Art Of Winning- and Begging

One of my paintings was just selected for a show at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame Museum.

A Monster Attacks at Breakfast, 22" x26", oil on linen, ©copyright Richard Luschek 2012

I know what you're thinking if you follow this blog, "For goodness sake, how many times are we going to see this painting discussed on this blog? Has this guy painted any other paintings?!"
Yeah I know. Sorry, but you are going to have to deal with it. It is multi-award winning painting. What is a guy to do?

The show is called the Art of Winning and will open on March 2 and run through the 30th. As was stated in the show description: "This is a juried show. The artwork must be inspired by baseball and will be evaluated on the Reds Hall of Fame's mission statement: "Celebrating Greatness, Preserving History, Providing Inspiration" as well as skill, message and presentation. Only 30 submissions will be selected for the show. A cash prize will be awarded for the art judged to be the best piece in the exhibition on March 9 as part of the Art of Winning event and sale. A portion of the proceeds from the art sale will benefit the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum."

Apparently they are going to let fans and museum goers vote on their favorite work- this along with a group of select judges will choose the winner.
So basically, I am begging you to go vote so I can win the big prize. Now I know you should go pick the best one, or at least your favorite and I have no problem with that, as long as we can agree that your favorite is my painting.

In all seriousness, please visit the show. I am not sure if there is an official opening for the show. I will let you know when I find out more information.

Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame Museum
Tuesday - Sunday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Closed on Mondays
100 Joe Nuxhall Way
Cincinnati, OH 45202
call (513) 765-7923 for more information

Back on the couch

Sometimes work gets abandoned for a variety of reasons: It is just not working for whatever reason, the ability or idea is just not there yet, or it just plain sucks.
This painting was one such piece, stuck in the corner, considered done and gone. It's been around since 2008 and lately it has been catching my eye as something I could tweak into a good picture. I started to think it has some possibilities. After painting on it for a few hours, 3 1/2 years later, I was starting to like it.

Awaiting Spring (study), oil on panel, 11x14, © copyright Richard Luschek 2012

I remember I had taken some reference photos of the model just to check out some different poses. I did this painting from life in about 4 hours so it was pretty rough and had some unfinished areas. So I printed the photo and used it to try to fix the design and refine some of the details while retaining that fresh look of the visual impression.
Interestingly, now that I post it, I see at least one compositional problem, but let's pretend I didn't notice.

Just for reference I will show you the old version before I reworked it.

Awaiting a painter to make this not suck, oil on panel, 11x14, © copyright Richard Luschek 2008

Hauser Book Release

I have mentioned before a book about Cincinnati painter John Hauser for which I penned a chapter. The book has finally been released and authors were signing copies at the show featuring the artist's work on view now at the Cincinnati Art Galleries.
It was a lovely opening and not just because the author's wife, Marilyn Harris  did the food. Though you know the snacks are one of the major things I factor into my judgement of the success or failure of an art opening- and the food was amazing.

The book can be purchased at the gallery or online at this website:
The John Hauser Project.
If you are interested in the article I wrote for the book you can read it in this post.