A few students and some faculty from the university joined Illustrator David Dibble for some early morning Plein Air Painting. It was about 15 degrees with bright sunshine and clear skies.
Here I am with my effort - 9 x 12 inches, oil on Ray Mar canvas board.
David came in From New York to present his work as a color Key artist at Blue Sky Studios. It was a great presentation and a fun morning of painting.

Painted life drawing

I did this 1 hour drawing, last week, at our Tuesday night Open Studio here at the University. It was drawn in charcoal on a sheet of 22 x 30 inch, BFK Rives 140lb paper. Back in my studio, as an experiment, I taped it to a piece of gator board, applied a couple of coats of Matte Medium to seal it , then applied some oil over the drawing. the process was fast (less than 2 hours of painting) and the results were OK. Next time, however, I'll use Shellac as a sealant and for sizing, so the paper won't buckle.
Overall, a good exercise and I'm eager to start going through old drawings to see if any can be given a new life.

Watercolor sketch at Kolob

Watercolor sketch at Kolob. This area has such beautiful rocks.
Watercolor, 14 x 10 inches

Kolob Canyon Watercolor Studies

Some of the small watercolor sketches I've done of Kolob Canyon and Taylor Creek.

Halloween Sculpt

A new sculpt for the Scary Season.
Happy Halloween!
-Ron

Updated Website!

After a long absence, I finally have a website up and running.
Visit it at ronspears.com

Plein Air at Kolob Canyon

Friday, I joined some friends and students for a morning of painting at Kolob Canyon in Utah. It was a spectacular day and made better by the fun company. The Fall colors are just coming in.

Life Drawing Last Night

About 20 minutes

About 10 minutes

About an hour.

Drawing Class Demo

Here's a one hour demo I did last Thursday for my drawing class. It was done from life and focused on using the limited colors (30) of the pastel set.

Class Demonstration

For my Digital Illustration Class, I did a quick demo in Photoshop, to explain some of the challenges and opportunities of Editorial Illustration. This piece was done from scratch and on the fly, letting ideas and concepts develop as I moved through the creative process. The illustration is based on a New York Times Restaurant Review of Robertas.
Editorial Illustration allows a great deal of expression and creativity. Here, I wanted to show the context of the place and the irreverent attitude of this top chef.