Learning to be Lewis and Clark

Yesterday was a fantastic day. I was invited by my good friend and incredible artist Keith Hanson to share a space with him at the 3rd annual  Wounded Vet's Run at Suffolk Downs in Boston. Simply being there was a once in a life time opportunity in light of the Boston Marathon bombings. The Boston and Watertown Police were honored right along side of the Vets and it was truly a day to remember. Keith donated a custom painted POW helmet and I donated a custom painted dog tag. There were literally hundreds of other donated items on the raffle tables which also showed me that despite the acts of senseless cruelty, there are many, many more acts of kindness in this world.

So I suppose that you are wondering how Lewis and Clark fit into all of this. Well, it is always interesting to me to see the reactions that people have to my new work. However, in choosing the path of a style of art that is not understood and rarely believed, I have learned that my marketing plan needs to be as unique as the artwork itself. I tried various methods of talking to people that stopped. Some I just let browse, some I jumped right in explaining all the details and methods. One reaction that I found most common was that people assumed they were photographs. That is certainly an honor and  really one of the benchmarks I set for myself when painting however, it sort of backfires when someone just passes by assuming they are photos. One very nice lady even smiled at me as she was walking by and actually said, 'Lovely work, my husband used to be a photographer.'

So here I am this morning sort of like Lewis and Clark mulling over which direction to be taken in the dark. The marketing goals have evolved (again) to closely look at what will allow the true details of my work to speak for themselves.

Evolution of the journey.

My hope is that everyone is enjoying the first day of a very happy and healthy 2013.

With the New Year, it is fitting that this blog entry is about change. We are creatures of change and adaptation. This is how we grow and evolve. As a young art student, my number one fear was not being able to find my artistic voice. I was very concerned that my art would blend into the crowd and never be unique. Change is a powerful friend of the creative process. It forces us to look outside the boundaries of what we already know and it forces us to take chances. For me it was simply stumbling across the request to paint something small that changed the course of my creative path. Granted, it has not been a particularly easy path, but the voice is so loud, it cannot be ignored.

Listen to what your artistic voice is telling you. Feed it with knowledge, practice and challenges and it will reward you a hundred times over.

With that, my artistic voice is now calling me again. I’ll be posting updates of all the new paintings for 2013 on the facebook page and as always, thanks for checking in!!

New Happenings

There are a lot of great things brewing here around the paint bench so I thought that I’d take a breather for a moment and outline a few of those new things on the horizon for the fall and winter.

After bouncing around a bit this summer trying to locate the right spot to hold classes, I have made the decision to resume my airbrush classes at BearAir in Easton. The first one will be the introduction to Airbrushing Class in January with another to follow in April. I am very excited to get these classes rolling again! Classes can be purchased directly at www.BearAir.com or shortly at www.stevenleahy.com.

Next bit of news is the addition of a store to my website. This has been planned for a while and it is fantastic to know it is in the final stages. From the online store, you will be able to sign up for classes, purchase artwork (both reproductions and originals) and even possibly airbrushes through Richpen. Look for the brand new store very soon!

Third event that has started brewing is the next solo art exhibit. The process now is at the stage where I am drawing up a proposal for the show and beginning to look for a venue. The show itself will feature the miniature artwork from the past year. One of things that I have found is that for as great as the online reaction to these paintings has been, it is nothing like the experience of seeing them for real. Everything from the beauty of the custom built frames to the actual artwork, it is the impact of the total package that makes the experience. The rough date for the opening will likely be in May of 2013 so stay tuned.

Finally, the workbench has been buzzing lately with commissions. That is always good for keeping the lights on. The latest has been the razor blade painting for NASCAR driver #96 Ben Kennedy. The challenge here was to pull off the sponsor logos in a way that would look real. Once this painting is clear, I have two more commissions to get done before I start digging into some of the new paintings for the show in May. My artistic passion is really fueled there as I can take chances on my own pieces that I cannot take on someone else’s. Keep an eye on my facebook page https://www.facebook.com/StevenLeahyArt for daily updates on those and all other studio projects.

Thanks as always for checking in and seeing what is new!!

