Hope all of you out there sharing this crazy winter weather are holding up ok. We had a crazy ice storm over the weekend which shut me down for a couple days. Was ok on the power front, but had no desire to brave the icy streets to get to the studio. Our dog, Gizmo, on the other hand loves the snow and is completely living it up. Unfortunately for us, he's got those short legs and his underside quickly becomes a little snowball collecting factory.
Look at this snow-loving goofball
Patreon Digital Painting
Made my first Patreon Digital Painting of the year and it was an involved one. So many details in this one. I've been working on a story for a while and this scene popped into my head. Hopefully I'll be able to share the larger story soon.
Underworld Conveyance - Digital Painting - 2022Underworld Conveyance - Detail
Some images are very hard to translate to small screens and this is definitely one of them. I ultimately had the print for this image in mind and it does look amazing as a print.
Photo doesn't quite capture the vibrancy of the print but you get an idea of the size.
You can find the prints in my Shop or follow the link below:
And one last thing. I have a new collection out with Gelaskins. They collaborate with artists to make phone cases, iPad/Laptop skins, and a whole manner of other products. Here is a sample of some of my new cases:
If you want some new swag for your devices, you can find my collection here:
Also, Gelaskins asked me to do a video for promoting on social media and this is what my studio mate, Steve, and I made for them. Its super weird but luckily they loved it! haha
Thanks as always for reading and supporting. You're all the best this world has to offer.
Happy Fall everyone and hope you all had a wonderful Halloween!
Looks like the hot breath of summer is finally off our necks and we're getting some proper Fall weather around here. Gotta say though, the leaves are a little spotty this year. Last year was just so amazing. The leaves were so vivid and they stuck around for so long. But if we ever needed a lovely Fall, it was last year. Last year was rough.
There is one way to keep Fall around longer and that's to bring some Fall love into my newest digital painting for my Patreon page. A few years ago, I started a new annual tradition of making a Halloween themed piece for October and its now something I really look forward to. Just love painting witches. Here's my piece for 2021 called, "The Eve of Rended Veils."
Prints are available now in my Shop. Here's the info on the print:
I apologize for the lack of posts on this Blog/Newsletter but man is it hard when the world seems to be falling apart around us. Plus there are so many damn outlets to consider these days and I'm being pulled around like crazy. It can spread you thin, so to keep what's left of my sanity, I've had to focus on just a couple venues to get me through. Those have been my Patreon and Instagram. When all is chaos you gotta keep things simple. So if you aren't signed up for any of those, you can find them here:
Speaking of Patreon, I've been continuing my Digital Painting journey and this year has been great for me. Here are some samples from my Digital Painting posts on Patreon.
Together in the Maelstrom 2021 - I started the year with a digital remake of Together in the Maelstrom so that I could offer it as an open edition print. The original print edition sold out super fast and it was the most requested print I would get by a long shot. It resonated so deeply with people and I wished I had it available to share that image with everyone that wanted one. So the best solution for that was to make a new one and I love the way it turned out. Also, I'm on schedule to make the next progression in this series as my 10th year wedding anniversary is coming up next year, and after the last couple years we've had, its gonna be a doozy. Face of the AncientBoon of the Deepest Light Hope for the LostThose of the Unbounded
These are all available as prints in my shop. Click here to check it out: Andy Kehoe Art Shop
Art Show News:
I have a couple group shows coming up in the next couple weeks.
The first is the Vanguard show at Outré Gallery in Melbourne Australia.
The show was supposed to open on August, but Melbourne is under another lockdown due to a certain dickhead virus that won't get the hint. They were hoping to hold out a bit to see if it would lift, but with no clear signs of letting up, they decided to release the online preview on Monday and hope for the best. Hopefully people can go see these pieces in person before it comes down.
Braving the Hereafter - 16"x20" - Oil, Acrylic, Resin on Wood Panel
The next show is the 16th Annual BLAB! Show.
Always an absolute honor and pleasure to be involved with BLAB! and seriously, look at that lineup. Amazing to be among such great and accomplished artists.
I don't have a piece to share yet unfortunately. Things are not going smoothly with this particular painting. The painting itself is looking great... but unforeseen circumstances are hindering me from finishing it. The first being that my cat Gremmy got really sick and my wife and I have been dealing with that for the last several days. Poor little guy got a urinary block and that ain't great for a cat. So he's been in the emergency clinic, but good news is that he's home now but we're in full monitoring mode. Besides some shaved arms, a shaved chunk of fur in the middle of his tail, and a shaved butthole, he's looking pretty good.
