Aaron Thompson

Open Studio.

2009-08-04T12:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this post is a little late. Anna Fox Ryan and I held an Open Studio event in June. It was a great turn out, and we plan to do it again this Winter. I missed those of you who could not be there, I hope to see you at the next one. If you are interested and live in the Savannah area, feel free to email me and I will make sure you get an invitation to the next event.

Thanks to The South Magazine who was there to document the event. There are more photos on their website @ Thesouthmag.com. You can also find a great article about Artist Anna Fox Ryan in the July issue.

Also, thanks is in order to Janie and Peter Broadhead of Brighter Day Natural Foods for donating delicious munchies for the event.

Fellow artists, Anna Fox Ryan and Christine Sajecki. We will have our work showing together in Lisbon, Portugal this Fall.

For the Benefit of Statts.

2009-08-04T12:40:00.001-07:00

I had the opportunity to have one of my pieces auctioned of for the "Benefit of Statts." The event was a smashing success. Susan Laney and crew did an amazing job. I was very proud to be a part of such a good cause, and I look forward to donating next year.

"Anna" - IN PROGRESS.

2009-08-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

"Anna" in progress. 18"x24"

This will be complete as soon as my fiance' finds the time to just sit still. In other words, in all likeliness I will never have the chance to finish this! Only time and patience will tell.

I have to apologize for the horrible image quality of the new couple of posts. Our comrade and photographer, had an unfortunate time with the theft of his equipment. So these a re taken on my little pocket camera.

Head Study.

2009-08-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

"Head Study" 11"x14"

I have been attending life painting sessions at SCAD for some time now. For the most part I am self taught as a painter, except for the extra curricular advice that I have received from Roger Walton and John Rise, of which I am forever grateful. In this painting session, Roger worked with me on using grays vs hue saturation. It is a tough concept when working alla-prima, but I am beginning to get a handle on it.

Little Tybee.

2009-08-04T11:20:00.000-07:00

Little Tybee Study. 9"x11"

I decided to do a little plein-air painting a few weeks ago. It is always interesting to break routine, and throw something new into the mix. This is my first plein-air painting, so I have learned a lot from the experience. Move fast, enjoy the changes in the weather, and streamlining is absolutely neccassary.

2009-02-23T20:36:00.000-08:00

I did this a few months ago when I was frustrated with the lack of sitters to paint. I was not painting at all, so I decided to paint for the sake of painting. Two things resulted from it. This painting, and an end to an artistic drought. Sometimes you have to just keep swimming. Thanks Dorie.

"Linda"

2009-02-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

I am continuing to attend life painting. This is from Saturday's sitting. I had a little bit of a rough start; I spilled my cup of coffee in the parking lot, was late to set up, picked a spot and when my back was turned a professor had moved me, and it was really crowded. After I took a few deep breaths to calm down, I was able to pull myself together and I feel like I got into a good rhythm.

Anna

2009-02-23T20:19:00.000-08:00

Study of Anna. 8"x10". Oil on canvas.

Self Portrait II

2009-02-23T20:13:00.001-08:00

This is from an earlier post, it is a much better picture. Thanks Skip.

I have been a little frustrated with working from pictures so often. It is no comparison to working from life. However, I have had a difficult time finding people with extra time on their hands to sit still for a couple hours. (I find it amusing considering how much time people sit around watching the Tele. or playing video games.) Anyhow, I decided to paint the one person who is always available when I am. This is still in progress.

"Earnie"

2009-02-23T20:02:00.000-08:00

"Ernie". Oil on canvas. 18"x24". I have begun attending a life painting session on Saturdays. I really enjoy it and it is a great exercise in color mixing. This was my first attempt. It was two 3 hour sessions, including the breaks it was more like 5 hours that I spent on this. Over all I am happy with the results, it is the first time I have ever painted from life under North light. It was challenging, and I learned a great deal. I am looking forward to the next session on Feb. 14th. In the mean time, I am working on a 3'x4' commissioned portrait. More on that later.

An experiment.

2009-02-23T19:56:00.003-08:00

I did a little experiment with this. I have been playing with drawing techniques that would be more painterly in it's expression. This is the result.

Life Drawing

2008-09-27T07:56:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on Paper. 10"x14"

I had the opportunity to do a little life drawing yesterday. It's been some time, and I really enjoyed getting back into it. These were about forty minute poses. I can't wait to have a full hour, I'm already chompin' at the bit.

2008-09-27T07:44:00.000-07:00

Man. Charcoal on Paper 8"x10"

Anna

2008-09-21T07:53:00.001-07:00

Things have been very busy lately. I am developing a new series of paintings, as well as a couple commissions, moving into the new studio space. Yesterday I decided to take a break and do a little drawing just for the fun of it. Being that there is no one I would rather stare at for a couple of hours, I drew Anna.

Susanna

2008-08-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

Charcoal on BFK.

2008-07-01T19:56:00.000-07:00

I have finally begun to catch my breath after graduation. Congratulations to the class of '08. I have been in my sketchbook, finally got my studio set up, and beginning to do some work for myself. I am stretching out a bit. ( I'm a little tired of working so small.) So, I'm beginning work on a few paintings. This is first up on the easel. I will continue to update it's progress.

"Obama"

2008-04-05T11:54:00.001-07:00

In politics as well as Editorial Illustration
it is always easier to take the low road, and
for quite some time now I think there has
been "a glass half empty" kind of view in
the United States of America. I created this
editorial illustration, because I wanted to
show how far we have come as a country,
and a people; rather than taking the easy
road and adding one more needle to the
proverbial haystack.