To Air is Human

Air and Steel 1.75"x3" Wicked Colors on titanium 2011

To Air is Human

Over the next few blogs, I hope to answer some of the questions about the tools and materials that have found their way onto my bench as the standard. Hopefully the information from my trial and error will help you shorten your learning curve. This week the focus will be on the heart of the operation, the airbrush. 

It was 1988 and I was a sophomore in college learning to be an illustrator. At the time we were surrounded by the incredible commercial art of artist’s like Eddie Young and Michael Cacy and the stunning work of Sorayama. Seeing all of this amazing art and knowing that one of the common threads in all of it was the airbrush sealed my decision to get one of my own.



1988 Iwata HP-SB



My search however, began with absolutely no idea of what I was doing or what I really needed to get started. Fortunately my father knew of someone that worked in his company that did know about airbrushes. I remember telling him that was that I really didn’t care how much it cost, I just wanted the best I could get. Of course I was secretly hoping that his answer wasn’t going to shatter my fragile Ramen Noodle/ Suzy-Q college based budget. The airbrush that he recommended I get was the Iwata HP-SB side feed airbrush. He listened to what I was hoping to get out of the airbrush and he knew that the fine detail, slow feeding SB would do the job. He was right. For the next twelve years that brush served me flawlessly. As fast as I could learn a new technique, that airbrush had the refinement and quality to keep up.

In the early part of the 2000’s some changes in my personal life found me looking for the stability of a full time job. I couldn’t have been luckier to have BearAir right in my back yard. After a long interview (it was more like an airbrush discussion between old friends) I was hired. Suddenly it was like a kid let loose in a candy store. I now had access to every major airbrush brand on the market. If there was a brush to beat my venerable SB, it would be here. Some of the staff recommended the gravity fed HP-C from Iwata but I found the larger .3mm needle and nozzle did not seem to atomize the paint with the same control and refinement that the .2mm SB did.

Richpen 213c Plus

All during this time, there was a brand of airbrush that hung in the background. Richpen. They were a Japanese airbrush and like Olympos, lacked the distribution of some of the other brands so they weren’t as well known in the U.S. One model in particular kept finding its way into my hands. The model was the Phoenix 213c. This .3mm gravity feed seemed to defy the stereotype of the other .3mm gravity feeds. This brush was able to atomize the paint at the same level as my .2mm side feed yet had the faster feed of a gravity feed and the larger paint reservoir. In addition, because it had a .3mm tip, it was able to work with a thicker viscosity paint. It was the best of both worlds. In the beginning I was using it to cover larger areas of my work that needed a controlled application of color. Slowly however, I found myself using the 213c for more and more in my work. I was able to get some staggeringly fine lines out of it even with the thicker acrylic paints I was using.

I did find some discomfort however in the beehive shaped trigger of the airbrush. The original solution was to grind it down however Steve Angers at BearAir found a more comfortable trigger for the brush which thankfully eliminated the extra work of modification. One other very helpful upgrade to the design of the 213 came in the introduction of the cutaway handle. Cleanouts were made much easier now that the needle chuck can be accessed instantly. This new model was designated the Richpen 213c plus and still to this day the only airbrush to unseat my trusty Iwata.

The important thing to take away from all of this is that the airbrush that ultimately ends up in your hand must be an extension of you. It needs to perform the job that you intend it to do with the least amount of compromise. Search out high quality and reassure your goal by knowing that the expense will be worth it.

Next blog, I’ll be looking at the similar evolution of the paint that I have been using. Please post any questions, comments or thoughts, I'd love to hear them! Thanks for checking in!

Funny how things evolve

'Eight-One'
Wicked Colors on dogtag

When I began this blog, it was meant to be the place that I would break down and share the progress of the new paintings. What was quickly found was that the power and reach of facebook easily covered the ability to show the updates from the studio on a daily basis. I was left with the need for a place that I could get more in depth with the steps and processes that are involved in getting the paintings done. This blog has evolved to fill that need. Here will be the place to share some of the things that I have learned about the different techniques and tools. In addition, because of the blog's format, it can also be a great place to answer questions and get feedback about the current projects.

