I'm announcing some big news for this summer, 2019.  I will be setting up an atelier where students can come study, develop their portfolios for college and learn traditional art techniques.  I'm looking to launch the venture in June/July and am currently choosing a final location in Northern NJ.  My long-time friend and brilliant artist, Asem Ahmed, will be joining me in teaching along with some very talented guest artists.
  This is an idea that I've been considering for a number of years and will be reminiscent of 19th century ateliers where students could work from the live model and learn traditional techniques such as framing and canvas making.  My years of teaching have been preparing me for this and I know now's the right time with the resurgence of academic art across the world.  Stay tuned for more news as the summer draws nearer.

  I am going back to some basics in my colors and I've removed all the colors that I didn't deem necessary for me.  The palette of colors below is based on many different sources and is a combination of traditional (academic) colors along with a few "modern" pigments; by "modern" I mean colors that came onto palettes in the ages of Impressionism in the late 19th and early 20th century (cadmiums + cobalt and cobalt violet).  It's not as limited as some palettes, but I think this is a very well rounded palette for figurative work as well as landscape, still life and genre paintings.  I'll be using it and always experimenting and evolving.

Palette:
-Silver White (mixture of flake + zinc)
-Chrome/Cadmium Yellow Light
-Yellow Ochre
-Cadmium Orange
-Vermillion
-Chinese Vermillion
-Alizarin Crimson
-Venetian Red
-Burnt Sienna
-Emerald Green (Veronese Green)
-Viridian
-Cobalt Blue
-Ultramarine Blue
-Cobalt Violet
-Raw Umber
-Ivory Black

  I'm excited to be going back to Chicago in mid April to visit my very dear friend.  I miss him a lot and I really, really need to get away for a while.  I really enjoyed Chicago the last time I was there and I'm looking forward to going back and having fun, seeing some great paintings at the Art Institute, eating some deep dish pizza, jumping in Lake Michigan, and seeing what else happens.  Traveling is the most important thing for self discovery.
  I've personally been feeling very restless lately and I know that I need some changes in my life and to work on myself.  It's hard to leave people behind, but I know everything works out.  I really appreciate and cherish my friends.  I love you guys and I couldn't make it without you.  

  I finished up this memorial portrait and I'm very excited to give it to my patron.  The portrait progressed very smoothly and I really enjoyed working on it.  I really tried my best to capture a feeling of life and spirit in this piece.  
​  As a side note on technique, I had some thoughts about oiling out, which is the application of a thin layer of oil before you begin to paint to bring out sunken colors.  I recently read that oiling out could provide some problems for the longevity of your painting; the problems could arise from the fact that oil yellows with age and there's no way of removing old oil, unlike an old varnish.  I'm always concerned about the longevity of my paintings and thus, I will not be oiling out in the future.  I used to think it was necessary in order to ease my paint strokes, but that isn't true anyway.  Painting is an endless mystery.

  Have a nice evening everyone--