Thank goodness he's recovering. Don't know what I'd do without my little buddy.
On top of that, my painting just won't dry so that I can do the final layer. When I start the finishing details and line work, I always put a thin layer of Galkyd on top of the whole piece because it gives me a nice smooth surface to work on. Put it on Tuesday... and its still tacky. Ugh. Why??? This never happens. Maybe the humidity? I was behind as it was with the all-hands-on-cat-deck crisis, and this exactly what I didn't need. Giving me heart palpitations. Just goes to show you, paintings can be a fist fight sometimes, no matter where you are in your career. The painting is currently sitting right in front of my window AC unit. Fingers crossed.
Print Shop News:
I'll be releasing my Outré piece, Braving the Hereafter, as a limited edition print next Friday. I'll be releasing it alongside another painting I did earlier this year called, Lost Reverie. They're both going to be small editions of 50 so get them while they're available. I'll send an update next week to remind you all.
Lost Reverie
Also, I post a digital painting every month (this month excluded due to craziness) and I release the prints at the same time so be sure to keep on eye on that. Again, the best place is my Patreon and Instagram.
Son of a Krampus. Thanksgiving and the holiday season are upon us. How does this happen every year? One day there are inappropriately early Christmas decorations popping up and all of a sudden you're waking up on New Years day with a (hopefully) mild hangover, shaking confetti out of your hair, and wondering where the hell the last month and change went. As we helplessly drift towards the holiday black hole, there is but one hope to pull us from the maw of the jolly void... Cyber Black Cat
Cyber Black Cat returns to our dimension on December 4th, bringing a week long sale at Andy Kehoe Shop. All items will be 15% off including prints, originals, and puzzles. **Guild Members get an additional %15 off on top of their Guild Discount**
He'll also be bringing a print release along with him. (Details below)
Speaking of prints, I recently released my newest Patreon digital painting as a print and it is available now.
Liminal Communion
Printing this particular piece was pretty tricky due to the subtleties in the dark tones and I kept losing a lot of the details in my first attempts. I really love this image so I wanted the print to be as good as possible. This lead me to explore some different paper types and I eventually landed on a Satin gloss paper. It worked like a charm and really picked up those tiny details. This is the first print of mine that is printed on something other than matte paper and I think it fits this image so well.
Art Show News
I have a small 12"x12" painting heading down to a Thinkspace Group Exhibition at Scope Miami Beach 2019 Art Fair which opens on December 3rd. As always, a ton of amazing artists involved so check the Thinkspace site for more info.
The show pieces won't be up on their site until December 3rd so be sure to check back to see all the work. Here's my piece for the show: (if you're interested in purchasing this, use the Thinkspace contact page)
There Is No End - Oil on Wood - 12"x12" - $800
As alluded to above, this small piece will be the print released on Cyber Black Cat Wednesday. I've been wanting to add another small print option and this seems like a solid choice. Here's the print release info:
There Is No End
12"x12” including 1” white border
limited edition of 100
signed, titled, and numbered by the artist
$35
Last week was a record balmy scorcher that tried its best to melt my face and this week has been full of mild spring days... we've officially gone and broke the Earth. Until our inevitable catastrophic demise, here's some art to enjoy!
Omen Moon - 07/2019
This piece is my Patreon digital painting for July. I really wanted to figure out how to create planets like I do with my paintings, specifically how it made planets with resin. With resin, I would throw a bunch of wet oil paint into the poured resin and go to town to create those swirly textures. I discovered a filter in Photoshop that allows me to do something very similar. Here's a link to a process video if you'd like to see it in action.
Really happy with how the planet turned out and super happy with the piece overall. Getting more and more comfortable with the digital medium and getting more able to evoke the mood I want. But digital work isn't all I'm working on these days, so here's a traditional painting update.
Art Show and Traditional Painting Update:
I'm working on a few pieces for an upcoming group show called, "Unto the Unreal" which opens on November 8th at Red Truck Gallery in New Orleans. I've been wanting to show with Red Truck for a while so I'm super pumped to finally get a chance to exhibit with them. I'll have at least 3 pieces in the show and I'll definitely be attending the opening. I can't pass on a chance to visit New Orleans.
Also, I decided that I'm going to start making a small oil painting a month for Patreon. I'm going to start with some 8"x10" panels and go from there. I'll be posting these for sale on Patreon first then they'll be available to everyone else a week later.
Panels ready for weird art
I also have a couple Thinkspace group shows coming up in the Fall. More on that to come.
