St. Francis and the Wolf of Gubbio

St. Francis and the Wolf. Mixed media wood cut-out.

It will be varnished, then framed in a shadow box.

Lately I've been working again on spiritual pieces for a local gallery. When asked to provide a St. Francis with wolf, I jumped at that. St. Francis was the name I chose at confirmation, because at the age of 12 becoming a veterinarian was at the top of my occupations list. 

Also, St. Francis has been a favorite subject of mine. His mission was always peace, and his life and teachings celebrated the natural world. He saw even poverty and death as friends rather than enemies to be feared. Best of all, St. Francis was a free-spirit--an eccentric--who rejected the greed and short-sightedness he observed in mankind, and he generously embraced those whom society rejected.

The image was first drawn in red pencil on toned paper, then inked. After highlights, I sprayed the drawing with archival acrylic spray. Mounted on wood, the piece was cut out using a scroll saw. The color--translucent acrylic inks thinned a bit with water.

The legend of St. Francis relates that he tamed a savage wolf that was eating up the folks at Gubbio. You can check out a fascinating and thorough examination of the story here:

Francis of Assisi and the Wolf of Gubbio

Thanks for checking out my blog, and supporting the works I do.

My Art Book (and a Sticker Pack)!

My artwork from the past three years, compiled in a really nice, 96 page volume!

This past year brought a solo exhibition for me at Helikon Gallery. Along with the show, the gallery director and illustrator, Cayce Goldberg, designed this 96 page book.

I got to watch--and add my thoughts--as he worked on laying out the covers and pages. It was a fascinating process, and I've nothing but admiration for Cayce's skills as a writer and designer.

 

 Many of the page layouts feature the finished work along with the initial sketch and process photos...

 

...along with pages that show close-up details of my drawings and paintings (with my short commentaries about technique, or process, or thoughts about influences).

 

There are even great layouts of my sketches (and a few "portraits" of my friends) designed consistently by theme...

...including pages that deal with my fascination with Alice's Adventures.

It's a volume that pretty much covers my work and process, and I'm very proud of it.

 

The gallery even created a companion sticker pack to go along with the book and exhibition!

If what I create happens to resonate for you, both book and sticker pack are available here:

My shop

 

Your purchase helps me continue to make art, 

and I very much appreciate your interest and support--thank you!

Top-Hatted Bird with a Mouse

http://tomsarmo.com/

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.

http://tomsarmo.com/

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

http://tomsarmo.com/

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!

Leaving Home

Detail of a recent painting.

An artist's life is pretty sedate (translate to "boring except to the artist").  At least that's this artist's life.

Having some coffee, getting the dreaded social-media/internet/business out of the way, and heading up to the sanctuary of the studio.  A quick review of the previous day's work, choosing the music, and finally disappearing into the little world currently on the drawing table for the next 8 hours.

The process for this painting follows:

The door painting idea had its inception with these study sketches of boots. As I was drawing them, the picture concept jumped into my head. 

Boots to walking to traveling to leaving home. 

I guess.

 Then the concept of the door took shape and I threw out a rough page of sketches

after photographing this meticulously-devised prop.

I worked out another very rough sketch of the door character.

Then I painted the picture.

The Green Door Leaves Home. Oil on canvas, 6" x 18".

The idea of a door wrenching itself out of its frame and hitting the road pleased me quite a bit, probably because most days I really only leave my home in my head.

Thanks for reading!