Something a Bit Different

http://tomsarmo.blogspot.com

Timekeeper (detail). Mixed media (pen and ink, red pencil, white ink).

I worked on many art pieces this past year, some colorful, some storybook-like, and some humorous. But last September some darker images were stirring inside me.

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Timekeeper

When I was invited to participate in an un-traditional landscape show--Otherworlds--at Helikon Gallery, I worked on  Timekeeper and its companion piece...

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...Musician. Mixed media (pen and ink, red pencil, white ink).

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Musician (detail)

The original work, Timekeeper, has sold, but quality prints are available.

Musician is available as an original 8" x 10", framed as shown above, and also as a quality print. 

For information, please contact

  Helikon Gallery

Email: info@helikongallery.com

Phone: 720-502-5635

 Thank you in advance for your support of the arts, artists, and wonderful galleries like Helikon.

Illustrative Art?

Listening for Elves. 

Mixed media (India ink and colored acrylic ink on panel).

My art has been described as whimsical, storytelling, and eclectic.

But I'm most proud to have it called "Illustrative Art", because illustration is my background, my passion, and my occupation. I love all types of illustration, and believe deeply that illustration belongs in galleries and on the walls of homes--not just in books or magazines.

Dusk. 

Acrylic on panel.

And I'm very proud to have my work showing and available at Helikon Gallery in Denver. Helikon is full of illustrative art, and because I have an upstairs studio there, I get to see and be inspired by their ever-changing exhibitions, and by the works of the other illustrators who have studios there.

Grumpy Dwarf. 

Mixed media (India ink, white ink, and colored acrylic inks.)

The three pieces above--and more-- are at Helikon Gallery. Here's the link to all my available works:

Tom Sarmo's Art

In the coming weeks I'll be posting more about this famous gallery in Denver, and I hope the posts will inspire you to find your way there--to be inspired by all the illustrative artwork Helikon has to offer!

Thanks in advance :)

A Exhibit Preview and an Artist Interview!

Humpty Dumpty, one of many pieces created for The Endless Stage

Cayce Goldberg, Helikon Gallery Director, created this nice artist interview with me for my upcoming solo Exhibit, The Endless Stage:

My Interview

Thank you Cayce Goldberg

and Helikon Gallery !

Hope you can join me at Helikon for the opening reception this Wednesday, June 14th from 6-10 pm!

See a preview of the show here:

Tom Sarmo's The Endless Stage

Thanks for checking this out!

Five Hundred and Forty

The Cranky Bird Theatre Production of The Old Curiosity Shop (detail).

This is my 540th blog post.  I want to sincerely thank everyone who has followed and read this blog over the past 8 years. Writing an online journal can seem like navel-gazing at times, and trying to avoid that is challenging when posting at least once a week. Still, it's been helpful to me to keep a record of my art-life, so thanks for sticking with me!

The painting detail above is from my latest work for an upcoming show at Valkarie Gallery in October. The finished size of the piece is 18" x 24", and it's exciting to be showing this and other large pieces along with works by artists I admire.

 Soliloquy, ca. 2010

I was pretty happy with this theater-themed piece done 6 years ago, but am pleased by the evolution and improvement in my newest works.

I'll be posting details about the Valkarie show in the near future, and hope you can come and see all the works. In the meantime, check out Valkarie Gallery --they have fantastic new shows every month!

This month's show features the fine work of Hallie Packard

Don't miss it!

Thanks for supporting the arts, and again for staying with my blog all these years!

SaveSave

Parallel Universe Presents: A Unique Show at Helikon Gallery!

A detail crop of my artwork for Parallel Universe Presents

Very pleased to announce a new show, coming July 1, 2016 to Helikon Gallery in Denver!

This show is the brain-child of illustrator Thomas Haller Buchanan and gallery director and illustrator Cayce Goldberg.

Helikon is known for it's fresh and uniquely exciting shows, and this one will be no exception.

From Gallery Director Cayce Goldberg:

"Helikon Gallery is pleased to host ‘Parallel Universe Pictures Presents...’ this July! P.U.P.P. is a group exhibit where illustration reigns supreme over Hollywood, and features powerful drawings and paintings of posters for movies that exist only in the cinematic imagination of the artists."

This is Sherlock Holmes from my Parallel Universe offering of the movie The Hammersmith Ghost.

I love anything Victorian, and the Conan Doyle stories, but have always wanted to see Sherlock pitted against an actual, supernatural being. Hence this version of my dream film.

 

Along with your chance to see amazing finished paintings and posters by a group of stellar illustrators, you'll view the process each artist used to reach the final artwork. Each illustrator has the opportunity to show the sketches--thought processes--that went into the production of the final works!

From the chicken-scratchings of my initial idea...

...to character studies of Holmes and Watson...

...to value and composition thumbnails; this is only part of my process.

You won't see this at the show, but using my scary self as a model helped me draw...

...the initial sketch for the Hammersmith Ghost.

Here's a list of all the other fantastic illustrators in the show:

 

Thomas Haller Buchanan

Mike Kloepfer

Elena Gunderson

Matt Needle

Daniel Shaffer

Rob Jordan

Brooke Vandevelder

Arna Miller

Vinni Alfonso

Cayce Goldberg

I can't wait to see their finished artworks--and their sketches and processes and posters too!

And a huge bonus: Portals and Parralax!

 

 

"Portals & Parallax is a duo exhibit of new work by Thomas Haller Buchanan and Willa Haller. Shown simultaneously with Parallel Universe Pictures Presents..., the work in this exhibit stands as a conceptual and narrative bridge between both shows, exploring an organically unfolding story of two artists seeking to pierce the veil of time and space. Thom works in charcoal and pastel, while Willa presents large watercolor paintings. Both artists contributed to collaborative works where their concepts and aesthetics overlap."

