Owen William Weber Illustration

Society of Illustrators 54

2012-01-18T12:41:00.001-05:00

Hello All,

I am just writing to tell of and show some pictures of the Society of Illustrators 54 Uncommissioned, Sequential, and Moving Image show. The opening night party was wonderful, tons of treats to snack on and plenty of wine. The room was buzzing with new artists who are breaking onto the scene, and seasoned professionals sharing in the revelry. All the awards went to deserving artists, and it seemed as though all the winners were sincere in their gratitude. So here are the pictures of the show and some of my favorites:

The Show from the entrance.

Chris Buzelli's Krampus

Greg Manchess showing why he's a master: he doesn't even need to hint at an elbow, smudged paint is fine.

John Hendrix

This was my spot on the lower level.

Probably my favorite of the show, Byron Eggenschwiler's creepy series. They remind me of a modern twist on Edward Gorey.

Uncommissioned, Sequential and Moving Image Show at the Society of Illustrators

2012-01-05T18:34:00.004-05:00

Hello Everyone,
I haven't been able to show you all any of my most recent pieces because they all have non-disclosure agreements, those will come in time. I am here to tell you that my "December Maple" piece is now on display at the Society of Illustrators in the Uncommissioned category. I will be up until January 21st. If you are in the Manhattan area between now and then, please stop by, it's a truly wonderful gallery and I guarantee that you will see great art. Have a wonderful day.

Owen

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T11:20:00.001-05:00

Society of Illustrators 54th Annual

2011-11-17T22:33:00.001-05:00

So I got one of the best calls of my life yesterday, I was told my "December Maple" painting was accepted into the Society of Illustrators 54th Annual in the Uncommissioned category. Getting into the Societies show has always been one of those life goals for me. It's one of the greatest annuals every year, consistently showing some of the best art the america has to offer. Many thanks to all the jurors and congratulations to all the other artists that got that wonderful call.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T18:53:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to do a Halloween post, little bit more personal than I usually get with my blog, but my birthday is on Halloween, so I take today very seriously. These are some pictures from my weekend. We have a wall in our kitchen that I just painted in chalkboard paint, so here is my Halloween decoration. One friday, my friends and I went to the St. John the Divine church near Columbia University, where they have an amazing event each year. They show a scary silent film, and the organist play the music live while the movie is shown. This year it was the original Phantom of the Opera. Following the show, the devil leads a procession of the ghouls down the center aisle. All the costumes were amazing! Some of the best costumes I've ever seen. It was a great experience and I highly recommend it to anyone who lives in the NYC area. The next day, Sarah and I planned to go out and celebrate the holiday, but winter came a bit early and we had a very large snow storm. But it gave me one of the best opportunities to take pictures in my costume. I was Ned Stark from Game of Thrones. The rest of the day was spent inside drawing. On Sunday night, a bunch of friends came over to watch Dawn of the Dead(2004) and Shaun of the Dead. It was very fun. So on this very Monday of Halloween's, I hope everyone has a great holiday.

Southern Vermont Art Center Fall Annual

2011-10-01T11:36:00.000-04:00

I have just been accepted to the Annual Fall Exhibition at the Southern Vermont Art Center with "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz". I've been included in many juried exhibitions at SVAC but it is always an honor to be accepted at their wonderful establishment. So if you are in the Manchester area, stop by, the Fall show is always a good one.

http://www.svac.org/

Babette and Nikita

2011-09-17T11:01:00.003-04:00

These are the finals for the two pet portraits I did a while back. I've kept from posting them because it will be a long time before I have new material to post again. I am working on two commissions that cannot be shown until they are made public by the company, so it will be a while.

These were fun portraits to do, I love animals and they always bring completely different challenges to painting humans. Fur is very meticulous, but really fun for me at least. I can go on auto-pilot and slip into a kind of zen while painting fur. These two where very unique animals, I am very proud of the paintings and since finishing them, a lot of people have been in disbelief when I tell them they are paintings. But thats because they're on my iTouch and when shrunken everything looks tighter and more natural.

Nikita and Babette, both 12" x 16", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2011.

Nikita Process

2011-07-08T14:48:00.000-04:00

Lately I have been working on a couple pet commissions. One is a Siberian cat and I will be starting an English Bulldog very soon. Just thought you might see my day to day work on the Siberian cat portrait.

