting man, whom I painted as a demo on the show.

Samuel Gompers, according to Wikipedia "...helped found the Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions in 1881 as a coalition of like-minded unions. In 1886 it was reorganized into the American Federation of Labor, with Gompers as its president. He would remain president of the organization until his death (with the exception of one year, 1895)."

And he had a pretty nice face for a painting demo.

(You can see the recorded clips on my ustream channel).  ◙

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Black Dress

by David R. Darrow
11" x 14" (27.9cm x 35.6cm)
Oil on Panel
SOLD
Collection of Bob Camp
Cincinnati, OH – USA

About This Painting

I've just moved into a new-to-us residence/studio with my wife Teresa, and am very excited about my new studio... it's the perfect setting to reintroduce my Internet Video Show Dave the Painting Guy which I will have on the air again this week.

From the new studio in Encinitas, CA!

One of the last paintings I did on the air from my old studio in Oceanside, CA was this one I have titled Black Dress.

I liked this woman's face can curly hair, so I asked her if I might pain her sometime, noting that I would kind of like to direct the lighting... she agreed, asked her daughter to photograph her – following my instructions – and sent me several to choose from. I liked this composition best.

I decided to paint this one live on my show, keeping it heavy and painterly, and also decided to experiment a little with the start: I started the painting with my reference photo upside down as a means of forcing my mind to see abstractly, to get the shapes right. (Watch the first in the video clip series)

The result was very pleasing to me, and the painting sold immediately...

...to her husband.  ◙

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Signed, Framed, Delivered: It’s Yours!

My wife and I delivered my commissioned portrait of Mariam directly to her place of work yesterday. Rather than having me bring the painting to her office, which she felt would certainly lead to unwanted ribbing from her already tease-prone coworkers, she met us in the lobby, complimented the portrait, asked for a little stack of my business cards and walked directly out to the parking garage to sequester the painting from prying eyes.

She later wrote that she took a few trusted friends to the garage gallery and showed them, which garnered the art work still more compliments.

Note: This painting was painted in its entirety live on the Dave the Painting Guy Show.

Jen

by David R. Darrow
8" x 16" (20.3cm x 40.6cm)
Oil on Stretched Canvas
SOLD
Collection of Renée Richardson
Washington, DC – USA

About This Painting

I try to make a habit of painting strangers. In fact, my business card which bears a sample of my oil portraiture makes reference to my interest in strangers with my tag line "Beautiful Strangers: Oil Portraits of Friends I Don't Know."

Now, usually I reserve my canvas manipulations for the likenesses of people I have met and asked to paint. But the other day I painted a total stranger as an alla prima painting demonstration for the viewers of my almost-daily painting show Dave The Painting Guy (Google It).

1 of the 4 video clips of this painting being created can be found at: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/403211 

"Jen," as I have since discovered her name to be, left a comment on one of my painting photos on Flickr.com, and so I jumped over to her collection to look at her paintings. Seeing only thumbnails there, I thought that one of the shots was a wonderful painting so I clicked the thumbnail to look at it more closely only to discover that it was actually an out of focus cell-phone picture she had shot.

So, I wrote to her and asked if I could do a painting... an artistic interpretation of that shot. She gave me permission, and the rest is history.

It was a fun painting to do... the angle of the head, the elegant lines of her neck, her curly hair. Beautiful women make for beautiful paintings.  ◙

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An Archival, Fine-Art Giclée of this print is available: e-mail me for details. To subscribe to my free "Art In Your InBox" Newsletter, just click here.

Megan

by David R. Darrow
11" x 14" (27.9cm x 35.6cm)
Oil on Stretched Canvas
SOLD
Collection of Jose Arce
Jacksonville, IL – USA

About This Painting

Last June, I was very excited about an article that came out about me and my portrait painting, and was celebrating at my favorite custom-brew house, Pizza Port in Carlsbad, CA, handing out copies of the the San Diego Reader which contained the article about me, trying, to no avail, to get someone to think I was a big deal and buy me a beer.

A gorgeous, young woman walked by with lovely eyes and beautiful curls in her long, deep-red hair, and so I whipped out my business card which has my website on it, and asked her if I might paint her.

The next day she called, and she and her boyfriend Mike came over for a quick photo sitting for an eventual painting. Last November, I held a painting workshop for artists in Southern California, and used a large photo of Megan from that shoot to demonstrate my painting methods, concentrating on Values and Shapes, and how to quickly get a good likeness.