Print News:
I'll be releasing the new digital piece as a limited edition print tomorrow, Friday July 26th at 4:00 PM Eastern time. As always, prints will be released through Andy Kehoe Art Shop.
Here are the details:
Omen Moon - Limited Edition Print
Omen Moon
18”x22” including 1” white border
limited edition of 100
signed, titled, and numbered by the artist
$70
Thanks so much and stay cool out there... or stay warm. Who knows these days.
I'm here to announce the opening of my new Patreon Campaign. Hooray! Wow. Its really hard to type "Hooray" with out it seeming super sarcastic. But believe me, this is the opposite of sarcasm. This Hooray is drenched in scathing earnestness and a palpable almost disgusting optimism.
My Patreon Page is officially live so head on over there for all the details.
But to summarize here, the biggest changes I'm making with this relaunch is that I'm focusing on digital painting and switching to a per creation payment format. My plan is to make a digital painting every month and you'll only be charged for those digital painting posts. And there will never be more than one paid post a month so don't worry about me going nuts and posting 20 paintings in a week. I'm way more comfortable with this format as you won't be charged if I get wrapped up in an art show and can't provide new digital content.
Speaking of art shows, I'll continue to provide updates on all art shows and print releases through public posts so even if you don't become a Patron, it'll still be a great resource to follow for all Kehoe related news. I'll also continue my Progress Report posts where chronicle a painting from beginning to end. You can see an example of that here: Progress Report Example. Those posts will be provided for free to all Patrons.
I'll be posting my newest digital painting, Habituating the Unfamiliar, next Friday, May 24th. I'm going to post some time-lapsed video previews leading up to it. Here's a tiny preview for now.
Prints will be available immediately upon release for all Patrons and the wide print release will be a week later, Friday May 24th at 4:00 PM Eastern. More details on that print release to come soon.
Thanks you so much for those of you that sign up and welcome back to those that are rejoining for another round of adventures. I appreciate it all so very much.
Long time no update. As many of you know from earlier updates, I've been wading into the unknown waters of digital painting and I've spent the last few months getting familiar with these new tools. It's been a tough and confounding road to travel, but to be honest, I love new art toys so its been super fun as well.
Most of this time has been spent customizing my work space and finding Photoshop brushes that will allow me to create artwork in a similar way to my original work. I also wanted to make sure that my digital work would complement the aesthetics of my traditional paintings. When it comes down to it, there's only one way to improve at these things. Dive in, create a bunch work, punch the air & scream cry, and figure things out through some old fashioned trial and error... so many errors... so many scream cries. Anyways, practice and repetition go a long way in these matters.
I started a few pieces and played around with a ton of new techniques and tools to see what worked for me and what didn't. When working on a traditional painting, there are always moments in the beginning stages when everything looks like dumb garbage. It's all rough underpainting and half formed ideas, but from the experience of completing many, many paintings, I know that things will come together in the end. Though with this new medium, I reached that point multiples times, but lacking any experience of progressing past dumpster fire stage, I kept stalling out. This meant that my first few attempts were abandoned, stewing in their unfinished garbage water. In their place, new fresh pieces were started and hopes were renewed. None of this was in vain though as it's all a part of the process. Many lessons were learned along the way, new tools were added, and on the 5th or 6th attempt I ultimately got to a point in a piece where things started feeling pretty natural. I finally reached that sweet state of creating with out thinking and getting lost in the work. Love that zone. And I finished my first digital painting. Breakthrough! Who's scream crying now!?
Here's the piece:
Aligning Under New Skies
Since I was dealing with so many unknowns through out this process, I decided to create a piece with elements I was super comfortable with. Really happy with how it turned out and I'm super excited to start a new one. I'm also really excited to make prints from these digital pieces. When I make prints from my traditional work, it requires me taking it to get photographed proceeded by hours of touch ups and color correcting. Getting the more subtle colors correct is always very tough and one of the hardest things to do is to get the blacks just right. These digital pieces completely cut out that whole process. The colors are what they are and the blacks are deliciously perfect. So nice.
