SMT Creative | Original Abstract, Expressionist, Realism Art

Category: Artwork
Posted: 2024-02-29 17:13:10
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El Jaleo Study

Last year, I went to a John Singer Sargent exhibit at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. One room was dedicated to his amazing piece, El Jaleo. While the original was not present, the exhibit displayed an extensive number of studies, drawings, and references he used in preparation for the masterpiece. There was an adjoining room that displayed various paintings he had done that were copies of pieces by other artists he admired.

I was fascinated by the collection not only because I admired his work, but it gave me insight into his process and the incredible amount of preparation he went through. Some of the initial studies are great works in their own right.

One of his copies was of a piece by Velazquez and it was in this moment that I understood the concept of a copy as a study. I've attempted to copy the look/feel of paintings I've admired, but I never set out to outright copy. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that staying within my own comfort zone did little to further my abilities. I felt I needed to copy a great work and what a better start than El Jaleo itself.

El Jaleo by John Singer Sargent

The original piece is huge. 11 foot wide by 7.5 foot tall, matching it's original scale was out of the question. With an abundance of canvases on hand, I decided to use one I already had and ultimately settled on a 12" x 9" panel. This size would provide two challenges: first, the proportions were different so I would have a taller image than the original and secondly, the much smaller size proved difficult to communicate detail in some areas of the orignal. I told myself from the beginning that the goal was not a duplicate but a piece that faithfully communicated the look/feel of El Jaleo.

The most important look/feel of El Jaleo in my mind is the representation of light and shadow. The dramatic shadows on the back wall; the dancer in the foreground bathed in bright light; the piece on the whole communicating motion.

While I never intended to create an exact copy, that intention got lost somewhere during the process and the whole piece stalled while I obsessed over the last few areas. I botched the first attempt at the dancer's face and then kept putting it off, psyching myself out on my ability or not to do it justice. As time dragged on, the self-doubt grew and I did anything I could to avoid finishing the piece.

Then it dawned on me, or specifically, I remembered my initial intent and more importantly that working on 1/10th the size of the original I would never be able to match the detail. Once I allowed myself that, I finished it in one session and a short one at that.

SMT El Jaleo Study

This is not a faithful copy of the original, but one I'm happy with nonethless. My palette is a little more blue grey on the back wall whereas the orginal is more green grey. I didn't stretch the composition to allow for my canvas' extra height, but rather just added headroom. All the elements are present although I treated each a little differently. I do feel like I've captured the dark/light. It is the same, but different.

No one will ever look at my painting and mistake it for the original, but it nonetheless was a great opportunity to stretch a bit more as an artist. It's yet another experience working in oils that makes me more enthusiastic with the medium.

While this will stay in my personal collection, it's something that will have an impact in a small way on future paintings and as such, I thought I would share with visitors to the site.

Category: News
Posted: 2023-12-02 11:16:51
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New Lower Pricing on Prints

I launched the smt art store in September of this year and three months later, I feel like I've learned a lot in the process. The impetus for starting it was a few things: 1) moving to market and sell my own paintings; 2) offering lower priced prints of same; and finally, 3) beginning to sell my photography work. Leaving behind the gallery representation and going it alone took a leap of faith, but one worth doing as I've laid out in prior posts. I knew I could market and generate traffic to the site and have. It's the rest that has taken longer to refine.

I had a lot of people tell me through the years they wish they could afford my paintings. I don't feel like my paintings are super expensive although I don't crank out couple hundred dollar pieces throughout a month. My process for each piece can take anywhere from a week to months. As I began selling paintings, I take into account the full process from concept to completion and price accordingly. With selling through dealers I found I had to raise the sales price to account for commissions, shipping etc. and ultimately got to a point where they were priced too high in my mind.

The store has provided me the ability to drop prices substantially on my originals. Offering prints of my paintings gives fans of my work opportunities to own smt pieces at substantial savings. The canvas prints, while lacking the texture of an original, nonetheless are faithful recreations - I've seen a few of these first-hand and am extremely pleased with the finished product. I'm also really happy with the photography canvas prints. I first started offering framed prints and they were pretty lackluster. The canvas prints are next level.