I only painted for 45 - 60 minutes, and did not finish the painting at that workshop.

Fast Forward

A few weeks ago, I began broadcasting a painting show on the Internet from my studio. It's a free-to-anyone show called "Dave the Painting Guy" (Google it). As one of my many demonstrations to date, I decided to complete this portrait of Megan. The entire process (except for the first hour) was recorded and saved for viewing, with segment 1 found here:
www.ustream.tv/

On that internet show, people can log in and "chat" via a text window, and I can answer questions via video and audio. It's a very casual show, with lots of laughs, and honest, straight-forward answers to viewers' questions.
You can also log in there and watch this "episode" and others to watch this painting reach completion.
  ◙

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New Show: Dave the Painting Guy

I've renamed my Internet-streamed show Dave the Painting Guy.

I am working on a portrait commission. I move the camera as I jump to different areas.

Next Broadcast:
Broadcasting on andd off today... and most days. Check in and see if it's on!

If you follow this link to the uStream.tv site, you can log in and/or create a user-name and text-chat with me. I do take questions. By obtaining a User-name there, you can leave comments, rate the broadcast, and chat (text) live while I'm working. (Please be patient, I am still working out the kinks).

Interview With Art & Prose Magazine

The kind folks over at Art & Prose Magazine did an interview with me last month, featuring my painting Carmen on the cover, along with 9 additional reproductions of specifically-requested artwork of mine inside.

It's a fascinating magazine, geared to technical and creative people with disciplines ranging from fantasy writing, to computer model making, to poetry and traditional art methods.

This interview came from out of the blue, and being featured on the cover of Volume One, Issue 8 is something for which I am very grateful to John Johnson and the rest of the crew at A&P.

Lora: Commissioned Portrait

by David R. Darrow
16" x 20" (40.6cm x 50.8cm)
Oil on Belgian Linen

Not For Sale
Private Collection

About This Painting

Lora got in touch with me shortly after the San Diego Weekly Reader article, about me and portrait painting, came out mid-last year.

She wanted me to paint her portrait after reading about my thoughts on painting, God and beauty, and after seeing my work.

Ironically, perhaps, it was in this article I was quoted as saying that as of that time I had not received any commissions from women for portraits of themselves. And I speculated as to why.

Lora's approach changed my thinking. She wanted to capture this moment in time for a number of personal reasons, some of which she shared with me, and which made painting this portrait that much more engaging. She also wanted to own original art, for all the best reasons.

I only hope I captured the kind and thoughtful spirit of the woman I came to know while painting her. She tells me she loves it.  ◙

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Bethany in Green

by David R. Darrow
8" x 14" (20.3cm x 35.6cm)
Oil on Stretched Canvas
SOLD
Collection of L. Grace
San Diego, CA – USA

About This Painting

I'm not as good at math as I should be.

And I am really lame at guessing ages.

In 1991 a little girl came into my life that would change my heart and my mind, and sway my resolutions, the subsequent blessings of which I could never have foreseen.

Bethany.

Because of Bethany, I have a wonderful daughter.

See, in 1991, my daughter did not yet exist, because her mother and I (mostly me) had decided a few years earlier to stop at 2 children. We had two fine boys, and were having plenty of fun, and absorbing the challenges that come with raising two boys on an artist's income.

That year our little family of 4 had season passes to what is now called Six Flags Magic Mountain and decided, for reasons I cannot remember, to take some of our friends' daughters with us. Bethany was 5, and her mother instructed her simply, "Now you hold on to Mr. Darrow's hand the whole time, okay?" Right there in her driveway before we even left for the amusement park, she looked up at me and smiled and grabbed my hand.

Like Superman too close to Kryptonite, I began to melt... little by little throughout the day, this warm, sweet, smiling little girl brought down the giant I thought I was.

At the end of the day, I didn't want to return her to her mother.

But I did. (It's the law).

Later that year we decided to expand our family and "try for a girl." And in 1992 God blessed us with a sweet daughter of our own who has been the subject of many of my paintings, and has her daddy's heart forever.

Well, in 1994 we moved away from that area, and I have never seen anyone in Bethany's family since. Fast-forward to 2007, Tuesday in fact, and I get an e-mail from Bethany assuming, of course, that I remember who she is.

I'm picturing a little smiling cutie looking up at me holding my hand, and I am mentally trying to stretch her image into an older person that has the facility to write e-mails (I told you math escapes me at times).