So please, bookmark this page, share it and check back often. Most of all, let me know what you think. Your input will help drive the direction of this blog!

So much going on!

The holidays are descending fast and furious. Way too much to do and already not enough time. Well, things are just that way here as well. The drive of the majority of my work is aimed towards the solo show in January. It is my goal to show as many people as I possibly can what I am doing and where I see my artwork going. As a result, production and promotion have all been in high gear. Press releases heading out all last week, painting and framing. All this while still weaving in the smaller paying jobs that keep things going. Good news is that there has been a positive response for the show so far. A couple of magazines have expressed interest and hopefully that will turn into more.

One other great feeling from this past week is to see our Model Monday Events really starting to take shape and become what we had hoped it would be. The goal was simple. Find people who would be willing to sit for a free portrait and then invite other artists to come and join us with their paints and pencils. It has turned out to be a lively, artistic event that has brought together old friends and created new friends. It has quite simply grown into what both Erin and I had hoped it would. We are looking forward to many more Monday night Model nights at the SAART Gallery. Please come on down and join us from 6-8pm.

On the bench in the studio is a brand new razor painting however with this one I am breaking down the complete project as I go. With any luck, I will get this how-to published for everyone to see. If all works out, it will coincide with the opening of the show and that would simply be over the top. Thanks for checking in and I’ll talk to you all next week!!

Tools of the Trade

Coast Guard Dog Tag paining in progress



Righpen 213c



It’s pretty interesting how the style of painting and the materials that we choose to paint with really ends up governing how our studio runs. This recent string of miniature paintings and the effect that it had on my workspace is a great example of that. First, thanks to the generosity of the folks at Createx Colors, I have had the opportunity to use their Wicked Paint line in my monthly Intro to Airbrush classes and then throughout my studio. The paint is an ultra-high performance, multi-surface airbrush paint that comes in two pigment grinds. One line for more opaque coverage and one for more detailed airbrushing. The spray characteristics of both lines have proven to work well through my Richpen 213 airbrush.



Watercolor and Liner brushes

In these recent small paintings, I have been incorporating more and more traditional brush work. What I have found was that for my style of painting, my liner and watercolor brushes have worked the best. These colors are intended to be used through an airbrush so the dry time on the paint is lightning fast. Dry times like this are not always conducive with paint brush work. To counter this, I have used the Wicked Reducer mixed with a Retarder that is from the Createx Colors line. This has slowed the dry time enough to pull the lines and details I need from the paint.

One of the things that I have enjoyed about this paint is that once it is dry, it cannot be reactivated unlike Gouache, Watercolors or Urethanes. This makes it possible to add washes of color with a paint brush and not affect the layers below. This is important when it comes to blurring airbrush and paint brush strokes together for a more seamless painting.

The airbrush that is used with these paintings was also determined by the paint. Out of the bottle, these paints are vibrant and fairly heavy viscosity. Even with the reducer, they tend to hold a thickness that allows the slightly larger .3mm nozzle of the 213 to excel. Atomization of color through this brush allows me more control than my smaller .2mm airbrushes.

Frankenstein's Lab

My workspace itself has also transformed with all these micro paintings. Proper lighting has always been the goal however now it has become paramount. Low light makes painting these kinds of details impossible. As a result, I have built two rails for my drafting table that can be slid in and out. The clip on goose neck lamps can now be positioned anywhere on the surface of the drafting table. These prototypes were made out of scrap wood yet they have proven to work well so now I will make them out of better wood and even add small storage spaces on them for commonly used tools.

Finally the framing of these small paintings have again determined a change in my workspace. Because of the paintings unique size and shape, I ended up working with my father to design a custom frame for them. My brother in law is fantastic with woodworking and made the first four prototypes which worked out perfectly. With the plans for the show in January and 10 new paintings looming, I made the decision to start collecting the tools to make the frames here as well to take the burden off him a little.

With all these adjustments in place, things have started to move together smoothly. Given that there are still several small paintings that need to be started and finished before the show in January…..smooth it just what I need right now!

Thanks for checking in this week!!