Derek C Wicks: World Of Blogs

Spring 2012 Enewsletter

Snow & Water Workshops In my last Enewsletter I announced the two workshops that will be held in Barrie, well they are finally booked! Two workshops will be run with a limit of 15 participant in each class. I hate to limit the numbers, but I found that anymore and I can not give everyone quality one on one time. The First is the Snow Textures workshop were we will be painting “Into the Briar”. This workshop will be a three day workshop held on June 22, 23, 24, 2012 at the Barrie Art Club. Space is limited to 15 people and there is only 6 spaces left as of today. If this workshop fills there will be a second set of dates announced. The second workshop is the Moving Water workshop schedueled for July 13, 14 & 15, 2012 again at the Barrie Art Club. This workshop is almost full with only 4 spots remaining. Again, if class exceeds 15 people a second date will be schedualed. I have created a full day by day detailed descriptition page on both workshop. The information page is available here. Feel free to contact me with any questions or inquires about the workshop, my dorr is always open! Workshops   Nominated For Artist Of The Year   I received a very flattering call from the Oro-Medonte Chamber of Commerce on Friday. It seems I have received several nomination for the “Artist Of The Year” at the Chamber of Commerce 2012 Business Excellence Awards. What I think is great about this is that artist very rarely receive any kind of acknowledgement from government or the powers that be as valued members of the business community. Personally I think that very single one of us ‘artists’ should be recognized for more then just our talents. The Arts not only feeds the cultural needs of a society, it also creates interest in the region the county or the municipality. Artist’s are usually over looked as legitimate business people. Think about how hard it is for all of us to create interest in ourselves and our work, promote our product (in this case our work) to the public and then establish a revenue flow to sustain us. Most people forget that artist have mortgages, car payment and so on and so on. For the county to even consider me is a greater honor then the DU National Artist of the year awards or the Smithsonian invite, why you ask? Because it not only acknowledges the art ability, but the ability to run a successful business. If I win this award, I win it for ever one of us that struggles every day to follow our dream. On The Easel   As the painting for the Celebration of Wildlife Art original is almost done I will be moving on to a couple of new commission that a few collectors have been patiently waiting on. The next painting is one several of you might remember from last year on my blog. It is a composition of a male Cardinal in a winter setting. I am really anxious to start this painting, I think I might even film the painting and make a “Start to finish” DVD from it. I will post its progress to my blog as it comes along. Derek Wicks Cardinal Comp. Happy Painting Everyone!

Celebration of Wildlife Art 2012 Painting In Progress Have you ever had one of those weeks were everything just comes apart? And to top it all off these bad weeks always come at the most inopportune time, Murphy’s law, right? Well the last two weeks have been the poster boy for Murphy’s law. I had the second Hard Drive failure of the year for me. Usually this is not a big deal as all my files are backed up. Here comes the but…. but I just bought a new Apple with OSX Lion operating system on it and guess what…. it hates me (LOL). Now do not get me wrong in the end I have found Lion to be a fantastic operating system, it is the delivery of the operating system that sucks! Let me explain. Apple has decided that the operating system for their new computers will be a download instead of having an operating disk in the box when you get your new computer. To make a long story short I had to download and reinstall the OSX 4 times and each download is 6 Gigs big. Apple does not save the OSX as a download so if you start installing again, it is an all new download. Of course all this comes as I am trying to meet the May 1 deadline for having my new painting to the Celebration of Wildlife Art Show in Kenai, Alaska. Despite the severe mental hardship that I have to overcome this last to weeks (feel sorry for me yet?), the painting is coming along nicely and should be completed in about three days. I will post the finished product to my blog on completion.

Celebration Of Wildlife Art 2012 Painting

Once again I am on to an new painting without finishing the last one. It turns out that my reference for a raven is actually a crow. Not a good thing for a Haida Totem pole painting to get the species wrong, especially if the totem is depicting a raven! I will have to spend some time to convert my crow to a raven ( larger, v-shaped tail, pointed wing pattern and so on). In the mean time I have to produce a painting for the “Celebration Of Wildlife Art 2012″ show in Kenai, Alaska by April 27 and I am running out of time. As fate would have it the situation made me re-look at some old compositions and one stood out that I have wanted to paint for some time. This composition actually started off as a family of Dall’s Sheep until I found out that the rams do not stick around after mating, talk about having your fun with no commitment…… I want to be a Dall’s Sheep! After changing the composition to a pair of rams, I loved the layout even more. Here is the painting in stage one, I hope to have more of the painting posted early next week. Happy painting everyone.

Barrie, Ontario Workshops Scheduled!

Hello everyone, I trust everybody is enjoying this early spring we are having! I am very happy to announce that two workshops have been schedueled in Barrie, On for this summer. I know that these workshops are long overdue and that I have been promising them for quite a while now, but they are finally booked! I will be running this workshop and will be over seeing all aspects of these workshop(s). Enough of the small talk here are the details!