To make this a reality, I'm releasing this new piece as a print this Friday, March 15th, at 4:00 Eastern Time. As I hoped, colors came out great and black is super tasty. As always, the print will be released in Andy Kehoe Art Shop. Here are the details:
Aligning Under New Skies
22” x 17” (Includes 1” white border)
Limited Edition of 100
$70
Other News:
For those of you that were signed up for my Patreon page, you know that I paused my campaign to get familiar with digital painting. So the announcement of my first digital piece must have you wondering if I'm going to restart my Patreon campaign. The short answers is, YES! But before I relaunch, I'm going to do some restructuring and figure out ways to make the Guild rewards a little more streamlined. I'm also going to switch to a format where Patrons pay per creation instead of having a monthly fee. I plan on releasing a new digital piece every month, but if I get sidelined by art shows, then you won't be charged until I get back to digital painting. All traditional work and art show updates, including Progress Reports, will be posted free of charge to all Patrons. I'll also be adding some videos of creating digital pieces which will be super cool. So stay tuned. I hope to relaunch in the next couple months and I'll be sure to send out an announcement email to all former Guild Members.
I also have a couple group art shows in the works this year and I'll update you on those soon.
It’s been a while since any meaty art updates and this a going to be a big juicy slab of an update. (Note: This post will pair well with a spicy, bold red wine.) I’ve been super busy starting up a new endeavor that I hope will aid me in my quest into creative unknowns. What creative unknowns? That’s what I am going to find out. Confused? Me too. Pretty much always.
As you know, I’ve been making original works for galleries for over a decade and it’s a position I’m endlessly grateful for. It’s a privilege and an honor to hang my work up in these amazing galleries. I still have trouble figuring out how I actually pulled that off. Making a living by painting dragons, cats, trees, and the Cosmos is kind of a miracle. It’s been my obsession to keep pushing the bounds and scope of my work and I’m very proud of the evolution of that work. But…
(Yes, there’s a “but.”)
The “but” being that working as an exhibition artist was never intended to be the apex or end point of my creative ambitions. (Before I continue, I must stress that I will continue making original works for shows. I just intend to offset my creative time into other areas.) Branching out into other creative fields has been long time desire for me. Unfortunately, the all-consuming nature of my current work state has put all those desires on the back burner for years. At this point, those ambitions have been reduced down to burnt, black coal, but put that coal under some flame and you got… hot creative fire? Doesn’t make much sense but I’m running with it.
For instance, I’ve been writing off and on for years and I’d love some time to dedicate to writing and see what I can come up with. A book or some sort of animated project are dreams of mine but I need the time to really focus on that. Also, I recently invested in equipment to learn how to paint digitally. This medium will aid me immensely with any concept art work and possibly lead to some collaborative work. But as I said, I need the time to learn and master these digital tools before I take that next step.
How in the living hell can I reformat the very fabric of time?
It’s a conundrum I’ve long been trying to solve, and I think I might’ve found the answer. Patreon. If you’re unfamiliar with Patreon, it’s essentially a patronage system, where you support a creative with monthly subscription payments. Like Kickstarter, there are a number of tiers and each tier affords you a different rewards and access to a certain level of posts.
Here’s a video that explains it better than I can:
Here's a link for those that can't see the embedded video. Patreon Video
I’ve already launched the page in preparation to this announcement and it explains my creative goals with Patreon in better detail. You can find it here: ANDY KEHOE PATREON
Not only will this help me in other creative endeavors, but having a more sustainable income will greatly help me with my original work. As amazing as this job is, one thing it isn’t is consistent and predictable. Art sales should never be the standard of success, but its an undeniable factor when it’s how you make your living. I can honestly say that I’ve never let sales influence the course of my work. I guess I’ve been pretty lucky in this regard, because I never really had to. My work grew and evolved but my fans and collectors took the journey with me and supported me though it all. But times are changing and when work doesn’t sell like it used to, doubt creeps in and that little buried voice on financial practicality starts to get a bit louder. Time to slap that voice back to its “shut up hole.”
I appreciate all my collectors more than I could possibly describe with my addled, semi-coherent brain. That being said, I’d prefer not to be in a position where the only thing separating me from financial ruin is dependency on collectors buying my original work. That’s not ideal for anyone involved. So that’s another huge reason that I’m turning to Patreon. Having a sense of financial independence would allow me to continue with my passion of creating without the fear of it all coming crashing down.
With my Patreon launch, I also get to announce the MULTIVERSAL CREATURE GUILD. When you support my Patreon page, you can access this esteemed secret Guild that will connect you to like minds from multiple universes.
When you become e a member of the Guild you get a Welcome Kit including a Certificate of Membership, a Membership Card, and an Official Guild Hard Enamel Pin (to help you spot other Guild Creatures in the Human World.) I hope to see you among our ranks one day. Here are some pics of the Welcome kit items:
I'm very excited for this next chapter in my creative journey and I hope that you can join me for ride.
