Record Hit Count on Flickr!!

Here's exciting news. I just checked my Flickr album. I have three pieces of artwork that have just past a landmark for my little album. "Gridiron Warrior","Poolboy", and "Ganges" have reached or exceded 100 page views each. I only hope now that everyone that viewed the photo would also go to the gallery site and make a purchase. Or, at least drop me an email and let me know if they like what they saw. But, I see progress. The future is bright.

Flickr Hits!!!

Wow, I've just had a lot of new visits and a few comments on my Flickr! album. Over the last few weeks I've posted some very nice pictures of my trip to Vegas and my flowers in the front yard. I have had moderate interest. There were fewer than 10 visits to each of those pictures. Then, over the last few days I posted photographs of my paintings and drawings. You know the ones, right? My favorite subjects, right?

Lo, and behold, my hit count on those pictures jumped very noticeably. This guy to the left, who I affectionately call the "Gridiron Warrior" received 39 hits in just two days. Wow!! I knew he was good looking but I never realized just how much. I've always felt this was one of my better paintings but I never expected such a response to him from the larger audience. Yes, I'm excited!

In addition to the increased hits to my photos, I've received an email from a Flickr member that has requested I paint his portrait. He is a very fit athlete with a great physique. He wants me to use one of his photos as a reference for the artwork. Wow! that's even more exciting. Wish me luck.

I guess its true what they say, "Sex sells!"

Gridiron Warrior

Its about time to get down to the real business of this website, my artwork. Here is the first piece I would like to share with you. I've called it The Gridiron Warrior. Now I'm still learning my technique, but the bizarre thing about this piece is that it was one of my first figure paintings and it has really been my most successful. What's not visible in this photo is the beautiful luminous, translucence of the skin due to the layers of glazing I used. This work took me a long time to create. But this figure was so beautiful I couldn't stop working with it. Every time I passed the easel I'd see a highlight to be added or a hint of ruddiness to add to his skin. I'd deepen a shadow or soften an edge. But, because I'm not God and I couldn't ultimately create a man real enough to step off the page I finally said "enough" and stopped working on it. In the words of one of my great inspirations from the Renaissance, "a painting is never finished, only abandoned" (Leonardo Da Vinci). I hope you enjoy it and hope to hear any critique or compliments (yes, I'm fishing for one) you may have.