This is my sketch for the portrait, I tried to get as much detail as I could, because winging fur like this is really annoying, and the painting went by a lot smoother because of going the extra distance with the drawing.

Next I laid in the background colors, keeping in mind where the lights and darks would be on the cat, I put a light blue next to the portions that were darker in the cat and a more mid-range blue next to the highlights of the fur. I like to lay in the darks when I do the background, so I can blur them a bit.

The next day I put another layer of deep dark color and filled in more of the shadow fur so I could blend it easier. I don't concern myself too much with keeping it too crisp, as I plan to do another layer over everything anyway. When it's dry it's easier to highlight the fur.

I then filled in the face. It was tough to distinguish whether my colors were correct, so a lot of faith went with bridging the colors of the last two sessions. I wasn't exact at all, which is frustrating, but as long as some of the groundwork is laid in you can always glaze it over and make it look more coherent.

I then just used my left over paint that I had mixed and loaded it up with liquin, laying in the basic mid-tones and lighter areas. This is just a good way to build up your colors, it's always good to have a bunch of layers when doing hair. And it easily just takes another half hour of work.

The next day I worked on this, everything was dry so I started out the day by putting a layer of liquin over everything so I could see how the colors were relating to each other. When that was dry, which wasn't long, I glazed a mixture of Ult. Blue, Aliz. Crimson, and Raw Umber together to darken all the shadow areas, which was most of the right side. Then I spent a good hour or so picking out highlights of hair. Then I moved onto filling in all the light areas of the cats body, and because I laid in that glaze to fill in that whole area, it went by a lot quicker than I would have thought initially.

Finally I filled in the eye and tail, pretty much just doing the same as I had been for the past two days. When doing the highlights I pretty much use as much liquin as I can to make the paint flow nicely.

As soon as this is dry I will scan it and post it. This is probably the best fur I have done yet, which is quite exciting, cause I love painting hair.

Dalton Arts Guild Membership Show Ends June 30th!

2011-06-24T10:25:00.000-04:00

So if anyone was planning on going but wasn't sure how much time they had...go soon, you got a week. Unfortunately I will not be able to check the show out myself, but I've heard that it was especially good this year. Many great Berkshire artists involved. It's important to support local arts, and the Berkshires are trying especially hard to keep culture growing.

Best in Show for December Maple!

2011-06-17T15:35:00.000-04:00

I have been a member of the Dalton Arts Guild since I was in hight school. They have always been extremely supportive of my artwork. I got my first award for art from them, which was a 1st Place Student Award for a clay sculpture called "Cautious Tapir", that was 10 years ago. Last Saturday I was awarded Best in Show for my "December Maple" painting. This is my most satisfying award to date because of my feelings toward this piece. It has become one of my favorite piece's that I have done so far. Most especially because I feel I finally captured my lovely fiance's essence in a painting. It is also very dear to me that they chose the painting of mine that most captures the Berkshire's they way I think of it. It is a quite place and a solemn place. Thank you again to the Dalton Arts Guild. The show is in Miller's Art Supply at 205 West St, Pittsfield, MA 01201. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" is also on display and for sale.

The Unicorn

2011-05-28T14:47:00.000-04:00

It has been a while since my last post, but a lot has been happening in my life. I went to Paris, got engaged, have been doing loads of overtime at work, and I've been making up excuses to relax instead of taking a picture of my work. Anyway, here is my latest painting. This is another project for Running with Paintbrushes. It is greatly based on the Unicorn in Captivity tapestry at the Cloisters museum, right down to the tuft of hair at the end of it's tail. I am really happy with how this piece came out. The color scheme that I have been working with is greatly improving my art (in my opinion). I hope you all like this, because I am going to try my darndest to push this feeling, style, and level of detail further with my future work. It may be a while til my next post, since I am working on things that I need to keep secret for a little while. I will try to post some sketches or something in the meantime.

The Unicorn, 21" x 16", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2011.

Lost Life

2011-03-22T19:39:00.000-04:00

I drew this still life this weekend. Haven't done a still life in a while, it's always nice to do work from life. These were just a bunch of objects I have around the house that I probably ended up buying just so I could draw them. So I got the opportunity this weekend. I am going to Paris and Maastricht for 10 days, so I haven't wanted to start a new piece until I get back. Hope you enjoy. See you all when I get back.

Lost Life, 22" x 10.5", HB Pencil, 2011.