“Into The Briar” Snow Workshop June 22, 23 & 24, 2012 This workshop will be a full instruction on the painting “Into The Briar”. This workshop will be concentrating of the creation of snow textures and how to incorporate then into the environment. How to create mood through lighting will also be a vital part of this workshop. Learn how to create subtle shapes and lighting and how to bring the whole painting together with fine detail. Full details and a day to day itinerary are listed on the information page on my website. Click Here For More Details

Into The Briar

Moving Water Workshop July 13, 14 & 15, 2012 The second workshop is the much requested water workshop. This workshop is already half full. This workshop concentrates on the three major facets of water, translucent, reflective and cascading. We will also learn how to create sea foam and bubbles. This workshop is not only designed to instruct on how to create water textures, it also shows the participants how to create the “moving water” look both above and below the surface. Full details for this workshop is also available online at my website. Click Here For More Details I LOOK FORWARD TO PAINTING WITH EVERYONE THIS SUMMER!

Water Workshop

Progress on Totem & Raven painting

My new original for the Celebration of Wildlife Art 2012 in Kenai Alaska is well on its way. I got a little behind last week as I was very sick. We think that I caught a case of the Norwalk virus that is going around, not fun stuff. On a more pleasant note I am back in the full swing of painting again and I am very happy with the way this painting is turning out. I had a little trouble deciding on which way I wanted to approach doing the tree-line, but eventually I focus on one attach and went to town on it. Tomorrow I will start building the trees up and then concentrate on the Totem by weeks end. I will be sure to post more in the next couple of days. Happy painting everyone.

Painting is strting to come along

Derek C Wicks Enewsletter

Whats On The Easel   At this point there is actually several paintings that are on the go. First is my painting of the North Shore of Lake Huron.  I have been working on this painting here and there between commissioned pieces for some time now and it looks like it will be bumped again for other jobs. The second painting in works is a piece for the Celebration Of Wildlife Art 2012 show in Kenai, Alaska. I have been asked to paint two or three paintings for this show that will run from June 1 to September 3, 2012. The piece I am working on right now is a raven flying through the forest past a Haida totem pole. I have wanted to paint this painting for a long time and I am very happy to have the chance to finally work on it.  Be sure to visit my blog regularly over this summer as I will be very busy painting commissions for the Algonquin Show, Michelle & Fidel Singh, Collen & Dave Stewart and plan on posting the progress of each painting every couple of days. To read the first entry of the totem pole painting visit my blog at my wildlife art website.     Alaska Research Trip A Go In my last Enewsletter I broke the news of my inclusion in the Alaska research trip to collect reference for the  “Visions Of The Boreal Forest” show at the Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian, well I have the itinerary, 6 weeks of hell (lol). I am a member of both the Alpine Team and the Kobuk Team, what can I say, I am a gluten for punishment. This trip is such a once in a lifetime honor and opportunity that I figured I would bite the bullet and push the limits traveling the full 500 miles of the trip. The trip will start with a helicopter drop in the Kobuk Mountain range and end 500 miles down river in Kotzebue Alaska. The trip will range from traveling the alpine rapids by canoe to paddling the Grizzly filled shores of the Kobuk river and end with a maritime paddle of the coast in the Bearing Strait. Below is the simplified itinerary of the trip. 1. July 25: Alpine team put in on Noatak (could be the same or a bit later – Aug 1 – for any of the recon contingency options) 2. August 7: Kobuk team put in on Kobuk at Art Mortvedt’s cabin (water level allowing). Secure place to wait for Alpine team 3. August 7-9: Rendezvous 4. August 9-10: Continue downstream on Kobuk: no rapids, no portages 5. August 30: Arrive Kiana, AK 6. September 7 +/-: Arrive Kotzebue, AK 7. September 7 +/-: Return by scheduled air service to Fairbanks, AK 8. September 7+/-: Celebratory dinner Fairbanks, AK 9. September 8 +/-: Return flights to points south  Here is a link to a Google maps page that shows the trip stops: Alaska Trip Map. I will also be landing in Alaska a few days early to make an appearance at the Celebration Of Wildlife Art 2012 show in Kenai, Alaska. Making this trip just short of seven weeks long! I can not wait to go, I am like a small child waiting for Christmas! I plan on presenting my trip in a video / slideshow at my studio during the Images Studio Tour. I want the people who have supported me over the years to be the first to see the trip and the ideas I have for the paintings to be made from the research trip. I will post more info closer to the show in October.   BARRIE, ON – ART INSTRUCTION WORKSHOP I have received a lot of emails requesting a local workshop in the Barrie, ON area. I am in the process of trying to acquire a space in Barrie to conduct two separate workshops, one on moving water and the other painting “Into The Briar” snow piece. I am hoping to book something in the June to July time frame. If you have any requests on different workshops or would like to be added to the contact list for one or both of these workshops contact me by clicking here. Add what workshop you would be interested in taking in the “comments” area of the contact sheet .Your name , email and phone number are the only other info required. I will post info to both the wildlife art website and the how to paintwebsite as information becomes available.     Happy Painting {!firstname}!