 

Check out more details about both awesome shows by clicking the link below:

 

Helikon Gallery

And if you're in Denver, don't miss this show!!

Thanks, as always, for your support :)

A Lot of Monkey Business!

 My piece and Valerie Savarie's art for Monkey Business!  The show opens tomorrow night at 6:00 pm and runs through February 21st.

Here's the info direct from Valkarie Gallery:

valkarie
gallery

presents:

Monkey Business: Invitational Group Exhibition

January 27 - February 21, 2016
Opening Reception, Friday, January 28, 6 - 9pm
  2016 brings us the Year of the Monkey in the Chinese calendar and to celebrate, our kick off show is an invitational titled "Monkey Business". Each artist was given an 8" square panel to create their interpretation of the theme but need not include an actual monkey. There is sure to be a great variety of art including paintings, photography, drawings, mixed media and digital art.

Artists include: Jared David Paul Anderson, Adrianne Tamar Arachne, Aria ~ She Paints With Blood, Clay Brooks, Hannah Conlisk, Danyl Cook, Kalindi DeFrancis, Dorothy DePaulo, MJ Dowling, Kayla Edgar, Sharon Eisley, Corrina Espinosa, Erin Hagle, Christy Lynne Harris, Rob Jordan, JxRxKx, Doug Kacena, Lisa Luree, Bernadette Lusk, Pat Marek, Frank Martinez, Eric Matelski, Ryan Morse, Ray Muñoz, Robert Newman, Nixi, Penny & Alex Oliver, Hallie Packard, David Perea, Zachary Reece, Sammilo, Tom Sarmo, Valerie Savarie, Heather Sims, Heidi Snyder, Dane "Colfax" Stephenson, Melanie Steinway, Michael Vacchiano, John Van Horn, Jesse Van Horne, Brian Wall, Emily Wilcox and Zaitlin Ziesmer.

Here are more photos of only some of the cool works:

Adrienne Tamar Arachne

Kayla Edgar

Aria She Paints with Blood

Ryan Morse

Raymundo Munoz

Rob Jordan

Clay Brooks

Lisa Luree

John Van Horn

Pat Marek

Hallie Packard

There, you have a tiny preview of the show. Check out all of the pieces and prices by clicking on this link, then scrolling down to Monkey Business:

Monkey Business

And if you're in Denver, come to the opening, meet the artists, and add to your collection!

Thanks for reading--and supporting the arts (and the artists who contribute to them)!

Top-Hatted Bird with a Mouse

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This is a detail from a piece just completed--no title yet.

Wanted to do a painting in the style I used for my spiritual works a few years back, but was curious both about how the goofy subject would look with looser paint and also curious about how acrylic gouache would handle as opposed to acrylic paint. The fluidity, matte finish, and opacity of the gouache was a good change from acrylic paint.

http://tomsarmo.com/

Here's a shot of the bird's head at about the halfway completed stage. I drew the piece freehand on the board after priming it with a burnt sienna acrylic primer. After outlining it with a brush and india ink, I sealed it with matte spray and then started whacking in the color.

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Here's the bottom half of the pic at near completion.

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The old bird completed.  Hard to tell maybe, but I lightened pretty much everything on the bird. It's on a pine plaque, about 6" wide by 23" tall, and was painted for an upcoming show at Valkarie Gallery.  I'm pleased to be showing Fresh Works along with two super-accomplished artists; Karrie York and Kayla Edgar!

Karrie's site: Karrie York  Kayla's site: Kayla Edgar

Valkarie Gallery is a fantastic place with unusual and fascinating shows. If you are in the Denver area, please stop by and check out the show and gallery! Here's the link:

Valkarie Gallery

And thank you, as always, for reading!

Screenplay Process: Part Four

The last post about the process for three Screenplay paintings, this shows the final inked piece--pre-watercolor.

 

I ran across this tintype early on, and used it and others for resource.

Most often, after the thumbnail sketches for any artwork, I collect a lot of resources. I use Pinterest in order to keep them organized. If you are interested, the link to my Screenplay resource folder is here:

Sarmo's Pinterest Board

 

Here's a sheet of thumbnail sketches for Projectionist. The sketches always seem to begin sort of motionless.

 

Originally envisioned as a young man reading a newspaper, the projectionist morphed into a kid. I thought the idea of a person smoking in a projection room with flammable celluloid would be humorous, but on second thought, not really.

 

So the human character became a kid reading a monster movie magazine. Frankenstein's monster plays a part in all the pieces.

After inking the outlines with a small brush, I use a very light 2H pencil as a shading guide, and begin layering the ink lines.

 

There are many layers of cross-hatched ink lines in a piece like this.

This section threw me a bit because of the glowing light from the magazine. I wanted the effect but hadn't a clue how to achieve it until I got to this point.

The pieces, like many of my works, are pretty much drawings with watercolor washes laid in afterwards. The hardest part of this stage was getting the washes to blend around the glow. I used Quinacridone Gold and Burnt Sienna for the washes.

This was also a section in which I knew I wanted the monster's face in the light beam but hadn't an idea how to accomplish it. Somehow it all worked out.

The rat was a compositional device. The projector, the projectionist, and the monster created three subjects at the top. The pic needed balance, so the rat came to the rescue.

Well that's about it. If you are in Denver for the Screenplay reception on October 30th or the month of November, head over to Helikon Gallery and Studios to see all three finished pieces. They will be there, along with Screenplay interpretations by 30 other fantastic and inspirational artists. Each of us got to create three, 12" x 12" artworks for the theme, and it is going to be a great show!

Thanks for following my progress here--I appreciate it!