Murderbot Takes a Holiday

2011-03-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

This is my newest piece that I just finished for Running with Paintbrushes. I wanted to show a robot doing something that has no purpose and that it wouldn't really understand. So this is Murderbot, and he is flying a kite since he is done with his murdering. I also wanted to do a complimentary color palette. It's been a while since I've done that. I feel like it definitely forced me to be more bold with my color choices.

Murderbot Takes a Holiday, 8.25" x 11", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2011.

December Maple

2011-02-18T10:37:00.000-05:00

I had a vacation from my job recently, which gave me a lot of time to work on this piece. I started the drawing at the beginning of the vacation and about 8 days later it was finished. The last time I worked that hard for that concentrated of a time was the Illustration Master Class. I'm very proud of this piece, and I'm glad it didn't take months to do, which would have been the case had I not had this vacation. It stayed fresh and I never questioned what I was doing with this piece.

For me this piece is all about power and force. When painting bark, you really get a sense of how the tree has grown. How it's skin has broken from the force of it's insides, how the branches erupt out of the body. It gives me the feeling that trees have a very violent life in some respects.

December Maple, 14" x 20", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2011.

Maple Drawing

2011-02-11T17:33:00.000-05:00

Sw!pe show Tonight!

2011-02-10T07:57:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,
Just a reminder/invitation to all, Sw!pe magazine, for which I am included, is having a gallery opening tonight (Thursday February 10th) at Gallery 25 CPW(25 Central Park West and 62nd St.) at 6PM - the end of the night. If you are in the New York area please come and support our small magazine and enjoy some really great art. This one will be the best one yet. I am showing 5 pieces including all my winter pieces, together for the first time, and my "Sleeping (Degas)" pieces, for which I did especially for Sw!pe Magazine. See You There!

Owen

Death King Final

2011-01-24T12:31:00.000-05:00

I finally finished! This took way way too long. I have just moved into a new apartment, which includes moving my studio and not being able to work, plus all those dang holidays were going on. This shouldn't have taken longer than 2 weeks and it took closer to 2 months. When I finally got over how stale it had gotten and started working on it again, I really love the outcome. It's been so long since I have done armor, and god do I love scattering blood about in a painting. I wonder why? It sure does stand out well against snow though.

I love doing these kind of "after the fact" type paintings. As with my Judith and Holofernes painting (another bloody one), this is a piece about the reflection the character has on the deeds he has just committed. This character obviously has no morals and this time of reflection is more of a "job well done" type of moment. But on the flip side, I also think this Death King is making these dead souls pay for the acts they have committed. Justice I guess.

Death King, 14" x 10", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2011.

Sw!pe 2 Exhibit

2011-01-14T09:57:00.000-05:00

Just so you can mark your calendar, there is a new Sw!pe magazine coming out and we will be having an exhibition of all the work. The opening is February 10th from 6-9PM. It's an awesome show, if you saw the last exhibit, this one will be better! I will be showing 5 pieces! It'll be a good time, so please come.

25 CPW gallery

25 Central Park West/ 62nd St.

New York, NY

Winter Complete

2010-12-12T18:35:00.000-05:00

Happy Winter Everybody!

Copier

2010-12-03T18:13:00.000-05:00

While I'm at work it's hard for me to not draw, especially during extremely boring days. These are a few of my better copies. Done with a ball point pen and a small moleskin sketchbook. The first is a portrait Franz von Lenbach did, and the second and third are from a family portrait Ribot painted.

Winter: Last Flock

2010-11-19T14:26:00.000-05:00

Last Flock has been finished and that means I have finally finished my ode to Winter. This painting would stand above the "Spirit" and "We Are All Stardust" pieces. This piece starts the cycle out, showing the moment winter starts, then moves to the heart of winter, Spirit, progressing to the wonderment of winter nights, and ending in the stillness and peace of hibernation. I will post them all together in a few days, so stay tuned.

Winter: Last Flock, Oil on Paper on Masonite, 27" x 9", 2010.

Washington D.C.

2010-11-06T12:24:00.000-04:00

These are 2 sketches I did a couple weeks ago while in Washington D.C. waiting for my girlfriend to finish the symposium she was attending. I just got a new epson scanner for my birthday so I will be able to show more of my sketches.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T13:58:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone! Hope everyone has a spooky one. It's my birthday today, so every Halloween is extremely special to me. Tonight I will be watching Nightmare Before Christmas, the new Treehouse of Horror, and Let the Right One In. Wish I got AMC... Anyways these are pictures of my pumpkin and Sarah's squash/gourd this year. Have a Spooktacular day!