She attached to the e-mail a picture of her now... posing with a melancholy expression in front of a green wall... and that's when reality smacked me across the face.

She's in her early 20s now, married and just found out she's expecting a child of her own.

How did Bethany turn into a woman in — what's it been —three weeks? All I could write back to her was "Wow! You've grown up!" and then, "This picture looks so much like a work of art with that pose and lighting that I want to know if I can do an oil painting interpretation of it," to which she enthusiastically agreed.

I showed the finished painting to my oldest son when we got together for Thanksgiving and asked him if he remembered Bethany.

"Do I remember her?" he said, as if I asked him if he likes to surf. "If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have a sister!"

The Legend of Bethany, the 5-year-old girl who melted a man's heart, lives on.

And now she is immortalized.  ◙

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Distracted

by David R. Darrow
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 27.9cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel
SOLD
Collection of L. Grace
San Diego, CA – USA

About This Painting

My daughter is one of my favorite models.

Every now and again I see her face in a certain light... the highlights glancing off her cheekbones in some way, or the pattern of the shadows bringing out her natural beauty...

In this case, I happened to catch her looking simply beautiful while she was watching a fascinating show on TV... while I messed with the lights she kept her eyes on the story from which I could not steal her.  ◙

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Slice of Life

by David R. Darrow
7" x 5" (17.8cm x 12.7cm)
Oil on Panel
SOLD
Collection of Robin Neudorfer
San Marino, CA – USA

About This Painting

There's a "farmer's market" in a large Carlsbad, CA parking lot each Wednesday. Vendors — most of them the actual farmers of the produce the sell at the market — set up white-topped tent booths and hawk their wares for one day a week.

I think the tomatoes from local growers beat the taste of store tomatoes 365 days a year. So, when I can, I buy them from local growers.

When setting up for a new display at a local art gallery a while back, it looked to me like there was a little bit of room for another painting, and so I asked the owner if I could bring in a 5 x 7 to add to the upcoming show. Permission granted, I told her I'd "be right back" and headed home.

When I arrived in my studio, I got out a blank 5 x 7 panel and dashed to the kitchen to find something to paint.

I couldn't resist this gorgeous, red tomato I had purchased a couple of days before at the farmer's market. Slicing into it, juice spilled out either side, but the firm tomato fruit held its shape perfectly as I removed this aromatic wedge and posed the parts to compose my painting.

An hour later, I returned to the gallery with this finished painting, framed and wired, ready to hang.

"Careful," I smiled. "It's still wet."

"You just painted it?"

"Yep. I told you I'd be right back."

I probably priced it too high for my little known name at the time, so eventually it came back home.

It's time to let it go.  ◙

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Bodice

by David R. Darrow
7-1/2" x 11" (19.1cm x 27.9cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel
SOLD
Collection of Maria Boustani
Beckley, WV – USA

About This Painting

I just finished my 2007 Portrait Workshop in Carlsbad, CA this past weekend. This painting was the last of the four I did as demonstrations for my painting style. In the short time allowed for demos, everything I teach gets crammed into a very rapid painting — and sometimes, these demos come out pretty rewarding.

I talk while I paint, so the workshop attendees can "hear what's going on in my mind" — to see what I see, and understand the decisions I make with paint.

At one point, I was trying to describe the edges and value differences between the light of the model's flesh and "that blue... uh... that, uh vest thing?"

The model who was sitting as still as a mannequin piped up. "Bodice," and went 'back to frozen.'

I will never forget, now.   ◙

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Workshop 2007 was a blast

I had a great group of people at my workshop this past weekend. Everyone seemed in very good spirits, eager to paint and to learn, and filled with enthusiasm despite the challenges of painting from life in front of other people.

We had a lot of fun together. The models were great. Good character to their faces, and just fun people, too, as we all got to know them.

It is such a pleasure to paint from life from professional models who take their work seriously (I have painted from pros who are nonchalant, and I can tell you the energy is much different!)

I started the first session with a 1.5 hour demo quick study in getting the light and shadow patterns down; thinking abstractly about the vague shapes you see while squinting, and putting this little patchwork of a puzzle together on the canvas. This was a purposely rapid portrait demo, using only 4 colors and white. Raw Umber, Yellow Ocher, Alizarin Crimson and Cerulean Blue) because I was trying to demonstrate the importance of value and shadow patterns over color issues. Color seems to bog most students down, when in fact Value and Drawing are far more critical.