With the sales platform and viable products, the final piece was pricing and that has been a work in process if I'm honest. The original print vendor I was working with had an overly complex shipping model that was going to add hundreds to my monthly operating cost, not to mention the time it was going to setup and administer. As it turned out, that should have been my first red flag working with that vendor. I had multiple issues working with them and ultimately dropped them and after finding my current print partner, built my product line all over again. I should have moved off the free shipping model at that time, but didn't even consider it.

As I've set and adjusted pricing, it was always taking into consideration that I would have to cover shipping and so my retail price reflected that. Shipping can vary a great deal however, especially since I sell in multiple markets all over the world. I really couldn't set too competitive pricing because shipping was an unknown until the sale was processed. I've done my best to work within those boundaries, but ultimately there were sales where I didn't make much of anything and others where I made quite a bit. Ultimately I decided free shipping wasn't really benefitting anyone - especially my customers.

Effective December 2, 2023, the store platform was changed to add flat rate shipping at checkout for all prints (original paintings still include free shipping). Pricing for prints have all been lowered - some substantially - and existing discount codes are still valid. If you would like to get a 15% discount, just subscribe to my email list and one will be forthcoming.

Category: News
Posted: 2023-09-18 09:25:45
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New Store Launched for Originals and Prints

At the beginning of this year, I posted about my plans to expand my marketing platform and hinted about an intent to leave Zatista, the primary marketplace for my art. I was grateful for the opportunity to work with them as they only accept 5% of the artists that apply and the exposure it gave me when I started marketing my art. I was optimistic about the impact it would have, especially when I sold a piece through them early on.

The sale was a learning experience as there were additional costs I hadn't factored in. There was the normal 45% commission that I knew about - low in comparison to some galleries and average for others. There were affiliate commissions that could add an additional 10% plus the frequent sales throughout the year that could be up to 20%. On top of that, I had to pay for shipping. I had to raise my prices accordingly with some pieces doubling in price. On more than a few occasions, I had people comment they wish they could afford my paintings. That's not how I wanted this to be.

I was laid off from my corporate gig in July and decided it was time to fully devote my time to my creative endeavors. Not only did I want to offer my original paintings at a lower price point, I wanted to offer limited runs of prints of those pieces so that my work was accessible to most. I've also been a photographer for 20 years and wanted to offer prints of that work as well.

The new store checks all these boxes and paves the way for even more. I'm currently offering a few original paintings for sale with more to follow. All pieces have a price point $1000 lower than when they were listed on Zatista and have free shipping. I'm rolling out limited edition canvas prints of my original paintings. I'm also offering limited edition photography prints, an area that will expand a great deal over the next year.

There's currently a grand opening sale offering 10% off purchases by entering OPEN10 at checkout. To get 15%, just subscribe to the email list.

Category: On the Easel
Posted: 2023-07-15 14:36:43
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WIP - Old men

There are more than a few paintings that start off as one thing and I get to a point where I'm not feeling it anymore or at least it's not headed the way that I imagined. Sometimes it can be as simple as a realization that I'm not using the right medium or process to achieve what I set out to. That's just part of my process and I'm open to changing approaches midway to see something through.

Other times, I find myself lacking enthusiasm for a piece and it may take weeks or even months of it sitting off to the side, glanced at from time to time, waiting until I've come to the decision to plunge ahead or paint over it and start something new. The decision to paint over and start again is not one I take lightly. I understand that it is often that history, of texture and coats of color, that ultimately contributes to the new piece and it becomes far more than if I had started with a fresh canvas. However, a piece has to suck really bad in my mind before I'm willing to paint over it. At the very least, there can't be anything that I deem salvageable.

And then there's the pieces that I know deep down that there's something there, that it's worth completing, but it nonetheless hangs in a creative limbo where I'm not happy with my ideas of where it goes next.

'Old Men' (working title) started from a photo that I had seen of old men in Italy captivated by a beautiful woman passing by. I used the photo for reference, but painted the figures as I saw fit rather than a copy. With the first pass, I decided that three old men staring at a woman kind of lacked the depth I like to portray in my paintings, so I removed her and added in a storefront.

It's not an uncommon sight in towns in Italy that old men (and ladies) will gather at a neighborhood market or bar and discuss the world's current events and I thought this the perfect setting for this painting.