Recharge! Beyond Finish

2010-10-15T18:15:00.000-04:00

I finished this a while ago, sorry for the laziness of this post. I finished my dragon piece, Recharge!, a couple weeks ago, and then realized it needed rain. So I added rain glimmering in the lightning. It definitely adds to the piece. Hope you think so too.

This piece is meant to have a feeling of desperation and addiction. The spears of past charging are welded to his tail, rusting in age.

Recharge!, 11" x 14", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2010.

What's on my Easel Now?

2010-10-08T15:57:00.000-04:00

I am finally on the road to finishing my Winter series, which I have been working on all year. This will be the top portion of the final product (all the pieces are going to fit together in a giant vertical rectangle). This piece will be called "Last Flock". I was going to do a completely different composition, but was inspired by "Sometimes a Great Notion" by Ken Kesey. He describes the last couple geese flying south in November and it struck me as one of the truest signs from nature that winter is arriving. I'm very much looking forward to finishing this piece.

Sleeping (Degas)

2010-09-07T20:41:00.000-04:00

This will be one of my upcoming Sw!pe Magazine submission. They are asking for museum specific pieces for the next issue, so I thought I would show a subject I witness day in day out. So many people come to the museum after flying great distances, or they just get over stimulated, at least those are the reasons I would like to believe in which someone would fall asleep at a museum. Some people may just be plain bored, but this is something I see most days as I work. There is also something brilliantly honest about a man sleeping next to historically important artwork. No matter how much money or fame a piece can have, some people just don't think it's important. I love that so much.

Sleeping (Degas) - 11" x 16", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2010.

Panticore Attack Altered

2010-08-08T15:54:00.000-04:00

I know this is a very subtle change, but I think it enhances it a lot. While I was at GenCon, a very insightful art director told me that this piece was looking very flat. One of his suggestions was to just put a coolness to the background, easy enough when there are such tools as photoshop. While I was on the plane back, I realized how much atmosphere there is when looking down from above. I think this piece instantly became so much better.

GenCon 2010

2010-08-08T12:06:00.000-04:00

Just got back from Gencon in Indianapolis. This was the most successful con I have been to yet. Great times, tons of new and old friends to see again, and a lot of great criticism/excitement for my artwork. Hopefully I will be getting some new clients soon. Thanks to all who were there, I had a blast and can't wait to be back next year.

Panticore Attack

2010-07-31T13:26:00.000-04:00

I just finished this piece in preparation for the upcoming GenCon in Indianapolis, IN. I am very happy with the action and the sense of vertigo that is happening in this piece. It was a lot of fun to painting the horse; I have always been intimidated by horses and armor, which I think both came out pretty good. It's nice to do some ridiculous high fantasy every once in a while, brings me back to my roots and the reason I was interested in illustration in the first place.

Panticore Attack, 13" x 15", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2010.

Winter: Hibernation

2010-07-07T19:54:00.000-04:00

This is the 3rd piece in my series of 4 based on Winter. I have always be fascinated by way snow collects on certain objects. Obviously, this piece also deals with the animals that vacate our world for the winter months, searching their dreams for warmth. The four stone depict different creatures that hibernate. There are more stones in the background if you look closely. I wanted this piece to be serious in tone, but cute in depiction.

Winter: Hibernation, 27" x 9", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2010.

1st Place!

2010-06-15T19:02:00.000-04:00

I just got some great news. My painting "Winter: We Are All Stardust" was just awarded a 1st Place in the Oil and Acrylic category at the Dalton Art Show in Pittsfield, MA. Thank you to all the people involved in the Dalton Art Guild, I am always so appreciative of the support you have given me throughout my artistic career. I got my first artistic award from them back in Senior year of high school in the Student category for a sculpture I made of a Tapir. Thanks for everything.

The Magic Feather

2010-05-18T13:03:00.000-04:00

This is a piece I did for the Running with Paintbrushes blog Scott, Becca, and I are doing. The assignment was to do a young adult oriented image based on "Flight". Mine is more of a children's piece. I had a great time doing this piece, and am really happy with the final product. Really fun, got to take my subject matter less seriously.

The Magic Feather, 11" x 17", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2010.