I spent a good deal of time in each session, except the last, helping attendees get a better feel for how I approach a painting. The individual attention one-on one with the students that wanted it seemed to set them in a new direction and get them approaching the task in a new way.

I didn't get much time to paint in Saturday's morning session. But when I did get going, I did a discussion about drawing the features in abstractly, how I measure, what I look for in line and proportion and rapidly banging in the shadows in bulk. This is the result of an hour's work. I also discussed how light and shadow describe form to the viewer's brain... how one shadow describes the forms of both the object that is casting the shadow and the object onto which it is cast. The characteristics of the edges of the shadows are critical in striking recognition within the viewer's mind.

It was a great weekend, and I am already being asked when my next workshop will be.

If you are interested in getting information about my next workshop by e-mail, be sure to add your e-mail address to my private mailing list. All info on my mailing list is confidential.

Where Have I Been?

Busyland.

It's right near the edge of the earth, so if you think I fell off it, you're close.

Actually, to fill in the income holes between painting sales, I do websites and have been constructing one for a long-time client... I am trying to set it all up with good CSS structure which makes it easier to change in the future should they want a new look. Unfortunately, some of the structure I have been attempting is mind-boggling when switching between browsers. It's astounding that since 1998 when CSS2 standards were established, all the major browsers do not agree on how to display pages using these standards.

But I have also been working on three commissions I have obtained since the San Diego Reader cover article about me hit the stands. I simply have not had much time to do anything but "real work" -- which is a delight for a full-time artist.

Along the way, I have been feeding my artistic mind with how-to videos rented from SmartFlix.com. One of my favorites to watch (or just listen to) is the 10-hour set of Morgan Weistling's Advanced Fundamentals for the Beginning Expert, which you can now rent from them. Even though I practically know this video by heart, it's like the Bible in some ways -- I always get something new out of it, or at least a good reminder or two, minimum.

I have also watched and enjoyed DVDs such as In the Studio with Scott Burdick, Richard Schmid's The Captain's Portrait, and John Howard Sanden. (These are found in the SmartFlix Painting: Oil category.)

Sometimes watching or listening to masters talk about their work beats the heck out of listening to music. And I love music!

Also, I have been switching gears a little to try acrylic painting again. For the majority of my career as an illustrator I avoided oils due to longer drying times, and my general unfamiliarity with the medium -- preferring acrylic for just about everything.

When I started painting in oils full-time in 2000, I left acrylics behing (actually, in a drawer), and didn't look back. But the work of Roger Bansemer has sparked interest once again in acrylics... Especially his Tropical Paintings. He is also the influence behind my trying a limited palette for my recent paintings, starting back on July 4th with San Elijo Lagoon. His tropicals are largely done with Red, Blue and Yellow, White and Black.

Above is an 18" x 6" of the Pacheco Pass in northern California (SR-152) that I played with for an hour or so recently, painting from a photo I took on a recent trip. I'll finish it when I get the time.

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Braids and a Black Tee

by David R. Darrow
11" x 14" (27.9cm x 35.6cm)
Oil on Canvas Panel
Framed and Ready to Hang
AVAILABLE
$750 + $20 S/H

About This Painting

Maybe you like your job a lot, but do you like it so much that you'd even watch a video of someone else doing it?

Well,that's what I do.

I rent or buy DVDs of other artists painting. I own or have watched videos of Morgan Weistling (portraits and figurative), Scott Burdick (figurative), Richard Schmid (figures, landscapes, portrait) and Roger Bansemer (landscape, plein air), and watch them many times because I always — and I mean always — pick up something new and inspiring, each time. I am constantly inspired and awed by the work of many other artists.

This painting came about as a direct result of
1) having just watched Weistling's 10-hour painting video set Advanced Fundamentals for the Beginning Expert, and
2) seeing my daughter sitting in a certain light with a certain look that is "very her" when deep in thought.

It was one of those moments where I just had to start smooshing paint on a canvas. I purposely chose a limited palette of Alizarin, Yellow Ochre, Black and White.

Currently the painting is available, framed, as shown, for $750 (plus tax in CA) and $20 shipping/handling. If you are interested in having it for your collection, write to me.  ◙

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Carmen

by David R. Darrow
14" x 11" (35.6cm x 27.9cm)
Oil on Stretched Canvas
SOLD
Collection of Peggy Mione
Lake Forest, CA – USA

About This Painting

"Hey, can I paint your portrait?" I asked, rather out of nowhere, handing her my card. You've got such a great face."

