I'm in the middle of painting Achilles, so I've got three and a half paintings to go, and then I will be able to have a few days off. Just a few though, no more. I'm behind schedule, so I've got to keep focused on the jobs at hand. Once I've had a few days off, I need to get the book put together. There are illustrations still needing to be done, writing, and design work. I think I'll be emailing my commissions and putting them all back to the end of July. Thankfully most of them will be completed within a month, so at latest it will be September before I begin work on my tarot deck. Once I'm working on that full time I will be happy.

My big news is that I'm getting an airbrush. I've been thinking about purchasing one for a couple of years now, but I've had to make other equipment purchases first. Now it is time, and even though money is tight, my partner has graciously allowed me to spend his mid year bonus on my airbrush. Funnily enough, my partner's bonus was within five dollars of the amount I was quoted for the airbrush and compressor, so it's kinda got that 'meant to be' feeling to it. My new iwata hiline brush is now on order and should come in just as I am winding up the last painting. (Which is a good thing. I won't be tempted to procrastinate )

The brush I am getting is for detail work and the beautiful part is that I can use all of my regular paints, even watercolours. Until I get the hang of it, I'll be using it for backgrounds, but once I'm a little more confident and practised, I will use it for the subjects too. I will always use my brushes, but the airbrush will allow me to work faster and will give me the edge when it comes to making parts of my paintings look silky smooth.

I'm also going to use it on larger canvas pieces. I've been wanting to paint some uber large dragons but the thought of doing them with a regular brush seemed so daunting, especially when I get bored quickly. The airbrush will allow me to cover and complete parts of the painting a lot more quickly and thus reduce the chance that I will walk away from the painting before it is finished.

Anyways ... I'm all excited and thought I'd share.

And now I'd best get back to work. Achilles is looking rather num num

COMMISSIONS

Due to the fact that I have been signed by Blue Angel Galleries to write and illustrate my 'Dreams of Gaia' Tarot, I am now only able to take bookings for small commissions between July, 2008 and September, 2009. I am unavailable for commercial hires until late 2009.

Small format artworks are priced as follows:

ACEO 2.5"x3.5" -- $85.00
OSWOA 4"x6" -- $150.00
5"x7" -- $200.00
5.5"x8.5" -- $250.00

Larger artworks (8"x10" to 16"x20") range from US$350 to US$2500.00 depending upon size and level of detail.

All fantasy, gothic, faery, pagan, and esoteric subjects will be considered, but I will not do any artwork that depicts violence.

A 20% booking fee is charged in order to hold your place in my hire queue. This amount is non-refundable and is deducted from the overall hire cost once work commences.

All works will be painted traditionally in Acrylics on 300gsm Arches Watercolour paper.

Payment plans are available.

Those interested can email me via my 'Hire Query' page.

ORIGINAL ARTWORK SALE

Also, I am having a sale on original artworks for members of my mailing list and friend's lists. If you purchase an original artwork between now and the end of May, you will receive a 10% discount or free shipping and insurance, depending which is the greater of the two.

2, 3, and 4 month payment plans are available. Artworks are not shipped until they are paid for in full.

To view the available original artworks please visit my 'Original Artworks' page.

Those interested in purchasing an original can email me via my 'Contact' page.

Brightest
M
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