The Mammoth

2010-05-11T10:42:00.000-04:00

Frank Frazetta died yesterday as many of you know, and I just felt like I needed to say something about him. I was introduced to his art officially in art school. This was the first image that was shown to me

This painting had such an immediate impact on me. I think I had been on the fence about which direction I should take my art, I've never felt I have any strong message to push on people, and abstract art always felt forced when I tried to do it. This image instantly let me know that I could pursue fantasy art and not feel ashamed or like I was wasting my time. Everything is working in "The Mammoth", he has all his darkest darks and lightest lights together to draw the eye toward the center focus of the painting, the curves of the tusks contain the viewer completely on the action, and the curve of the man's leg into his back gives a wonderful sense of forward movement towards the Mammoth. What Frazetta always did best was showing what was needed to be shown to make the image successful, and nothing else. He could have put monkeys jumping away from the broken trees, or he could have made it a herd of mammoths, but that wasn't the point of the piece, it's an intimate showdown moment.

Since I saw this first image, I became completely obsessed, as I'm sure a lot of you have, with all things Frazetta. He had perfectly iconic style to him, everyone could instantly see who he was and who the knock-offs were. I think the thing that amazed me so much, which I have always wanted to replicate, was his amazing sense of atmosphere. You can look at any Frazetta painting and see it, he could just put a tone down and painting just the highlights of a man in the background create a perfectly ominous, fully realized bag guy.

And of course there were his women, his iconic women. The antithesis to the fashionable standards of what women are supposed to look like, here was a man that was painting women as men want women to look. The faces always kinda weirded me out, I have to say, all his women seem cat-like, with their high cheek bones and the way he would curve their lips, never seemed natural, though they did always look like they belonged in the worlds he painted. These women where more one with nature.

Now I'll leave you with a couple of my favorites.

Thanks Frank for all you've given me.

Through the Woods Painting

2010-04-20T17:43:00.000-04:00

This is the follow up painting to the Through the Woods drawing I did a few weeks ago for Running with Paintbrushes. It was a really fun piece to do and I used this as a chance to experiment with different textures and ideas. I did a lot of dripping with paint, which is something I have always wanted a chance to do, and the right project to do it with. Hope you all like it.

Through the Woods, 14" x 10", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2010.

Winter: We Are All Stardust

2010-04-13T19:51:00.000-04:00

My second of four paintings based on Winter is finished. These are all images that are based on lost memories from a childhood in Massachusetts, which has a fairly long winter season. I really wanted to get the colors of the dusk in the winter, the hazy reds and purples that transform to the night sky. It's hard to perfect the colors of a painting on a computer but I think I came pretty close. So if you want to keep track, the last winter painting, "Spirit", would go to the left of this one. The next two will go on the top and bottom of these.

Winter: We are all Stardust, 40" x 13", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2010.

Another Sw!pe Show!

2010-03-16T13:18:00.000-04:00

Another Sw!pe show will be opening at 25 CPW, the same gallery as the first show, on March 20th and ending April 4th! This time will be bigger and better! I will have The Lands March and Goblin Watcher on display. If you are in the NYC area, please stop by, there is a ton of great artists in the show. It is an extremely eclectic show, many different backgrounds all sharing a job in common.

3/20 - 4/4
25 CPW
25 Central Park West (and 62nd St.)
New York, NY

Through the Woods

2010-03-08T12:33:00.000-05:00

This is the latest drawing I did for the Running with Paintbrushes blog. The challenge was to do a drawing of a witch. My intention was to make her more of a hoarder, someone who collects random things throughout her journeys. I really love doing finished drawings, so often I only draw so I can do a painting over it. I love playing with the tightness and looseness of line, when working with pencil. With my painting style I don't really show that too often, so it's nice to let loose every once in a while, and for some reason I don't feel obligated to render everything with pencil. I am going to put more animals in my paintings in the future, they add atmosphere and pathos to an image so easily.

Through the Woods, Pencil, 12" x 16", 2010.

New York Times

2010-03-08T00:43:00.000-05:00

So this is a little after-the-fact, but Sw!pe Magazine, in which I am featured, was in the New York Times this past saturday. The article is about the wonderful gallery show we had that correlated with the launching of the magazine. It was a crazy opening, tons of people were there, tons came in off the street, which was very exciting. I met a lot of new people and got a load of compliments on the animal portraits that I had hanging. It gave me a lot more confidence to push forward with those portraits and create more of them. To everyone who doesn't own a copy please order an issue of Sw!pe Magazine at the website.

