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Thirsty 4
Here are a couple of closeups of my painting. I love how the light can make such simple shapes to tell the story of this kids face… but there is STILL much work to be done. More online soon.
charity: water (psa)
Jennifer Connelly in charity: water Public Service Announcement from charity: water on Vimeo.
I met Scott Harrison last night at The Idea Camp and was floored by how the simple idea of clean water can make such a change for someone without it. HE showed this video to expose us (Americans) to a glimpse of what it is like (perhaps) for a BILLION people around the world that do not have access to clean water. He SUPER-reinvigorated my drive to help in any way I can. Although we are preparing for a home move in three weeks, I am compelled to get back to work on my “I was Thirsty” painting.
Thirsty 3
So, I have actually been working on this painting a bit over the past month, but honestly, it is difficult to be motivated when the garage studio is 45 degrees. I have a space heater now but it costs a lot to run and it all the heat gets sucked out as soon as someone opens the garage door. <woosh!>
So, here you have the latest draft of this piece. The top kid on the top right is turning out to being the focus. I am struggling still with the faces a bit – specifically the eyes… but I WILL get them right. It is the most important part to get right. I hate seeing a painted face with one eye higher or farther to the side than the other…
Adding color has really changed the feel of the painting. I like it, but I also really liked the look and feel of the monotone version. I will post again when I have something new to show… but we are planning to move in the next month, so craziness ensues.
What’s in a Name?
I was doing some research on my family names. One of them is McNab, which is my great great grandmother’s maiden name. Its origin is Pictish (from Scotland) – meaning “Mac an Aba” or “Son of the Abbot”. It must either predate the time when Abbots practiced celibacy, OR… it means a spiritual son of the leader of the monastery.
Peace, Friar McNab
Christmas Eve 4 – Follow-up
So, painting for 5 Christmas Eve services was not as hard as I psyc’ed myself out for. It actually got much easier each service. The thing that I was not figuring on was that there were three pastors preaching three different sermons at these five services. Each used the painting to illustrate the sermon point is a bit different way, and with different timing… But it all worked out well. Below is a photo of me about half way through the 4th service. The 3rd and 5th services were filmed and I plan to upload a highlights version when I get the DVDs.
Christmas Eve 3
So, I have got the start on the first of five panels. I decided to do all seascapes. I will add the highlights and other details during the services. This is about as far as I will go as a head-start. It took about an hour.I am working in acrylic, which I really do not favor. It is much easier and fluid to paint in oil. I am using acrylic because it is much more friendly in a large fast-paced setting… but it has drying issues that I am not used to. It is like dry brushing sometimes if I am not careful. I add a lot of medium and use a lot of water, but it still gets sticky, or even dry pretty fast.
Now I have four more to do in preparation of Wednesday….
Christmas Eve 2
So, I got a LOT accomplished today which was VERY necessary if I am going to pull off this HUGE task. With the help of my son Nick today, I built five 48″ wood panels with 2×2 frames that were stapled to the back. Then I put a first coat of flat house paint to seal the wood and I will add another coat later tonight. Since I only have about 50 minutes to complete each painting during the services on Christmas Eve, I will need to prepare each panel with a rough start of a landscape painting. That will actually be very nice to have a head start before each service starts. When the congregation begins to enter the main room, I will already be on stage with my brush in hand and they will not know where I started. They will just sit down and the service will begin… then the fun begins 
Here is the five framed panels getting prepared with a coat of flat house paint. It is a cheap $5 gallon of discarded paint I picked up at Home Depot.
Thirsty 2
Here you can see that I have begun to block in the four figures on the left panel. There is a lot of work left to get the faces right, but I am well on my way to a good start. I have been off line with this painting for a couple of days to prepare for painting for Christmas Eve services.
Painting Christmas Eve
Here is am painting in front of another audience for an event to raise money for a building water wells in Kenya.
I wanted to tell you about a Christmas Eve gig I got today. I will be going to Mission Viejo to do a 48″ x 48″ painting at each of FIVE Christmas eve services for a big Lutheran church (Mount of Olives). They have three “contemporary” services and two “Traditional” services starting at 4pm and the last one is at 10pm. The theme of the evening will be apparent when the pastors “cue” to me while I am painting is going to be… “and then we messed up God’s creation” and whatever I have been painting up to that point becomes all messed up with a big brush. THEN… that mess has to turn into “something” within the next 30 minutes before the service is over…. We have not worked out the details yet, and I have not talked to the pastor yet, only to the worship pastor who I have worked with in the past at Calvary Community in Westlake Village. He is leading the worship for the services down there, and contacted me this morning about all of this. I will also be taking some other paintings for display in the foyer of the church. I will be bringing my current “I was Thirsty” paintings to show and to raise awareness of the Living Water project I am partnering with. Maybe I will have a plastic 5 gallon water bottle below it to collect pocket change.
Samantha and the kids will stay home and watch some Christmas movies while I am gone for the evening. I will get home excited and wiped out… ready for Christmas morn.
If you are anywhere near Mission Viejo on Christmas Eve, please join us for a happy Christmas eve service.