An Independence Day Salute to our service men and women. This is some of what you missed if you weren’t able to attend the Stars and Stripes event recently.

Thanks to our friend Billy Gordon for everything…

Photos courtesy of kurtzphoto@yahoo.com
and
Motorcycle Charity Associates Inc. 501(c)(3)
www.MotorcycleCharity.org

Old friend, artist and musician, Eddie is a talented airbrush artist who specializes in cartoon characters, illustrations, mascots, story-boards, animation and toy design.

Visit his site to see his portfolio and learn about his music.

Paulo is a busy guy… and it’s the kind of busy we like. He’s done a couple of events since last emailing us. The video here is from his most recent, done last Thursday (June 25th) night for the Whistler Film Festival at Four Seasons Vancouver. He tells it was a pretty fun event, having decorated two girls before the start and the third as part of the evening’s entertainment. All seemed to go well - he says the girls had a good time, and lots of were photos taken of them. We’re glad he sent a few our way in the form of the video below to share with you.

Visit PainterTainment for more great body art projects by Cary and Paulo - the talented couple up north.

Track back to our previous post on Cary & Paulo.

We recently announced the Stars & Stripes event at the Playboy Mansion benefiting the Wounded Warrior Project. Today’s Pic of the Week is a little body painted teaser from that event. Watch for more pics to come.

www.MotorcycleCharity.org
www.MotorcycleCharityAssociates.org

Thanks to Billy Gordon from Motorcycle Charity Associates Inc. for providing this week’s Pic of The Week. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Why do we love black paint? Because it’s velvety reflection off the canvas seems to create intimate mysterious caverns. Because added to our favorite colors it creates dramatic luscious shadows. Because it outlines some of our favorite objects. Black draws the line, without apology. Yet, many famous painters extradited black from their palettes because it was too overpowering while other artists, such as Van Gogh, were fascinated with its capabilities and allure.

Ivory Black— Ivory Black was first described in the 4th century B.C. Ivory scraps were crammed into clay pots topped with an iron lid, leaving little air in the pots. The ivory was then exposed to high heat, producing a very intense black. A cheaper method was invented by the Romans by burning ordinary animal bones instead of ivory which became known as Bone Black and soon replaced Ivory Black. Artist began referring to Bone Black as Ivory Black interchangeably. What we commonly know today as Ivory Black is actually Bone Black; however, there are a few distinctions. True Ivory Black has higher carbon content than Bone Black and is more intense. Consider it the refined sister of Bone Black; much more finely ground, luminescent and velvety in hue.

Ivory Black is an all purpose black that has a weak tinting strength and is slightly warm in color. It is a good choice for mixing greys, tinting and mixing with other colors. In oil, Ivory Black is a very slow drying color therefore not a good choice for underpainting or leaner layers. It produces a soft and brittle oil paint. It can never be used in Fresco as it crystallizes.

Mars Black— Mars Black was developed much later in the 20th century. It the most popular black not made from carbon and considered fully non-toxic. Mars Black is not as dense and dark as Ivory Black. However, it has a much better tinting strength. It is slightly warm in tinting strength but cool in mass tone. Mars Black is extremely opaque. It is more matte in surface sheen and has a faster drying time than ivory black. Some other names on the market for Mars Black are Black Iron, or Black Iron Oxide. It is an excellent black to use where the painter really wants to use a strong opaque black, or needs a black for leaner layers in oil painting. Also, if animal by-product use bothers you in your paint supplies, Mars Black is the Vegan Choice of blacks as it does not use any animal products to produce.

Lamp Black— Lamp Black was originally produced by collecting soot, also known as lampblack, from oil lamps. This was the black preferred by the Egyptians and can be found on Egyptian murals and tomb decorations. Lampblack was also used in creating India ink, and was a main component in early American house paints. It sometimes also referred to as Soot Black, Flame Black, and Carbon Black. Lamp Black possesses a more intense and pure black than charcoal with a slightly brown mass tone and bluish undertone in tints.

Lamp Black, as an oil color, is one of the slowest drying colors. It should never be used underneath other oil colors unless mixed with an alkyd or fast drying medium, or a fast drying color such as Umber. It is semi-opaque with a cool undertone. It is not particularly a good color for mixing with other colors, but it is excellent for subtle outlining, line work, emulating ink effects, etc. Its slight transparency also makes it good for over-toning colors with a wash of lamp black.