Sw!pe Magazine

2010-02-27T00:09:00.000-05:00

To anyone who is concerned, I will be involved in a group show, in conjunction with the launching of Sw!pe Magazine. The Opening will be Thursday March 4th, from 6 - 9PM. It will be at 25 CPW Gallery at 25 Central Park West (and 62nd St.), New York, NY. For additional info, Sw!pe Website.

Rust

2010-02-14T11:23:00.000-05:00

So this is my latest painting based on the quote "A sword, a spade and a thought should never be allowed to rust" - James Stephens. The actual painting is cropped differently, it stops right above the head, but I added some space to give it a little breathing room. Hope you like it.

Rust, 13" x 13 3/4", Oil on paper on Masonite, 2010.

Winter: We Are All Stardust Drawing

2010-01-28T10:04:00.000-05:00

This is the drawing for the next painting in the "Winter" series. It is also 40" x 13". Thats kinda all I want to say about this piece at this point. So see ya next time.

Winter: Spirit

2010-01-19T14:24:00.000-05:00

This is the finished "Winter: Spirit" piece that I showed the drawing for a couple months ago. I'm quite happy with it, so happy with it that I am going to do a series based on the winter theme. My next piece will be the same size (40" x 13") then followed by a piece that will go along the top and bottom. Anyway hope you all like it.

Winter: Spirit, 40" x 13", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2010.

Still Life with Hrebicek Jar

2010-01-11T17:40:00.000-05:00

This is a watercolor still life I did for my girlfriend's mother, Eva, for Channuka. It was the first time in a very long time that I was able to actually set up a still life and work from life. Of course most of my work is fantasy based or involves things that would not be possible to paint without taking photos and working from them, so I guess I shouldn't feel bad that I don't do this more often, but it was a really nice change of pace. Also it was a lot of fun doing more detailed work with watercolor. Most of my past couple watercolors have been mostly washes and have a more improvised style to them, with just a hint of the level of detail I was trained with. Very nice to get out that #2 Kolinsky Sable and and get into the more rendering aspect of the medium.

Time Will Tell on Sale Now

2010-01-04T12:37:00.000-05:00

Amazon link for Time Will Tell

This is the first book I was lucky enough to do the cover illustration for. The book has a very pulp-ish quality to it, it includes: time travel, alternate timelines, extraterrestrials, cover-ups, and plots to end the Nazi regime. I hope you all love it, I know I did. Time Will Tell will be officially out January 10th 2010, but you can pre-order it now via the link at the top of this post.

Winter Sketch

2009-11-04T19:10:00.001-05:00

This is the next piece I will be working on. It is more a depiction of the feelings and sounds that come to mind when I think about winter. I am trying to keep this piece as far from religion as possible. I hope that comes through. Anyway this will probably take me a while to finish, still haven't mounted it yet...

Winter Sketch, 40" x 13", graphite on Strathmore 500 series 2ply, 2009.

Time Will Tell

2009-11-03T17:14:00.001-05:00

This is the image I did for Time Will Tell, a book written by Eddie Upnick and published by Eloquent Books. It should be on the market in January 2010. This is a really great book about time travel, among other very sci-fi things. I am very excited and am very proud to have this be my first book cover.

Time Will Tell, 15.5" x 24", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2009.

Goblin Watcher

2009-10-19T13:22:00.001-04:00

This is my second attempt at a Wizards of the Coast sample. It is a goblin watching over the castle where he resides. If you look closely you will see that instead of a candle in the lantern, there is a glowing humming bird that is used to light the way. I'm quite proud of this piece, hope you all like it too.

Goblin Watcher, 10" x 14", Oil on Paper on Masonite, 2009.

Hand of Flame

2009-10-07T16:36:00.001-04:00

Hello All,

It has been way long since I last updated this thing. I have been very busy doing a book cover piece. Anyway, here is my final for the Hand of Flame piece I teased about so long ago. In a couple days I will post my Goblin Watcher piece. Hope you like.

Owen

Hand of Flame, 10" x 14", Oil on Paper on Masonite.

Goblin Watcher process 1

2009-08-26T16:53:00.001-04:00

Just started another new painting. I'm really happy with the drawing, hope I can carry that through to the final painting. This is just the ground so far.

