Hesitance

"Hesitance," oil on board. 16x20"

"Hesitance" is the first piece in a new body of personal work. In the past, I haven't made a habit of blogging about the meaning behind my paintings, but with this new work I intend to. Aside from being created for my portfolio, it also has a deeper personal meaning, and I feel it deserves a companion blog post.

The past year has been a difficult time in my life, and an overarching theme has been change. I had been resistant to that change until recently, when it came to a head. I was forced to face it. This illustration and several others coming in the next few months deal with the issues I have been facing.

"Hesitance" deals with the concept of stages in life's journey, and subsequently, of change. I chose to use death as a metaphor for change, inspired by Viking funerals. In mythology (and religions for that matter), death is often seen not as an ending, but rather the next phase of one's journey. 

The archer is tasked with sending off a companion to the next phase of their life, and his flaming arrow is prepared to be fired. But he hesitates - he, too, will have to deal with the change brought forth by the absence of that companion. Perhaps he is grappling with the reality of this juncture, or silently saying a final goodbye...

When we are faced with moments of great change we are often hesitant to walk the new path. It seems treacherous - it's unexplored, unknown. Our archer knows he is marking the end of one life - one phase. But perhaps in the end, there can also be found a beginning.

As the sun sets on this day, and a chapter comes to a close, we may make peace under the stars. For in time, the sun will rise again, and the start of a new journey begins. 

Hitting the Ground Running

It's the second month of the New Year, and my first post for 2016 is a news update!

2016 started off with a bang and I've hit the ground running. Momentum is building and I'm excited for what this year could bring. It's going to be a year filled with many firsts for me, so to start, here's what I have coming up so far:

"Ares, God of War" Oil on board, 18x24". September 2015

Publications & Exhibitions:

• Infected by Art Volume 4:
• "Ares, God of War" (above) has been accepted into this year's annual fantasy publication! This is a big honor for me and I'm very excited for "Ares" to be my first illustration accepted into a juried competition. Thank you to IBA and the judges!

• Boris Vallejo & Julie Bell Tribute Exhibition: Opens March 19th, 2016. 
• "Ares, God of War" was also a finalist in the contest hosted by The Art Order. My painting and a small selection of other finalists will be exhibiting at Gallery Provocateur in Chicago, Illinois.
• Illuxcon 9 Showcase: October 19-23, 2016.
• This will be my first exhibition at a convention! I attended Illuxcon 8 in 2015 and can't wait to have a booth this year. Single day, Five day, and Student passes are available at the convention's website.

Website & Social Media Updates:

• Store: My Etsy shop, which primarily featured oil studies and plein air paintings, has been temporarily removed from my website. A new store with prints and originals of my illustrations is in the works and will be launched in the coming weeks. 
• Social Media Expansion: In addition to my established presences on Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter, and DeviantART, you can now find me on Art Station and Reddit. 

New Works:

• I have a few projects under NDA right now that I can't share yet but can't wait to do so! And as always, I'm working to update my portfolio with new works.
• With Illuxcon 9 coming up in October, I expect to have a new body of work to bring with me to the show.  I'm working on new paintings with the goal of releasing one per month for the next eight months. To finish off this post, here is the first painting of the New Year, "Jason & the Khalkotauroi". Some of you may recognize the image from an older version I painted last year, but that's for another post!

"Jason & the Khalkotauroi" A scene from the Greek Myth, The Argonautika. Oil on board, 20x31".  January 2016.

Painting a Gas Station in Gouache

In celebration of his most recent video, Gouache in the Wild, James Gurney hosted a competition to paint a gas station in gouache. The contest was simple: paint a gas station on location (en plein air) using only black & white gouache. The top ten paintings would be featured on Gurney's blog, Gurney Journey, with physical prizes going to a Grand Prize winner and three honorable mentions.

The winners were announced today - and I'm honored to be in the top ten!

My entry for the contest, gouache, 5x8"

The competition was fierce. Established veterans were joining the contest alongside gouache newcomers like myself, and the results speak for themselves. Everyone did a wonderful job, and I must say I'm certainly in great company in the top ten.

After watching Gouache in the Wild, I was intrigued by the medium, which seemed like a mix of qualities I enjoy in both watercolor and oil. The contest was a fun and exciting way to encourage artists from around the world to try out the medium, and it certainly hooked me.

James Gurney says of my entry:

“This painting by Nicholas Elias picks up on the weird forms of the superstructure above the pump, with all those fire prevention nozzles.  And it looks like he's got a cool palette rig to hold the sketchbook vertically.”

Many winners provided more information about their entries, so I wanted to share some more info about mine. James picked up on the structures above the pump, but when I first picked the subject, I was actually drawn to the old-fashioned full-service booth joined with a modern gas station. The gas station is a Sunoco right up the street from where I live, and I never noticed how uncommon the booth was until now.

Fittingly enough, as I was painting, the gas station attendent in the booth glared at me suspiciously for the entire two hour session. He seemed particularly bewildered when I first pulled up, sat on my trunk, and started setting up my tripod. But even after a couple of hours, he didn't seem to get used to it. Thankfully he left me alone to paint and didn't ask me to leave.

Posing for a shot on location with the painting nearly complete

James also picked up on my pochade rig, or what little of it was showing in the photo above. Many of you may already be familiar with my oil painting pochade box, custom built out of a cigar box. Modifying the box for painting with gouache was actually very simple. I took the top of an old 24 colored pencil set, turned it upside down, and it just so happened to sit perfectly on top of the removable oil palette in my box. The smooth aluminum surface was perfect for mixing gouache, and makes for easy clean up.

Modified pochade box for gouache

My pochade box already had a shelf that holds 1/8” boards in place, but it was thick enough to hold my sketchbook. In keeping with the spirit of trying new things, I used a watercolor sketchbook recommended by Gurney from Pentallic. The hard covers protect the delicate surface of gouache paintings, and I'm really enjoying the paper's surface with goauche. I have yet to try it with watercolor.

5 minute perspective sketch done in watercolor pencil which dissolved after being painted over.

From set up to clean up I was on location for two and a half hours. This was my second gouache painting ever, and it was already significantly stronger than my first. I'm eager to play with the medium more, and I'm thankful to James Gurney for his video and the contest for introducing me to such a wonderful new medium!