Vine Black— Vine Black belongs to groups of blacks that are generally made by burning grape vines, cork, and other woods or vegetable products. Some other types of these blacks are called Drop Black, Frankfort Black, Peach Black, Spanish Black and Blue Black. The Blue Black name comes from the fact that these types of blacks tend to have a strong bluish undertone. These blacks also tend to be less intense and deep to their other carbon counterparts. Vine Black has less popularity due to reputation alone of being less pure and inferior to other blacks. Although it is slightly less lightfast, it is still a very useful black to use especially in portraiture. Because it has a low tinting strength, and produces a subtle cool gray, it is excellent for toning down flesh tones without dirtying the color. Also, if animal by-product use bothers you in your paint supplies, Vine Black is the another Vegan Choice as it does not use any animal products to produce.

Las Vegas Make-Up/Body artist Angela Rutledge creates a “Super-Heroine” for a recent photo shoot. Just MzBHaven in the studio.

A few thoughts on goin’ with the flow by Dennis Mathewson and a great work in process video on his “Fusion” bike.

Trackback to previous post about the “Fusion” bike.

Provided by Dennis Mathewson at Cosmic Airbrush and Cosmic Tiki are © 2009 copyright Dennis Mathewson. Used by permission.

Make-up artist Angela Rutledge of MzBeHaven in Las Vegas using one of her Essential Seven templates from Artool and her Iwata HP-C for a flawless finish on model Anna.

See more of A.D. Cook’s art on his new website at ADCookFineArt.com

“Art Print Issues by Barney Davey”

I met Contemporary Folk and Urban Pop artist Anne Leuck Feldhaus on Facebook and am glad I did. Shortly after that encounter, I saw a mention from her about her first billboard.

Immediately, there were two things about the notice that impressed me. To begin, the implied confidence when one reads, “My First Billboard” is great! It says the artist is already thinking there are more in the future.

Confidence is contagious folks, let yours out of the bag. And, if you have to, fake it until you make it. Outsiders can’t see you shaking on the inside. You will always be your own best promoter. No one can ever explain what is going on with your art or your career they way you can. Just don’t let yourself get in the way.

The second thing I like about Anne’s billboard is that it is striking and unusual. I realize if you are a landscape or portrait artist, you may have less opportunity for landing a billboard like Anne, but that should not stop you from seeking unique ways to get your art into the public eye. If you are a sports artist, can you find posters, programs or promotional literature in your area to vie for? If you are a pet artist, how about finding the local Humane Society, a large vet practice or an animal shelter group to work with?

There are synergies and opportunities just waiting for you to find them and to do something about them once you do. Get the idea for the connection first, think it through how your art can make a difference to the group you want to pitch. Don’t think that because you don’t know anyone that you are stuck. Last August, I published a post, Six Degrees of You. It offers lots of suggestions on how you can use your current relationships to reach out far beyond what you might consider possible.

Start to train yourself to think about ways to get noticed that are out of the mainstream. There is nothing wrong with pursuing galleries, building a following on Facebook or Twitter, or having an online presence on any of the myriad art sites aimed at collectors and consumers. Working at those activities is advisable, especially when one sees what have been traditionally reliable venues slipping closer to obsolescence than ever.

The reports from attendees and exhibitors at tradeshows this year have not been optimistic. One can count see the size of the venues dropping and feel the attendance has grown smaller. The trade magazines in their current slim sizes bear witness to their own lessened importance and impact in the market place. While they are not moribund, they are far from the peaks when a consistent program with them would reliably drive traffic.

While in the past it has been important to promote your art in creative ways. Now, it is critical. The attention span of consumers is fractured more than ever. The readership of newspapers and magazines is dwindling. Network audiences are growing smaller while online video viewing is increasing along with time spent on social media sites. Many expect to get breaking news on Twitter, not CNN and that trend is growing.

Thinking about and acting upon how to get your most striking compelling image or images placed or used in unusual ways ought to be moved to the top of your art business promotion criteria. It is okay to feel nostalgic for what was, but don’t let it stop you from moving forward on what is. People are always going to want to own art. That is no different from the past. What is different is how they will first encounter art and artists. Seek ways to uniquely promote your art, you will be glad you did.

Last week we brought you the 8 Second bike, painted by Dennis Mathewson. Today we bring you the 2 minute video.

MzBHaven -Raven, showing off her
Anest-Iwata LPH-80 spray gun.