And this is about as far as I got before losing steam and shelving it until inspiration hit again. With the recent completion of an abstract painting, I looked at starting a new or digging back into an old one and this ended up back on the easel.

There's a lot of things I like about this painting. I had rough outlines sketched out for the men and their features and character evolved naturally. I kind of like the store and kind of don't. I haven't finished some of the detail of the men - such as the middle gentleman's arms/hands - as I think it will play into the final scene. There's something here. I just don't know where it needs to go.

Fortunately, this is a rare cycle for a piece. My paintings never take this long, even when I stop/start to evaluate my progress. Nevertheless, I first started this painting over a year ago and still know it needs to be finished. I'm going back to Italy at the end of this year - maybe it will provide the needed inspiration to get this one done.

Category: On the Easel
Posted: 2023-03-01 15:33:48
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Work In Progress: Siena

I have a photo I took in Siena Italy in 2011 that for me, was one of a few that summed up Tuscany. The maze of narrow streets, tall buildings on either side blocking out the light until it opens up in front of you, the sunlight splashing streets and walls.

I love the photo, but never attempted a painting of it. I've thought about it here and there, but was a little intimidated. With recent forways into oils and realism, I started thinking more about tackling this piece, but it also got me thinking about an abstract of the scene. Realism is more about catching all the nuances whereas abstract (if done right) could capture the feeling of the medieval city. Being able to capture the towering buildings, contrast of dark and light, this could turn out to be a nice piece.

I haven't done much with the acrylics lately, so I decided this would be a great way to jump back in. This is a 18" x 24" canvas, so getting back to a bit smaller piece for me. I still have a couple more 48" x 60" canvases and thinking about another version that is a bit more bold in contrasting colors and composition.

Second Session notes) This morning I started painting before doing anything else - even coffee. It was just time to paint. I started in on the walls in the foreground using ochre and black with no medium - just a light dip in water to thin paint as it dried. The acrylics require a different approach given its consistency and fast drying time. I really like the variation of color and textures when I'm working a brush over the drying paint. I can get the same look in oils, but it's a completely different approach and a lot longer period of time. I discovered the transition from realism back to abstract required a shift in my mind - to kind of get out of my own head and let the creativity flow. Otherwise I over-think and spend too much time planning instead of just painting. This session helped to remind me of that.

First Session notes) Just a few hours in, roughing in darker colors and some rough details to establish and maintain perspective. The original photo is pretty dark and this will follow that in due time. The overall direction of the piece is still evolving. I have discovered that my work in oils has shifted my style and approach - I'm finding that I need to be a little bit more thoughful on my process for acrylics to achieve desired effect.

In any case, I suspect I will have this completed in mid-March if not sooner. I will post on my portfolio as soon as it's done.

Category: Artwork
Posted: 2023-02-01 07:16:15
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New abstract piece - coastal storm

I will often start a painting with a loose concept in mind (or sometimes not even that - I just need to paint) and through this process the piece kind of guides me as I see what's working (or not). I will get to a point where I think I'm finished, but not in love with the piece, so I let it sit. Some longer than others.

This piece sat for a year. It was actually a companion piece to an abstract landscape, neither of which I was completely sold on. I kept looking at them, liked them, but didn't love them. They never seemed finished. I took out the original, a bigger canvas, and almost started back in on it with the idea of going over the whole piece with oils (the originals were acrylic).

I couldn't commit to redoing the larger piece - there's something there yet. The smaller one lacked the vibe of the other so I knew it was time to do something with it.

While I first attempted to refine the original concept of the piece, a landscape, I found myself thinking too much and the result was uninspiring. So, working alla prima, I just started working the oils together and this stormy coastal landscape started to emerge. While definitely still an abstract, it's a softer piece than the original would have been.

Because this is a repaint of a repaint (of a repaint), it has texture that doesn't correspond with the finished painting. This is a quality that I often bring into my paintings and this one just because of its history, has a complex surface beneath that only really pops when you give it a closer look in the light.

The textures suprisingly support the visuals for the most part. Vertical and horizontal ridges, along with mottled surfaces throughout the clouds and sea section seem to add a tension to the scene. While I like the piece, it does have a bit of a rougher quality so it will remain in my personal collection. I thought I would share to offer some insight into my process.

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