Great Time at the SEWE Show Another wonderful year at the SouthEastern Wildlife Expo in Charleston, South Carolina. I had the chance to visit with old friends and new friends and spend a little time with my Cousins from Florida that come up to SEWE over the weekend. It is always nice to see family you don’t get to see very often. Above is my good friend John Hoffman, Maureen and I in my booth posing for our glamour shot. John is the proud owner of “African Penguin Study”. This is John’s second original of mine, he also owns “Sport Of Kings” African Lion. I always have a lot of fun with John at ever show, thanks for being such a great guy! I would also like to congratulate Don Rambadt on his purchase of “Water Study”. For those of you who do not know Don he is one of the most talented sculptors I have ever had the privileged of knowing. Not only is he a world renowned sculptor who was the featured sculptor at the SEWE show this year, he is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Thanks Don and congrats!   I also want to thank Collen & Dave Stewart for joining me in Charleston, I had a lot of fun with both of you and look forward to our “art” conversations in the future, you are always welcome at my place. Charleston really is a great time every year. There is no show as grand as the SEWE show and I hope every art lover has the opportunity to experience it at some point. Upcoming Events     Algonquin Art CentreOriginal Art showcaseJune-Sept 2012 Celebration Of Wildlife Art 2012 Original Art showcase Kenai, Alaska June 1 -Sept 3 2012 Alaskan Eagle Workshop May 25-27, 2012 Ingersoll, ON (519) 485-0977 Contact: Moe Shier

Raven & Haida Totem In Progress

As i said in the late post, I knew the Lake Huron painting would get bumped for something else. In this case it is a good thing. I have been asked to do a few paintings for the Celebration of Wildlfe Art 2012 in Kenai, Alaska this summer and I have accepted. As if I did not have enough commitments to make good on , I go and make more! I just hate to say no. The first painting is a raven soaring through the forest above a Haida totem pole. I had originally wanted to create this original as one of my art instruction videos, but never did. Know many years later I am going to get to paint the painting I wanted to start almost 5 years ago. Here is the blocked in beginning to the painting, I will be sure to add some new posts as the painting progress’s. Happy painting everyone!

Painting In Progress of Raven & Haida Totem

Lake Huron Painting In Progress

Well it was been awhile since my last post, sorry everyone. I have had a little time to work on the Lake Huron painting that I started before the rash of commission work I have been doing ( which is very welcome by the way). I will be starting two more commissions after I get back from this weekends SouthEasthern Wildlife Art expo in Charleston, SC so I guess this poor painting will get set aside yet again. I love the colour and sense of depth in this painting and I am really looking forward to working on it and bringing out textures of the rocks! I keep changing my mind on how i am going to “texturize” the main rock, probaly shoud have done a small colour rough first. I will post some shots from the SEWE show this weekend and will be sure to have some new art posts for everyone to look at in a week or so. Happy painting everyone.

Painting in Progress

“Nu’thin Bruin” Grizzly Cub coming along

Fidel & Michelle Singh’s commissioned original is starting to come alive. Spent the last two days working out the colour changes in the main “meat” of the log. Wanted to make sure the the subtle tonal changes are in the painting, but keep it from looking busy. Two or three more working days and this painting will be complete. Hope to have a new post of the original finished early next week. Happy painting everyone.

Tree starting to come along.

“Nu’thin Bruin” progess report

Have had to put out a lot of “fires” around the studio the last three days, not much time to paint. Have made good progress on the cub painting for Fidel & Michelle Singh, the head is looking good and I will move on to the log on Monday. Cubs head is looking a little dull right now, but will wait until more of the colour in the log is built up, could change very thing. I will try to have new posts on Wednesday for everyone. Happy painting!

Head is painted and looking good.

Grizzly Cub in progress

“Nu’thin Bruin” Grizzly Cub started

Over the weekend I started a new painting for Fidel & Michelle Singh, it is the second painting to my Grizzly Cub set. The second painting is the accompanying piece to “Mischief’s Bruin” and is the same 12 x 12 size. I started with playing a little with the composition. Added a tree limb in at the bottom right to repeat the shape of the cub and give the piece a little unity and break up the background space a bit. I am going with the same gradated background as “Mischief’s Bruin” so the two paintings will have some unity or a common thread. I have posted the original photo, the photoshop composition study and the first two snap shots of the painting in progress. I will post progression shots at the end of the week. Happy painting everyone!

Grizzly Cub Stage 1

Original Photo of Grizzly Cub