Hand of Flame process 2

2009-08-25T14:06:00.001-04:00

I added flames. Scott Murphy and I took some reference last night of flames. Don't play with fire. This was work (and not play) so obviously this rule did not apply to us at this time. There will be more flames coming from the middle of the hand in the future, cause right now it looks like a flame behind a hand.

Hand of Flame process 1

2009-08-24T10:51:00.000-04:00

Since I came back from Comic-Con San Diego, I'v realized I need more high fantasy pieces. This is my attempt at one of those Magic cards that depict spells or items. Soon I shall put in flames and such.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

2009-07-19T18:30:00.000-04:00

This is the final image of the piece I did at the Illustration Master Class. The image is of the Wizard on a balcony of the Emerald City. As he looks through his spyglass, he sees Dorothy's house tumbling out of the sky. I wanted him to be conveying this feel of angst, wondering if the truth behind his character will be found out by the people that worship him.

Elk

2009-07-19T18:28:00.001-04:00

Sorry this took so long, this is my Elk.

Elk, 5" x 5", Oil on Masonite, 2009.

Best in Show

2009-06-10T17:54:00.000-04:00

I was just awarded a Best in Show prize for "The Lands March" from the Dalton Arts Guild. The show is up at Miller's Art Supply on 205 West St. in Pittsfield, MA 01201. Please go check it out if you are in the area. The Dalton Arts Guild has always supported my work, dating back to high school when they gave me my first award, a First prize in the Student category for a sculpture I did of a Tapir.

Grizzly Bear

2009-05-27T18:41:00.001-04:00

Grizzly Bear, 5" x 5", Oil on Masonite, 2009.

Next up: Elk

White Stag

2009-05-18T12:03:00.001-04:00

In between my Running with Paintbrushes projects I am starting a series of 5" x 5" portraits of North American Mammals. For some reason I've always been drawn to the beauty of the hairy beings that roam my homeland. I came across the White Stag wandering through images of mammals, it's extremely rare and quite beautiful. I assume it's albino, but I have not researched it yet. Maybe I'll do a White Buffalo too... later.

White Stag, 5" x 5", Oil on Masonite, 2009.

If there are any requests for me to do one of your favorites please contact me. owweber@hotmail.com Commissions are always accepted.

Running With Paintbrushes

2009-04-18T22:10:00.000-04:00

So I should probably tell you all about my other blog, Running with Paintbrushes. This is a project I am currently working on with 2 of my best of friends, Rebecca Solow and Scott Murphy. We were great friends in the Illustration program at Hartford Art School. We moved to Astoria, NY together and have lived together until recently, when I moved into my girlfriend, Sarah's, Apartment.

This blog is meant to illustrate the varying ways in which we work, along with showing how each of us would tackle an assignment.

Each month (approx.) we will get a new assignment from a professional artist, art director, inspiration, etc. Then each week we will show our thumbnails, finished drawings, and Final paintings. It should be a lot of fun, and hopefully we will be able to keep it running until we become too busy with real illustration work.

So please follow us on our journey.

Will o' the Wisp

2009-04-01T12:21:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I have done a drawing with the intent that it would be a stand-alone finished piece. I wish I did t more often, there is something so wonderful about having no need to set up a work station, no palette to fill with paint, no easel to sit at, just the wonder of a pencil and a sheet of paper. I love this piece so much that in the future I would like to flesh it out a little more as a painting, but as for now I am completely satisfied.

Will o' the Wisp, 9" x 16", pencil, 2009.

Judith with the Head of Holofernes

2009-03-30T12:01:00.000-04:00

I just finished this piece last week, I had been working on it for the past month or so. The basis of the story is that Holofernes was this great general for the Assyrian army that was threatening the Jewish people. The night before a great battle, Judith snuck into the Assyrian Generals tent and seduced him. As he was sleeping she took a sword and cut his head off. The next day as the armies gathered, the Jews laid Holofernes body in the middle of the field and the Assyrian army fled. Judith is one of many incredibly strong Jewish women depicted in the Old Testament. I have been wanting to do this painting for a long time now. Now that it is done, I am thinking of creating a triptych out of the theme, we'll see how much time I will have in the upcoming year...

Figure Drawings 2/17/09

2009-03-18T10:08:00.000-04:00

I did these about a month ago. Pencil, white chalk and toned recycled paper. Finally got my butt back to figure drawing last night, so I'll post those soon. I guess thats it, ta ta for now.