"Yeah?" she asked with a big smile. "You're an artist?"

"No, but I'm thinking of starting..." I joked. My daughter's eyes darted at me suddenly waiting for the resolution. "Yes, I'm an artist. I paint portraits and still lifes, and really whatever I feel like painting... two or three paintings a week. It's how I make my living... and I'd like to paint you."

"That would be so cool!" she beamed. I gave her a few details of how I handle this kind of thing, told her to bring a friend for her own comfort, and told her that I wanted her to look at my paintings on my website, and she would like to be painted by me, e-mail or call me.

I never ask for a potential model's phone number, because I don't want to appear to be 'hitting on them.' I leave it totally up to them. As a result, I do not have a lot of luck getting models from the general public. I might hand out 40 or 50 cards only to people I really want to paint — I am very picky — before one will follow through. It's just an unfortunate byproduct of the world we live in, sadly. That, and perhaps because I eat too many doughnut holes... but that's another story.

Carmen waited on my daughter and I with great patience and a servant's attitude when I took my daughter shopping for her 15th birthday present[s] a few weeks ago. I told my daughter that I would take her to the mall and wait patiently in all the shops she wanted to go in while she tried stuff on, and told her there was no time limit — just a dollar limit.

We spent an entire hour and a half in just one store that caught my daughter's fancy, and Carmen was just delightful the entire time. She offered cheerful conversation, ran about the store grabbing articles she thought might look good on my daughter, reserved items behind the counter for us, and was just genuinely confident and friendly.

As we were finally checking out, I caught a glimpse of Carmen's face in some unique lighting which enhanced the God-given, beautiful structure of her face, and I decided at that moment, that I had to paint her.

I'm so glad she agreed! She is a beautiful person internally, too.  ◙

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Less Than Zero - The Doughnut Hole

by David R. Darrow
10" x 7" (25.4cm x 17.8cm)
Oil on Belgian Linen Panel
SOLD
Collection of Pamela Penner
Encinitas, CA – USA

About This Painting

The Doughnut Hole
If you haven't figured it out by now, every painting I do reveals a little something about me. Even with my theme of Everyday Paintings, which is a tongue-in-cheek twist on the painting excellence for which I always strive, I don't just grab an object or any ol' person to pose and just make a painting. In essence, I am painting a history of myself in shuffled chapters, pictures of a memory, a trait, revealing a fondness, or just letting the viewer know what really 'grabbed me' at one moment.

The subjects I choose are all related to what I love about life, whether a beautiful scene, some tasty food or wine, the delicate, innocence of a child, the beauty and grace of a woman, or the rugged stories told in the weathered face of a man. So much to see; too little time.

Powdered Doughnuts
by Justin ClaytonRecently I was inspired by a masterful painting done by a friend and fellow Daily Painter, Justin Clayton. Justin is one of a very small handful of artists on the entire planet who actually comes very close to painting one complete oil painting every day, and they are always exceptional. I admire his talent, determination and discipline.

He chose, as his subject matter for the painting that caught my eye, white powdered doughnuts on a white background. (I think he could have sold a blank canvas with that title in a Beverly Hills art gallery for $150,000, but he has integrity, too).

His painting also made me hungry. See, doughnuts have always been a weakness of mine. One of my fondest memories as a child was when my dad would get me into the car to run some Saturday morning errands with him, and we'd stop off first for doughnuts at the local Winchell's. Just me and my dad. A little box of milk and a powdered doughnut.

As an adult I still like doughnuts. I used to order coffee with them, and in some sort of canceling-out-calories math or culinary division by zero would sweeten my coffee and cream with Equal. You can't be too careful when you're "watching your weight."

Truth is, though, I've never bought doughnut holes. I've always thought they were the big lie, the conspiracy common to doughnut shops. They sell the doughnut to one guy, and the part they took out of it gets sold to someone else. That's like... well, selling place mats made from the neck hole they cut out of a poncho, or making black basketballs out of the centers of tires. Okay, maybe that's stretching it.

But who really buys doughnut holes, and why? They are the un-doughnut. Everyone knows the legal limit is 2 doughnuts in the company kitchen on Friday mornings. But what's the limit on doughnut holes? Five? Seven? Eighteen?

And how do you eat them politely? I feel silly taking a bite out of something that is bite-sized. And popping the whole thing in my mouth just looks bad. And if you do, you're all done, and all you got was one bite.

There is just a lot wrong with doughnut holes. There ought to be a law...  ◙

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