Cassady

2009-03-16T16:04:00.000-04:00

This was a comissioned piece from Evan Caprari for his brother, Brian. The dog's name is Cassady. This piece has basically the same process as the portrait of Charlotte. It started with a line drawing with pencil, then outlined with white chalk.

Next I spashed some bright red and yellow and orange into the background. In order to do this I load up a bristle brush with a bit of paint and a lot of liquin. This makes the paint very light and flickable. I point the brush toward the surface and pull back the bristles with my thumb, rocketing the paint to make a splatter-like effect. Bill Thomson taught me this technique in college, except he used an old toothbrush. He said it was old but I suspected otherwise, when one day he came to class with purple teeth... at least i hope he lied to me...

Next I painted in one layer of the portrait once the splatters had dried. I was mostly using various degrees of cadmium red medium, cadmium yellow light, alizarin crimson, burnt siena, yello ochre, burnt umber, ultramarine blue, titanium white, ivory black, and a bit of ultramarine purple.

The last stage was just some finishing touches: adding some highlights to the hair, blending some of the colors more thoroughly, and giving her some nice bright spots on the nose and eyes.

Cassady was a very nice dog, I had known her from when she was a pup to some of her last days and it was always a joy to see her. I hope Brian enjoys the portrait.

Cassady, oil on masonite, 8" x 10", 2009.

Figure Drawings 1/20/09

2009-03-09T12:50:00.000-04:00

These are a few of my figure drawings from a couple weeks ago. I have been super lazy recently and haven't gone in a while. This week will be no different for I am going to the Watchmen tuesday night. But maybe next week...

These were all done on a recycled toned paper sketch book with pencil and white chalk.

La Sagrada Familia

2009-02-25T22:42:00.000-05:00

Last summer, I met my girlfriend, Sarah, in Barcelona for about 9 days. It was an amazing trip. I'm just now getting around to scanning a couple things, and I came across the watercolor sketch I did of the church Gaudi worked on until the tragic end of his life. La Sagrada Familia was such an incredible place, when it is finally finished it will undoubtedly be one of the greatest treasures Spain has to offer. I hope this will happen in my lifetime.

La Sagrada Familia, 7" x 10", Watercolor, 2008.

Bonnie and Clyde

2009-02-23T15:13:00.000-05:00

This is a piece I was just commissioned to do as a Script cover page. It's a Bonnie and Clyde musical that is in it's first stages of possibly getting made into a full on Broadway experience. The musical is mostly based on the romance behind this couple's love affair, not really the guns and violence. With that in mind the Art Director wanted the piece to be ultra sexy.

Bonnie and Clyde, 8" x 11", Watercolor, 2009.

Charlotte

2009-02-20T12:07:00.000-05:00

This was a commissioned portrait of my cousin's newborn. I started the piece by putting a couple layers of matte medium on a piece of untempered masonite. If you are to do this technique, make sure you get untempered masonite and not traditional building tempered masonite. There are harmful chemicals embedded in tempered masonite that will destroy your painting in the future. The matte medium should seal those chemicals in, but you never know.

Next I drew the portrait using pencil and going over the important lines with a white charcoal pencil.

Next, I started painting in the skin tones. I also wanted to give the edge a soft feel so I put a dark background color, a dark purple, and softened up the edges of the head.

Then I added in the rest of the skin tones and shirt. I chose yellow as a good shirt color in order to make it pop out from the purple.

After letting this dry I went back and glazed in some crimson into the cheeks and ears and nose. Some purple and greens into the eye sockets, and some blues and purples into the hair. I added in some spots of bright blues and greens and purples into the hairline. I've come to realize that when doing a portrait it is important to add some colors that aren't necessarily real. The idea behind a painted portrait is not to replicate a picture perfectly, but to add artistic touches that make the portrait unique and special. Making something a photo could never show.

Here is the final. I added swirls of color, because this is a baby's portrait and it needs some magical-ness. It is 8" x 10", Oil on Masonite.

The First

2009-02-18T18:09:00.000-05:00

This is my first post. The purpose of this blog is to display my technique and process in creating my artwork. I mostly work with oils on masonite, but this page will also give me an opportunity to show my quicker watercolor pieces that may not be finished enough for my main website. I have many of these that I feel are very nice and I would like people to see, but for one reason or another don't think they fit in my portfolio.

Thank you for visiting and from now on, there shall be some actual art on this thing.